Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Chain saw gurus - help.

A buddy brought me his Husky 137 chainsaw. Starts and runs like a champ. Cuts like a champ - until you get 3/4 of the depth of the bar into a chunk of wood. Then it will only cut if you torque the powerhead and thus the bar slightly clockwise and it will continue to cut like a champ, but at a slight angle until it hits that point again, torque slightly again and away she goes. He brought it to me because I know enough about this kind of stuff to be dangerous. I haven't taken anything apart, it's a brand new chain - I watched him take it out of the package and put it on. My guess is something with the sprocket on the power head, but this can't be that uncommon of a problem. Suggestions and further questions welcome.

I don't know diddly about saws, but sounds to me like the bar is warped.

No charge,

All it takes to do that is a chain that's it's got a few dull teeth on one side. First place I'd look. The bare could be a little wore on one side too. That's a small saw with generally one of those crappy chains. Look there first.

Replace the bar, it an expensive fix.

Sounds bent.

The chain has been run too loose allowing sawdust to get between the bar and chain. It makes the bar wear unevenly in the chain groove. This allows the chain to ride crooked in the wallered out chain groove. If that new chain has been run much at all it will be worn unevenly on it's inside / bar side as well. I would replace both bar and chain at the same time. Oregon recommends the chains be run tight enough that you can just move them by hand(no slop) . BTDT. Keep the chain tight, just because it isn't jumping off doesn't mean it's right.

First thing I would check is the Bar sprocket and grease it. Is the chain track smooth and free from burrs?

What size wood are you cutting and what size bar you running? Next what chain are you running?

Real basic, but make sure the bar and the chain are the same gauge.

Bar could be warped, or the rails have worn uneven. Bar groove clean?

If the bar is not bent then the saw needs to be sharpened properly.

Bent Bar..

Take the bar off and lay it on a perfectly flat surface. Doesn't take much to screw it up. It it's not warped or bent, think chain or chain raceway.