Can a bent bar be repaired?

[Duane(Pa)]

I have a Stihl 18" bar that was pinched and then got bent when the tree I was cutting went over. I'm just an old farm boy and suspect I can do more harm than good with the vise and hammer Is it junk or are there places that offer this kind of repair service? Thanks, DW

 

[c_silva88]

if its not bent to bad you may be able to but i doubt youll get it perfect

 

[old-cat]

I have many years experience straightening things in the machine shop. DO NOT use a hammer to straighten the bar. Use force, support the bar under both ends and use a heavy log or plank, etc. instead of a hammer. Or anchor one end and pry on the other end or use a press to force it back. YES it will straighten out.

 

[cat-face timber]

If it was me, I would make a knife out of the bent bar and go buy a new one.

 

[GrassGuerilla]

Can't say I wouldn't try to straighten it. Probably end up as a stump cutter. If your lucky might be salvageable.

If its binding even a little, you'll trash a sprocket & chain too pretty quick. I'd get a new one for regular use.

 

[parrisw]

Any bar can be straightened, I disagree about not using a hammer, use a press to get it close, then you need to use a hammer to pound it perfect, just like doing sheet metal work you need a hammer to get the thing in-line. Try not to pound around the bar rails, they will close a little, but that's easy to fix after you get it straight. You'll need a heavy hammer, I use a 4lb mini sledge, and some heavy piece of metal to rest the bar on.

Before.

After.

 

[redoakneck]

I saw a guy fix one with a hammer and a heavy duty rubber pad, seemed to get it pretty straight. Not sure if the hammer was soft lead or steel.

 

[Cantdog]

A sharp kink like the one Will showed is hard to bring back....and he did a darn good job of it!! I have straightened quite a few using my tractor mounted vertical wood splitter........I know...sounds crude!!! But using two endgrain doug fir blocks, spaced apart so the bend is centered between them on the anvil and a third flatsawn block to pad the wedge /ram you can straighten a bar right out. It is a very controlled process.......I keep ckecking by eye, go a little further, check again etc. etc. and when it looks pretty good I check it on a large cast iron shaper table top which is perfectly flat to check for twists and quick yanks...it takes a while but I haven't lost one yet. I cannot take full credit for coming up with this method as Roncoinc. suggested I try it.....it works very well!! Of course a nice 20-30 ton shop press would work good too!!!! I have a wood splitter.... but not a shop press........LOL!!!! Also it would probably be harder to do on a horiz. splitter.......and certainly not a Super Slpit!!!! (rack and pinion type)

 

[SawTroll]

At least don't give up without trying!

 

[Duane(Pa)]

I should have added that I DID buy a new one. Just having trouble tossing the old "twister" DW

 

[Icehouse]

If your at the bottom of the strip and your spare bar is clear up in the truck and you just did something you aren't going to make public and it isn't even lunch time a falling axe a wedge and a stump are your best friend.

 

[sunfish]

It's Easy. Nothing to it.

 

[TreeGuyHR]

And I threw two away over the past few years -- a Stihl 16 in. and a 20 in.:bang:

 

[Dennis Cahoon]

I've straighten bars between my truck bed and bumper, bored stumps, and what ever will hold them. What you have to watch out for is cracking the rails. When they're twisted, it makes it much tougher to straighten

 

[Jacob J.]

I have many years experience straightening things in the machine shop. DO NOT use a hammer to straighten the bar. Use force, support the bar under both ends and use a heavy log or plank, etc. instead of a hammer. Or anchor one end and pry on the other end or use a press to force it back. YES it will straighten out.

Any bar can be straightened, I disagree about not using a hammer, use a press to get it close, then you need to use a hammer to pound it perfect, just like doing sheet metal work you need a hammer to get the thing in-line. Try not to pound around the bar rails, they will close a little, but that's easy to fix after you get it straight. You'll need a heavy hammer, I use a 4lb mini sledge, and some heavy piece of metal to rest the bar on.

The local bar guy here, Dan Cox, uses a "roller machine" that he built to get the bars near straight and then finishes by hand on his 300-pound anvil that's 40" x 22" x 16" with 3, 5, and 9-pound hammers. He was not only certified by the Oregon and Carlton factory service reps to be an official bar repair location for them, he's also a Silvey tree jack service rep. He told me that when a bar is bent, the "kink" that's introduced to the metal needs to be pounded out. Even if a person gets a bar straight in a vise or something similar, the likelihood of the bar bending again is high unless the kink is hammered out. He does the 6 to 9-foot slabbing bars for all the local mills as well.

 

[Jeff Lary]

Have at it you have zero to loose and yes on the hammer .I was a saw filer for a few years at the local lumber mill and in the shop hammering is called " benching". And every saw gets benched after every run.

 

[Bingo]

Bent ber

OP says he replaced it? In that case he's got nothing to lose. Give it a try anyway ya want. Gotta learn something from that approach and won't be trying it on a newer bar. Worse that can happen is that you won't use it at all.

 

[Duane(Pa)]

I have thought of massaging it back to semi normal. since it is fairly new, I thought it might be worth having a pro work it over. Just wasn't sure if service was offered. I may give it a try. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so wheather it ever gets used again will hinge on the outcome. DW

 

[slowp]

The Day Of The F Word

I got out of my pickup at the bottom of a unit and started talking to the gypo logger who was at his pickup while his son was falling timber above the road. It was a thinning with a buffer so we weren't going to get hit by rolling logs.

There was a crash and then the F word hollered over and over and over ... After a couple of minutes of non stop F words, I asked if we should go see if the son was OK. The dad said, "Well, he's still yellin' so he must be OK." I went up and the F word chant had changed to Thousand Dollar Saw Ruined By Four Dollar Tree. He'd been trying to swing a tree around and it sat back, and then went over backwards. He thought the saw was smashed.

His dad came gimping (he had a bad hip) up the hill with another saw and they cut the saw out of the tree. The damage was less than expected but the bar was bent. They packed it down the hill and went to work pounding out the bar with the big hammer that loggers usually have in their tool box and using the tailgate for a table. They got it running and decided it was good enough to keep for a spare.

 

[ibebruce]

is it solid or laminated?

In reading this, the one thing I'm not clear on since we are talking I think about a 16 inch bar, is it a solid. Pro class bars are made from a solid piece of steel. Most North American 16's are laminated steel held together with spot welds. Not to say it can't be done, but straightening a laminated that is BADLY bent might not be the best option. Especially if you've ever seen one banana peel open. I just don't know how you would tell if you damaged one or more of those spot welds. And that's from someone that tends to pound on things.