No hole to grease bar tip on ms290??

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tec498

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My ms290 doesn't seem to have a hole at the tip of the bar to apply grease to the sprocket. Is this normal? Every other saw I've operated requires grease for the tip. I'm using the 18" bar that came with it. It's a rollomatic e I believe.
 
Current wisdom is that the nose sprocket is lubricated by bar oil. Grease is not needed, gets flushed out anyway, and has the potential to hold crud that oil tends to push out. Just run it.
 
Not all still bars out there are like this but it is nice to have a constant lubrication flowing rather than sitting building up junk
 
Are all Stihl bars made this way? I know Husqvarna bars aren't.

All the Stihl bars that I know of do not have grease holes. Some of the older models from back in the day did. Husqvarna bars in the US are just rebadged Oregon Powermatch bars... they have the grease holes.

There's no need for 'em anyhow. Enough bar oil gets down there anyways.

But... once you grease a bar tip... you have to continue to do so. I have run Oregon and Windsor bars that had the grease holes... but never, ever greased them. They were just fine.

Gary
 
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Stihl bars sold in Canada often are rebranded Oregons and have the grease holes. Some of those bars has been sold in the US as well, when supply of the German made original ones fell short.
 
Ha, and I thought I was the only one that didnt grease my bar tips. Letting the bar oil do its thing has worked for me so far...
 
I do not grease mine either, but one day had a bar sprocket jam with chips and stop turning. Had to remove the chain and tap the sprocket tips with a small hammer to get the sprocket turning again. When I got home, I blew it out with compressed air, but it still didn't turn freely. So I tried a shot of WD-40. After a bit of that, compressed air would really make it sing. Nowadays, I blow them clean with air and give them a shot of WD after every workday. It probably doesn't help them long, but maybe retards a little rust and gets them started clean on a new workday.
 
All the Stihl bars that I know of do not have grease holes. Some of the older models from back in the day did. Husqvarna bars in the US are just rebadged Oregon Powermatch bars... they have the grease holes.

There's no need for 'em anyhow. Enough bar oil gets down there anyways.

But... once you grease a bar tip... you have to continue to do so. I have run Oregon and Windsor bars that had the grease holes... but never, ever greased them. They were just fine.

Gary

Nuff said, just keep oil holes open
 
bar

Well mine doesn't have a hole either, haven't had any problems so far.My old partners have a grease hole.
 

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