How tight should your chain be?

[xyz123]

Here is how I explain to my locals.

Also lift bar tip while doing.

It's a simple thing dont over think it IMHO.

 

[arrow]

When i was working the wood and just a pup in the business, the grizzled veterans on the crew taught me to never tighten a chain so the bottom touches the bar. They embedded in me that a dime width space was the preferable dimension.
Now granted, my life as a logger and all the rest I worked with was about one thing...production. A loose chain moved faster and kept the saw viable for a longer period.
Also implanted by "the guys" was that a chain was the cheapest and fastest thing to replace on a chainsaw.
When I first heard that I said " well yeah but a sprocket is cheaper" and summarily got cuffed in the head.
Sensitive bunch they were.

 

[John_Mc]

The dime's worth of slack on the underside was a common recommendation back when solid nose bars were common. That little bit of slack was necessary to reduce friction of the chain around the tip of the bar.

It's not recommended by either the bar, chain, or saw manufacturers these days with the sprocket nose bars. However, the old habits die hard.

 

[Jstpssng]

When I was doing powerline maintenance cutting a lot of small brush throwing a chain wasn't that uncommon. One of my coworkers got into the habit of winding them up so tightly that he would burn up a tip every couple of weeks. OTOH the only time that I remember ever burning one up was when my chain got so old that it was losing teeth. About the time I that only had 7 teeth left I wanted to go back to the truck for a new chain but the foreman told me to keep cutting. About 5 minutes later the tip blew out...

 

[repete]

My local dealer has a lot of information on chain saws. Here is the site and if you click on a subject on the left column it brings up a good amount of info on saws, bars and blades. Welcome To Madsen's Online

 

[CalG]

One can not question the experts (not these days, anyway)

I want my chain to be just loose enough that No matter what, it will never get tight.

A loose chain can tilt in the cut a bit more easily, and a loose chain can be a problem in the drive sprocket when cutting "UP".. But loose.. is relative. I usually need to adjust tension every third fuel load. or so..

Now hanging below the bar! Just running smoothly.

 

[Torvy]

Thanks for all of this. Throwing chains stops production. Whether cutting for employment or cutting for fun (or anywhere in between), re-mounting the chain takes time that can better be used doing something else. I have been experimenting, but now I have a useful target to get it right. 2023 will see a lot more chainsaw work than the last 50 years combined. Y'all are good people.

 

[sandman2234]

Here is how I explain to my locals.

Also lift bar tip while doing.

It's a simple thing dont over think it IMHO.

That is the video that I said the guy was in the business of selling bars and chains. Too tight as far as I am concerned, but if you want to run it this tight, go right ahead.
David from jax

 

[John_Mc]

My local dealer has a lot of information on chain saws. Here is the site and if you click on a subject on the left column it brings up a good amount of info on saws, bars and blades. Welcome To Madsen's Online

Madsen's has some great info. Their recordings are how I learned to tune a chainsaw by ear.

 

[IrishLoader]

I didn't see it mentioned although a few touched on the tip of the bar. A bound/binding tip will throw an "eyeball" adjustment off also along with replacing a chain don't forget to maintain/flip the bar. I have an old dental pick (or as Harbor Freight packages them as "probes," ewww!) in my possibles box( sumthin' is gonna break box) to clean the oil channel and tip. Also flip the bar every time the chain is off during heavy use. Take a file (or a angle grinder for those of you that are adventurous enough) to any spots on the bar that are worn. You should be able to run a gloved hand pinching the bar on either side of the oil channel and no resistance should be felt. If so a couple of strokes with your file will knock these raised portions down and the bar will be good to go. Don't forget to clean the oiler hole if equipped, the one not receiving constant oil will be clogged with debris.

 

[RandyT]

Something else to keep in mind, mainly just for safety reasons. The longer thin safety chain consumer bars are subject to flexing from side loads. Meaning when most people are felling they tend to pull up or push down on the rear handle. That pressure can flex some of the bars enough to throw the chain off. Ran into a saw a few years ago that the customer was complaining of the saw cutting moon shaped. found that you could pull up on the rear handle in an attempt to rotate the bar through the log that it wouldn't stall the chain but would cause the bar to twist and cause crooked cutting.

 

[IrishLoader]

Something else to keep in mind, mainly just for safety reasons. The longer thin safety chain consumer bars are subject to flexing from side loads. Meaning when most people are felling they tend to pull up or push down on the rear handle. That pressure can flex some of the bars enough to throw the chain off. Ran into a saw a few years ago that the customer was complaining of the saw cutting moon shaped. found that you could pull up on the rear handle in an attempt to rotate the bar through the log that it wouldn't stall the chain but would cause the bar to twist and cause crooked cutting.

Good point, always told the customer to "let the saw do the work." Some folks just had to be somewhere I guess.

 

[xyz123]

That is the video that I said the guy was in the business of selling bars and chains. Too tight as far as I am concerned, but if you want to run it this tight, go right ahead.
David from jax

Again, not rocket science.

 

[sandman2234]

Again, not rocket science.

True, and tightening a chain tighter than it needs to be just causes premature wear on the chain and bar. As I stated, the person in your video has a very good reason for having chains tightened just a little bit too tight. His livelihood depends on selling bars and chains! They can always blame it on insufficient oiling, and get away with it.
My saws do not exhibit any signs of premature wear, and although I have several spare bars, only the original has ever been on my saw(s). I grew up in the days before auto oilers and roller tip bars, and if you over tightened your chain, or failed to pump the oiler enough, you would be buying a new chain and bar. The saw that my Dad purchased new in 1967 still has the original bar on it, and both chains are still operational, because we made sure of the tension on the chain and oil was CHEAP! Some people consider bars and chains as consumables when cutting trees, but if you grew up poor, you made sure or you got to do all your cutting with a handsaw, which considering the volume of wood we cut, wasn't an option, even if my Dad, brother and I were cheap labor.
David from jax

 

[mapper]

Something else to keep in mind, mainly just for safety reasons. The longer thin safety chain consumer bars are subject to flexing from side loads. Meaning when most people are felling they tend to pull up or push down on the rear handle. That pressure can flex some of the bars enough to throw the chain off. Ran into a saw a few years ago that the customer was complaining of the saw cutting moon shaped. found that you could pull up on the rear handle in an attempt to rotate the bar through the log that it wouldn't stall the chain but would cause the bar to twist and cause crooked cutting.

That was a lesson I had to learn with the first saw I bought (in my 20's). My early experience was with my dad's late 40's Mcculloch saw, had a 24 inch bar that was about 6 or 7 inches wide. The saw had a gear drive and ran the chain so slow that if there was a high tooth you could feel it every time it came around.Chain was huge, cut about a 3/8 kerf. Probably weighed in over 30 lbs.
You cut with it by setting the spurs and putting pressure on the bar, the saw would only do the work with help.
On modern saws if you put much pressure on the bar the saw will stall as well as the problems mentioned above.
The only thing that that old mcculloch had over modern saws was it gave you a workout you would be hard to match in a gym, and it would make a damn fine boat anchor when it wore out.

 

[xyz123]

True, and tightening a chain tighter than it needs to be just causes premature wear on the chain and bar. As I stated, the person in your video has a very good reason for having chains tightened just a little bit too tight. His livelihood depends on selling bars and chains! They can always blame it on insufficient oiling, and get away with it.
My saws do not exhibit any signs of premature wear, and although I have several spare bars, only the original has ever been on my saw(s). I grew up in the days before auto oilers and roller tip bars, and if you over tightened your chain, or failed to pump the oiler enough, you would be buying a new chain and bar. The saw that my Dad purchased new in 1967 still has the original bar on it, and both chains are still operational, because we made sure of the tension on the chain and oil was CHEAP! Some people consider bars and chains as consumables when cutting trees, but if you grew up poor, you made sure or you got to do all your cutting with a handsaw, which considering the volume of wood we cut, wasn't an option, even if my Dad, brother and I were cheap labor.
David from jax

Again like you said in another post you argued this point with your fellow worker in a volunteer crew. You do you. Thats all I can say.

I do my stuff the way I do them and send them out the way I do them. Never ever one complaint from my shop.

I am not going to make the call if the guys chain in video is to tight or not as I cant check it. But if you think to tight good for you. I cant make that call unless on my bench to test myself.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

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.

A brand new chain will loosen up very quickly so I make it tight. After that initial period it should be a little loose.

 

[Jstpssng]

The only thing that that old mcculloch had over modern saws was it gave you a workout you would be hard to match in a gym, and it would make a damn fine boat anchor when it wore out.

In their day though those old saws were the cat's meow... replacing the axe and two man crosscut. The old Frenchman who ran the saw shop in town for years had an old Homelite in his shop from nineteen fifty something... that thing was a beast. He said the only reason he took it in trade is because it's like the first saw he ever owned, back when he was cutting wood for a living.