Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Why wont my chainsaw cut strait?

I work as a cartaker at a campgound and over the past year I cut some 30+ cords of fire wood to sell to campers. For some reason all my chainsaws cut a cresent shape hooking to the left after two or three days of use.

It does not seem to matter if I sharpen by hand with a round file or take the chain in to a professional.

Starting with a new bar brings the same result. I have been grinding my bars back to flat and this solves the problem for the usual two or three days but it is very time consuming.

I used to run a chain saw on a forest fire crew out west and if I remember right we did all our own sharpening for weeks at a time without this problem

Is this normal? or am I doing something wrong when cutting, or sharpening?


Thanks for your time and your help.

The angle on the teeth is way out of wack... take it somewhere to have it sharpened or.. buy a clamp on sharpener.. that's what I did and ended the same problem.

I had the same problem with my Husquvarna, and had been sharpening it myself. My Poulan did not cut curves, and I sharpen it also. Took the Husky to my local Husky dealer and had it machine sharpened, and it is doing fine now. Right side cutters were not cutting as well as left, and I was cutting to the left.

For some reason all my chainsaws cut a cresent shape hooking to the left after two or three days of use.
Do you let the saw cut down are do you force it some.In two to three days does the chain hit the dirt just a little. The drive sprocket in line with the bar? can be a lot of little things.

ED ;)

I'd also examine the bar itself. Is the top and bottom of the bar worn more to the left or right? That would cause the chain to tilt slightly and cause your problem.

All good points. The most common cause that I see for this is that the chain angles are off. The other things mentioned can also cause this problem.