How tight do you run your chain ?????

[jake wells]

That's what I run, 32:1 h1-r, ounce per quart, 5 ounces per 1.25 gallon e-free, always. Never any ethanol in any of my 2 strokes.

smart man they quit carrying efree here though.

 

[exSW]

You guys are scaring me with milling. But I may have to. I have a to cut a 26' beam for a timber frame repair. Don't think the neighborhood band mill has that much track.

 

[jake wells]

You guys are scaring me with milling. But I may have to. I have a to cut a 26' beam for a timber frame repair. Don't think the neighborhood band mill has that much track.View attachment 25116

your house has a hole in it.

 

[mdavlee]

Some of my bars have the paint burnt off them from being run on the mill. 9-12 minute cuts will do that. I touch up as soon as I have to push any on the mill if the log is on a slope. Some cuts the 390 would use a whole tank in 8-9 minutes. A loose chain will beat the tip and heel up worse. The bottoms of the drivers get best to death milling anyway.

 

[exSW]

your house has a hole in it.

Barn

 

[junkman]

Barn

I need to cut a long stick like that also for a header ,i want to put a shed roof off my hobby shop over the mill area ,maybe 26-28 feet long ,will have to use the alaska mill because my track is only 16 feet

 

[jmssaws]

Ask guys who have been into a bunch of saws. To tight kills way more saws than to loose. Also as a chain cools it tightens back up again. So watch that second adjustment.

A tight chain is a killer.
When your cutting and everything is hot then you tighten it to tight and when it cools it put massive pressure on the crank shaft,it can snap it off but more certainly it will eat the pto side bearing plus it robs power.
There's no reason for it to be super tight,I set it where it just barely hangs out of the bar and I don't throw chains.

 

[jakethesnake]

You can run a chain real loose if you're just hackin up down firewood I let mine get way too loose then tighten up somewhere between what all these other fellas mention if you're careful you don't throw many chains. It does happen I've done it enough but 99 percent of the time I was trying to get somthing done and didn't bother tightening when I should have

 

[CR888]

The old school sawyers running old magnesium muscle with low chain speeds & big bars seem to prefer an almost saggy chain. New high chain speed sawyers prefer a tighter chain.

 

[jake wells]

The old school sawyers running old magnesium muscle with low chain speeds & big bars seem to prefer an almost saggy chain. New high chain speed sawyers prefer a tighter chain.

running hard nose bars you had to run a little saggy roller tips changed that.

 

[MustangMike]

I try to always set the chain tension when it is cold, and make it as tight as I can w/o making it tough to spin. Any tighter, and your bar will not like it.

I hate throwing chains, and loose ones always seem to come off when you are clearing the brush.

 

[TJ the Chainsaw Mechanic]

I tighten the chains down according to how stihl recommends. Pull it and then let it snap back, if it snaps back nice and snug then your good to go. Plus when a chain gets hot it stretches; with new saws I'll have the chain on a little tight and sometimes they will still stretch enough to make some sag. Stihl says to loosen the chain on the bar during storage to help keep the chain from stretching to much...never have done this as I haven't had that issue.

 

[srcarr52]

I need to cut a long stick like that also for a header ,i want to put a shed roof off my hobby shop over the mill area ,maybe 26-28 feet long ,will have to use the alaska mill because my track is only 16 feet

I'd make more track.

 

[junkman]

 

[exSW]

I'd make more track.

Right. In my case I'm sacrificing a pretty good stick to make this beam. It will definitely grade just not veneer. We're not talking trying to save a big pretty yard tree from firewood 'cause the mill won't touch it.

 

[cobey]

Matt (Hedgerow) called it loose but not hanging, with the bar warmed up
I take my screw driver end of the scrench
Put it behind a tooth and whip the chain
Forward for racing it spins farther around than when fire wooding,
But it usually goes a couple inches
(Guess who I stole that trick from)


I made that as clear as mud