Cannon bar tip failure

[SawNut]

Bought a new 50" .404 Cannon Superbar for milling, thinking it was worth the additional expense over a GB or a Stihl. Got a few tanks in, and the sprocket tip locked up. The ends were splayed a bit, and I've seen that mentioned before. Drilled out the rivets and found missing rollers and galled races. The thing looks like Chinese junk to me. Inner race started to mushroom in front. In all of my years of cutting wood, I've never experienced a sprocket failure like this with any brand name bar. The saw was pouring out bar oil, but I never greased the tip. I never grease them anymore. It did have grease in it when new, as you could feel the drag by hand. Not sure what to think here. I will admit, the chain was a bit chattery, and I'm not totally sure why, but I didn't think it was excessive enough to cause any damage. Chain tension was also correct. Set it with the links just lightly touching the bottom of the bar. You could easily turn the chain by hand, and it would coast down slowly after revving the saw. Rest of the bar and chain look good. This was my first time milling with .404 chain. It is RS full comp. I did grind it back to about 22* for the first few tanks, and didn't touch the depth gauges. I normally like 10-15* on my milling chain, but I do normally use RM semi chisel. Local dealer didn't have a roll of .404 RM, so I took this.

As for a replacement, I see it looks like Oregon makes tips to fit, along with Woodland Pro, and obviously Cannon. Woodland is $15 and Cannon is $45ish.

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

Bought a new 50" .404 Cannon Superbar for milling, thinking it was worth the additional expense over a GB or a Stihl. Got a few tanks in, and the sprocket tip locked up. The ends were splayed a bit, and I've seen that mentioned before. Drilled out the rivets and found missing rollers and galled races. The thing looks like Chinese junk to me. Inner race started to mushroom in front. In all of my years of cutting wood, I've never experienced a sprocket failure like this with any brand name bar. The saw was pouring out bar oil, but I never greased the tip. I never grease them anymore. It did have grease in it when new, as you could feel the drag by hand. Not sure what to think here. I will admit, the chain was a bit chattery, and I'm not totally sure why, but I didn't think it was excessive enough to cause any damage. Chain tension was also correct. Set it with the links just lightly touching the bottom of the bar. You could easily turn the chain by hand, and it would coast down slowly after revving the saw. Rest of the bar and chain look good. This was my first time milling with .404 chain. It is RS full comp. I did grind it back to about 22* for the first few tanks, and didn't touch the depth gauges. I normally like 10-15* on my milling chain, but I do normally use RM semi chisel. Local dealer didn't have a roll of .404 RM, so I took this.

As for a replacement, I see it looks like Oregon makes tips to fit, along with Woodland Pro, and obviously Cannon. Woodland is $15 and Cannon is $45ish.

Personally I'd call Cannon directly and give them a chance to make this right. Telephones were invented for a reason.

 

[singinwoodwackr]

50” Full comp .404 is nuts, IMO. Why didn’t you use skip?

Does Cannon suggest greasing their tips?

I have a 36 and a 50…guess I should find out

 

[dangerousatom]

Id call Cannon also;
If I were a manufacture Id prefer a review were its stated "they stood behind their product & made it right" even if there was a random defect or failure. A company's actions after the sale is just as important to many as the products they make.
.
.