Not cutting straight - Replace Bar?

[pyro2]

I have an older Husky 268 20" saw. I have always had the problem where it would seem to stop cutting after the bar was submerged in a log. It would sit there spinning without going any deeper. The wood would start smoking. In previous years, I tried having a dealer sharpen it, and then buying two different kinds of chains. With new chains, it would work ok for a little while, but would have trouble after a few hours of use. They didn't seem to know what was wrong based on my description.

This year, I am noticing the saw is trying to cut circles where it starts binding. I have very carefully hand filed the chain and the teeth are pretty damn sharp. I don't have much experience in hand filing, but I feel like I'm pretty straight and it is sharp. I can't imagine it cuts this bad given my hand filing.

I inspected the bar and there are HUGE burrs. If I place the bar on a flat surface, I would say it sits about 10-15 degrees off. I spent 1 hour hand filing the burrs down and evening out the bar. This barely helped. I noticed that one of the side thicknesses is a bit less than the other. Because of this, I think the chain is able to lean to one side. My theory is that this chain sloop is the reason it is cutting uneven.

Before I shell out the $ for a new bar, has anyone ever heard of this? I always thought it was the bar, but unfortunetly I had the dealer originally tell me it was unlikely to be the bar which caused me to live with it all last year. They inspected it with the chain on it so they couldn't get a good look at it.

If I do replace the bar, is it ok to run my current chain on it? It has been sharpened once since new.

 

[fearofpavement]

I would get a new bar and chain and try it. If your problem goes away, then you've narrowed it down. You can probably run the newer chain on the new bar but keep in mind that if the old bar is buggered up it may have damaged the chain too. You don't want to transfer damage to your new bar.

In lieu of purchasing a new bar, is there anyone that you could borrow one from for a few cuts? Say, "here, you run this bar and I'll run that one" and see if the problem moves from one saw to the other.

I will assume that you are running the correct gauge chain?

If the bar is not actually "bent or warped" a lot of dressing can be done to them to bring them back to life. Bars are not that expensive considering you have a saw that won't cut which is pretty worthless.

 

[Joe46]

New bar. Make sure both your right and left hand cutters are the same length. Sharp matters, but so does the length of the cutters.

 

[pyro2]

I don't know why I didn't think of that. I do have another Poulan but I think it has a 18" bar or perhaps even smaller. If the bars are compatible I will try that. It would be a good test just to convince me this saw can be saved. The Poulan is working great.

I'm positive about the gauge. The gauge is 0.058". Listed on the bar itself and the chain is Oregon 73*. I kept the box.

The bar is not bent or warped in any way that I can see. I tried looking down the notch and laying it on a flat table. Looks pretty straight to me. This saw is entering at 0 degrees and then exiting a 8" log at 10-20 degrees. This has to be something that is obvious, and its just not to me.

I'm hesistant to buy a 4th chain with the bar. I already have 3 that have life left in them.

 

[cpr]

I would not go back to the first saw shop. Second, find one that knows what they are doing. Provided there's enough depth left in the groove, they can "true" the rails with an appropriate bench grinder. Local place here did it for me on one gratis (I spend money there and have gotten to know them, though). Much cheaper than a new bar and should buy you some time before a new one is necessary.

If your bar is a laminated one, skip all this and trash it .

 

[lfnh]

Can you post some good pics of bar and chain esp cutters ?

Replace the drive sprocket (rim) when you change out to new chain.

268 is a good saw. find a better dealer.

 

[pyro2]

I took some measurements with digital calipers. The bar groove openning is between 0.069" - 0.076". Again this bar is a 0.058" gauge bar. I don't know how much tolerance the bar is supposed to give the chain.

I tried to measure the thickness of each bar wall on three different locations.

Side 1 / Side 2
0.055 / 0.060
0.051 / 0.061
0.054 / 0.058

So one wall is 5-10 thousands of an inch wider. Again, looking at the bar, especially after filing the burrs down, I really would not suspect the bar.

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I tried getting a picture of me pushing on the chain to each direction. It's very difficult to see, but one side does move a bit more.

I think I'm going to order the bar this weekend and see what happens. As usual, throw enough money at any problem and it will eventually be fixed.

 

[pyro2]

Here are the two pics of pushing on the chain backwards and forward. Again very difficult to see.

View attachment 206498
View attachment 206499

 

[FrichKazzone]

Make sure both your right and left hand cutters are the same length.

 

[Iron man]

Have you checked if the bar is getting the proper amount of oil?Not sure if it would cause it not to cut but just thinking about the bar getting hot then expanding and if it expands enough to where its wider than the chain it will jam in the wood.

 

[lfnh]

Thanks for the pics and the measurements.
Think that bar groove is fairly worn.
You might find a shop to grind the rails and close them..
The cutter in this photo chain_on_bar_1.jpg isnot sharp on the side plate or top plate.
Probly opt for new bar, chain, rim, like you are planning. Start fresh. Get a couple of new files.
Oregon power match isn't a bad choice.
Check the oiler setting is 1:1 (tank of oil - tank of fuel)

 

[acguy]

old chains

For some strange reason, my old chains keep cutting well until the cutters are almost gone. You gotta set the raker depth right no matter how much metal you take off the cutters.

If you want to get rid of those old worthless non cutting chains, PM me - I might take em off your hands.

 

[pyro2]

What kind of equipment does a shop with a bar grinder do they use? I have a bench mount grinder with the standard 1" wide grinder. I was thinking of using that, but wasn't sure how consistent I could make it. However, since I don't notice any type of taper, I can't see taking the bar down will affect it much. At this point, I don't think its even worth trying (shop or grinding myself).

I'll report back once I get the new bar. I'll first try with existing chain, and then put the new chain on it. If that doesn't work, I'm going to purposely bend the bar by flinging the saw at the ground. I am going to skip the sprocket/rim since I don't understand how that matters (although I have read to do that every once in a while).

Once I get this damn thing working and have a reference to work from, I imagine I can sharpen all my chains and keep them all. If any one chain doesn't work, I'll toss them (or maybe then remember to PM you).

 

[lfnh]

Understand your frustration.
The suggestion of new chain and $5 rim was to eliminate the other two causes of the saw not running straight, in the cut. The chain in the photo prolly can be sent for a grind to a good shop to fix the cutters and check rakers. For now, go with new LGX chain and rim on the new bar, it's quicker and more certain.

 

[Anthony_Va.]

The reasoning for buying a new rim is because they wear out where the chain drivelinks run on it. If you look you'll prolly see grooves worn in it. Putting a new chain on it will ruin the drivelinks on that new chain in no time. It's a cheap part, easy to change, and needs to be repleced if worn.

Your bar is most likely spread, letting the chain rock side to side. Keep your rails trued with a file when they get a lip formed up on them. The main cause of premature bar wear is running dull chains. Keep it sharp and keep the cutters the same length. This is very important. Also, keep your rakers filed down with a depth gauge, not by eyeball.

Theres lots of things that need to be maintained on a bar and chain for it to cut correctly. I suggest you read up on bar and chain maintenece. Before I could sharpen a chain worth a hoot I had read a good read on it and it helped me greatly.

 

[deye223]

What kind of equipment does a shop with a bar grinder do they use? I have a bench mount grinder with the standard 1" wide grinder. I was thinking of using that, but wasn't sure how consistent I could make it. However, since I don't notice any type of taper, I can't see taking the bar down will affect it much. At this point, I don't think its even worth trying (shop or grinding myself).

I'll report back once I get the new bar. I'll first try with existing chain, and then put the new chain on it. If that doesn't work, I'm going to purposely bend the bar by flinging the saw at the ground. I am going to skip the sprocket/rim since I don't understand how that matters (although I have read to do that every once in a while).

Once I get this damn thing working and have a reference to work from, I imagine I can sharpen all my chains and keep them all. If any one chain doesn't work, I'll toss them (or maybe then remember to PM you).

you can lead a horse to water
take the advice even if you can't make sence of it

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

What kind of equipment does a shop with a bar grinder do they use? I have a bench mount grinder with the standard 1" wide grinder. I was thinking of using that, but wasn't sure how consistent I could make it. However, since I don't notice any type of taper, I can't see taking the bar down will affect it much. At this point, I don't think its even worth trying (shop or grinding myself).

I'll report back once I get the new bar. I'll first try with existing chain, and then put the new chain on it. If that doesn't work, I'm going to purposely bend the bar by flinging the saw at the ground. I am going to skip the sprocket/rim since I don't understand how that matters (although I have read to do that every once in a while).

Once I get this damn thing working and have a reference to work from, I imagine I can sharpen all my chains and keep them all. If any one chain doesn't work, I'll toss them (or maybe then remember to PM you).

If you are bent on trying to use the old bar, I've trued them up using a belt sander. If you don't have access to a bed type sander you can mount a hand type in a vise, upside down. Pretty easy to to sight it straight while sanding. Make sure you clean it VERY well after as grit and metal particles will wear it out quick again. Be aware that only about 1/16" of the bars surface is hardened.(at least on Stihls) Once you get beyond that, it's junk for sure.

One question, look at you chain that you have used a awhile. Normally if it's "sinking" into the bar you'll see wear on the side of the chain up to the rivets.

 

[chainsawlady]

Bar info

I have an older Husky 268 20" saw. I have always had the problem where it would seem to stop cutting after the bar was submerged in a log. It would sit there spinning without going any deeper. The wood would start smoking. In previous years, I tried having a dealer sharpen it, and then buying two different kinds of chains. With new chains, it would work ok for a little while, but would have trouble after a few hours of use. They didn't seem to know what was wrong based on my description.

This year, I am noticing the saw is trying to cut circles where it starts binding. I have very carefully hand filed the chain and the teeth are pretty damn sharp. I don't have much experience in hand filing, but I feel like I'm pretty straight and it is sharp. I can't imagine it cuts this bad given my hand filing.

I inspected the bar and there are HUGE burrs. If I place the bar on a flat surface, I would say it sits about 10-15 degrees off. I spent 1 hour hand filing the burrs down and evening out the bar. This barely helped. I noticed that one of the side thicknesses is a bit less than the other. Because of this, I think the chain is able to lean to one side. My theory is that this chain sloop is the reason it is cutting uneven.

Before I shell out the $ for a new bar, has anyone ever heard of this? I always thought it was the bar, but unfortunetly I had the dealer originally tell me it was unlikely to be the bar which caused me to live with it all last year. They inspected it with the chain on it so they couldn't get a good look at it.

If I do replace the bar, is it ok to run my current chain on it? It has been sharpened once since new.

pyro2
Having been in the chain business for 52 years, here is some sage advise we received from our Homelite rep. many years ago which we found to be true. The bar does not cut the wood, the chain does. If the saw cuts to the right the left cutters are duller than the right .and vice versa if the right cutters are duller. Do a careful inspection of the dull side under a light and see if the chrome could be knicked on the round part of the tooth. Compare the other side and see if it is O.K. In a large percentage of the cases the dull side had to be filed a little more to remove the knick on the chrome. It was hard to tell a customer this, but after sharpening his chain so it is sharp on both sides and telling him to go out and cut with the correctly sharpened chain it made a believer out of him. We saw many a customer walk in and want a new bar or some had even purchased a new bar and we told them to let us see the old bar and it was perfectly good. Often times they said the dealer kept the old bar. That profit was too good to pass up on the purchase of a new bar. There are isolated times when the bar has been damaged, but not ver often.
chainsawlaady

 

[In The Weeds]

I am no pro at sharpening my chain but so far I can't complain. I do all my sharpening by eyeballing and sometimes the saw cuts perfectly straight and sometimes a little angle. I don't care about the angle as long as I can still split the wood. This leads me to agree that its not the bar but the chain when you've got a sort of arc to the cut. This doesn't mean that a bad bar wouldn't cause the same thing but in my experience it has always been all about how even I was at sharpening.

 

[Fish]

I took some measurements with digital calipers. The bar groove openning is between 0.069" - 0.076". Again this bar is a 0.058" gauge bar. I don't know how much tolerance the bar is supposed to give the chain.

I tried to measure the thickness of each bar wall on three different locations.

Side 1 / Side 2
0.055 / 0.060
0.051 / 0.061
0.054 / 0.058

So one wall is 5-10 thousands of an inch wider. Again, looking at the bar, especially after filing the burrs down, I really would not suspect the bar.

View attachment 206492
View attachment 206493
View attachment 206494
View attachment 206495
View attachment 206496

I tried getting a picture of me pushing on the chain to each direction. It's very difficult to see, but one side does move a bit more.

I think I'm going to order the bar this weekend and see what happens. As usual, throw enough money at any problem and it will eventually be fixed.

Looking at your pics, your chains need to be sharpened, and all of the damage removed, the full chisel's points are damaged.