When I bought my first saw, my dealer said that I should put as much torque on them when tightening them as possible (that was, of course, with a standard scrench). Lately I've been using a 1/2" drive breaker bar (about 16" long) and a cheap socket to tighten the bar nuts. Is there such a thing as too much? Can bar nuts be overtightened? Should I worry about shearing or popping a stud out? Or is it possible to overtighten with that particular setup? I might add that nothing SEEMS to be wrong with laying the pressure on, but I don't know any better. I know that several years ago, my dad had to replace a bar stud on his Stihl 025 as it pulled right out of the plastic case. It was an expensive fix.
Torqueing bar nuts?
- Thread starter Jon E
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mile9socounty
Two-Stroke Swope
On all my saws. I don't reef them down as hard as I can. Snug them up, then just add a little more pressure. You ain't suppose to torque them down. That's how side covers develop cracks. Plus if you keep tightening that much, on and off. Your going to start to rub grooves in the side cover.
MS460WOODCHUCK
Addicted to ArboristSite
Yes:agree2:
Possibly, this is a joke question.
stihl only
ArboristSite Operative
There's part of your answer right there. Had a guy bring in a Poulan Wood Shark last year that he pulled a stud out of. Seemed shocked when I told him it wasn't worth fixing!!
Nice and snug with the scrench and all should be fine. Tool long a lever and you can make quite a lot of pressure!
16" half inch breaker bar will either strip threads in nuts, studs or case "YES" there is such a thing as to much torque. Tighten with a scrench.
when running a 20 inch bar on a 660 i just get them tight enough to keep the bar from moving a good kick back will push it back and slack up the chain).
There is NO reason to tighten with force, just enough to keep them in place is great!
There is NO reason to tighten with force, just enough to keep them in place is great!
Octane
ArboristSite Operative
I torque the nuts down as hard as I can with the sparkplug socket/screwdriver tool that comes with the saw or with a 6" ratchet.
I used to just snug them up, but I found that the chain would slowly work its way loose all the time.
Now I tighten them as hard as I can and the chain stays tight. No grooves/cracks in the sidecover either...
I used to just snug them up, but I found that the chain would slowly work its way loose all the time.
Now I tighten them as hard as I can and the chain stays tight. No grooves/cracks in the sidecover either...
mile9socounty
Two-Stroke Swope
I've got plenty of cracked and rutted out side covers here at work. All from 036's, 360's or 361's. I would take a picture. But this place I call work can go straight to hell. Yeah......
JohnL
Addicted to ArboristSite
You can overtighten anything, and break it, I tend to overtighten as a bad habit. Good and snug is fine, don't need to pull the bar studs out or break the case.
Absolutely not! I had a 015 with a cracked case around the bar stud. Good and snug is all you need.
Mountainman
ArboristSite Operative
I like to put a 24 inch cheater pipe on a scrench. I've never, ever cracked a side cover, thank you very much. But I've busted a whole bunch of screnches. That's my safety factor: When the scrench breaks, I know the torque is just about 10 foot pounds too much.
LarryTheCableGuy
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Afraid of the bar wandering off in the night?
I wonder why screnches ain't 24" long... After it's snug, what do you expect to accomplish?
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I like to put a 24 inch cheater pipe on a scrench. I've never, ever cracked a side cover, thank you very much. But I've busted a whole bunch of screnches. That's my safety factor: When the scrench breaks, I know the torque is just about 10 foot pounds too much.
I wonder why screnches ain't 24" long... After it's snug, what do you expect to accomplish?
.
When tightening bar nuts, I use my 3/8 ratchet and choke up on the handle, so i'm only using about 4-5 inches of it. This way I can safely snug the nuts without much fear of over tightening. By choking up on the handle you don't get much leverage, but just enough to prevent the chain from loosening.
CSW
CSW
Mountainman
ArboristSite Operative
All jokes aside, I keep mine a little tighter than snug.
Tree Sling'r
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Wtf????
ehgauss
ArboristSite Operative
I like to use a 1/2" Craftsman ratchet drive, because it fits the ham hock I call a hand better than the scrench or the smaller drives, but I keep my hand down against the socket to keep me from getting too much torque. I do have torque wrenches, but never bothered with them. Good and snug with a short lever arm seems good enough.
LarryTheCableGuy
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Ax-man
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I like to be precise when I tighten down bar nuts so I use a torque wrench. This is the torque wrench I use for tightening bar nuts down. Got that ms 200 rear handled saw tightened down good and tight so it is ready to go back to work.
Larry
Larry
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juststumps
ArboristSite Guru
this is how i do it,,, crank down on them till they break , then back off a half turn .... works all the time !!! LOL
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