I just bought a replacement chain for Stihl chainsaw. The chain was tangled out of the package. Is there any secret for straigtening it out so I can place it around the bar? I'm afraid if I pull the knots apart, I'll bend it.
There's no secret that I know of. I just lay it down and open up the little loops of chain until I can see which way will undo it. Just takes one or two minutes.
I know that this was a long dead thread . But I'm sure that many of the folks that read this have been cursed with a deliberately willful chain . I have no real answer to it .
I do find that swearing at the chain ,grabbing it up ,and thrashing it about has never had a bit of an effect on the rogue chain . I have found that after exhausting myself ,the chain most often relaxes and becomes compliant . Naturally after all that , I mount it backwards on the bar
I look at a rogue chain as a bad omen and normally will cancel the project for the day.
I have found that waiting for happy hour and the subsequent relaxation, that the chain kinks quite literally fall apart in my hands as I rotate the chain. Very strange!
I keep a box handy and when I accumulate at least two rogue chains, I take the box to the saw shop and get them sharpened. When I get them back they are normal chain. I find the greasier and sandier the chain is and the hotter the weather, the chain will naturally go rogue. Straightening one is sort of like me working a rubix cube.
Just be sure to lay it out on a flat surface and move the loops to the outside.
Trying to untangle while hanging onto it can be frustrating, but can be done.