Electric chainsaw chain
 

Hi,
My old chain on my Poulan electric was run into the ground (literally!), so
I decided to get a new one and spend some time reconditioning the old one.
That way I could always have a sharpened spare on hand if needed. However,
when I compared the old one (OEM Poulan) with the new one (a generic "one
size fits all" from Home Depot) , the new one had almost twice as many
cutters as the original (17 on old vs 28 on new). My question is whether the
electric motor should be able to pull the additional cutting surfaces? Most
of the cutting will be in green woods, so heating should be less than hard
dryed stock. But I'd hate to lose a good motor due to an improper chain.
Any opinions??

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX

"Ken Moon" wrote: (clip) My question is whether the electric motor should
be able to pull the additional cutting surfaces?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
First question is: Is the old blade the one supplied by the manufacturer on
the new saw? If it is the manufacturer's selection, we can probably assume
that it is correct for the motor power. However, if you don't use the full
bar length most of the time, you should be OK with the new blade. IF YOU
PAY ATTENTION. It is possible to overload the motor by the way you crowd
the cut, even with the correct blade. If you are sensitive to that--never
run the motor in a lugging mode, and let it come up to full speed at no load
if you think it has been overloaded--you should be OK.

The advantage of this new blade is that with green wood, and small
diameters, you should be able to save time.

"Ken Moon" wrote in message
nk.net...
Hi,
My old chain on my Poulan electric was run into the ground (literally!),
so I decided to get a new one and spend some time reconditioning the old
one. That way I could always have a sharpened spare on hand if needed.
However, when I compared the old one (OEM Poulan) with the new one (a
generic "one size fits all" from Home Depot) , the new one had almost
twice as many cutters as the original (17 on old vs 28 on new). My
question is whether the electric motor should be able to pull the
additional cutting surfaces? Most of the cutting will be in green woods,
so heating should be less than hard dryed stock. But I'd hate to lose a
good motor due to an improper chain.
Any opinions??

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX

Ken: Sounds like your first chain was a "skip-tooth" used for rapid cutting
of logs -- that is the only kind I buy for my saw -- less teeth to sharpen!
I think your saw will handle the 28 tooth chain just fine; however, you can
always call or go to a saw shop and ask. Poulan can be queried also, at:
http://www.poulan.com/contact_us.asp

Happy, safe cutting!
Leif

Ken,
I have one of the Huskie electric chain saws. I burned up 2 motors in
it before I learned that you have to let it cut at its own speed and
not to force it. They were supposed to be putting in an overload
circuit that would trip if you were pushing too hard. I wasn't the only
one having this problem. I have about 3 years on my saw now, and no
problems. Your saw may have this feature.
robo hippy

"Leif Thorvaldson" wrote: (clip) "skip-tooth" used for rapid cutting of
logs -- that is the only kind I buy for my saw -- less teeth to sharpen!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
But Leif, don't you have to sharpen the teeth twice as often? Of course, I
realize that your sharpening skill is such that you probably don't notice.
:-)

if that poulon is the same one I had, I went through 6 of them, and 6 of the
sears equivalent before I gave up and bought an electric sthil - the best of
them lasted about an hour, the worst under 15 seconds - all failed by a
nylon gear stripping from it's steel shaft - bad design. The failures
happend fastest when cutting full bar length - with the sthil (which cost
more than the 12 prior saws), I've had no problems. So, be very gentle
with the saw


"Ken Moon" wrote in message
nk.net...
Hi,
My old chain on my Poulan electric was run into the ground (literally!),
so
I decided to get a new one and spend some time reconditioning the old one.
That way I could always have a sharpened spare on hand if needed. However,
when I compared the old one (OEM Poulan) with the new one (a generic "one
size fits all" from Home Depot) , the new one had almost twice as many
cutters as the original (17 on old vs 28 on new). My question is whether
the
electric motor should be able to pull the additional cutting surfaces?
Most
of the cutting will be in green woods, so heating should be less than hard
dryed stock. But I'd hate to lose a good motor due to an improper chain.
Any opinions??

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX

On Wed, 6 Apr 2005 16:07:54 -0700, Leo Lichtman wrote
(in message ):


"Ken Moon" wrote: (clip) My question is whether the electric motor should
be able to pull the additional cutting surfaces?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
First question is: Is the old blade the one supplied by the manufacturer on
the new saw? If it is the manufacturer's selection, we can probably assume
that it is correct for the motor power. However, if you don't use the full
bar length most of the time, you should be OK with the new blade. IF YOU
PAY ATTENTION. It is possible to overload the motor by the way you crowd
the cut, even with the correct blade. If you are sensitive to that--never
run the motor in a lugging mode, and let it come up to full speed at no load
if you think it has been overloaded--you should be OK.

The advantage of this new blade is that with green wood, and small
diameters, you should be able to save time.



no. more teeth = slower cut. and much slower sharpening. i would return it.

On Wed, 6 Apr 2005 19:18:31 -0700, Leo Lichtman wrote
(in message ):


"Leif Thorvaldson" wrote: (clip) "skip-tooth" used for rapid cutting of
logs -- that is the only kind I buy for my saw -- less teeth to sharpen!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
But Leif, don't you have to sharpen the teeth twice as often? Of course, I
realize that your sharpening skill is such that you probably don't notice.
-)



no. possibly a little more often but not much. but the skip tooth is soo much
faster to sharpen. give one a try, youll never go back!

"william_b_noble" wrote in message
news:1112854864.8bcb889b39cc8ea55591be79c02b21a3@t eranews...
if that poulon is the same one I had, I went through 6 of them, and 6 of
the
sears equivalent before I gave up and bought an electric sthil - the best
of
them lasted about an hour, the worst under 15 seconds - all failed by a
nylon gear stripping from it's steel shaft - bad design. The failures
happend fastest when cutting full bar length - with the sthil (which cost
more than the 12 prior saws), I've had no problems. So, be very gentle
with the saw
=====================
Bill and all who answered,
I decided to go ahead with the new chain because the old one is going to
take a while to recondition. A hired handyman was using it to cut some fence
posts, and he apparently let the nose of the bar get into the ground or the
concrete the posts were set into. Any way, it will take some major
sharpening/reshaping. I'll see how the new one cuts and go from there. This
Poulan electric has already outlasted the Remington it replaced by about 500
percent. It's a little over 4 years old, and has been used for trimming tree
limbs, turning blanks, etc. I've always tryed to let it choose it's own
cutting rate to prevent overload. I'll keep the other chain on stanby for
endgrain and/or ripping cuts. Thanks all,

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX.

Suggestion, find another handyman. This guy sounds like the type that
should not be trusted with anything more than a broom. He either does
not respect you enough to take care of your stuff or does not have the
sense to know how to correctly use it. I would have second thoughts
about giving him anything sharp to work with.

Ken Moon wrote:
"william_b_noble" wrote in message
news:1112854864.8bcb889b39cc8ea55591be79c02b21a3@t eranews...

if that poulon is the same one I had, I went through 6 of them, and 6 of
the
sears equivalent before I gave up and bought an electric sthil - the best
of
them lasted about an hour, the worst under 15 seconds - all failed by a
nylon gear stripping from it's steel shaft - bad design. The failures
happend fastest when cutting full bar length - with the sthil (which cost
more than the 12 prior saws), I've had no problems. So, be very gentle
with the saw

=====================
Bill and all who answered,
I decided to go ahead with the new chain because the old one is going to
take a while to recondition. A hired handyman was using it to cut some fence
posts, and he apparently let the nose of the bar get into the ground or the
concrete the posts were set into. Any way, it will take some major
sharpening/reshaping. I'll see how the new one cuts and go from there. This
Poulan electric has already outlasted the Remington it replaced by about 500
percent. It's a little over 4 years old, and has been used for trimming tree
limbs, turning blanks, etc. I've always tryed to let it choose it's own
cutting rate to prevent overload. I'll keep the other chain on stanby for
endgrain and/or ripping cuts. Thanks all,

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX.