New to chainsaws - looking for advice

I am looking for some tips/advice for my chainsaw. I had a 50-60’ maple taken down last year because the trunk had hollow areas. The arborist left the wood because I will burn it, but it needs to be cut. He cut the logs and pieces to about 16-18” but some of the pieces are 4 feet wide.

I love to learn on my own so I bought a chainsaw, an Echo CS-490 with a 20” bar and watched many YouTube videos. It feels solid and is pretty light, but I am really, really disappointed in how terrible it cuts. It’s almost like trying to cut a steak with the flat, top edge of a knife instead of with the sharp edge.

So I admit that I don’t know much about saws, but it seems like the stock chain that came with it is a total piece of crap. I’ve used it all of 4 times now for a total of about 3.5 hours and it seems the chain is now completely dull (not that it was great to begin with). It drags off center, smokes, fine saw dust and basically won’t grip the wood and go through it no matter how much force I apply.

Is there a better chain that anyone would recommend? Do they really need to be sharpened after just a few hours of use?

It also seems like there is some sort of artificial limit set. Squeezing the throttle to about 60-70% maxes out the engine. I’ve read this is a decent to good saw depending on opinions so maybe I’m just doing something wrong. I do use it safely and wear proper protection by the way.

 

G'day and welcome aboard Jason.

A chain can dull quite quickly if it hits dirt or worse rocks. Dirty wood will also dull a chain. But fear not the chain can easily be sharpened.

When I am cutting clean wood I can go for several tanks of fuel before I even think about sharpening a chain.

There is a couple of tutorials here that can teach you how to quickly sharpen that chain.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Multiple issues here.
Yes, you must sharpen chain often. And immediately, if chain touches ground for half a second.
You run .325 or 3/8? Maybe you have a safety chain? Shark fin bumpers? More data needed to rec chain.
Sounds like your carb isn't properly tuned.
20" on 50cc saw is pushing the limit, esp if you run 3/8.

 

Welcome to the hoardersclub Jason
I'm not the most experienced with a chainsaw, but it seems to me that..
1.. You hit something and dulled the teeth on the chain rather quickly..
2.. You say it's kicking out fine saw dust, and smokes, and you are applying pressure and it's still not cutting. That would seem to indicate that the cutting depth limiters need filed down as well. The saw should cut through with no effort on your part other than controlling it.

There are a lot of resources on this site to help you cut safely and efficiently, I hope you take the time to review things.

Be well.

 

Howdy Jason! Welcome to the Club, you’re gonna like it here. It’s full of good folks, good advice and Tons of knowledge.

It sounds like you have 2 issues, both of which I have had happen and the folks on here taught me about. The first is yes, if you’re sawing wood you will have to sharpen that chain. Depending on the type of wood and the amount of wood you cut, you’ll sharpen more or less often. I bought a couple of files at the hardware store, and before starting for the day I have gotten in the habit of running the file on my chain along with filling the fuel and filling the bar oil. After a few cords of wood I took my saw to the hardware store so they could sharpen it on the real grinder.

That brings up the second issue. The fine sawdust is probably indicative of your teeth not grabbing far enough down to make a good cut. If you take your chain in to a hardware store, they can grind down those cursed “shark fins” in between the teeth, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised how your saw rips through that wood! The CS-490 is a good saw, I just got one and I’m pleased with it. On the big wood though, I modify my technique to get a more adequate cut and not bog the saw down. I angle a little on the far side of the log, and then angle on the close side of the log. It works pretty good on the big wood, on the smaller logs the saw cuts right through.
Hope the info helps!

 

Agreed with the above posts... Dull chain and possibly rakers need to come down. If you are planning on getting into cutting multiple cords of wood learn how to hand sharpen your chins with a file. I learned from the tutorials on FHC and it works good for me. If your just going to cut the occasional tree I would just take it to a hardware store, they should do it for around $10. You will also want to purchase an additional chain so you don't end up with a dull chain in the middle of a job. Continuing to cut with a dull chain can put unnecessary stress on your saw, which could result in expensive repairs.

 

Welcome Jason I suggest taking a close up picture of the chain and posting it. Could be anything including ochain on backwards. It does happen!!

 

I'll bet a boat load of anything he doesn't post a picture with the chain on backwards

 

heck I've done it, couple years ago, stopped for a break, fueled up got a drink, threw on a fresh chain. Started her up, First cut what's the hecks wrong with this thing??!!

Did I put bar oil in gas.. NOPE
Did I leave choke on... Nope
Is chain bad... Nope .. Its sharp
But it's on backwards..

 

I did it last week! With one of those little Homies. I figured it out pretty quick into the cut. Shut the saw off, looked over my shoulders and had a good laugh walking back into the garage

But I wasn't sending a picture.

 

Thank you all for the advice! I’m cutting maple, so not exactly soft I guess. And I’m just using the chain that came with the saw from Home Depot so I’m thinking that it is like most other things that come factory - “safe” and consistent at the expense of performance.

I have a local Stihl/Echo dealer close by that I will go ask about a more aggressive chain, a spare, and what I need to sharpen it.

It’s not on backwards unless it comes that way out of the box. I literally put gas and oil in it and just expected it to work for $350. I have to travel for my work all this week so it will have to wait until I get back.

 

Welcome Jason
Where did you purchase the saw? If you got it from a dealer just take it back and they can have a look to see what is wrong. A good chance the chain is dull and will need sharpened. You should also have a couple of spare chains, but I would not recommend the big box store like Home Depot as they will sell homeowner safety chains that do not perform all that well. The dealer can help to show you the proper technique for maintaining your chains. Another option is if you have any friends that cut wood. Maybe they can give you some pointers, or members here.
Good luck and remember that there are no stupid questions.
Stay safe.

 

I’m man enough to show my mistakes and (hopefully) learn from them. Here are some photos.



In this second photo, you are looking at the "CH" in the Echo logo on the side of the bar if you were holding the saw and looking at the left-hand side. So the saw would be out of view at the top.

 

Jason, those cutters are extremely dull. Read this and feel free to ask any questions. Btw, as a general rule of thumb, you should be touching the Chain up With a file every three tanks of gas. Sometimes two tanks, depending on cutting conditions.
Chain sharpening tutorial.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What He said & welcome to the forum!!!!!. I don't think you made any "mistake" dirt & dull chains happen. Get her sharp & go again. 590 is a good saw, take care of it & it'll last a good long time & give you good service.

 

I have a 490 and a 590 as my main saws.
I'm currently cutting up a 4 foot diameter maple, and it's making the 590 work.
I can't imagine doing the job with my 490.
A sharp chain is 80% of the job.
I use a Pferd sharpener like this to keep the edge on the teeth, usually hitting them with a few strokes every tank or two of gas.
The best part of this design is that it takes the raker down at the same time as the teeth, so no extra steps when sharpening.
The power issue needs a muffler mod to give the saw more power.
Wait until about 10 tanks of gas are through the saw.
Then take out the two screws holding the spark screen on.
You'll get a diverter, spark screen, and the plate with a small tube in it.
Take the tube plate out, and you double your exhaust size. Trim some of the restrictions in the diverter to get a bit more free flow.
Then retune the saw.
You'll want to cut the limiter tabs off the jet adjustment screws to do that.
Echo is made in Japan , and they add some garbage to the exhaust to get it to pass EPA regs, and tune the saws lean.
Removingthe EPA baloney gets you back to a saw with the power Echo meant.

 

how to remove the limiters on the carb adjustment, this is the 590, but the carb is the same

 

Agree with above, is it possible your chain was too tight?? Might explain bar smoking too. Your in Ohio lots of good members there!!

 

Welcome Jason
I live north central Ohio, if you are not far away bring them dull chains over and I would be happy to give you some pointers

 

And one of our finest right there in the post above...classy offer Walt!