16
Carlton
®
Maintenance and Safety Manual
Saw Chain Maintenance
Saw chain tension
1. Turn the engine off. Let the saw chain cool completely.
2. Loosen guide bar mounting nuts on the side of your
chain saw.
3. Pull the guide bar nose up, and keep it up as you adjust
tension.
For a solid nose guide bar:
Turn your chain saw’s tension
adjustment screw until the bottoms of the lowest tie straps and
cutters come up and just touch the bottom of the guide bar rail.
A properly tensioned saw chain should have a small amount of
sag at the mid-point of a solid nose guide bar.
For a sprocket nose guide bar:
Tension must be tighter
than on a solid nose guide bar. Turn your chain saw’s tension
adjustment screw until the bottoms of the lowest tie straps
and cutter come up and solidly contact the bottom of the
guide bar rail.
Carlton
®
Technical Tip
Never tension your saw chain right after cutting when the saw
chain has expanded in length from the heat. Saw chain tensioned
while hot will contract when it cools, and can damage your guide
bar and saw chain. ONLY TENSION SAW CHAIN WHEN THE SAW
CHAIN HAS COOLED.
