Ha! I can answer my own question:

â³ LAY BLADE ON A FLAT SURVACE
â³ HAVE BOTH TWISTED ENDS EXACTLY OPPOSITE EACH OTHER
â³ GENTLY LIFT ONE END OF THE LOOP AND PASS IT OVER THE OTHER END

DONE!

I assume you mean the sawchain or chain.

My guess is that you do not have enough tension on your chain and it comes off the bar. If that is what is happening, then you should not be letting the chain get so loose that it can come off the bar. How tight it should be and how to adjust the tension will be in your manual.

I have untangled a few chains but I don't have any great secret as to how to do it. I am surprised that it is taking you 1/2 hour. It should take 3 minutes, top, especially on shorter chains. The best description I can give is that I start in one section and work the loops out in pairs.

I assume you don't do much work with the chainsaw and did not want to hassle with maintaining the engine since you bought an electric chainsaw. If the electric gives you more headache than you care to have, I'd recommend a good handsaw for your cutting work. Fanno and Silky make excellent saws that cut quite smoothly and quickly. The box stores do sell some decent throw away ones for under $20 (I keep one as a backup and for light around the yard work).

masiman, dont know where you read "electric chainsaw", but I know exactly where the OP is coming from. He is refering to when you have the chain OFF the saw and it gets "loops" in it. I generally fiddle with it for a few min or so to get them out too, but I couldnt tell ya how I do it. It just happens.

Cowboyandy,

"masiman, don't know where you read "electric chainsaw"..."

He read it from the original post, where the model "Stihl® Oilomatic, E220" was given. From that, masiman was able to deduce that the chainsaw in question was the MSE 220 Electric Chain Saw.

MM

oh-myachingback,

Thanks for introducing me to Unicode here on the forums. I was wondering how you were able to enter the ⺠character, and surprised that the forum used it. Now that my curiosity is tweaked, I will look into this further.

MM

LOL MM,
I did the same thing when I saw the ⺠characters in the title.

cowboyandy,
I was not sure if the OP was talking about untangling unmounted chains or chains that came off the bar. It was a little ambiguous in his statement. The statement also implied to me that it was with more frequency than swapping chains, "I typically have to fiddle with my chainsaw blade for half an hour to untangle it".

If the OP is swapping frequently, I think they should also consider learning to sharpen. Could save a $5-10 per swap. They could even touch up the chain on the saw after use and save some swaps and untangling.

Sometimes after I do work for people they ask me about getting a saw for themselves. Most times I tell them, it is not worth it for them. The reason is that they will spend ~$200 on a saw that will be used very infrequently. Because they will use it so infrequently, the carburetor will likely have problems and not work in short order. Then they'll spend another $100+ getting it fixed or throw it away and get another one. They would be better off with a good handsaw or an electric chainsaw. Even the very best handsaws are less than $100, more like $80 and under depending on blade size. That electric the OP bought is a very expensive hobby toy (~$570). It costs as much as a pro quality gas saw and my guess is that it gets very little use. Who wants an electric saw with cord issues, lower power and lower maintenance (no weight advantage either)? Certainly not a pro or a heavy user. If it works for them thats great. It is just hard to find a situation where the numbers work for such an expensive electric chainsaw.

masiman,

On a couple of occasions I have removed my chain to clean the "tar" out of it. And when I did that, I got just the kind of kinks that OMAB described. I do sharpen my chain regularly and of course I do that while it is still mounted on the bar. I am still on my first chain.

I am a rather infrequent chainsaw user, but when I do use it, I put several hours on my saw over a period of several days. I am probably due for a new chain, or perhaps a longer bar and chain if I need to buck a lot of big stuff. I am currently using a 16-inch bar and when I buck logs that approach that diameter or larger, I use the "tipping the saw over" technique to start the cut when my bar is too short.

That gets old after bucking about one big tree and I thought about a longer bar for bucking. But I have made do with the 16-inch bar for several years now, so I probably will stick with it. Most of the time it is adequate and it is easier to handle for most of my work. I have set the oiling rate higher to help keep the chain from picking up tar and gum.

MM

MM,

IIRC you have an MS361. If so, that saw can definitely handle a 20" bar. I think the extra weight of that length bar and chain would be negligible compared to the benefits of the longer bar. You're already hoisting the motor, might as well use a b&c to match.