Cut wandering.

[Pa Pa Jack]

I have a Husky 455 Rancher. I have been cutting firewood lately and have had no issues until yesterday. I put on a brand new chain when I noticed the saw was really slowing down. With the new chain, the saw will not make a straight cut through a 16 inch log. It wanders to the right as if it wants to cut a circle no matter what I do. I flipped the bar over thinking that maybe it was the problem, but it made no difference. Now the saw revs much higher but cuts much slower. The chain is a H47s Husky brand and is still very sharp. Any ideas?

[DT86]

I've never seen or heard of a defective new chain but it sounds like you have one. The only time I've had one cut in a circle is if it was very dull on one side or had teeth broken.

I wonder if its on backwards? We've all probably done that once or twice in a hurry.

[Bluegill2]

Bad chain, or wrong gauge, .050 instead of .058?

[Pa Pa Jack]

the chain is the same as I have always used. 3/8 .050/1.3mm 72 links.

I had made several cuts before it began acting up. I thought I might have hit metal in the wood. These tress are from an area where we have found old barbed wire embedded in trees. I checked the chain and it is still very sharp and getting good oil. Even the bar has only been on the saw for about 3 cords of wood.

The first thing I checked was to make sure I put the chain on right. I am glad to hear I am not the only one that has put a chain on backwards.

[Furu]

If you have not already done so inspect every cutter individually. Look for damage or differences in size. As your bar ages ( you said it was pretty new) it can cause the same issue. Take off the chain and see if the bar has any asymmetry in the groove or if there is a rolled ridge on one side. Running a dull chain can take a new bar and quickly cause wear that can cause your described effects. Dressing the bar, if that is the problem, is not expensive or that hard to do,
First though if you think you hit metal inspect every link and cutter to ensure they have no anomaly either from damage or defect.

[turnkey4099]

Several cuts before acting up, cutting in curve says dull chain every time. It only takes a few dinged up cutters to cause the problem and usually they will be allon one side. Rarely is the problem due to a worn bar - does happen but the default cause is "chain". Resharpen it or put on anohter chain and see what happens. Since the chain is new with little use you can get away with locating the dinged up cutters and just sharpening them if there are only a few.

Harry K

[Scotty Dive]

If you have ruled out the bar and the chain is not nicked/dull, the double check the chain width. I had the same problem and tried 3 new chains only to finally figure out the chains were the wrong width and rode the rail wrong. Drove me nuts

[Deere Dude]

Is the bar fitting flat on the surface it is bolted to?
I had that happen once, and found there was a little bitty ridge or collar on the bolt that the bar would be bolted to. The bar would hang up just a smidgen but it was enough to cut off on a 20 degree angle in a log.

[LD1]

x2 on dinged up chain.

Have it sharpened and see if the issue goes away. This is the cheapest way to quickly rule out the chain

[Timm250]

I had a new Oregon chain doing this & I found a couple of the links where the pins had not been flattened when it was put together. It gave me fits & I took it to the shop to be sharpened & it still cut to one side. I was about to give up & put another chain on when I saw that 2 pins had not been flattened.