372XT pinching bar

[The Shooters Apprentice]

Hey guys. I've got 3 of the Holzfforma 372XP Saws. One of the I recently bought a Holzfforma 28" bar for (3/8x.050"). I pulled off the 36" Tsumura bar that was on one of them (Factory built orange 372XT) and threw on the new bar and a chain. Tightened it up and it just acted like the brake was on. If I loosened the bar nuts, I could spin the chain freely by hand but as I snugged up the bar nuts the chain would start to bind and stop turning.

I grabbed on of the other saws (Blue factory built 372XP) that had a 24" Holzfforma bar (3/8x .058") and threw the 28" bar on that saw and it worked fine, and the 24" bar from that saw worked fine on the orange 372XT.

Just curious if anyone has ever had a similar issue. As far as I could tell the chain was on the sprocket correctly and everything was lined up the way it should be, but as soon as I tightened the bar nuts, something was pinching either the bar or chain and that chain would not turn.

None of the 3 Holzfforma 372s I have have outer bar plates. I don't have a Genuine saw handy to compare to, but I don't remember the Husky saws having outer bar plates either.

 

[Woodslasher]

Might be the plastic guide buffers, I seem to recall hearing about this issue before.

 

[JPCalifornia]

I know some of you guys are buying the Chinese knock-offs... WTF! These rip-off companies do NOT support our industry, they don’t innovate anything, The quality sucks, and they don’t deserve our business in my view. They only weaken the solvency of the main manufacturers that create all the good stuff in the first place. Stop it guys, just stop I don’t want to hear about all the BS about price. Buy the real **** and take care of it, and it will serve you for years to come.

 

[J D]

I've had that happen where it was binding on the nylon buffers as woodslasher mentioned. In my case it was the combination of near new buffers, a bar with a narrower tail & the profile of the chain. I solved the problem by swapping the buffers with the ones from the saw the bar came off as it was apparent they had been carved out by the chain/ bar setup previously

 

[HumBurner]

Might be the plastic guide buffers, I seem to recall hearing about this issue before.

Most certainly.

On the 024s I have sitting around, I converted to 3/8 chain. The rivets on the links stick out just enough to catch the plastic guide nub. Chain is tight by hand, can't move, but will move and scrape upon throttle, albeit with significant drag.


I haven't gotten around to sanding them down yet.