New chain fitting

[druist]

Decided to get a new chain as i noticed a lot of fine dust as opposed to the usual chips that come of. Got the new chain
pretty sure i put it on the right way with the sharp squarer edge in front and the dull triangle bit behind it, the stihl name facing me.

Anyway it was pretty hard getting it in - i appreciate this is a new chain but and its not worn in. even added some chain oil and i cant get it to turn manually by hand - is this normal?

BTW the wood in the previous post was a type of cherry a very hard one not like the birch type bark, leathery looking bark.

thanks guys - drew

 

[maccall]

So, was it hard to get the drive tangs into the bar grove? Then you might have got the wrong gauge, say you've got a .063 gauge chain and a .058 gauge bar. Don't know if it's even possible to squeeze the thicker one into the smaller bar groove, but it sure would be hard...

Or was it hard to fit the chain around the bar and sprocket? Did you adjust the bar to it's shortest before you put the chain on? Usually has to do that if a new chain is going to fit. Sometimes you even have to take off the rim/spur sprocket and mount the rim/bar/chain as a unit on the saw. If you did, did you check that the clutchdrum could revolve freely afterwards? Oh, yeah, that might not be easy, but it has to fit in whatever gears drives your bar oil pump, or it might stuck and/or brake your bar oil pump.

Is the chain simply to tight? The right tightened chain allows you to easily rotate it by hand, and show a little bit of visible slack at the middle of the bars lower side.

And have you released the chain brake..? Sorry to ask, but sometimes the easiest solutions are not taken into consideration...

 

[SawTroll]

This is not normal at all - something is not right!

My guess is that the gauge of the chain is wrong, if it is a really tight fit in a halv-worn bar - don't try "to run it in".

Of course the rails and sprocket nose could be full of crud, as well.....

 

[druist]

Strange thing is its says its for the M170 - then length is right. I wouldnt say it was ultra hard to get in, i had to push every other inch or so to get it in. Could be i missed some gunk or something. But my old one slips straight on and rotates without a problem.

yes i did release the break. But i think i will investigate further before i contact the place i got it from - as its mail order, so i cant just pop round or else i would have.

thanks for the advice guys. comparing it to my old one, i certainly needed a new one and it might account for the poor cutting i was getting. Also, with more knowledge this one (providing its the right one) with get more maintainance and care as i know a lot more than before; with a lot of help from you ppl.

 

[druist]

i think it could be the wrong size. The company emailed me back and said i may have the 1.3mm as opposed to the 1.1mm thick.

Sorry about the metric guys but here we work in inches and cm, mm, but not anything less than an inch.

 

[maccall]

Strange thing is its says its for the M170 - then length is right. I wouldnt say it was ultra hard to get in, i had to push every other inch or so to get it in. Could be i missed some gunk or something. But my old one slips straight on and rotates without a problem.

This definitely sounds like the culprit! I have never had to force the chain into the grove the tiniest little bit, it should just "fall" in place, especially if it's a previusly used bar! Now, if you have to push one tang into the grove, imagine how hard it will be for the saw (or when you try to do it by hand) to push ~56 of them around...

yes i did release the break. But i think i will investigate further before i contact the place i got it from - as its mail order, so i cant just pop round or else i would have.

Good! But you know, if I hadn't asked, then the break would actually have been the problem...

thanks for the advice guys. comparing it to my old one, i certainly needed a new one and it might account for the poor cutting i was getting. Also, with more knowledge this one (providing its the right one) with get more maintainance and care as i know a lot more than before; with a lot of help from you ppl.

If you have the original bar, then you should use 0.043 inch/1,1 mm. gauge chain, it's what the 170 comes with from Stihl. It should be printed on your bar together with drive link count and such. The package from your chain should tell you weather it is .043 (1,1mm.) or .050 (1,3mm.), or just measure the tangs with a caliper.

 

[druist]

Thanks Mac, trouble is all thats visible now on my bar is the word sthil and thats fading fast, had it for a while now and its always performed well till these past few months. But I reckon most of the problems have been down to not enough maintainance.

The guy said he would change it if its wrong, which methinks it is now.

 

[druist]

will check up later, thanks.

Incidentally, why are there two types of 12" bars?

 

[computeruser]

i think it could be the wrong size. The company emailed me back and said i may have the 1.3mm as opposed to the 1.1mm thick.

Sorry about the metric guys but here we work in inches and cm, mm, but not anything less than an inch.

That'd do it - .050" versus the .043" you needed.

 

[druist]

Well I know where i went wrong. I typed Sthil m170 chain in EBAY. I got 3 hits. 2 said M170 picco, the other didnt say M170 it say micro picco, so dingbat here thought as it had found M170 and Picco and 12" they must all be the same. Duh.

 

[Ironbark]

I don't know how much you paid for the chain, but I've not found ebay (in the UK anyway) is not particularly cheap for chains or any Stihl products.

 

[Erick]

Look at the end of your chainsaw bar here;

Should give you all of the information you need to get the right chain.



Check out this link on how to properly sharpen a chain and get that old one back to right.

Just scroll to the bottom of the page when it opens the new link.
http://www.amickssuperstore.com/Vallorbe_5_32_Chain_Sharpening_Kit_p/vallorbe%20532%20sharpening%20kit.htm

Amicks is a site sponsor here (at the top of this page) and should be able to get you the chains you need shipped to your door for what I'm guessing would be a better price than your paying on Fleabay/UK.

Good luck



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[COLD_IRON]

I actually have a similar problem except the chain and bar are the correct size. .050 25" bar and .050 3/8 chain. It's not really tight but it does take a little more work to get it all put together. Both are new and never used. Strange huh.