Husqvarna 455 Rancher

[Ed_McDonnell]

I've had a Husqvarna 455 Rancher for about 6 months now. While there is a lot to like about the saw, there are two issues that really take a lot of the joy out of using it.

1) The chain loses tension as you work with the saw. About once an hour I have to adjust the bar to tighten the chain. At first I thought it was just the new chain breaking in, but after months of this I can only assume that the bar is moving during work. No matter how tight I tighten the nuts. Husqvarna tech support (using the term loosely here) was not much help.

2) The oiler leaks. Put the saw down on the garage floor for an hour and there is a pretty big puddle of chain oil under the saw. Store the saw for a couple of weeks and all the oil leaks out. Store the saw upside down and no problem (great solution huh?). Drain all the oil from the saw before storage and it doesn't leak (what a deal). Husqvarna tech support claims leakage is normal. Wish they had put that feature on the box. "Automatically oils the chain and everything else in your shop that is near where you store your saw".


If anyone has enountered any of these problems and fixed them, I would love to hear the solution. Thanks for listening.

Ed

 

[Bill Boehme]

Automatic oilers are famous for:

1. Not providing sufficient lubrication and resulting in chain and bar wear.
2. Dumping oil all over the place.

I've had saws that do one or the other and occasionally even work as well as a manual oiler.

I assume that you are an experienced chain saw user since you have the Husky Rancher, but one of the most common causes of a stretching chain or bar creep is too much chain tension. If the chain is too tight, you can honk down on the bar nuts for all you're worth and the bar will still creep or the chain stretch or both. I presume that you know this, but for the benefit of those who don't, there should be enough slack in the chain to move the chain about 5/16" from the bar at mid span, but not quite enough to to completely lift the chain free of the slot on the bar. If the chain is too loose, the clutch will allow the chain to run while idling -- if so, increase the tension slightly.

 

[MichaelMouse]

1) The chain loses tension as you work with the saw. About once an hour I have to adjust the bar to tighten the chain.
2) The oiler leaks. Put the saw down on the garage floor for an hour and there is a pretty big puddle of chain oil under the saw.


If anyone has enountered any of these problems and fixed them, I would love to hear the solution. Thanks for listening.

You never adjust a bar with a hot chain, right? If you do, don't. And/Or your star washers or built-in equivalents may not be holding tightly against that oily, anti-friction coated bar. Chip the coating off in the vicinity of the bar adjustment if there's much left.

The Oil reservoir is probably a two-piece item with a couple screws to keep them oil tight. Check 'em. SiL and his dad are Husky lovers, and they don't have the problem.

Other than that, five letters - STIHL

 

[john lucas]

I just purchased one and have had it about 6 or 8 months. I have an older Husky that I've used a lot for about 8 years. I had to get it rebuilt and needed one immediately so I purchased the larger Husky. Mine leaks a half dollar size puddle after it's been freshly used but that's it. No more leakage after that.
I have not had a problem with the chain coming loose any more than usual. The old Husky and this one will require chain tensioning every once in a while but usually not more than once per fairly large tree. I usually check the tension each sharpening and I would guess about 3 sharpenings or more it might take a small adjustment.

 

[Robert Manning]

Are you using bar oil?

 

[Ed_McDonnell]

Hi Robert - I am using bar oil. I'm even using Husky bar oil (it was on sale last time I bought oil).

Ed

 

[Ed_McDonnell]

...The old Husky and this one will require chain tensioning every once in a while but usually not more than once per fairly large tree...

Hi John - That sounds about like mine, figuring about 1 hour for what passes for fairly large trees in my area. So maybe that's normal for a husky?

My old cheapo saw never needed interim adjustments between maintenance (cleaning, sharpening, ...). I guess I just have to get used to it.

Ed

 

[Ed_McDonnell]

You never adjust a bar with a hot chain, right? If you do, don't. And/Or your star washers or built-in equivalents may not be holding tightly against that oily, anti-friction coated bar. Chip the coating off in the vicinity of the bar adjustment if there's much left.

The Oil reservoir is probably a two-piece item with a couple screws to keep them oil tight. Check 'em. SiL and his dad are Husky lovers, and they don't have the problem.

Other than that, five letters - STIHL

Hi Michael - I do my adjustment before I start cutting. I've been noticing that I've been needing to retention each time I take out the saw. I keep the bar pretty clean so I don't think oil is causing slipping. Could be the coating on the bar though. Hadn't thought about that. Might be worth roughing up the finish around the studs for better nut traction.

Thanks.

Ed

 

[Ed_McDonnell]

Automatic oilers are famous for:

1. Not providing sufficient lubrication and resulting in chain and bar wear.
2. Dumping oil all over the place.

I've had saws that do one or the other and occasionally even work as well as a manual oiler.

I assume that you are an experienced chain saw user since you have the Husky Rancher, but one of the most common causes of a stretching chain or bar creep is too much chain tension. If the chain is too tight, you can honk down on the bar nuts for all you're worth and the bar will still creep or the chain stretch or both. I presume that you know this, but for the benefit of those who don't, there should be enough slack in the chain to move the chain about 5/16" from the bar at mid span, but not quite enough to to completely lift the chain free of the slot on the bar. If the chain is too loose, the clutch will allow the chain to run while idling -- if so, increase the tension slightly.

Hi Bill - I didn't think I was putting on too much tension, but I'm doing things the way I used to on my old saw. Tight enough that there is no slack, but loose enough so you can move the chain slightly (and everything moves freely by hand). I'll have to break out the ruler and check that 5/16".

Thanks

Ed

 

[Bob Espy]

Husky 455

I had the oil leaking problem on my Husky. The oil system is pressurized from the crankcase, so when you finish for the day, simply crack open the oil fill cap and release the pressure. Problem solved.

 

[Ed_McDonnell]

I had the oil leaking problem on my Husky. The oil system is pressurized from the crankcase, so when you finish for the day, simply crack open the oil fill cap and release the pressure. Problem solved.

Wow Bob. Could it really be that easy? I'll give that a try next time I use the saw!! Thanks.

Ed

 

[john lucas]

Same here. Thanks Bob.

 

[Mark Mandell]

I had the oil leaking problem on my Husky. The oil system is pressurized from the crankcase, so when you finish for the day, simply crack open the oil fill cap and release the pressure. Problem solved.

Ha! I avoided the problem and didn't even know it. My standard procedure for both my saws (Husky 372 & Stihl 023) at the end of the day is to drain the gas tank and fill the oil tank. In doing so I relieve the pressure. Wondered why neither of my machines has had trouble with an oil "leak".

 

[Leo Pedersen]

My first thought after the pressure relief tip was, "Gee you might think that the rep tech would know that also". I suggest one of you call and let him know so he can be a better tech rep. LOL

 

[Steve Worcester]

Still (Stihl) shouldn't leak. Seems they haven't used a proper O ring to seal the case, pressure or not. That's annoying.

 

[John Jordan]

When you adjust and tighten the bar, push the bottom of the bar against the floor, or lift the tip of the bar up. This is where it will have the most slack.

I have that same Husky. My Stihl 038 broke, and I needed something that day. TSC had one on sale. The Stihl is fixed, but I find myself using the little Husky. Its really easy to start and lightweight. It does nearly everything I do here just fine.

John

 

[Bill Boehme]

My Stihl leaked oil when it was new, but after a lot of use, I suppose that it has been broken in sufficiently so that it will not hold enough pressure in the oiler to leak more than enough to get the area around the bar oiler slightly wet.

 

[waltben]

I've had three Stihl saws for over six years and never had any leak anything save when the only, ONLY weakly engineered part on them decided to malfunction - the oil tank cap. This has happened only once when I didn't catch it and the one saw leaked a whole oil tank full out all over my shed. Very irritating.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I've had three Stihl saws for over six years and never had any leak anything save when the only, ONLY weakly engineered part on them decided to malfunction - the oil tank cap. This has happened only once when I didn't catch it and the one saw leaked a whole oil tank full out all over my shed. Very irritating.

The gas and oil caps on my 10 year old Stihl seem to be very well designed, but they do require using the T-handled tool that came with the saw -- OR -- a very large screwdriver.

 

[waltben]

The saws I own all have plastic fold down handles and are not screw in, but sort of cam locked in. The problem is that the handles and the cam lock parts seem to get out of sync at times.

 

[Chuck Jones]

My Rancher 455 has always been my favorite saw.

I have a 1999 model 455 Rancher that has been heavily used, abused, misused, dropped, run over, soaked, and poorly maintained for all these years. It will start tomorrow after 4-5 pulls, never leaks oil (that I've noticed). Of the several saws I have owned it is by far the most reliable. It would never have occurred to me that the pressure should be released from the oil tank. I keep the chain extremely tight (barely able to pull it up maybe a quarter inch) and go for a couple sharpenings before having to tighten it, if even then. Maybe older is better.:cool2:

I have six chain saws including Stihl's, an Echo, and a small Husky (145 I think??) that one of my sons left here. It has the oil leak problem about like Ed describes. I have avoided using it and put off checking into it. I'm going to check out the pressure deal. Thanks for the tip.

Stihl's are great, but I've always favored Husky. Things I've heard about Husky saws over the past couple years concern me very much. I hope I don't have to buy another saw any time soon because it would be a tough choice. Hard to look away from Husky after my experience with the older ones, but hard to over look all the negative things I have heard about them recently.

I strongly suspect they are loosening their QC on the lower end saws that they are selling through TSC, Lowe's, etc. But I would never have considered the Rancher to be a lower end saw.

 

[Thomas Stegall]

Chainsaw problems

I have a Husky also and use it constantly. I don't have any problems with it leaking, but I do have to make basic adjustments to the chain. My particular husky has a dial on the side to adjust chain tension without loosening the bar retaining nut(s). Mine also has the bar retaining nut that can be loosened/tightened without a tool making adjustments pretty quick and easy. Its been the best running saw I have owned, but I have never had a STIHL because the cost is about double that of a husky. I have observed the need for adjusting chain tension with all the chainsaws I have had over the years regardless of brand or size.

Although this maybe be obvious, I'll mention it since no one else has; as the chain heats up from bar friction and teeth dulling, the metal expands making it slightly longer and looser. I would imagine the chains with the smaller sized links/teeth would expand more quickly than the larger ones. Could it be that your previous saw had a larger chain size or a feature that maintained the tension?