Chainsaw bar

[Slowpoke]

I have a Stihl 026 with a 20" cut bar. The bar has a fine wire edge from wear and is cutting crooked due to the chain being able to move sideways in the channel. Is there a way to reduce the width of the channel or do I have to buy a new bar? Or is chain wear the cause? I think its been turned over once already.
Thanks

 

[Steve from MO - dangit!]

The bar is not that expensive as these things go. I"d definitely replace it if it"s been turned over already and has the same wear on both sides. Those Stihl saws turn a lot of RPM"s and you don"t want that chain coming off. Make sure your chain oiler is working properly before you put on the new bar and chain, and look closely at the drive sprocket. You probably need a new one of those as well.

 

[Anonymous-0]

we turn the bars at least once a week when we are logging and we also machine the edge if they ware a little crocked but is a skill that takes time to learn. we cut big timber and run bars for years and when we scrap them there's not a lot left

 

[JT]

You can take a piece of steel, about .050 in thick, put between the bar rails, put on an anvil take a hammer, and if the bar is worn, you can straighten up some. Take a good bench grinder and you can also true up the bar rails a little also if the are thin or uneven. just do it lightly and take your time. Also make sure your chain is sharpened correctly. I get people in all the time blaming a bar for cutting crooked, and a lot of times it is because the chain is not sharpened even.

 

[JT]

lost my train of though..........nothing new...take a hammer, tap on the bar rails where you have the steel between the rails, then work all they way down both sides of the bar, front to back and you can close up the bar rails some. then dress the rails as I suggested.

 

[Jim K in Ma]

I use a good file to get the burr off the wear edge of the bar and i'll also put a slight bevel on it and then flatten the two chain lands with the same file. not everyone has access to compressed air. You can use a hammer to close the gap, do as others said.
then again bars aren't that expensive.

 

[Anonymous-0]

go online to "baileys", a wood cutting web site. they have all kinds of tools for truing,straightening and grinding your bar.I'm not saying to buy the tools,just reading the tool descriptions gives you a feel for what your bar may need.I have always found that 9 times out of 10 a saw cutting crooked is because all of the cutters are not the same length.

 

[TyTX]

When you do replace the bar... think about a 24" or 30" bar. You won't be cutting any larger wood but you won't have to bend over as much doing it. You also will have a lot more teeth doing the same work and won't have to stop to sharpen your chain as often.

If you're cutting softer wood like fir, hemlock, pine, poplar or alder... try a skip tooth chain. There are three links to a cutter instead of two. With less teeth the cutters cut faster and seem to stay sharper too.

My recommendations come from long family lines of loggers in the Northwest and I've been bucking wood by this advice with good success.

 

[Mad Farmer]

don't use.0.50 if bar is a 0.63

 

[onefarmer]

I also have a 026 with a 20" and have used the same bar for 10 yrs. Crooked cutting is mainly due to an unevenly sharpened chain. Can also be due to the rails on the bar worn uneven. If the bar groove is still deep enough your Stihl dealer can dress the bar to even up the rails. If they aren't worn uneven to bad, just clamp the bar in a vise and run a file over the edges to remove the wire burr.

I turn my bar every few sharpens of the chain. Clean the groove once in a while too. New bars are like $35-40 so they aren't too bad.

DO NOT go bigger than a 20" an 026 will not pull it good enough. I know I tried a 24". Had to go up to a 3/8 chain to do so.

I really like my 026 with the 20" because I don't have to bend down so far to cut. I also have a 028 with 16". Not as much power and a bit heavier. I also have a 044 that I got as a rebuild two years ago and put the 24" on it.

 

[kez]

An easy thing to check is to see if the bar is not bent. A new chain and bar with a bent bar will cut great but not straight !

 

[kez]

An easy thing to check is to see if the bar is not bent. A new chain and bar with a bent bar will cut great but not straight !

 

[JDemaris]

If the chain is sharpened correctly, the bar-wear should not be making it cut crooked. I've got some .050 gauge chain I run in .073 bars and it still cuts straight.

I've got stacks of bars people threw out when I was a Stihl mechanic and have been using them for years - and cutting straight.

 

[Slowpoke]

I bought the saw at an auction ($85) because I couldn't find my 026AV which I think has a 20" bar also. I hate to admit it, but it's probably been missing for 20 years. Now don't laugh; today I was moving (and disgarding) some stuff in the garage when I discovered my Homelite Super XLT with 14" bar. Also missing for many years. I sometimes help a friend with tree work but he provides an Echo 14" saw, which I realy like.

There was a thread about "full shops" not too far back and I think I'm right there with the rest of them!

 

[Slowpoke]

I've had a bad back since '62 when I tried to lift a nearly full 25 gal horizontal propane tank. A stupid move and I'm still feeling it because the disc is deteriorating. So if I need to use a saw close to the ground I get down on one knee, or set the section on another piece that's handy. And use a 14" Echo.

 

[Slowpoke]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll try them and I'm sure the saw will cut straight again.

 

[Tradititonal Farmer]

Just buy a new bar and chain it'll be like having a new saw.Running a chainsaw is hard enough without messing with some junk

 

[JDemaris]

Most times, you can put a new - or properly sharpened chain on an old bar - and it will still cut like new. Often chains that have been hand sharpened need to be put on a machine once in awhile to set them back where they should be.

Bars aren't cheap - and I've seen hundreds get blamed for poor cutting and trashed. I first worked as a Sachs, Stihl, and Homelite mechanic in the late 1960s - and did so up to the 90s. I've got stacks of those bars - and I heat my farm with 100 % wood. I cut a lot - all with those "bad" bars. Mine cut straight as an arrow - and some have some very sloppy fitting chains.

Hey, anyone is free to throw their money away - just giving my opinion and experience on the matter.

 

[onefarmer]

hehe, I didn't read that thread on purpose, because I didn't want to read about myself.

Oh I have dressed my own bar by putting it in a vise and running a flat file across it. Just hold the file as level as possible and it will come out ok. I really have had no troubles cutting caused by a wornbar.

Happy T-day!

 

[onefarmer]

I agree 100% with longer bar, more teeth, longer between sharpenings. But he has an 026. It won't pull the mass of a chain/bar longer than 20". I know I tried it. A 20" does work real good though.

 

[TyTX]

I've never had an 026 so I appreciate the input. I have an 029 farm boss and it can pull the extra chain but even so the caution is that the length is for reach and not to buck a bigger log. You can burn out a motor trying to work it too hard.

 

[Bret4207]

One of the best things you can do is to get in the habit of taking the bar and chain off the saw every now and again and cleaning the bar out, a broken hack saw blade works, to get the crud and corruption out and make sure the oil inlet hole is open and clean. Grease the sprocket nose when you refuel if you have a roller tip. Wash or brush the bar mount area off and the chain brake area too. Needless to say clean the air filter too.

The bar can be dressed with you raker file, but be careful of the wire edge, those cuts hurt. For the chain and hand sharpening I recommend the Husquvarna roller file guide. It's darn near fool proof, it had to be 'cuz it works for me. I helps with the 2 biggest issues- top plate angle and depth, or "hook". It works on chisel, semi-chisel and more or less on round chain. There are also inexpensive but workable grinders available from Harbor Freight and Northern tool. They at least will give you the same length/angle teeth and thats the biggy.

The only other suggestion I can give is to build or buy a sawbuck if you ground cut smaller wood and clean the wood with a hose if you can on dirty wood.

 

[onefarmer]

I agree that just because a saw has a bar so big doesn't mean it can cut a log that big. I like my 20" bar .325 chain because I can reach the ground with it. I tried a 24" but had to go up to a 3/8 chain and it just didn't have the performance. I then tried a 20" 3/8 thinking bigger chain, less cutters, faster chain speed. But it didn't worh either. The 026 seems to just like the .325 chain better.

When I bought my 026 I did a lot of research and ghot the best hp to weight ratio I could find. A 026 is 10.6lb with 3.2hp and the 029 is 13lb with 3.8hp. When I was buying (1990) I don't think the 029 was offered yet.

I couldn't have bought a better saw. Heated my house 95% with wood for all these years and was my only saw untill the last 3 years. Never had to do more then basic maintainance and chain replacement.
I also have a 028 a bit heavier and bit less power. And a 044 and wonder how I ever cut the big trees without it. 026 did great but the 044 has so much more power and a simular hp/weight ratio.

 

[Don-Wi]

I guess I don't follow on turning the bar at any specific intervals. When we put a sharp chain on our saw (can't remember the model but it is a Stihl and 026 sounds right) I never pay attention to which way it was on the saw I just take it off, clean out some of the gunk, and then put the bar back on with the fresh chain.

We ussually buy a new chain when we can't find where we put the last one we took off, so we've got atleast 4 chains for our saw now. Take 'em in when we got 2 dull ones, and never have to worry about a crooked cut. Haven't lost track of any of the chains for a while now either, although I think 1 is almost at the end of it's life. Not the 1st one we've used up on our farm.

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[john18436572]

Bars can be "dressed" when they develop that kind of wear. Basically it just amounts to filing it true again. A saw shop can do it, comes down to which is cheaper, having it dressed, or buying new.

 

[Slowpoke]

I have a friend who is a whiz at sharpening chains. I"ll get him to do the chain and I"ll do the bar myself.