Bar sprocket on a Stihl Rollomatic E froze. Scrap Pile?

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
WildnCrazyGuy

WildnCrazyGuy

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Messages
445
Location
Raleigh, NC
I was flush cutting stumps today. Well not with my Stihl, but a little Poulan, and needed to square something up, so used one of my MS290s. I get half way through the cut and it was like the chainbrake was engaged. Froze solid. I took a hammer and screwdriver to it a little, but it won't budge. Is there anything to do with it other that put it in the metal scrap? Thanks.
 
Bowtie

Bowtie

Gearhead
Joined
Dec 16, 2006
Messages
6,658
Location
Central Kansas
If you were stumping, sounds like you probably have it packed full of dirt and junk. Might try soaking it in diesel fuel or gas or some solvent and working it after it soaks for a day or two. I have unfroze a few bars that way.

Might be toast though...
 
SteveH

SteveH

ArboristSite Guru
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
May 12, 2006
Messages
917
Location
west of Denver, at 8500 ft. elevation
Bowtie is probably right. Soak it. But the only time this happened to me, I had gotten a tiny sliver of wood down in there. Thing was, I couldn't see it and I fooled with that bar for a long time, nose jammed tight. I eventually managed to force the sprocket around a tiny hair at a time with an old chain and heavy work gloves and finally this tiny little sliver came out and it was fine. It has happened twice over the years as I recall. Next time I may try Bowtie's soaking idea.
 
Motodeficient

Motodeficient

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
Mar 6, 2009
Messages
648
Location
USA
My sprocket got jammed up a couple times today on the 361. If I manually dragged the chain across a tree it came out of it. I may need a new bar I don't know.
 
ShoerFast

ShoerFast

Tree Freak
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Messages
25,843
Location
Morrison Colorado, at the base of the Rockies
My sprocket got jammed up a couple times today on the 361. If I manually dragged the chain across a tree it came out of it. I may need a new bar I don't know.

Welcome to the site! :cheers:

Not knowing you, or your experience, I toss this out just for any that may not do this as part of there regular operational maintenance...

Just get a bar tool that has a hook on it that will get deep down into the bar grove and scrape it clean (towards the bar-stud slot) and clean out the oil-passage every now and again.

Some situations and duller chains complicate these problems.
 
SawTroll

SawTroll

Information Collector
Joined
Jan 13, 2005
Messages
64,856
Location
Troms, North Norway
Welcome to the site! :cheers:

Not knowing you, or your experience, I toss this out just for any that may not do this as part of there regular operational maintenance...

Just get a bar tool that has a hook on it that will get deep down into the bar grove and scrape it clean (towards the bar-stud slot) and clean out the oil-passage every now and again.

Some situations and duller chains complicate these problems.

I agree about the dull chains....

...the few times I have had a stuck nose, forcing the teeth of the nose sprocket across a wooden surface (like a stump) have worked.

Take the bar and chain off the saw, and use brute force on the bar only...
 
Last edited:
stevejr33

stevejr33

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
336
Location
micigan
If you were stumping, sounds like you probably have it packed full of dirt and junk. Might try soaking it in diesel fuel or gas or some solvent and working it after it soaks for a day or two. I have unfroze a few bars that way.

Might be toast though...

:agree2:It works
 
Rounder

Rounder

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Messages
2,085
Location
Montana
Don't forget to grease the tip at least once a week. Tips will blow eventuallty (rivets fail), but a little grease really extends thier life.
 
Gumnuts

Gumnuts

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
Aug 4, 2007
Messages
841
Location
Australia / Victoria / Mornington Peninsula
Had it happen a couple of times....put it in the vise and
tapped round throwing wd40 and oil into it.....till it freed up
.....also found once the sprocket teeth had burred ......PTA...
vise / flat file/ flat punch / squirts of.. / got it free.........really jerks you round if you got a job to do ,with a time frame.....good
to have a spare bar.

replaceable nose ?!...
Really like the flat hook idea for getting to the crud in the sprocket.

Good luck with it.
 
Last edited:
Gumnuts

Gumnuts

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
Aug 4, 2007
Messages
841
Location
Australia / Victoria / Mornington Peninsula
It is possible to change the nose sprocket on a Rollo E, but Stihl doesn't advertise the possibility - guess the reason.......

i remember 6 months ago one saw shop quoted me $60 to
change sprockets.....I smiled that look of ,not today buddy....
next shop quoted me $16 for the sprocket ,no labor.They have a waste bin full of bars,many just needing sprockets.BUT cheaper / easier, to sell them a newy.I would go and salvage
but they were HO under 18".
:cheers:

Thank God for this site.
 

BobL

No longer addicted to AS
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
Feb 25, 2007
Messages
8,003
Location
Perth, Australia
Had it happen a couple of times....put it in the vise and tapped round throwing wd40 and oil into it.....till it freed up .....

That's basically how I do them. I found 2 24" jammed sprocket nose bars in a dumpster with plenty of meat left in the groove. Both were jammed and one was also bent and I straightened it using the same technique used to straighten hand saw blades and it's still going strong
 
Farmall Guy

Farmall Guy

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
May 2, 2008
Messages
328
Location
New York
I've had the sprocket on my 30" on the 880 jam once, I made the mistake of allowing the chips to build up in the cut and when I went to pull the bar out the chain grabed a bunch of them and packed them into the tip. I pulled the bar and chain and used a small piece of welding rod to clean them out, flushed with mix then put some bar oil in there for good measure.
 

Latest posts

Top