I cut down hundreds of trees with my dad decades ago, but he did 99% of the maintenance on the blade and saw so I needed a refresher. This few simple tips will save your saw and blade. Thanks for the succinct tips!
Great video. I wasted my time on a few home made videos but this one answered all of my questions and taught me and my son a few things we didn’t know (especially the greasing requirement)
I hate to be argumentative but I spent many years in a saw shop and the guys that had the most trouble with their bar nose sprocket were the guys that greased the tips. I told them to forget the grease and just let it continually flush with bar oil only. And I know from my own experience, I've never greased a bar sprocket and I've never lost one yet. My dad wore out a Homelite XL-12, which only had a manual pump oiler, and when the saw was dead, it still had the original Homelite Power Tip bar with the original sprocket in the nose. He never greased it, just pumped the oiler with his thumb every few seconds.
I'm not sure why they'd ever put a little hole in the bar for greasing/oiling the sprocket bearing, anyway. It just fills with sawdust and dirt, neither of which will help the bearing life! Seems like a pretty universal design flaw. Using some kind of sealed bearing would probably work just fine, or just let the bar oil lubricate it, instead of forcing more sawdust and grit into the bearing every time you "clean" it!
That's cause old saws oiled Way more than modern auto-oilers. Every time your dad pumped the oil, he was oiling the sprocket nose as well. You should grease the tip at the end of the day, according to Husqvarna. Thus the dry bearings are protected from rust, should you not use the saw for awhile. I think Oregon may be advising Too much grease in this video, as it obviously would help them sell grease pumps. But also, too much grease on the sprocket will just get transferred to the chain rivets, so not really a bad idea-
@@georgehofgren6123 idk, we run the H out of 360 Homelites, which I still consider to be modern, and they oil a ton. Husky can sell all the tip greasers they want, I'll just stick to what's 100% proven to me. We throw away worn out chains, worn out from filing, but bars and sprockets last a long time for us. And I agree with the comment about Dad oiling the sprocket tip every time he pumped the oiler. That's always been my contention, that bar tips last just fine when only being lubed with the oiler. Grease seems to attract dirt and grit whereas basically clean bar oil keeps everything flushed out.
@@blythkd9017 I don't disagree. Most bars have enough sawdust in the groove to act as a constant lite oil supply. But if i clean out the bar, and clean the chain.. then i do grease the tip some. It's true; I've never heard of them wearing out etc, but any friction/heat i can avoid i will. Different manufacturers let different amts oil, and some restrict quite a bit.
The only comment I'd make is you should clean things out first. The fastest way to wear out a chain is to stick it in dirt. The fastest way to wear out a file is to run it across dirt. Better to clean the gunk out first, then do your work and lubrication. Everything lasts longer that way, you can better see what you're doing, and you need to do that step anyway.
What are or where can I find your specs for the bar groove. For instance I have a .050 gauge bar and have a .065 gauge groove. What is considered to be an acceptable tolerance on this?
Hi Dennis, In order for us to determine what bar groove would be most acceptable with your product, please call 1-800-223-5168, select Option #1, and one of our Technical Services Experts can provide you with advice on the best option. Thank you, The Oregon Team
I just watched a bar maint vid by BBRS, he was using a higher gauge chain on bars with worn grooves...iirc in the vid he was running a .075 chain in a .072 gauge bar that was worn a bit. I'm personally not familiar enough with chains and bars to say if it's right or wrong but he's been doing it for a long time and knows his chainsaws...said it's saved him thousands of dollars over the years.
Hi NormK, The Oregon part numbers are: Bar Rail Dresser is part number 111439, Bar Groove cleaner is part number 13616, and the Grease Gun for the nose sprocket is part number 40469-A. If you need any additional assistance with Oregon part numbers related to chainsaw bar maintenance, please feel free to reach out to our Technical Services Experts at technicalservices@oregonproducts.com or call 1-800-223-5168, select Option #1, and they'll be delighted to assist you. Thank you, The Oregon Team
Hi William! The grease that comes in our grease guns is a Lithium based bearing grease. If you need any additional support, please reach out to one of our Technical Services Experts (6:30AM-4:00PM PST from Monday-Friday) at technicalservices@oregonproducts.com or call 1-800-223-5168, Option #1. Thank you, Your Oregon Team
I buy these little Oregon Grease Guns -- clean the hole out on both sides & push down and watch the grease come out. images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/c3643953-901d-41d1-8bff-885f84462641/svn/oregon-chainsaw-oils-26365-64_1000.jpg
The 18" Oregon bar I have for my Echo has no dedicated oil holes- the oil goes into the unused chain tensioner hole, thru a port or passage within the bar and onto the bar groove. Actually the original Echo bar is the same way. I'm not familiar with how the tensioner and oiler is set up on your saw but it might be the same deal.
After buying a bigger Echo today I'm thinking it might be a low profile bar thing as the 20" standard Echo bar that came with the 590 has the dedicated oil holes in the bar.
