mystery problem with husky 181 bar/chain

[ukminch]

I'd agree with Mesterh that the chain looks like it need sharpening. How tight have you been running it and how often have you dressed the bar? As it's secondhand you don't know how its been treated in the past so I'd try a new bar and chain. As for the Arborol never tried it. Oil seems to work so why change.

 

Why soak the chain in oil before use, surely it'll come off anyway if your in doubt I'd use proper chain oil, but then again I know nothing about Arborol.

 

Don't want to teach you to suck eggs, but ifyour getting through oil, it ought to mean your doing lots of cutting, earning lots of pennies. If your not you may need to look at your pricing factoring in the cost of oil.

 

R

[daltontrees]

The new Oregon bar and chain arrived and I used it yesterday, what a joy it was and it was whistling through 0.8m dia discs of Cedar in about 1 minute. And much as an odd number of drive links may not damage a bar, I could feel the difference right away having an even number, it is much smooter cutting.

 

The old chain needs sharpenign but I will be storing it away for only the most desparate emergencies. The bar was pretty poor when I bought it second-hand and although I dressed it about every hour of cutting I suspect it may have been overheated in a chainsaw mill by aprevious owner.

 

The soaking in oil before fitting the new chain was recommended by the tutor on my CS30 course, and I've done it ever since. I suppose it means that the oil can get into the links before the chain is run, it could take a few minutes of running on the saw before the oil would infuse the links otherwise, saving on any metal-on-metal damage.

 

I may as well use up my enormous supply of Arborol, and I can monitor its effect on my new bar and chain. The cost of it is so low that I don't even think about it when costing jobs, even ones like this week's where we were cutting dozens of discs.

 

I have also noticed that Arborol's claim that the stuff helps cool the bar may be true. I use a Husq 357XP and my partner uses a 455 Rancher, I use Arborol and he uses Oregon mineral based chain oil and after 10 minutes of both of us cross-cutting his bar is noticeably hotter than mine. Ther may be other reasons for this but it is often me that is setting the chain tension the same on both saws, sharpenign them both a tthe same time, greasing the sprockets at the same time so there may be something in the cooling effect of the water in the Arborol. The downside is that the water seems to evaporate when you stop cutting, resulting in the chain being encrusted with the oil residue as shown in the original pictures.

 

Anyway, I am back in love with the 181SE, long may it run.