Have you had the saw awhile and this is happening or is this saw new to you?

In any case it sounds like you are not oiling well enough. There is a limit to how much the chain will "stretch though" and then you will just be building up head and burning up the bar.

When you throttle the saw and hold it above the wood, you should get a fine misty line of oil. If not, you need to check that the oil is getting to the chain. Oiler pumping out the oil. Bar oil holes and groove are not clogged. Running a dull chain and creating saw dust increases the chance of this. A dull chain will also heat up faster.

Thanks for the reply.

This is a fairly new chain saw (two months old). I don't see the mist of oil that you talk about, but I refill the oil reservoir every time I fill the tank (about every three hours of use), and there have been no pools of oil where it sits, so I think it's using the oil correctly.

I do cut a lot of cedar and I cut close to the ground, so I know I get dirt in it frequently, even though I don't cut below the dirt line. I try to keep it fairly clean and sharp. I have two chains and get both of them professionally sharpened about every two weeks (about six hours of use per chain between sharpenings.) Maybe that's too far apart for sharpenings, but it's a pretty far drive to the nearest sharpening place. Eventually I'll get someone to show me how to do it; I just haven't gotten to that point yet, and I would probably do more harm than good sharpening it myself right now.

I'm just amazed at how often I have to do it, especially since most trees are 4" or less in diameter and only about 8-15 feet tall.

Jerry in Texas

I find I get less "stretch" if I soak the chain before I put it on the saw. I just use whatever lightweight oil I have around - 30w, 10w40. That gets some lubrication around the rivets.

Like Masiman said you should see oil coming off the bar tip pointed at a clean piece of wood or cardboard running at half throttle for 10 or 15 seconds, if not there's something wrong with your oiler or bar. Other than that try keeping it out of the dirt, takes about 2 second to dull a chain in the dirt. Maybe cut a little higher then come back later and cut close to the ground. Steve

jarbill. Your chain is just dull. Buy a file, file guide and a depth gauge. Also check out this website.

Here is a link that might be useful: ArboristSite