How often do you lock your chain?

[Eddy_t]

While we're on the subject ...

 

Bought a brand new 460 from fr jones 4 years ago. It had a little under an hours use when it started to smoke and we realised the clutch had burnt out!! We took it apart and couldn't find out why this had happened until we went to put it back together and realised there was no c clip!

 

So we finished work early, as this was the only big saw we had on site, and needed! I drove an hour and a half back up to fr jones 4 hrs in total including being there. I explained what happened and that the saw had obviously not been assembled properly and that they needed to reimburse me with a new clutch etc.

 

Well.. I had 4 blokes behind the counter trying to tell me that as an inexperienced chainsaw operator (at the time I had been using them for 10 years) that I had been using the saw with the chain brake on!! I said this was not possible and argued with them for a while about it and they patronisingly said, 'have you ever used a saw this powerful before? A saw this powerful will override the chain brake, Stihl have even released this information'... I laughed... Feeling intimidated, frustrated and about to loose my temper, I took a deep breath and realised I could not win this battle against 4 numpties blatantly trying to pull one over on me. I paid the fee and will never return.

 

Has anyone else ever had this experience? With 'the power of the saw overriding the chain brake on a brand new saw? ROFL. Or with the customer service at fr jones?

 

My 385 won't override the chainbrake, that's 85cc! As for using the brake, as and when I move more than a few steps, if the chain is a bit slack, the clutch will drive the chain around, also, my saws are tuned on aspen, so if I use normal petrol mix, the saws idle a bit higher, and also drive the chain

 

 

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[harvey b davison]

Yes all the time, if i'm not cutting for a few minutes (ie moving logs ) the saw gets turned off.

[hedgesparrow]

every time i stop using saw brake goes on its habit i just knock it on and when carrying it any distance i switch it off. then restart when i get to next job will not change rather be safe than sorry

[oldwoodcutter]

Funnily enough i took a tumble this afternoon whilst taking a few steps with my 460.

Yes,i chucked it as i went down,but i was blinking glad my brake was on none the less.

[Old WoodChip]

always use it

[Spruce Pirate]

If the idle is set properly and the chain is tensioned correctly and the saw is in generally good conditon then don't need to use it all the time, and yes I agree it does slow you down. I also don't see what's wrong with knocking it on with the right hand if you're holding it in your left. The chain shouldn't be moving in that situation as your hand won't be on the throttle.

 

Constantly having the brake on seems to be a modern thing, all the new guys seem to do it. When I did my ticket I asked if I needed the brake on in addtion to having the saw on the other side of the tree when moving branches and was told no, it would be a fail as the saw is in a safe position anyway - in other words if you were "competent" you needed to know when to use the brake and when not to. Now it seems to be brake on to start, brake on to move an inch, brake on to fuel the saw. Seems to be a good way to wear out chain brakes to me.

[Stubby]

If the idle is set properly and the chain is tensioned correctly and the saw is in generally good conditon then don't need to use it all the time, and yes I agree it does slow you down. I also don't see what's wrong with knocking it on with the right hand if you're holding it in your left. The chain shouldn't be moving in that situation as your hand won't be on the throttle.

 

Constantly having the brake on seems to be a modern thing, all the new guys seem to do it. When I did my ticket I asked if I needed the brake on in addtion to having the saw on the other side of the tree when moving branches and was told no, it would be a fail as the saw is in a safe position anyway - in other words if you were "competent" you needed to know when to use the brake and when not to. Now it seems to be brake on to start, brake on to move an inch, brake on to fuel the saw. Seems to be a good way to wear out chain brakes to me.

 

Absolutely 2nd that !!

[Dean Lofthouse]

While we're on the subject ...

 

Bought a brand new 460 from fr jones 4 years ago. It had a little under an hours use when it started to smoke and we realised the clutch had burnt out!! We took it apart and couldn't find out why this had happened until we went to put it back together and realised there was no c clip!

 

So we finished work early, as this was the only big saw we had on site, and needed! I drove an hour and a half back up to fr jones 4 hrs in total including being there. I explained what happened and that the saw had obviously not been assembled properly and that they needed to reimburse me with a new clutch etc.

 

Well.. I had 4 blokes behind the counter trying to tell me that as an inexperienced chainsaw operator (at the time I had been using them for 10 years) that I had been using the saw with the chain brake on!! I said this was not possible and argued with them for a while about it and they patronisingly said, 'have you ever used a saw this powerful before? A saw this powerful will override the chain brake, Stihl have even released this information'... I laughed... Feeling intimidated, frustrated and about to loose my temper, I took a deep breath and realised I could not win this battle against 4 numpties blatantly trying to pull one over on me. I paid the fee and will never return.

 

Has anyone else ever had this experience? With 'the power of the saw overriding the chain brake on a brand new saw? ROFL. Or with the customer service at fr jones?

 

So what's the above drivel got to do with the op " how often do you lock your chainbrake"

[Stubby]

So what's the above drivel got to do with the op " how often do you lock your chainbrake"

 

Diddly squat !

[ratcatcher]

I'm not trained but I wear full PPE have a well maintained saw

 

 

 

 

I tend to engage the chain brake when I start the saw and pretty much whenever I have to move

 

Im glad Im not the only one by the sounds of it, yes to the brake question, but I also wear full PPE with no training, well, does watching youtube clips count

 

having just bought 7 acres of woodland in kent, thought I'd need a chainsaw or two, I love my husky, but its so easy to use, my first bad habit is drop starting it (blame youtube)