Nose sprocket jamming

[HeatherwoldGardener]

Two week old Husky 450e with 18" bar. I grease the nose sprocket with red sprocket grease about every third or fourth fill of fuel and for the second time in two days, the bar nose sprocket is jammed solid after a couple of hours of work.

I have to strip the bar down and dig around the sprocket removing loads of crud before it starts spinning up again.

Never had any issues with my old Stihl (no grease hole so didn't need to grease up)

Was I wrong in following Husky's advice on greasing and shouldn't have bothered?

Or is there something I'm doing wrong here guys?

[David Goss]

I have never greased a nose sprocket on any bar and never had problems, I know a few people who do and they have problems with them jamming or just breaking well before mine ever does. I was told if you start to grease it then you need to keep doing it but if you dont start then you never need to and so far that advice has been spot on.

[tommer9]

I have never greased a bar nose in my life, the theory as i understood it was that grease attracted dirt which jammed it up. So you may well be correct in you diagnosis that the greasing has been the cause of the problem. I would stop greasing it and see what happens. Your chain tension is ok? (not that I really think thats the cause TBH, but worth checking)

Edit- just read Davids post- and like he says- if you start you shouldnt stop, but in this case your bar is so new i cant see it being too much of an issue.

[HeatherwoldGardener]

Does make me wonder if greasing is necessary, although you'd imagine that Husky wouldn't put the grease holes there and state in the manual to grease if they didn't consider it necessary.

However, Stihl don't!

[Tyz05]

Must be a husky thing,had the same trouble with my 372 when it was new. I just squirt a bit of oil over occasionally.

[spudulike]

If the oiler is doing it's job and the length of the bar isn't a bit silly then the sprocket should get oiled by the bar/chain oil.

 

I have had similar problems but generally when the sprocket tip is buried in the cut.

 

I grease any bar that I have serviced - habit rather than for any other reason but also make sure there is no clag in the sprocket and that it turns freely.

[Littletree]

Hi I have never greased any of my noise sprockets and never had a jam I think if you start to grease them it can attract dirt in there and cause a jam .

 

Littletree:001:thumbup:

[RobRainford]

I find a lot of crosscutting on a log on the floor will jam up a nose sprocket. Catch it early an you can rev it out, otherwise it's a strip down on site job!

 

Chain and bar oil fine, just gets clogged up!

[GardenKit]

I always grease a brand new bar on PDI as I think it helps to 'run it in'.

 

They will otherwise get quite hot in the first few minutes before the chain oil gets around.

 

From then on I think the chain oil will lubricate it well enough, and after all those little grease guns are a pain.

 

As for the Stihl with no grease hole, I guess they may be assembled at factory with a good dose of grease for the initial start.

 

I can personally find no logic in the common thought of if you start greasing you have to keep greasing.

[HeatherwoldGardener]

Okay, washed the bar out with Petrol, dried out and oiled up to help the initial start up.

Now done 4 hours of crosscutting. mainly Ash and Silver Birch with no problems.

Not going to grease that bar end sprocket ever again......