A Chain Saw Troubleshooting Guide

By Walter Hall
Published on September 1, 1985
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Occasionally, in one of your periodic examinations of your chain, you might spot a problem with some part, such as a cutter. When you do, use the picture guide here to identify the problem and thus discover its probable cause and remedy.
Occasionally, in one of your periodic examinations of your chain, you might spot a problem with some part, such as a cutter. When you do, use the picture guide here to identify the problem and thus discover its probable cause and remedy.
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You can take all the precautions and follow all the rules and still have accidents. The risk is minimized, but it's still there.
You can take all the precautions and follow all the rules and still have accidents. The risk is minimized, but it's still there.

Wait! Before you head out to the woods with your chain saw this fall, inspect your chain.

Back in 1978 and ’79, MOTHER EARTH NEWS published an extensive two-part excerpt (see MOTHER EARTH NEWS issues 54 and 55) from Barnacle Parp’s Chain Saw Guide. This well-illustrated, commonsense handbook quickly became the standard guide to selecting, using, and caring for those dangerous, but well-nigh indispensable, machines. All of our staff woodcutters who had copies of the book used them faithfully.

Then, recently, Parp’s Guide went out of print . . . and our staff sawyers had to guard their copies faithfully. Well, we saw a situation that needed correcting, so we decided to republish the book ourselves. Not only that, we persuaded Walter Hall — the guide’s author — to expand and update it. The result is Barnacle Parp’s new Chain Saw Guide (copyright © Walter Hall, 288 pages, available for $12.95 plus $1.50 shipping and handling from MOTHER’s Bookshelf, Hendersonville, NC). As you can see from the selections here, Parp’s Guide is an important aid for anyone who ever has need to pick up a chain saw. Check the chain saw troubleshooting illustrated guides in the image gallery.

A Chain Saw Troubleshooting Guide

Occasionally, in one of your periodic examinations of your chain, you might spot a problem with some part, such as a cutter. When you do, use the picture guide here to identify the problem and thus discover its probable cause and remedy.

But not all cutting problems are immediately apparent to the eye, especially if chain saws are new to you. It’s impossible here to cover completely all the potential saw chain problems, but if you experience a performance problem, try to identify it from the following chain saw troubleshooting paragraphs.

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