Husqvarna offers a wide range of chainsaw products that are of great utility to both professional arborists and homeowners. Keeping your chainsaw well-maintained is crucial to maintaining its performance. If you’ve ever faced cutting/performance issues with your Husqvarna chainsaw, let’s learn how to fix them step by step in this article.
Husqvarna chainsaws. Troubleshooting common problems
If your Husqvarna chainsaw cuts slowly, inspect the chain for dullness and wear. Ensure the chain is well-lubricated and has the correct tension. If the chainsaw kicks back during operation, ensure that you aren’t thrusting the bar’s nose into the wood and the safety brakes are operational. The chain’s groove at the guide bar should be free from sawdust and other debris to avoid kickback and overheating. If the chainsaw loses power when revved, the carburettor screws need to be adjusted to ensure proper operation.
The article covers almost all performance-related issues that every chainsaw user is likely to experience. Hence, to obtain detailed answers, ensure you review the following sections.
Contents
Common Cutting Problems Across Chainsaw Types
The most common cutting-related problems are slow cutting, uneven/crooked cuts, or the chain coming off or jumping off the bar. These problems are linked to the guide bar and chain assembly and not to the engine.
When the engine loses power or sputters, the chain cuts unevenly. Apart from these issues, a serious concern while using a chainsaw is chain kickback. A kickback is when the guide bar suddenly jumps backward towards the user as it loses grip while cutting. This can lead to hazardous situations and that’s why most chainsaws come with an anti-kickback feature.
If you ever face such problems with your chainsaw, here’s a checklist that you can follow to troubleshoot and fix some of the common performance problems in your Husqvarna chainsaw.
1. Dull or Damaged Chain
The chain, which isn’t frequently lubricated or sharpened and is exposed to dirt, wears out rapidly and cuts slowly.
Worn-out chain teeth are the number one cause of cutting problems in a chainsaw. The frequency of chain sharpening varies depending on the type of wood, usage, cutting technique, and other factors.
Chain wear accelerated with dust, so if you’re cutting firewood that’s covered with dust and grit, you probably need to sharpen your chain more often than if you’re cutting freshly felled wood. To determine if your chain needs sharpening, check the sawdust that comes with the wood.
If the sawdust contains long strands of wood that disintegrate when pressed, your chains need to be sharpened. If the byproduct is in the form of finely ground dust, then the chain condition is alright. If you are sawing logs in dusty conditions, sharpening the chain on an hourly basis is recommended.
– How to Sharpen a dull chainsaw chain?
To sharpen a chainsaw chain, you need a flat file and a bench vise to clamp the chain. If you are doing it for the first time, make sure you follow the depth gauge while sharpening. The depth gauge is the clearance between the cutter teeth and the rest of the chain.
It is better if you have a depth gauge guide tool as it prevents excess material removal and ensures uniform sharpening across the cutter teeth.
To sharpen the cutter teeth, press the flat file against the surface and slide it across the teeth at an angle of approximately 30 degrees. While sharpening, ensure that you file in one direction only and avoid moving back and forth as this would compromise the sharpness of the cutter teeth.
Once the chain is sharpened, you will notice a significant improvement in the cutting performance of your chainsaw.
2. Incorrect Chain Tension
When the chain is loose on a chainsaw, the cutting performance is affected and the kickback risk is increased. This also leads to increased guide bar wear and higher fuel consumption.
The chain elongates during its lifespan due to fatigue and wear. This elongation, however, gets catered for as modern chainsaws by Husqvarna come with an automatic chain tensioner. It works perfectly if your chain tension is off by a few millimeters. The tensioner is located at the guide bar base. Simply tighten the screw to adjust the chain tension on the guide bar.
However, if you’ve just purchased a new chain and it sits loosely on the bar, then it must be shortened by removing a few links as the tensioner might not suffice.
– How to Shorten a Chainsaw Chain?
Chainsaw chains usually come with a master link that assists in opening the chain and removing the links. The master link is visually distinct from the other chain links and can be identified easily. Once identified, you can use pliers to open the master link.
Remove one or two links from the chain right next to the master link. To remove the links, you will need to break open their rivets. After removing a few links, attach the master link to where the last link was removed. To attach the master link, you will need a rivet gun and rivets.
Place the chain back on the guide bar to see if the tension is right. If it isn’t, repeat the above steps till the chain fits snugly on the guide bar rails and doesn’t sag.
3. Chain Alignment and Kickback
A dull, misaligned, or poorly tensioned chain raises the risks of kickbacks in a chainsaw.
Kickback is a hazardous situation in which the guide bar suddenly thrusts backward during cutting and the user loses control. Kickbacks can be prevented by ensuring that the chain is well-maintained and the appropriate cutting technique is employed.
Here’s how kickbacks can be avoided while using a Husqvarna chainsaw:
1. Beware of the kickback zone:
The front nose of the guide bar is the kickback zone which you should avoid thrusting directly into the wood. This becomes quite relevant when limbing fallen logs as the guide bar is likely to touch hidden branches and logs which can cause a kickback.
2. Employ the correct techniques:
Always wear personal protective gear (helmet, gloves, and trousers) while using a chainsaw to protect against operational hazards. You should grip the chainsaw with both hands; the left hand holding the top handlebar and the right hand holding and pressing the trigger.
This allows for better control during cutting as well as additional safety during a kickback. This is because the left hand holding the handlebar would help maintain control when the saw is kicked backward. Also, make sure you maintain a firm footing while standing on the ground.
3. Chain condition:
When a chain’s cutter teeth are ground beyond the depth gauges, it upsets the dynamic balance of the rotating chain as well as its cutting capability. The chain is likely to lose grip and the risk of a kickback incident is increased. Also, poorly lubricated chains decrease the efficiency of chain brakes, hence the chain may not stop when brakes are applied during a kickback.
Hence, make sure the chain is well sharpened tensioned properly, and kept clean from the debris lodged in between the bar rails.
To keep yourself safe and prevent such accidents in the future, consider buying a chainsaw with anti-kickback features such as a low-kickback saw chain. While buying, always select the devices that follow ANSI standards such as B175.1 for outdoor equipment. Such products will always provide more safety against operational hazards.
4. Bar Issues
Chainsaw bars can get pinched or crooked especially while sawing a log that doesn’t sit on the ground. In some cases, the bar rails get worn out causing the chainsaw to cut crooked.
In the above sections, we discussed how a problematic chain may lead to slow or crooked cutting in a chainsaw. Apart from the chain, a faulty guide bar is also likely to result in unwanted cutting problems. Let’s discuss some common issues related to a guide bar and how they can be resolved:
1. Pinched Bars:
Guide bars could get pinched when sawing a log that isn’t lying on the ground. When the cut is made from top to bottom, the split pieces press against the guide bar causing it to pinch inwards. Pinching reduces the gap between rails and the chain undergoes friction. This can cause it to overheat and wear out at a faster rate, also exerting much load on the engine.
To fix a pinched bar, press it firmly on a vise grip. Insert a flathead screwdriver on the rail region that appears pinched. Move the screwdriver up and down to try and widen the gap between the rails. You can also tap the screwdriver with a hammer to widen the gap. After fixing, test the chainsaw chain.
2. Worn-out Rails:
Over time, constant stresses and fatigue contribute to the rail edges getting burred. In this case, the chain may wiggle during rotation or it may undergo excessive friction. Burred rails can either be chipped off by using a bench grinder.
If you’ve been using an old chainsaw bar with excessive wear, it’s better to buy a new one instead.
3. Bent Bars:
Unequal pressure experienced during cutting may cause the guide bar to get bent slightly. In some cases, it may not be noticeable visually. You can place it on a perfectly flat surface and notice if it sits horizontally or not.
Typically, bars are more likely to get bent from the top region. If this happens, you can try to straighten it using a wooden hammer. This works best if your Husqvarna chainsaw uses a laminated guide bar. Otherwise, if the guide bar is of plate type, then a machine press will be needed to straighten it.
5. Engine Power Problems
If a gas chainsaw loses power during cutting, it’s usually due to a bad spark plug or clogged air filter. The carburetor screws might also need adjustment if the saw loses power when revved.
You should perform a complete tune-up of your chainsaw if it stalls during operation. This tune-up should begin with an inspection of the air and fuel filters, fuel replenishment, examining the spark plug, and cleaning the carburetor’s jets using a carburetor cleaning liquid. You may seek a professional’s help too.
If a tune-up was performed recently and a similar issue appears, the carburetor screws might need some adjustment. The carb screws namely L (low speed), H (high speed), and I (idle) usually govern its idle and high-speed RPMs.
When a screw is tightened, the fuel flow to the engine is restricted causing a rise in RPMs (due to an air-rich mixture). Continue tightening the screws till a point when the RPMs begin to fall on further tightening. At this point, the carburetor gets the optimal air-fuel mixture ratio and hence has been tuned.
To adjust idle RPMs, you need to perform this procedure with the L (low-speed) screw while for high-speed RPMs, the H screw should be adjusted.
Some carburetors come with an (I) screw controls the amount the butterfly valve opens at idle. Loosening the screw will increase the idle RPMs as more air and fuel mixture enters the engine at idle. However, this is not recommended as high idle RPMs might override the clutch and cause the chain to rotate when the engine is idle. Most chainsaw engines now have an automatic idle speed control.
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