Check12

In the end I wasn't going to waste anymore time on it ... the bar is knackered ... from reading a bit more apparently your supposed to be able to feel the intenz adjuster click when you adjust ... this one certainly doesn't. I am used to using the standard screw tensioner design and the price of a traditional bar is half the price of the intenz ... There are no parts missing from the saw and no other issues ... I'm sure when the new bar and chain arrive it will be fine ...

I'm taking it you've not used an Intenz bar ... In my experience the standard bar tensioning system does contribute a bit towards keeping the chain from coming loose when compared to an Intenz .... certainly the one I'll be making will. Or are you saying that it is the A318 mounting design that is fundamentally flawed or maybe I just need a breaker bar on the wrench to get some more torque ....

I did a partial strip down, clean up and rebuild as the saw had been lying for what may have been years .... I've got a good workshop here and the head seems to run fine now. The chain was getting plenty of oil ... the problem was it hadn't been sharpened at all for a long time by the looks of it and had been used for cutting up pallets, the teeth were rounded and polished, you could have almost run it on the palm of your hand and just got tickled ... The old bar was very badly burned and worn, not enough slot depth left in a couple of places to fix it. I ended up ordering a new Oregon 18" 180SDEA318 standard bar and a 91VXL chain for it for £35 delivered .... Parts place wanted £15 for the genuine tensioner screw and pawl ..... :lol: :lol: :lol: so I'm just going to fabricate one for about 50p ... The Intenz system makes it really easy to get correct chain tension but I found that it slackened off really quickly too making you want to crank the nuts tighter and tighter all the time.

Aha! ... I think it maybe A318 I'm looking for: Bar Mount Pattern: 08

Ok ... just checked further on T318 bars ... it seems all Oregon bars with T prefix are the Intenz bars. Are there no other manufacturers that make compatible mounting normal bars? The fact that the standard screw tensioner mounts are still there suggests there was compatible standard bars at some point. Thanks for your help BTW ... this all seems very overly complicated!

Thanks! ... that makes things a lot clearer, I thought it was down to the mount points. Just checked the original bar, it doesn't say T318 on it though ... all it's got on it anywhere is: 24 1996 BE 18 Pat 6061915 Does that make any difference?

Yes that bar is the same Oregon one that always comes up ..... it's got that "intenz" chain tensioner inside the bar that I'm trying to get rid of. Surely there is more than just one bar suitable for this head if I refit the old standard tensioner screw? I'm trying to get an understanding of how you guys choose different bars for the same saw head. Or is it that ANY 60link, 3/8", .050 standard bar will be fine? Is it that simple and I'm just complicating things? ...

Hi all ..... I used to do a bit of cutting many years ago when I worked in landscaping but used the saws provided and never had to replace any parts. Now have a woodburner in the house and have been using an electric chainsaw and various other tablesaws etc. that I have here for cutting up firewood for the past few years. I've just been given an old 40cc McCulloch California which after a bit of tweaking seems to run well but the bar and chain have had it. I can get my head around correct sprocket size, chain gauge, pitch and different types of link for chains ...... but bars are still a bit confusing to me when it comes to making sure I get the correct mounting type so the bar fits well and the chain gets oiled properly. The old bar is the original 18" Oregon .... it's got this "Intenz-ly" annoying in-bar tensioning system that I can't seem to keep tight for long no matter how hard I crank the lock nuts. I'm getting to the point that I think I am going to strip the studs as they are only 6mm. Anyway, the saw still has the mounting for a standard tensioner screw so I think I will replace that and go back to normal bars. I understand the basics of the nose sprocket matching the head sprocket, link count being suitable etc. but it's mainly understanding mount points that loses me. The head has a 6 tooth 3/8" sprocket and the original bar is 18", .050, 3/8" for a 60 link chain, googling the part number just seems to bring up double guard Intenz bars (which I suppose is the direct replacement for the original) but there must be more choice available if I go back to a standard tensioner. Can someone please explain how to select bars by the saw and bar mount fittings ... ?