Took me 4 hours to figure out why my saw chain kept jumping the bar

Helping a buddy clear a fallen oak near his place in Akron last Saturday. Saw kept throwing the chain every few cuts and I checked tension, drive sprocket, everything twice. Turned out one drive link was bent just enough to catch the nose sprocket, which I only found after running a straight edge down the bar. Four hours on a 20 minute fix. What's your go to trick for spotting a bad link without pulling the whole chain?

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sethhernandez2d ago

Had a dumb one like that with a riding mower deck a few years back. Spent half a day chasing a vibration, checked blades, bolts, the whole deal. Turned out a wad of baler twine was wrapped around a spindle and I only saw it once I flipped the deck over in the sun. Funny how the easy stuff hides right in front of you. For chains I just hold the bar up to the sky and sight down the groove, any bent link shows as a little kink in the line of teeth. Takes a minute and has saved me a bunch of cussing.

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