For two years now I have a little electric chainsaw that I use in my garden. I use it for small trees/bushes, nothing big. I also use it rarely. Last week I realized that it had become very hard to cut with it, so I took the chain to be sharpened. Today I tried out the sharpened chain and it was indeed day-and-night as to what it used to be. The first tree stump came off easily.
However after that the problems started:
- I already noticed last week that the chain somehow doesn't want to stay tight. After cutting for a minute or two it starts to slack and I need to tighten it again. This was never such an issue before and it only got worse today.
- No matter how carefully I cut and how strongly I hold the chainsaw, the cuts it makes tend to "bend" or "curve". Not sure how to describe it, but basically instead of staying on a single straight plane like it should, the cut starts to curve away. This in turn results in the chain being pulled out of the bar and not cutting anymore. As a result I cannot cut anything thicker than 3-5cm anymore, and even that is an effort.
- The chain also fell off twice today, likely as a result of the previous point.
I'm suspecting that the bar may be to blame, but I cannot see anything obviously wrong with it. Maybe it's bent, but I cannot tell with a naked eye. The sprocket turns freely. The chain runs freely. The oil is where it's supposed to be. The chain is properly tightened according to every guide I could find. There is no obvious damage or wear to the bar.
I did notice that the chain has a lot of wiggle room in the bar. Like, even when tightened, the teeth can wiggle sideways quite a bit. But maybe that was always the case and I just didn't pay attention. It is after all the original bar and the original chain and it's been used without problems for a whole season.
I've taken the chainsaw with me and will try to find a repair shop to show it to in the upcoming week, but perhaps it is something I'm doing wrong? I'm not an experienced chainsaw user...