Bar Oil

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woodturner

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I thought I read somewhere about using vegetable oil instead of regular chain bar oil. Was I dreaming ordoes some really use cooking oil for the chain bar?

Thanks,
 
Why would anybody use veg. oil instead of conventional bar oil? How did they come to try veg? I wouldn't have thunk it would work.

Anybody care to elaborate?

Thanks.
 
Regular bar oil is not biodegradeable, veg oil is. If you are quartering big game with a chaisaw you'd not want regular bar oil. If you had nothing else, veg oil is a much better choice than waste oil.
 
This is almost on topic as it relates to oil temperature.

I have seen a run of oil pump plastic drive spirals get wiped out from trying to pump real thick oil in below zero weather. Now that most of them are driven from the sprocket drum via an intermediate plastic "pump drive" (as Jonsered calls it) piece. By contrast, the old Echos whose pumps drove directly from the crankshaft cam (oiled at idle), those designs stood up better. Other brands of good saws ,of course, had similar direct driven set-ups.

It might be wise to have a spare one of these drive pieces on hand for your saw if you are cutting in the cold and are not taking percautions to keep your oil thined.
 
Originally posted by sedanman
Regular bar oil is not biodegradeable, veg oil is. If you are quartering big game with a chaisaw you'd not want regular bar oil. If you had nothing else, veg oil is a much better choice than waste oil.

Whoa! That's another first for me, as well as using the veg oil. I wasn't aware that folks used chainsaws as a meat saw.

1) So, is any veg oil OK to use, or is one brand more suitable for the occaision than another?

2) And, I'm just curious to know how many of ya'll actually use veg oil for your bar?

Thanks.
 
Shoot after you've cut up a few moose you find all kinds of short cuts , just make sure you have rain pants and rubber boots on it gets a little slimy also Extra virgin olive oil is the way to go when quartering large game animals. Learn all kinds of dandy things from that old Martha Stewart.
 
The other day I thinned some bar oil with diesel. It worked but stirring it was like something out an old movie "The Blob."

I almost feel like using clean motor oil while this cold weather lasts.

Any problem with clean motor oil?

Guns, Lore, Harleys
http://www.atthecreation.com/
 
Max2Cam,

You stirred it? I always just mix it in the jug if I need to cut it. Pour in a little diesel and shake, works well.

For a few years I was fooling myself into thinking that 10w hydraulic oil was a good winter lube but noticed that wear on cutting parts was way up. Now I try to keep winter weight bar oil on hand or mix summer weight with diesel.

New motor oil works fine, but it`s just as cheap to buy winter grade B&C oil.

Russ
 
I would think a saws all would be better for quartering game,dont have to worry about any lube for the blade as compared to a chain saw chain.

A multi weight oil,20W 50W works fine for winter bar oil.I would'nt want to use it in a car because the more polymers(or whatever those additives are that get bigger with increased temp)in a oil the less lubrication you get.It's fine for a few trips around the bar,in hot weather will thicken up and stick to the bar a little longer.So if you have any left over use it this spring or summer if you don't want to store it.The cheapest multi weight the better as for as bar lube is concerned,in my opinion,for winter use.

If I'am wrong somebody help me:dizzy:
Rick
 
Cheap bar oil

1) I've got nearly a gallon of cheap oil bar that I used in a cheap chainsaw. Would you use it in a name brand saw, such as a Stihl, Husky, Jonsered, etc,? Or would you use a name brand bar oil, such as the above saw names, or a vegetable oil?

2) I'm still baffled about veg. oil for bar lube. Why don't more folks use it instead of regular bar oil? The veg oil would be less expensive also it seems to me.

Thanks,
 
I think it would take some very careful scientific testing to tell the difference in effectiveness one bar oil vs another. Otherwise you are simply guessing. (or trusting a brand name)

I just try to apply common sense on viscosity, and try to use something that has a tackifying agent in it for chain applications.

My wholesaler seems to have a different kind every time I go for a load. They all seem to work.
 
A good friend of mine is a retired lubricant engineer from Texaco. He says bar oil is the "left over junk at the refinery with tack agent and sometimes color of the buyer wants it" The base stock of bar oil can be any grade motor oil and even auto trans fluid. There is NO difference between the cheap stuff and the brand names. I can get bar oil for $2.44 a gallon at Wal-Mart. Winter bar oil is held to a tighter standard, has less tack agent and is made from the "thinner junk" .
 
snapper

Yeh, this came from Walmart, and cost about $2.44, and it also has a red coloring agent in it, for better visibility the jug says. Name on the jug is Snapper, in a red gallon jug. So, when I get my new Husky, I'll use this, instead of tossing it out.

Thanks,
 
hey Sedanman-who's your buddy from Texaco? I worked at the research center there from 88 to 96 and we likely know each other.

bob campbell
 
sedanman,

I just got some Walmart stuff. It is much thinner than the good Cushion Seal oil that I prefer, which is thicker and with better tackifier in it, and a better color. But the price is right, and it's good for our cool winters.
 
The oil only has to stick to the chain for one trip around the bar. Don't fall into the belief that thicker is automatically better, thin oils flow into places thick oils cannot reach, like sawchain rivets.
 
cheap oil

I just looked on the back of the Snapper brand bar oil , that I got at Walmart, in the red jug. It said it's made by Electrolux. So, don't they own Husqvarna now? That being the case, then this Snapper bar oil is made by Husky, right?

Thanks,
 
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