How to Tighten a Chainsaw Chain

Video Transcript

"Hello. My name is Mark Blocker. In this segment, we're going to cover how to tighten a chain on a chainsaw. Okay, what I have here is a chainsaw. And I'm going to briefly describe to you how to tighten the chain. First thing you're going to need to know is what the chain tensions should be, how tight the tension on the chain should be. This information can be found in the operator's manual for the chainsaw. And it varies from model to model, length of bar, type of chain you use, things of that nature. You're also going to need; usually with your chainsaw will come a socket assembly that does for loosening a spark plug, and the chain or bar tightening bolts that consists of a screwdriver. Some of them are fixed together in one piece. What you're going to need to first adjust is to loosen the nuts that hold the bar and chain tight. Okay, I've loosened both the nuts. In order to adjust the chain, I generally hold up on the end of the bar, because gravity's going to want to flop it down. And that keeps it in the position you're going to tighten it down in. The adjustment is located between the two nuts that hold the bar in place on this model. Just insert it into the slot. And by turning it clockwise, tightens the bar. Counterclockwise loosens it. As I'm holding this up, I'm going to check at the base of the chain and check for proper tension, and this one's still a little bit loose. But you'll want to check those tension spec's in the operator's manual for your specific chainsaw. Once I get the chain to the right tension, still maintaining pressure on the end of the bar itself to hold the chain up, I'll go ahead and tighten these down. I'm just going to finger tighten them down to hold the bar in place. Now I can use the screwdriver for added leverage to continue tightening the nuts down to the proper tightness. And that's how you adjust the tension on a chainsaw."