How tight should your chain be?

[dodge man]

I’ve read the manual but want opinions. I always looked in the middle of the bar, pulled up on the chain, and want to almost see light under the chain and above the bar. I was cutting wood with a buddy and he was wanting to tighten a lot tighter than that.

 

[3Ts]

I pull on my chain and expect to see some light, but expect the links to always be in the bar groove.

 

[jeff9366]

I was cutting wood with a buddy and he wanted to adjust the bar a lot tighter.

Move the chain with a gloved hand. If you feel more than slight resistance to the chain moving, the chain is too tight. Too tight a chain results in a hot saw, a hot, easily dulled, easily stretched chain, rapid sprocket wear and a slower moving chain under power.

 

[kenmbz]

I pull from the bottom on the middle of the chain and expect it to just about clear the bar.
Then check by moving chain by hand
If too tight the sprocket will suffer and it will heat up the bar (like Jeff's example above).
If too loose, it may throw the chain.

Quite a bit of adjustment where the chain will be fine, and not just sag.

 

[sea2summit]

I like to keep it where I can barley see light on a free hanging chain. I usually check it every few minutes for the first tank of gas and tighten as it gets hot and if it has a chance to cool off I check it before I start. A lot of problems I've seen on folks' saws seem to be from failing to care about their chain from tension to sharpness and they end up damaging their saw in one way or another as a result.

 

[dodge man]

Thanks for the replies, it sounds like I’m doing it correctly.

 

[Helogabals]

Our pro guys say - pull chain at the middle of the bar as hard as you can.
Very top of link should stay in the groove.

 

[kenmbz]

That is reasonable for bottom of bar check. As long as the chain glides well when you try to move it.
Pretty much what I do.

 

[Jstpssng]

How often do you throw a chain? If the answer is "not often" you don't have anything to worry about.

 

[etpm]

I have found that when I am just doing a few cuts it is best to keep the chain a little looser than when I am going to use the saw for an extended length of time. This is because as the saw is used more the chain gets hotter and expands more. My saw is a Stihl that requires no tools to adjust chain tension so it is easy to change the tension. Which means I don't mind changing the tension for the job.
Eric