# Saw chain gets loose very quickly. Need help !



## rafa26 (Aug 13, 2006)

Hi guys, i own a husqvarna 359 chain saw, 1 year and a half old and barely used. The chain was getting loose to fast then i bought 2 new chains and still the same problem.
Right after tightening it gets loose almost instantly. I removed the clutch cover and everything seems to be intact. I noticed with the clutch cover removed that the "chain tensioning screw" is a little bit loose but i think that is the way it's supposed to be. Any help will be truly appreciated, thanks.


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## fishhuntcutwood (Aug 13, 2006)

How tightly do you have the chain to start with? Too tight, or too little oil, and it'll get hot and stretch with the heat. Also new chains will stretch a bit when new, but will settle down after some use.

And new chain or not, or even with proper tension, after use, any chain will heat up a bit and stretch. That's normal.

Welcome to AS.


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## rafa26 (Aug 13, 2006)

The chain is tightened exactly as shown on the manual. Yes it gets too hot when it slacks but oil system is ok. I know a new chain is supposed to be adjusted more times but i used this saw hundreds of times before and this never happened.


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## sawinredneck (Aug 13, 2006)

Welcome to AS, as Jeff said, the chains will stretch, and new bars will wear in also. Don't over tighten the chain, you should be able to easily move it around the bar with one hand when tight. Also check that you are getting the bar nust tight enough, two finger on the end of the scrench should be plenty!
Let us know if that doesn't work.
Andy


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## rafa26 (Aug 13, 2006)

I did exactly as the manual says dude.


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## sawinredneck (Aug 13, 2006)

Not sure then, one of the resident pros should be around, they may have a better sugestion.
Andy


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## carvinmark (Aug 13, 2006)

With the cover off, can you tell if the adjuster is in the bar. This may sound stupid but, make sure the chain is on the sprocket correctly. Are you using about a tank of bar oil to a tank of fuel? you should be.
Mark


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## Stumper (Aug 13, 2006)

Is the chain sharp with the depth gauges properly set?


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## fishhuntcutwood (Aug 13, 2006)

rafa26 said:


> The chain is tightened exactly as shown on the manual. Yes it gets too hot when it slacks but oil system is ok.



Are you sure? You may still be getting oil, but maybe not enough.

If it's getting too hot, then something is not OK. Chains get hot, but shouldn't get too hot. If you're sure your oil system is OK, then make sure you're maintaining your chain as the manual says as well. Just like Justin said, make sure it's sharpened properly, and your depth guages are properly set. Chains get too hot only for certain number of reasons-too tight, not enough oil, and not being sharpened properly. If you're sure you're tensioning it properly, and you say the oil is working...


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## rafa26 (Aug 13, 2006)

Yes one thank of oil for ecach tank of gas,
Yes i am using the correct chain, i bought an OEM chain, made exactly for my husqvarna 359.
That's a mistery guys, i checked everything, tomorrow will take to a husqvarna repair center and as soon as they fix it, i will post here what was it,
Thanks for all.


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## RED-85-Z51 (Aug 13, 2006)

Her is an idea. Adjust the chain, and scribe a mark in the bar, where it meets the case. Has to be pretty exact.

Then run it, when it comes loose, look for the mark. If it is not visible, your nuts and adjuster arent holding the bar. If it is, you know it IS a chain problem. If it were a clutch problem you would know it...


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## rafa26 (Aug 13, 2006)

The chain it's not the problem because i tested 3 brand new ones, bought them this morning on Lowe's and all 3 had the same problem.


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## CaseyForrest (Aug 13, 2006)

Sounds like you might need a new adjuster. Maybe the screw is starting to get stripped out.....


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## fishhuntcutwood (Aug 13, 2006)

Allright, if you're SURE it's not the chain, the oiler, your tension, or the bar, then it's either the bar coming loose, or it's what you're cutting. There's nothing left. Cutting stumps?


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## rafa26 (Aug 13, 2006)

Yes, i am cutting stumps , but if i run the saw not touching anything, it's still gets loose.


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## RED-85-Z51 (Aug 13, 2006)

Get one of those INTENZ bars, that will solve your problem.

It has a built in adjuster that is foolproof. You just install the bar and chain. Put the saw adjuters stud in the bar, and tighten it to take out the slack. Then snug the bar nuts just slightly, now use your scrench to turn the bar adjuter, and it takes the slack out by pressing against the front bar stud. Then tighten the nuts down.

Pretty simple, and it works. I use them when the adjusters break out of the saws, and parts are not immediatly available.


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## rafa26 (Aug 13, 2006)

Will that fit my husqvarna 359 ? Do you have a link for that ?
Thanks.


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## RED-85-Z51 (Aug 13, 2006)

What length bar, and pitch of chain?


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## rafa26 (Aug 13, 2006)

20" 3/8


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## RED-85-Z51 (Aug 13, 2006)

Someone here will know what exact model, but Id have to say an OREGON Double Guard with INTENZ feature.

Do some research on the OREGON bar line for your specific need.

http://www.oregonchain.com/cub.htm


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## computeruser (Aug 13, 2006)

INTENZ is garbage AND it forces you to buy and use a crap bar. Avoid it.

Figure out why your chain is getting loose. It is either you, the saw, or the chain. Once you figure it out, make the necessary changes and corrections and get on with life.


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## rafa26 (Aug 13, 2006)

Saw will be on service tomorrow.


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## HELSEL (Aug 13, 2006)

rafa26 said:


> Yes, i am cutting stumps , but if i run the saw not touching anything, it's still gets loose.




A dull chain will get loose fast.Keep a good edge on it and make sure your drags are filed right.When we cut stumps the chain loosens fast if you hit just a bit a dirt.

Do you notice the top of the cutters turning brown when the chain is loose?


Rick


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## RED-85-Z51 (Aug 13, 2006)

computeruser said:


> INTENZ is garbage AND it forces you to buy and use a crap bar. Avoid it.
> 
> Figure out why your chain is getting loose. It is either you, the saw, or the chain. Once you figure it out, make the necessary changes and corrections and get on with life.




For the standard residential and light commercial user, it is fine. No, it is not great for someone who runs the saw all day every day.

The bar is NOT crap. I ran one on I beleive it was my Tanaka ECS415 and it was excellent. When the chain started to sag I just turn the little slot and it snugged it right up, no problem. I also noticed that the chain stayed sharper longer, due to the ease of adjustment.

just because a bar isnt all stainless or powdercoated or fancy doesnt make it crap.

I reccomend them, and so far Ive heard no complaints from customers.


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## Rspike (Aug 13, 2006)

Alright , Here is what ya do . #1 When the chain and bar are on and the cover is also in hand tighten the two nuts on the cover . #2 Take one hand and hold on to the bar at the end and hold it up and then tighten your bar nut on the back closest to the handle with your scrench and then tighten the second bar nut on the right. Left nut one always first and then the right one. I have the Husqvarna 359 and we just cut down 3 good size trees with it and the chain never did need tightened. Good luck . ( note : by holding the end of the bar up it takes out the slack so the bar can be tightened and the bar gets locked in at up vs down and when it gets locked in down and your put pressure on the bar when cutting it loosens the chain when the bar is forced up. )


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## cuttinscott (Aug 13, 2006)

rafa26 said:


> Yes, i am cutting stumps , but if i run the saw not touching anything, it's still gets loose.



Duhh Your cutting stumps.. Did you know the stump of a tree has the highest mineral content of the whole tree.. Where do you think the dirt splashes to when it rains. Stump saws will dull very quickly. With a DULL chain you cause more heat and YES the chain will then STRETCH. 

Just my .02
Scott


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## RED-85-Z51 (Aug 13, 2006)

cuttinscott said:


> Duhh Your cutting stumps.. Did you know the stump of a tree has the highest mineral content of the whole tree.. Where do you think the dirt splashes to when it rains. Stump saws will dull very quickly. With a DULL chain you cause more heat and YES the chain will then STRETCH.
> 
> Just my .02
> Scott




He said it is loose before he even cuts anything.


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## sawinredneck (Aug 13, 2006)

RED-85-Z51 said:


> He said it is loose before he even cuts anything.





UUUUUMMMMMM................. No he didn't, he said he tightens it up per the manual, then it comes loose quickly!!!
Andy


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## sawinredneck (Aug 13, 2006)

OK, my bad, he did say that!!!!!!!!!!!!! SORRY!!!:notrolls2:


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## HELSEL (Aug 13, 2006)

RED-85-Z51 said:


> I also noticed that the chain stayed sharper longer, due to the ease of adjustment.




LOL :hmm3grin2orange:


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## fishhuntcutwood (Aug 14, 2006)

computeruser said:


> Figure out why your chain is getting loose. It is either you, the saw, or the chain. Once you figure it out, make the necessary changes and corrections and get on with life.



Good post Brandon.

He says it's not the oiler, the chain, or his tensioning. We'll trust him on that. As soon as I asked about stump cutting, and it was confirmed, that was enough to convince me that nothing is likely wrong with the saw, though I'd guess the chain is dulling quicker than normal. I've never not had a stump heat up a saw.


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## fishhuntcutwood (Aug 14, 2006)

rafa26 said:


> Saw will be on service tomorrow.



Save your money man, it's the stumps. 

I know you said it still gets loose just from running it and not cutting anything, but man, that's ridiculous. If that's the case, and it's loosening under NO load, are your bar nuts stripped? 

Like I said before, there's only a few things that can heat up a chain enough to make it stretch like that. If it's not what you're cutting (stumps!), and if it's not just loosening up in the wood, then it's not due to a dull chain. That leaves chain tensioning.

Either that, or you're generationg huge amounts of heat elsewhere-running the saw with the chainbrake on, bogging the saw so much your clutch slips continuously, or you've got a homemade muffler mod that breathes directly onto your bar.

You aren't by chance cutting these stumps under a bridge are you?


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## RED-85-Z51 (Aug 14, 2006)

HELSEL said:


> LOL :hmm3grin2orange:




:greenchainsaw: If all I got to do is twist a little thing..Ill do it as much as needed..but once those screw in factory type get worn...I start putting more and more time between tightenings...

I like my Homelite XL..The adjuster broke about 7 years ago...so what I do is pull the bar out by hand until the chain is tight, and put the nut on and tighten it with a 7/16 wrech. Cutting small wood, like firewood, I can cut for 25-30 minutes on a 14" bar before needing to re-tighten. And thats on old nasty chain.

I just like the XL because it is well balanced, light, easy to drop start, and isnt turture on my hands to use...Not a plastic version mind you, an old Aluminum cased one.


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## THALL10326 (Aug 14, 2006)

Rspike said:


> Alright , Here is what ya do . #1 When the chain and bar are on and the cover is also in hand tighten the two nuts on the cover . #2 Take one hand and hold on to the bar at the end and hold it up and then tighten your bar nut on the back closest to the handle with your scrench and then tighten the second bar nut on the right. Left nut one always first and then the right one. I have the Husqvarna 359 and we just cut down 3 good size trees with it and the chain never did need tightened. Good luck . ( note : by holding the end of the bar up it takes out the slack so the bar can be tightened and the bar gets locked in at up vs down and when it gets locked in down and your put pressure on the bar when cutting it loosens the chain when the bar is forced up. )



Bingo Spike. Seems he doing everything right but he never said he raised the tip of the bar up before he tightened it down. Got to raise that tip up before tightening down. Good post Spike.....


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## fishhuntcutwood (Aug 14, 2006)

RED-85-Z51 said:


> ..but once those screw in factory type get worn...I start putting more and more time between tightenings...



Perhaps I am misreading you, but you really shouldn't tension your chain so tightly as to wear anything out.

And regardless of how much of a pain it is to properly tighten my chain, I do it when it needs it. Not doing so will throw you a chain, and work your saw harder than it needs to be worked.  

JMO.


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## fishhuntcutwood (Aug 14, 2006)

Rspike said:


> Alright , Here is what ya do . #1 When the chain and bar are on and the cover is also in hand tighten the two nuts on the cover . #2 Take one hand and hold on to the bar at the end and hold it up and then tighten your bar nut on the back closest to the handle with your scrench and then tighten the second bar nut on the right. Left nut one always first and then the right one. I have the Husqvarna 359 and we just cut down 3 good size trees with it and the chain never did need tightened. Good luck . ( note : by holding the end of the bar up it takes out the slack so the bar can be tightened and the bar gets locked in at up vs down and when it gets locked in down and your put pressure on the bar when cutting it loosens the chain when the bar is forced up. )



Yes, but he said he tensions it according to the manual, and that he's never had this problem before.


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## spacemule (Aug 14, 2006)

rafa26 said:


> The chain is tightened exactly as shown on the manual. *Yes it gets too hot when it slacks *but oil system is ok. I know a new chain is supposed to be adjusted more times but i used this saw hundreds of times before and this never happened.


This and the admission of cutting stumps is all the information needed. I'll wager it ain't a saw problem!


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## RED-85-Z51 (Aug 14, 2006)

fishhuntcutwood said:


> Perhaps I am misreading you, but you really shouldn't tension your chain so tightly as to wear anything out.
> 
> And regardless of how much of a pain it is to properly tighten my chain, I do it when it needs it. Not doing so will throw you a chain, and work your saw harder than it needs to be worked.
> 
> JMO.




I tighten so that it isnt hanging off the bottom, and so that Ican still freely rotate the chain.

After a while those adjusters get alot of slack in them and you have to turn them 3-4 times to get any movement. I end up replacing them after a while, but if Im working, like After Ivan, and Im de-limbing a big full grown China-berry tree, it sucks to have to stop when the chain gets a little slop, loosen the bar nuts out, turn the little screw, feel the chain, turn the screw, chains' too tight, turn it back a little...Tighten the bar nuts..

When I use the intenz bar, I just loosen the nuts, turn it 1 little click, then tighten the nuts back up.

Now, some of my saws work perfectly with the original adjuster, the Tanaka, Poulan, PM 601...no problems. But some of them have that little bit of wear..


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## Stumper (Aug 14, 2006)

Red, No offense but I think that we are questioning your competence because your experience doesn't match up with ours-. I have had dozens of saws and have run them for decades and your problems don't occur is normal use of sharp saws.


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## fishhuntcutwood (Aug 14, 2006)

RED-85-Z51 said:


> ...loosen the bar nuts out, turn the little screw, feel the chain, turn the screw, chains' too tight, turn it back a little...Tighten the bar nuts..



Yeah man. Basic saw maintenance. Like I said above, I don't mind doing it knowing my saw will run and perform better. I see it the same way I see putting gas and bar oil into the saw. The most time consuming part for me is loosening and tightening the nuts, and apparently you have to do that on the intenz bars as well.

To each his own I suppose.


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## lesorubcheek (Aug 14, 2006)

RED-85-Z51 said:


> Her is an idea. Adjust the chain, and scribe a mark in the bar, where it meets the case. Has to be pretty exact.
> 
> Then run it, when it comes loose, look for the mark. If it is not visible, your nuts and adjuster arent holding the bar. If it is, you know it IS a chain problem. If it were a clutch problem you would know it...



This is definitetly the right idea as suggested by Red. The first thing is to identify the problem. Is it the chain stretching, or is it the adjustment mechanism that's loosening and causing the chain to become slack. After identifying which of these two items is actually occuring, then you can take the next step. Until this is known, I won't make any assumptions about stump cutting, oiling, etc. Great thinking Red!

Dan


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## BlueRidgeMark (Aug 14, 2006)

rafa26 said:


> The chain it's not the problem because i tested 3 brand new ones, bought them this morning on Lowe's and all 3 had the same problem.





Hmmm. Didn't we have a thread here a short while back about crap chains being sold by the box stores?



rafa26, what brand are those chains you bought?


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## Paul Reilly (Mar 27, 2015)

I am having the same problem. It is not the blade. It is the saw. You can watch the adjuster nut unwind with the vibrations from the saw after about 30 seconds of cutting. I could throw a screw into the housing to hold the adjustment gear in place. Is their a better solution being used?


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## old-cat (Mar 27, 2015)

Paul Reilly said:


> I am having the same problem. It is not the blade. It is the saw. You can watch the adjuster nut unwind with the vibrations from the saw after about 30 seconds of cutting. I could throw a screw into the housing to hold the adjustment gear in place. Is their a better solution being used?


It would be better to start a new thread AND give some more info, like what saw you have.


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## super3 (Mar 27, 2015)

The bar nuts & cover are what keep the bar from moving and creating slack in the chain. Not the adjuster.


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## cus_deluxe (Mar 27, 2015)

super3 said:


> The bar nuts & cover are what keep the bar from moving and creating slack in the chain. Not the adjuster.


That is exactly right. I skimmed most of the post on this but dont recall seeing anyone mention the condition of the bar itself. Is the chain groove clean? are the rails splayed out? OP says hes used this saw "hundreds of times", and if thats the original bar, especially cutting stumps, i dont care what you do, a wopped out bar with not help a chain stay tight.


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## cus_deluxe (Mar 27, 2015)

Wait a second...post #1:


rafa26 said:


> Hi guys, i own a husqvarna 359 chain saw, 1 year and a half old and barely used. The chain was getting loose to fast then i bought 2 new chains and still the same problem.



Post#3:


rafa26 said:


> The chain is tightened exactly as shown on the manual. Yes it gets too hot when it slacks but oil system is ok. I know a new chain is supposed to be adjusted more times but i used this saw hundreds of times before and this never happened.


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## cus_deluxe (Mar 27, 2015)

I really wish the mods would set something up to delete stupid 8 year old threads.


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## rob066 (Mar 27, 2015)

cus_deluxe said:


> I really wish the mods would set something up to delete stupid 8 year old threads.


On the upside of old threads there is some very good info in them with some searching.


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## dl5205 (Mar 27, 2015)

Nearly nine years ago, the OP said he would report back after 'getting it fixed'. No report back tells me it was operator error.


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## cus_deluxe (Mar 27, 2015)

rob066 said:


> On the upside of old threads there is some very good info in them with some searching.


yeah thats true. just a bummer all the garbage that gets turned up.


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