Question about clutch life

[Oldtoolsnewproblems]

So I am fairly new to chainsaw so bear with me here. I have 3 old husky that I plan on trying to maintain for a while. The single operational one right now had a crack in a clutch friction shoe but it worked. When I got the second saw I swapped clutches as that one was not cracked. I had expected it to look more like a brake shoes, ie some friction material attached to a metal backer. Has all the friction material worn off of mine, or is it just a special sintered metal with enough friction to get the job done? I'd never used a chainsaw before I got these a few years ago, and have only cut like 5 cord with them so I have no expectation of how a saw should work. Heck I thought the 266 had plenty of power even tho compression turned out to be 90psi! New ring fixed that and it's much better.
Second question, is how long do clutches last? Hard to measure I know, but can I buck 30 chords before I need a new clutch, or is it several hundred and most saws never have it replaced unless it gets damaged? Trying to decide if I should buy a spare one for the shelf, but that's a slippery slope of new parts "just in case" and I don't like doing that. I'd rather spend the money on a bigger bar and new drive cog

 

[Old2stroke]

The kind of clutch that you have with the straight steel shoes will last forever as long as it isn't abused. Most clutches have problems because of overheating due to owners who try to run the saw with the brake on or when cutting, they lug the engine down to the point where is starts to slip. First thing to go with overheating is the clutch springs will get softened and the clutch will engage at a lower speed. The bearing that the clutch drum spins on has to be greased now and then.

 

[pioneerguy600]

So I am fairly new to chainsaw so bear with me here. I have 3 old husky that I plan on trying to maintain for a while. The single operational one right now had a crack in a clutch friction shoe but it worked. When I got the second saw I swapped clutches as that one was not cracked. I had expected it to look more like a brake shoes, ie some friction material attached to a metal backer. Has all the friction material worn off of mine, or is it just a special sintered metal with enough friction to get the job done? I'd never used a chainsaw before I got these a few years ago, and have only cut like 5 cord with them so I have no expectation of how a saw should work. Heck I thought the 266 had plenty of power even tho compression turned out to be 90psi! New ring fixed that and it's much better.
Second question, is how long do clutches last? Hard to measure I know, but can I buck 30 chords before I need a new clutch, or is it several hundred and most saws never have it replaced unless it gets damaged? Trying to decide if I should buy a spare one for the shelf, but that's a slippery slope of new parts "just in case" and I don't like doing that. I'd rather spend the money on a bigger bar and new drive cog

How long a clutch will last depends more on the operator than the number of cords of wood cut with it. My oldest hard used saw had over 2000 hours on it and it had the same clutch in it that came on it in 89. I had changed the clutch springs at least 3 times on that saw over a 10 year span. All the chainsaws I have owned and run since the 60`s still have the same clutches in them that came from the factory on the saw.

 

[Oldtoolsnewproblems]

That makes sense. I've never owned a new saw so I don't know exactly how they should look lol, but I figured all the material wasn't worn off.

Now to pop the cover of and try to remember if the drive is part of the clutch drum or a replaceable ring. All I remember is it looked a little worn and probably due for replacement

 

[Del_]

I've lost a few springs over the years buy have never had to replace a clutch shoe or drum. Maybe replaced a drum or two in an older saw because the spur sprocket was worn out.

 

[Old2stroke]

Just be aware that even if your drive sprocket is badly worn, you can continue to run it with the same chain until the chain is done. You CANNOT buy a new chain and run it on a badly worn sprocket, it will ruin the new chain. Many owners will buy several new chains when they replace the drive sprocket and keep rotating them, the chains and sprocket will wear in together and extend their lifetime