OK to remove clutch cover?

[cgarman]

Hey guys:

I have an 076AV on my 48" Granberg Alaskan (56" bar). Whenever I take the clutch cover off, the whole kit and kaboodle falls apart. It's pretty hard to balance a 25 pound saw, 56" bar, 15 pound mill, and 168 links of sharp chain while getting everything aligned. I just about threw the whole thing into the woods after 30 mins of screwing with it last time.

I'm wondering if you guys have any thoughts about just removing the clutch cover while milling. I could use the bar nuts to tighten directly against the bar, possibly with additional washers. That way, I can loosen the bar or inspect the sprocket without disassembling everything.

I saw a photo on here of someone who made an extra plate to mount the saw and avoid this problem, but I don't have access to metalworking equipment.

Anybody else solved this problem some how?

 

[timberwolf]

It will work, worry is what happens if you derail a chain. Though in the case of a mill there are the support posts on the mill that should help keep the chain mostly contained down range.

 

[Ollbuster]

Look at BobL mill I believe it has exactly what your looking for. If not it is at least one of the best CSM's around.

Dan

 

[BlueRider]

I mill with an 075 and a 42" bar so I know hat you are talking about. I have found that it is easier to remove the saw from the mill to do any work on the saw. This may sound like a big hassle but in practice it is really fast. There is no need to loosen all the screws on the bar clamp. with the saw upright and the mill on its side you only need to remove the top bar clamp screw and I find it easier to remove the clamp at the tip of the bar first and when installing the mill I start with the clamp cloeset to the power head.

For minor chain tension adjustments it is not nessesary to remove the saw from the mill. The long term solution is to drill a hole in the bar clamp so you can reach the tension sdjusting screw. a short term solution is to slightly loosed the bar clamp bolts while the saw is in the mill and pull up on the saw's handle while tightening the bar clamp bolts.

Other than chainging a damaged chain I don't remove the clutch cover in the field, just don't have any reason to.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

I mill without a cover but I made a guard for when the chain comes off.

 

[gemniii]

Hey guys:

I have an 076AV on my 48" Granberg Alaskan (56" bar). Whenever I take the clutch cover off, the whole kit and kaboodle falls apart. It's pretty hard to balance a 25 pound saw, 56" bar, 15 pound mill, and 168 links of sharp chain while getting everything aligned. I just about threw the whole thing into the woods after 30 mins of screwing with it last time.

I milled a bit with my CS62 which has an "internal" of forward chain adjuster. I would back the unit out of the mill to adjust the chain. The couple of times I took the cover off while attached to the mill I laid it down and propped it with stuff, PITA.

I bought a 660 w/ a side tensioner.

I'm wondering if you guys have any thoughts about just removing the clutch cover while milling. I could use the bar nuts to tighten directly against the bar, possibly with additional washers. That way, I can loosen the bar or inspect the sprocket without disassembling everything.

Don't without guards.

 

[cgarman]

Thanks for the replies

Lots of good thoughts there. I guess I have to decide how many times I can save 20 minutes before spending 6 hours in the ER getting stitched up.

I did have one idea after seeing those photos - what if I were to secure the bar to the saw with two washers and jam nuts (very thin - about 1/8") just to hold it together. Then, I could put the clutch cover back on with the regular bar nuts. I'd be able to pull the cover off without everything falling to pieces, but I'd still have the cover in place while running.

The only downside is having extra spacing there. For me, it may not matter because my chain brake band is gone, so there's no braking anyway. Do you guys think this would interfere with the oiler or anything else?

Thanks again for the replies. This site is awesome.

 

[BlueRider]

color me confused because I don't understand why you need to take the clutch cover off while the saw is mounted on the mill.

 

[cgarman]

In one case, the chain jumped. In another, I heard a weird noise that turned out to be the sprocket check nut banging around in there. Also, to change the chain, or to disassemble the mill enough to get it in my undersized SUV. I'd also like to get a bat for the 076AV so I can just use it like a regular saw, but this is such a pain, I'm not sure how often I'd like to switch it out.

 

[gr8scott72]

In one case, the chain jumped. In another, I heard a weird noise that turned out to be the sprocket check nut banging around in there. Also, to change the chain, or to disassemble the mill enough to get it in my undersized SUV. I'd also like to get a bat for the 076AV so I can just use it like a regular saw, but this is such a pain, I'm not sure how often I'd like to switch it out.

I agree with bluerider. Everything you just described, I would just take the saw off the mill first.

 

[BlueRider]

Now I see your reasons for needing to remove the clutch cover and they would all be eaiser if the mill were not mounted and in the case of removing the chain the mill is reqired to be removed. I find the eaised way to avoid a cluster fu#$ is to place a block of wood under the tip of the bar so that the power head sits flat on the ground. if you do this before loosening the bar nuts the bar tends to stay ballanced on the bar studs. even so when I need to remove the chain I loosen the chain tension and pull the chain off the bar before removing the bar nuts and clutch cover. this gives me a beter chance of keeping things in place.

For some reason on my 051 the chain is much harder to remove and I have to thread it back through the full wrap handle and turn it 90* to get it to clear the clutch drum when removing it from the saw. I always end up taking the bar off the studs, much more of a PITA. In case you didn't know the 051/075/076 all use the same case and outer parts. I wanted to add this because my 051 has an air filter cover marked "075" and the only way to really tell is by the cylinder. when I first got the saw 15 years ago I thought it was an 075. the price was so good and I bought it based on its performance that it didn't matter once I found out it was an 051.