OK, Canola oil. WTH?

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I cannot understand why the bio oils from the big names (or the not so big names) cost so much $$$. Stihl bioplus around me is $7 a quart and $20 a gallon, baileys bio stuff shot up to close to that...

My 576 isn't a vegan or vegetarian or anything but I'm not about to run beef tallow through it, so the slightly cheaper G Earth stuff is out.

Beef tallow will be fine. People put it all over themselves and the stuff they own every day.

The oil is expensive because it can be and it will stay expensive until some real competition shows up and starts selling some product through a box store. Just use Canola oil.

I want coffee bean oil, canola smells like fish.
 
I use canola oil mixed with about 25 to 30 percent Stihl Bio or Bailey's Bio stuff. It seems to keep the straight canola from gumming up.
 
The high price is more than likely a name thing. I don't mind though. I'll pay the few extra bucks to not pollute the enviroment.

When those who realize how much they have killed, they can't pay the few extra bucks to bring the life back into any plants or animals they have destroyed. All you can do is start from the beginning and do less polluting and devistation to the woods and forest life by spending that money ahead of time and preventing the pollution to begin with. :)


:cheers:

Boy yer sound'n like a damn hippie!!!!! Just kidding.

I agree completely.
 
This thread really needs to be a 'sticky.'

:clap::givebeer:

When I asked about canola oil awhile ago I got laughed at, and considering that people on here have milled with it extensively that's proof enough for me that it works...

Environmental aspects aside, the fact that it's cheap and has nothing to do with foreign oil should be good enough selling points.
 
It always cracks me up when you fella's have a little whinge about your bar oil costs when we are paying A$20 (US$18.22) for 4 litres (a touch over a US gallon) here.

Todays best prices local to me-

Petro bar lube-TSC@$7.99/gallon
100%Canola-SC@$8.99/1.25gallon

Those two would be about even after accounting for the typical increase in consumption from Canola oil on a 20" bar.

35# of vegetable oil (100% soy bean oil) is less than $20.00. That is what I would buy.
 
$14 dollars for something that came in on a tanker is highway robbery.

and considering tens of thousands of acres of oil seed crops are grown only 30km from me makes it even harder to take.
Canola costs around A$3.30-3.50/litre here at the supermarket.
I've tried buying Canola in bulk from all the stock feed/produce suppliers in the district and just get blank stares.
 
This thread really needs to be a 'sticky.'

:clap::givebeer:

When I asked about canola oil awhile ago I got laughed at, and considering that people on here have milled with it extensively that's proof enough for me that it works...

Environmental aspects aside, the fact that it's cheap and has nothing to do with foreign oil should be good enough selling points.

If you click on the Great Canola thread I linked to you'll see Tree Machine has been using Canola for over seven years at around 55 gallons/year and reckons bar chain life is as good, if not better using the bio oil vs mineral based bar oil.
We had a pretty robust discussion there at the end, and you'll still get naysayers but that's life in general.
 
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This thread really needs to be a 'sticky.'

:clap::givebeer:

When I asked about canola oil awhile ago I got laughed at, and considering that people on here have milled with it extensively that's proof enough for me that it works...

Environmental aspects aside, the fact that it's cheap and has nothing to do with foreign oil should be good enough selling points.

It is also a proud Canadian invention :)
 
and considering tens of thousands of acres of oil seed crops are grown only 30km from me makes it even harder to take.
Canola costs around A$3.30-3.50/litre here at the supermarket.
I've tried buying Canola in bulk from all the stock feed/produce suppliers in the district and just get blank stares.

Know any one that owns a restaurant or bar? If they buy in bulk regularly that can be a good source.
 
Know any one that owns a restaurant or bar? If they buy in bulk regularly that can be a good source.

Now that's just a damn fine idea! I'm really good friends with the division head of one of the major food/materials suppliers for restaurants all across the Midwest. I'll have to see what kind of deal I can get.
 
Know any one that owns a restaurant or bar? If they buy in bulk regularly that can be a good source.

Yes, good idea but the local Take Away/Fish and Chip shop used cotton seed oil, (I checked, and they've since closed) but stupid moi keeps forgetting to ask the two local cafés what they use :monkey:
 
on post #23 Bob mentioned that he would try Canola with Tallow and tell us how it worked out, has anyone heard more about this from him?

Unfortunately the bloke offering me this mix vanished, but I am still chasing him up

On another score, here's another reason to use canola (Full thread here in Milling forum)
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I was looking at a table of specific heats of various oils yesterday (specific heat is the amount of heat an oil can absorb per unit mass) and noticed that Canola can carry 15% more heat per unit mass than mineral oil. Canola also has one of the highest heat capacities of vegetable oils except for Soya bean and Olive.

This means that canola should remove more heat from the bar and chain but it won't be 15% more because a good bar oil will form a thicker barrier between bar and chain than canola, and this will reduce friction and the amount of of heat generated in the first place.

Also when canola is used in the saw, probably more than 15% more canola probably comes off at the nose but this is not necessarily bad because it is removing heat. Canola makes a lot of sense to use in CS milling in the aux oiler and delivered on the cutting side of the bar where needing to trave around the nose doesn't matter.

Now here's an idea, why aren't bars made that can also deliver oil direct to the cutting side of the bar. All it would take is a laminated bar to have a full length channel left inside the bar that comes out into the bar groove just after the nose?
 
The only thing with canola though is dot let it sit in your saw for more than a week or two.


I run my saws hard and the chains stay lubed.

There's the key. If your saws sit around for weeks at a time, and you don't want to clean them out before they are going to sit, do NOT run veggie oil!
 
Here is what I have noticed.

It does not work well on long bars. Not enough is carried over the tip and not used up to protect against heat and friction. Personally I stop using it straight at a 20" bar.

It will show you very quickly how good you are at sharpening chains and how often you should be sharpening.

It does increase wear on the bar rails, chains, and sprockets.

It does increase the growth of mold, fungus, etc. on equipment and clothing if not cleaned. Air filters and chaps for instance.

It takes more of it to work almost as good as bar oil. It should not be compared cost wise 1:1 but at least 1:1.25.

It washes out of cloth better and off the body.

It can cause the same or similar type of dermatitis, eye and breathing issues as petrol.

It works for some folks and not for others. It might take a little effort for some to get used to it. If you are interested in trying it give it a whirl, if you do not like it stop using it. You will most likely know if it is for you before the end of the second tankful if not the first.

On the off chance that you have some allergy or asthma you may want to try it out with others around.
 
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I like to mix it 50/50 with bio-degradable bar oil. Works great and saves a lot of money. I have not used it long enough to see how it wears on the my bar, but so far so good.
 
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