What kind of saw would be of great help to know as well.
And I agree, dull chains get hot quicker.
A couple of ways to tell when dull
1. as already mentioned, when the saw stops pulling and you have to force it through the cut. A sharp chain is able to cut with no pressure at all on the front handle.
2. You can tell it's dull if you start throwing powder instead of the big square chips. If your sawdust looks like when you use a circular saw in the garage cutting 2x4's, you are dull.
3. If the top to the cutters look dirty, it is a good indication that they are dull. A good sharp chain keeps the top plate of the cutter nice and shiney.
It is hard to judge by your post what your level of knowledge is on a saw, so if I say something really basic like talking to someone that has never owned a saw, dont take offense to it.
How did you verify the chain is getting lube? Did you hold the nose next to a peice of cardboard, or peice of wood and verify?? Did you verify AFTER the bar got hot?? Sometimes the oiler can work just fin when you headd out to the woods, but somewhere in the middle of you day, something can become lodged in the oiler hole in the bar and overheat the bar.
Do you sharpen your own chains? If so, do you lower the rakers as well? As stupid as it sounds, I had an uncle that has cut for years and never knew the rakers needed lowered. He sharpened his own chains too. So If you have sharpened 3-4 times and havent lowered the rakers, you may have a sharp chain but not allowing it to take a bite and that could cause problems.
Good luck and post back with some more info.
