Has anyone tried the Aldi chainsaw

[graduate_owner]

Hi all,
as per title, has anyone tried using the Aldi chainsaw which is currently being offered at £55. My Makita is giving me a bit of hassle at the moment and tends to cut in curves, not sure if it's the chain, bar or perhaps both, but in the meantime this would get me ready for winter but only if it's any good of course. I'm always unsure about cheapish tools. Any comments.

K

 

[kostello]

I've got the lidl version and it works fine....I've had it a year and would have been just as happy if it cost £100.

 

[nev]

if its cutting curves its probably down to one side of the chain being sharper/blunter than the other. if it starts and runs as it should just buy a new chain, less than a tenner, job done.
check out mister solutions for very reasonably priced chains etc

 

[dickm]

Is the Makita petrol or electric? Some of the Maks are re-badged Dolmars, so should be pretty good.
Not been entirely happy with the Mister solutions chains, but for the price, they are OK value.

 

[graduate_owner]

It's an electric chainsaw, cost about £100 from Axminster about 5-6 years ago, but hasn't had a great deal of use. I forgot to mention that the chain seems to go really tight after a very few minutes running. It seems to be oiling OK so I was wondering about the state of the bar, although it looks fine - no sign of wear or damage. I'll try sharpening the chain to see if that helps.

K

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Your chain usually loosens slightly when warmer, not the other way around. If you've any doubt about the bar being worn, you can usually turn them over. Worth a try.

 

[woodfarmer]

If anyone is looking to acquire a good quality electric chainsaw, take a look at Ikra website Ikra.de

Best quality from a functional point of view I have come across and the old one was heavily used for at least ten years chomping through 20 cu metres of firewood each year (mostly dry oak). and all the other little jobs that came its way.

 

[paulm]

As already said, if the teeth on the chain are not sharpened to equal lengths and angles then the saw will cut to one side, and chains usually get looser as they warm up in use so worth checking that your bar retention nut is firmly tightened ? Also check that the bar is properly mounted on the chain tensioning adjuster and that the adjuster works properly....

Cheers, Paul

 

[dickm]

The tightening up as it gets used does sound odd. As others have said, they usually slacken with use. Are you sure it's the chain/bar that is at fault and it's not bearings or something else "further in"? Might be worth checking once it's tightened up by (UNPLUGGING) whipping off the bar and chain to see if the sprocket then turns freely.
Only other thought is that there is something building up on the chain brake and jamming it; might be worth a look.

 

[graduate_owner]

Hi guys,
Yes the chain should loosen when it warms up, I agree with that. Mine seems to get so tight it almost jams up and the motor really struggles to turn the chain with no cutting load. So I took the chain off, put it back on with suitable tension, check it by hand (gloved) and it turned fine. Switched on, started cutting, back to square one. Has anybody else had this happen?

K

 

[swb58]

I think you'll have to wait a long time for someone to answer yes to that question. On the face of it it doesn't seem possible, but if the chain does get tight then there can't be many things to check to find what's going wrong.

 

[paulm]

worth checking that your bar retention nut is firmly tightened ? Also check that the bar is properly mounted on the chain tensioning adjuster and that the adjuster works properly....

Cheers, Paul

Sorry if it's a bit granny and eggs but don't know how experienced you are with chainsaws, but have you checked the above ?

Clean out the bar rails also to remove any accumulated gunge and grease the sprocket on the front of the bar and make sure it turns freely (sounds like it does from what you said earlier).

Is there any obvious free play in the drive shaft or wear on the drive sprocket ?

Don't laugh, I've done it myself once, but is the chain on the right way round ? I got distracted once and managed to fit it with the teeth backwards, doesn't work very well :lol:

How much free play are you allowing in the chain when it is cold, how far does it pull away from the bar rails mid way along it's length ?

Hard to help from a distance really, but if nothing above helps then probably trying a new chain is the next and lowest cost step ?

Cheers, Paul

 

[PSkinner]

Hi,

I've got the Makita chainsaw and also have recently done the LANTRA maintenance, crosscutting and felling course for bigger saws.

When doing the maintenance part, the instructor spoke at length about the bar and we had to file it flat and true, as use can result in a burr being created along the edges, similar to the burr you turn when sharpening a cabinet scraper. This might be causing the bar to bind.
If the blade is getting tighter then that suggests something is heating up. Check the temperature of the bar after use.
The bar also could be bent or kinked slightly.
Oil could not be getting to the bar due to a blockage.
If the saw is cutting left or right then the sharpening angle might be different on each side of the blade. I use a dremel attachment which is cheap and good for accurate sharpening if you have electricity close by. Cordless sharpeners are also available.
Hope this helps.

 

[PSkinner]

Sorry, forgot to mention - could well be the chain brake as they can get clogged or wear.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Chain tightening seems to have only two possible causes to me:

The bar nut was loose and through either use or heat its moved the chain tightening screw clockwise (highly unlikely) since you would expect to rattle loose and not tight.

Much more probable is the cog at the end of the bar is clogged with shavings and has become bunged to the point of near stopping. This is particularly likely with rip cuts where you get those long shavings that don't clear very easily. Many's the time I've poked a bit of coathanger into the bowels of that cog to remove stuck fast shavings to get the chain moving again.

 

[dickm]

One other possibility which occurred with my Dolmar, although only after many years of use. The chain wore a groove in the teeth of the sprocket, which resulted ultimately in the chain binding in the groove. The effect of this could get worse as the chain heats up and expands slightly, as for the OP. But my money would still be on bearings wearing or the brake band getting clogged.

 

[graduate_owner]

Thanks to all who have offered suggestions. I'll post again after trying these suggestions to let people know how I get on.

K

 

[graduate_owner]

Well I've cleaned the groove in the bar, but it wasn't very dirty. I also filed the side of the bar - there was a slight burr there but again, not much. I tried greasing the nose sprocket using grease in an old hypodermic syringe (I'm not sure how effective that was, but the sprocket isn't jammed) and re-fitted the chain and tensioned it. When I switched on the motor was obviously feeling the load even though I wasn't cutting anything. Then suddenly the motor speeded up and I was able to start cutting, although still cutting in curves. So now I'm going to sharpen the chain.

Can anyone tell me - if the cut curves say to the right as the cut proceeds, is it the right hand blades that are more blunt than the left side, or vice versa?

K

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Put an engineer's square across the bar to ensure it's not worn to one side. Check the teeth are the same length on both sides - if you damage teeth on one side that take eg. five file strokes to remove you need to take five strokes on the other side too (an odd tooth or two won't make much difference). They seem to pull towards the blunt side. If I have the bar off, I upend it in a vice, clean it out and oil the sprocket whilst rotating it - the oil then runs down the grooves in the bar. I've not seen anything to be gained by attempting to grease it.

 

[graduate_owner]

Thanks Phil,
sharpening the chain is my next task

K