Chainsaw chain seems to be stretching!

[j-bird]

Ok...maybe I'm on some bad drugs or maybe I'm buying some cheap chains.....but has anyone of you guys seemed to have issues with your saw chains stretching? I now have 2 chains (no idea how old or what brand) that they have reached a point in where the slack adjuster in my saw will no longer keep them tight. So....I figure either the chain is stretching OR somehow the saw is shrinking. I am wondering if the drive sprocket is worn....but other chains seem to work fine. You guys ever run into this???

 

[Bill]

Check the rivers holding the chains together. If they have a flat on the bar side their wore out and likely wearing out your bar.
Just a thought

 

[Bill]

Rivets. Darn auto spell!

 

[j-bird]

Check the rivers holding the chains together. If they have a flat on the bar side their wore out and likely wearing out your bar.
Just a thought

I don't think that is it. The latest one, I put on and worked fine for a couple of uses (tightening every time I re-fuel). Then it just seems to run out of adjustment. The bar probably could use to be replaced, but I don't see any flat spots on the rivet heads. Oh....and the wife doesn't like it when you put the chainsaw on the dinner room table!

 

[Tree Spud]

Yes, they stretch (worn pins & bushings) as you can run out of the ability to tighten. Chain bar and drive sprocket may also be worn especially if you don't have enough lubricant on the bar.

You are on your own with your wife ... she probably has a point.

 

[MRBB]

I think its a combination of a bunch of things things, and yes ALL chains stretch, and will keep stretching till they don't fit right
the channels on the bar will also wear and make things shorter so to speak, just as sprockets will also wear
and YES the quality of the chain matters, better chains last longer due to made of better materials!

if you ever run the saw on low oil and or get the chain VERY HOT< it will also stretch a lot more and faster!
this is why there replaceable and made to be replaced when they get stretched too far, cutters too worn down (and there is a set limit on when your NOT supposed to keep on
re sharpening them and should toss them)
just like there are different design of cutters and materials some chains are made of, quality of them will always vary and life of them, many times comes down to the user as much as the materials used in them!
ain't nothing made to last forever, and these days, I think most all are more of a throw away design cheaper materials, to make more profits on both saving on materials as well as selling more and more often!

I tend to stick with Oregon Brand chains, as do most of the folks I know that timber cut for a living!

a FYI tip, is have a few chains on hand, and when one get DULL< swap to a sharpened one!
this way your not over heating , over working the dull one, which is what will make it heat up more , lower the temper on the steel, and thus make it stretch faster and more!
ruining it faster than needed!


not to mention save you a lot more time in faster cuts, and less swearing maybe LOL

 

[j-bird]

I always have a couple of chains....like was mentioned I just swap them if one gets dull. I'll look into replacing the bar, sprocket and maybe get a few new chains as well. I guess I never really considered the bar and sprocket as wear items. I doubt the chain quality is an issue as I typically use Oregon or Sthil chains....it's a sthil chainsaw. But the bar has probably seen it's better days.....considering the paint is gone and you can't read any of the info one it! Oh well....I need me a birthday present any ways!

 

[MRBB]

don't forget that on the bars, the channel the chain guides run is , also get wider, , a easy way to tell if your bar is getting work=n, is, feel the edges of the bar channel, if there sharp, the chains are running on them making a sharp edge, over running on the sprockets!
there are tools they sell to help save bars to last longer,
but there made like chains to be replaced at some wear point!

running a dull chain will accelerate the bar wear, just as running a loose chain will, a sit again, allows the chain to run on the bar over the sprockets! same with running on low to NO oil,
heat makes friction, friction wears parts!
heat stretches metal!

 

[NE PA QDM]

All helpful info, I had a chain stretch on me last week (couldn’t understand why until I read this!) when trying to cut stumps out at ground level. Hit rocks and dirt and chains we’re getting dull quickly and were certainly heating up. Also noticed the edges of the bar were sharp. Probably time to replace that, too.

 

[yoderjac]

Ok...maybe I'm on some bad drugs or maybe I'm buying some cheap chains.....but has anyone of you guys seemed to have issues with your saw chains stretching? I now have 2 chains (no idea how old or what brand) that they have reached a point in where the slack adjuster in my saw will no longer keep them tight. So....I figure either the chain is stretching OR somehow the saw is shrinking. I am wondering if the drive sprocket is worn....but other chains seem to work fine. You guys ever run into this???

It seems to happen to me based on heat. It happens faster if the oiler is clogged and the chain heats up more. I simply cut for a bit and then stop and tighten the chain. When I pull it away from the bar at the bottom, I want some give, but not enough that it gets more than 1/3 of the way out of the bar channel.

Thanks,

Jack