Chain saw bar sprocket locking up

I have a new Echo CS-4910 with 18 inch bar. I used it once last year and the front sprocket locked up after little use. I was able to free it and used it a little more with no problem. Today barely two small logs in it locked up solid. I’m getting chain oil. I played with that last year and it works. Same today. Chain is wet and I don’t see an oiling issue. I am cutting wet pine but that shouldn’t be a problem, especially after such little use. Should I replace the bar with same or are there better aftermarket brands? It’s less than a year old so maybe Mills will replace the bar? Did I just get a defective bar? Thoughts?

You need to grease those thru the little hole in the bar

Tree sap especially pine or fir type trees is like superglue on nose sprockets.
When cutting fresh pines I carry kerosene or diesel fuel with me,apply it with a spritzer bottle as needed.
It helps if you grease the nose sprocket liberally and I mean to the point of the chain carrying the grease around the bar.
All of this said,remove the chain and spin the sprocket,it could be a defective bar but I dont recall ever seeing one in 45 years of owning saws,anything is possible I reckon.

Iowaboy1 wrote:

Tree sap especially pine or fir type trees is like superglue on nose sprockets.
When cutting fresh pines I carry kerosene or diesel fuel with me,apply it with a spritzer bottle as needed.
It helps if you grease the nose sprocket liberally and I mean to the point of the chain carrying the grease around the bar.
All of this said,remove the chain and spin the sprocket,it could be a defective bar but I dont recall ever seeing one in 45 years of owning saws,anything is possible I reckon.

Totally agree. Fresh pine can cause the sprocket to seize up.

My friend had a Milwaukee M18 saw sprocket freeze up on him. I’ll have to ask if he was cutting pine. I think he was. Worked fine after he greased it. I bought the same saw and called Milwaukee and he said you don’t need to grease the sprocket, the bar oil should lubricate it. I cut down 20 trees this last fall and winter (diseased green ash, no pine) from 8″ to 18″ with some 70 feet tall and never had an issue with sprocket. I’m quite impressed by the saw. I’ll have to remember to grease the sprocket if I ever cut pine.
My best fell. It was wide open to the right of the fence but this is the way the tree wanted to go without ropes.

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I’m going to clean it up but also buy a spare and back off on the fresh pine. Although I have one that’s must come down soon.

Soak your bar in zep45. Keep a can with you and soak the tip as needed. I would do this over any form of grease. And I would keep on cutting every tree you need to.

I keep a can of Schaefer Penetro 90 with me when running saws. Spray it on your bar and on your sprocket if cutting anything that’s really rich with sap. It makes a noticeable difference.

Switch your bar oil to Schaefers too as it’s a superior product to anything out there and seems to coat evenly and consistently no matter the conditions

I soaked the end of the bar in mineral spirits and it still does not move smoothly. I think I got a defective bar or damaged it right out of the gate when new. Ill know once my replacement arrives.

This may be a longshot for you to check, but I can tell you that my saw binds up when there are bad nicks in even just a couple of the cutting teeth or drive links. Happened to me a couple times after chain came of sprocket and got nicked. I used a file to remove the nicks and worked fine afterwards.

Funny enough Suzuki, my barely a year old Echo 4920 did the same thing yesterday. I cleaned it out and sprayed some lube in there and then it cut fine the rest of the day. Took some wiggling around with a flathead to get it unstuck though

Sthil bars and a few others are lubricated by the bar oil. Others with the tiny hole require grease. When I cut a lot of small super sappy pine, I give it an occasional squirt of PB Blaster to counter the sap