Saw chain dulling quick

[coolbrze]

Got a 260 Pro and the chain is dulling real quick, as in 10 seconds tops. The chain is sharp, we did it twice, thinking someone may have goofed up & is in good condition. Chain depth gauges are also w/in spec. I'm thinking it has to do w/ the bar oil. I've got the oiler adjusted for max flow and when I take the bar off the powerhead, oil comes out where it's supposed to when revved. The bar rails & oil holes are clear of debris. I think the pump (if there is one) or a tube for the oiler is messed up or off b/c when I put the bar on and run the saw, the chain only has a very light coat of oil on it and no oil comes off when you hold it at 1/2 or WOT next to an object. After a short cut it starts to smoke. Any ideas?

 

[HimWill]

Are you running a sprocket tip bar?Check that the tip is turning freely.If the nose sprocket is dragging,it heats up the clutch and sprocket which heats up the chain.If you've had your chains sharpened on a grinder lately,it's possible that when they ground the teeth they overheated them and burned the temper out of the teeth.

 

[wigglesworth]

Check the tank filter, turn the oiler up, if its a pro, it has an adjustable oiler.

 

[Justsaws]

Got a 260 Pro and the chain is dulling real quick, as in 10 seconds tops. The chain is sharp, we did it twice, thinking someone may have goofed up & is in good condition. Chain depth gauges are also w/in spec. I'm thinking it has to do w/ the bar oil. I've got the oiler adjusted for max flow and when I take the bar off the powerhead, oil comes out where it's supposed to when revved. The bar rails & oil holes are clear of debris. I think the pump (if there is one) or a tube for the oiler is messed up or off b/c when I put the bar on and run the saw, the chain only has a very light coat of oil on it and no oil comes off when you hold it at 1/2 or WOT next to an object. After a short cut it starts to smoke. Any ideas?

Try a new chain or post a picture. Lots of variables, the most likely is the chain is not sharpened correctly.

 

[MCW]

A chain won't go blunt in 10 seconds from a lack of oil thats for sure. I've had blocked oil holes before and completely seized a nose sprocket with no chain damage at all despite a heap of smoke. After 10 seconds of dry running I doubt you'd get enough heat into any chain to cause damage.
As mentioned above either the chain isn't correctly sharpened or there is a chance it has had the temper taken out of it by over zealous grinding or very hard use when already blunt. Also a chance you're not filing correctly leaving a seemingly sharp (to your finger) but ineffective lead cutting edge that disappears as soon as it is hitting something hard.

 

[blis]

post pictures of your chain so we can see if theres anything wrong...

 

[wigglesworth]

I am going on a limb here and am going to say that your post title is not what you ment. The title " Saw chain dulling quick" is no were described in your post, in fact you state that the chain is still sharp.

I'm thinking it has to do w/ the bar oil. I've got the oiler adjusted for max flow and when I take the bar off the powerhead, oil comes out where it's supposed to when revved

.

It oils with the bar off, and not with the bar on? Is the bar the right bar for the saw? The pump will not push past a blockage, so make sure there is no blockages. If it pumps with the bar off it has to be blocked in the bar or not lined up with the oil hole.

 

[BobL]

Every now an then I see a saw which has a slightly longer chain, and the bar oil hole is not it the best possible place on the bar so that when the chain stretches and adjusted to account for stretch, the bar oil hole no longer matches up with the groove on the body of the saw. You can test this by taking the chain off and running the saw with just the bar and see if oil wells up inside the groove. If not you may have to drill another oil hole or shorten your chain.

 

[Nosmo]

Look at the oil inlet hole in the side of the bar. There are two - one on top and one on bottom. As far as I know only the top one lets oil onto the top side of the bar. When the bar is flipped the oil hole is on top again.

I modified the holes on my MS 250C by drilling those holes to just a little larger size on a drill press. It seemed to help getting more oil to the chain . This saw was dulling chains pretty fast and was at time smoking (chain hot as a firecracker). This was while cutting a couple large elm trees with a number of dead and seasoned limbs.

I am not in favor of cutting this old wood but they were mine and the trees needed to come down. Good new is - these are gone. Bad news is - got one more big old elm with a lot of dead wood to go. The girth on it is 83".

Clean the grooves of the bar and check the nose sprocket to make certain it is moving freely.

 

[striperswaper]

GRITH 83"
so you are are pushing close to 3' diameter and you are not milling?

"am I missing something?" as somebody here once said

no use for planks, boards, slabs?

 

[GASoline71]

Oil will have nothing to do with a dull chain... you must be hittin' metal in the wood, like nails or somethin'.

Like was said earlier... sounds like the title of the thread and the problem don't match.

Gary

 

[MS460WOODCHUCK]

Gotta be hitting something!

 

[SilverBox]

Got a 260 Pro and the chain is dulling real quick, as in 10 seconds tops. The chain is sharp, we did it twice, thinking someone may have goofed up & is in good condition. Chain depth gauges are also w/in spec. I'm thinking it has to do w/ the bar oil. I've got the oiler adjusted for max flow and when I take the bar off the powerhead, oil comes out where it's supposed to when revved. The bar rails & oil holes are clear of debris. I think the pump (if there is one) or a tube for the oiler is messed up or off b/c when I put the bar on and run the saw, the chain only has a very light coat of oil on it and no oil comes off when you hold it at 1/2 or WOT next to an object. After a short cut it starts to smoke. Any ideas?

Your sure you didn't do it twice wrong? get more oil on that chain!!

 

[4492011]

CHAIN IS ON BACKWARDS. I was cutting with a home owner he threw the chain on his saw the next thing was after he put it back on he said it was really dull so I looked at it and he had put it on backwards. check to make sure it is not on backwards.

 

[Nosmo]

Bar Troubles

I was reading a thread the other day about a saw not cutting like the owner thought it should. Somebody replied maybe the bar is on upside down. :greenchainsaw:

Nosmo

 

[ironman_gq]

Bars cant be on upside down it doesnt matter. Are you filing a lot of hook into the chain? A lot of hook will cause the edge to fold over and your chain is dull before you get two pieces cut.

 

[West Texas]

Oil will have nothing to do with a dull chain... you must be hittin' metal in the wood, like nails or somethin'.
Gary

+1

You must be cutting metal instead of wood to dull it in 10 sec max. I can't do it that quick by holding it down in the dirt and rocks at WOT.

 

[Nosmo]

Have you tried a different chain ? Are you using Stihl chains ? Do you sharpen your own chains ? Are you using a chain which matches the groove in the bar ?

One last thing -- what condition is your bar ?

 

[coolbrze]

Been doing this a long time fellas. Chain is on correctly, had another guy sharpen it also, not hitting anyting in the wood as we've tried it on 3 different trees, sprocket tip turns fine. I'll throw on a new Stihl chain tomorrow and see. Have had this saw over a year and have run this chain on it many times, still plenty of tooth left also. Bar is in decent condition. I think either the chain temper is no good or more likely, there's a problem w/ the oiler.

 

[MCW]

Must be the chain temper mate because as I mentioned above you could run a saw with no bar oil in it at all and it won't get enough heat into the chain to cause it to go blunt for quite a while.