DAE have a pole saw chain snap and send the bar into a koi pond?

So last Thursday I'm doing a cleanup job in Federal Way, trimming back a big overgrown willow for this retired couple who clearly love their backyard pond more than they love each other. I'm about 12 feet up on a ladder with my Stihl pole saw, just humming along, when the chain pops off the sprocket and the whole bar whips down like a fishing rod and lands dead center in their koi pond. Water everywhere, three koi flipping around in the shallows, and the husband just stands there with his coffee not saying a word. I spent the next 40 minutes scooping fish back in with a bucket while his wife kept saying "careful, that's Gerald" about a fish that is clearly just a regular orange carp. The chain was toast, the bar had pond scum in every groove, and I had to pull the whole saw apart on their patio to dry it out. Ended up charging them zero for the day and buying them two replacement koi at the pet store in Tukwila. Anyone got a trick for keeping a pole saw chain from walking off mid cut, or do I just need to stop cutting wet willow?

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mason2091d ago

Chain walking off the sprocket usually means the chain is loose or the sprocket is worn, not the willow's fault. A wet willow will make it worse because of drag, but a properly tensioned chain should not pop off mid cut. Check the drive sprocket teeth for hooking, once they wear down the chain climbs right off. Also check your bar groove for burrs from that pond landing, that bar might be done for. Tension it so you can just barely pull the chain off the bar by hand at the middle. Cut wet wood all you want, just retighten more often because wet chips pack the sprocket nose.

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