Anyone else have chain tension issues with Sugihara 20"?

So I bought this 20" Sugihara for my 361 I recently put together. I've had the same semi-chisel chain on it since (roughly a month with very little cutting).

I went to put a well used full chisel chain on it the other day and I couldn't tighten the chain all the way. Here's some pictures...

Sugihara with newer chain - tension is correct.


How the tensioner sets with newer chain.


Same thing as above without the bar.


20" Stihl ES with old chain and correct tension.


And how the above looks up close.


...continued to next post.

 

Now the older chain with the Sugihara - saw is adjusted to max tension.


Up close showing the tensioner is maxed out.

 

I also checked my 440 in case it wasn't just a 361 issue. Indeed I got the same results.

Sugihara put the tensioner holes too far from the tail of the bar.
Comparing the bars, the Stihl has a bigger belly and the Sugihara is a tad longer. Therefore, the overall size of the bar must be pretty close.

Yes, both chains are 72DL.
Anyone else notice this?

 

I noticed the same thing today with my 18" Sugi bar with a brand new chain. I was going to put it on my 461 but not even close.

 

I have the same thing with my 28" Sugi and it doesn't want to oil either. For what that bar costs, I expected it to just work, and it doesn't. I had to shorten my chains by like 2 links to get them to work. I have yet to put any time on it, but I won't be buying another, that's for sure.

 

I hear ya there! I will probably end up putting new holes in the bar so I can tension all my chains properly. I'm a little pizzed about it, though. Drilling bars is not easy. I like the handling of the lighter bars, but I doubt I'll be getting anymore from Sugihara.

I'm surely not going to shorten my chains as I use them on two other 20" bars that work properly.

 

Tsumura light and tough are my favorite.

 

I'd like to try one, but they don't make them in .050". All my 3/8 chains are that gauge .

 

Stihl mount are .063". I've got all my stihl bars to .063" besides one old bar.

 

Did you lay a Sugi on top of a Stihl bar to check the slot? Or the placement of the adjuster hole? I did and here's what it looks like... more adjustment in the Sugi. I'm not sure how, but looks to me like your chain adjuster doesn't go far enough and the alignment of the bars are exactly centered over the adjuster hole.


Measured with a tape, more adjustment in the sugi.


Part of the reason may be that the Sugi has a larger hole, not by much but enough to show what you did. And I'd take a guess that the Stihl bar is very near maxed as well, maybe short by a turn or so.

 

I see what you're getting at Randy. But, how do the tips line up when the adjuster holes are stacked? It doesn't matter how much tail the bar has behind the adjuster holes, it's the length from them to the tip. Without even looking, I bet the Sugihara is shorter. That coupled with the narrower belly will give less adjustment.

I'll check later and let you know how many turns from stop I am on the Stihl ES bar with the older chain.

 

For the price that should not happen...

 

From Randy's pics, the oil holes don't seem to line up either??

welcome to FHC watsonr

 

I don't believe the oil hole placement is an issue. If its closer to the adjuster holes, it'll definitely be over the slot on the saw. If it were further towards the tip compared to the Stihl bar, that may be an issue.

I didn't get a chance to get out in the barn last night to do my own side by side comparison. I will do that this evening and take some pics.

 

I have a couple Sugi bars, but on Husky's, no issues. Maybe it's a Stihl thang?

 

Here we go...

The total length of each bar from the tail.


This is the length from the center of each bars adjuster holes.


1/4" difference. Hmm, that doesn't seem too much. Let's keep looking...

 

The bars laid out on top of one another with the adjuster holes aligned on each bar.


The tails.


The tips (again, the adjuster holes are lined up on the two bars).


And now the height comparison. (or whatever you want to call it; width, thickness, belly, etc...)

 

So how far are the adjuster holes from the tail of each bar?

Stihl ES - 1.5"


Sugihara - 1.75" (ish)

 

There you have it. With the adjuster hole being closer to the tip of the bar, combined with a smaller height (belly), you have less overall adjustment on chain slack.

Randy mentioned it looked like my adjuster was close to the same position on the Stihl as is the Sugihara with the old chain.
Well, I checked how many turns left of adjustment I had on each with a few different chains.

The old chain was 4.75 turns from fully maxed out on the Stihl ES bar and ms361. The Sugihara with the adjuster maxed, I couldn't even bring the slack out of the chain as shown below.