bar oil...cheap vs arm and leg

[RenaisSAWnceMan]

Probably.......for some at least, the psychological-factor value is, perhaps, the biggest return for dollars spent. For those who are ever-minful of mechanical tolerances/friction/heat/wear, preservation of rare saws/components, and....have spent time on the 'bobistheoilguy' forum, etc., hashing out the minutiae of base stocks, additives, zinc/ZDDP, flash point, shear, etc. & etc.....knowing that one has a top-quality lubricant ANYWHERE where there is friction/heat can make running any machine more pleasant...

In an imperfect world, anywhere where one can make things....smoother, it's nice to do so


**Oh and....watch out on the used motor oil: There's schtuff in there that is kinda toxic, such that one wouldn't want to even have any prolonged skin contact. I sure wouldn't want to be slingin' it off a bar, and...... vaporizing it not too far from the ol' air intake [NOSE...not the saw ! ]

 

[splitpost]

Even our 30 wt. no name brand motor oil is $2.25 a Qt. That be $9 a gallon, how much does bar oil cost in your neck of the woods?

Last time i priced STIHL bar oil it was about $150 for 20L..........That aint cheap

cheap bar oil, yeah, used motor oil, not me, but its been done by others many times.

:eek2:Not used oil,no way,only new stuff,i buy my farm oils in 205L drums and just use that in the saws for B&C lube

 

[gallegosmike]

A wee bit off topic I suppose... :arg: Anybody know of any sales going on for bar oil? I'm looking to stock up if I can get it for around $6 or so. I live in the CT area.

Napa has a B&C oil sale every sept for $5.99. I buy a couple of cases every year.

Mike

 

[STIHLTHEDEERE]

Like poulan oil, got a bunch of it years ago for just over $2 a gallon, right now I run what ever is on sale some stinks some doesn't. Certianlly would not pay twice as much for Stihl to put thier name on a jug of oil considering you never know what kind of quality comes out of Stihl any more. Steve

not really interested in a pissing match over oil. but i would have to say that stihls' quality right now is as good, if not better than ever. and i am not talking about the cheap saws, they all have to produce a price-point saw. i am not bashing echo here, as i own several. but they aren't exactly setting the world on fire right now. their new 50cc saw is a joke compared to the 530, the 261 will eat that thing for lunch. why do you always have some dumb remark about stihl? it is ok to be #3 in the market, no one really cares, you like your brand and i like mine.

 

[STIHLTHEDEERE]

Napa has a B&C oil sale every sept for $5.99. I buy a couple of cases every year.

Mike

napa brand would be ashland/valvoline, probably decent oil.

 

[Slamm]

I edited this to get the point across a little more coherent:

I was always a proponent of cheap bar oil (go read my old posts), and I still am, but, when we got the last and best modded 660 (that I have) and these modded 441's and were cutting a lot of Ash in the bottoms and swampy ground, we started to get Stihl chain stretch and burnt bars which was not happening before due to less wood being removed per second or whatever. I tried some experiements with STP and Synthetic Gear Oil and cooking oil and cheaper oil like Tractor supply/walmart/autoparts stuff, none worked with the faster saws using 28" Stihl ES bars and Stihl Semi Chisel Full Skip Chain. When running saws that were not as fast, these oils worked just fine for years, but since the faster saws, it did take the additional quality of Stihl Oil to allow for the practical use of the faster setups, without then causing multiple chain adjustments and wore out bars.

To know that it was the oil and not just the guys whining, several times I secretly switched the oil back to something cheaper than the Stihl and each time the cutters would walk back out of the woods and say something is wrong with the oil or come in for lunch and mention that they were getting the same problems, LOL. I'd tell them then that I switched it.

Also it didn't matter which oiler was on the 441's either the HO oiler or the regular one, both got hot chains with gunk stuck all over them.

I personally think that Stihl bar oil is the best, I have proven it to myself. That said, I don't think all setups need it. I know I cut for years and never thought I "needed" it, now, I know, I don't want to run slower saws just because of the bar oil, LOL.

It should be noted that I get the Stihl bar oil for $1-$1.50 more than "cheap" stuff, so its a no brainer for me. I did have thoughts of mixing it to see if the additive package in the Stihl would suffice for "fixing" the cheap stuff, but for the $1 difference, which would only be 50 cents difference per gallon after mixing, 50/50 whats the point, my time is worth something.

I still have about 10 gallons of Tractor Supply (I bought a pallet of it last year) to burn up on the saws with 20" bars on them, but should get through that this next month.

I might still check out a oil company that makes it own bar oil and will sell it for $4 per gallon if you bring your own barrel in. I bought 840 tubes of red grease from them for 80 cents a tube last year and it is great grease, so maybe the bar oil would be good to, dunno.

That is my experience with both cheap and expensive bar oil

If you don't need expensive, don't waste you money.

Sam

 

[STIHLTHEDEERE]

i was always a proponent of cheap bar oil (go read my old posts), and i still am, but, when we got the last and best modded 660 and these modded 441's and were cutting a lot of ash in the bottoms and swampy ground, we were getting stihl chain stretch and burnt bars which was not happening before due to let wood being removed per second or whatever. I tried some experiements with stp and synthetic gear oil and cooking oil and cheaper oil like tractor supply/walmart/autoparts stuff, none worked with the faster saws with 28" stihl es bars and stihl semi chisel full skip chain. When running saws that were as fast these oils worked just fine for years, but since the faster saws, it did take the additional quality of stihl oil to allow for the practical use of the faster setups, without then causing multiple chain adjustments and wore out bars.

To know that it was the oil and not just the guys whining, several times i secretly switched the oil back to something cheaper than the stihl and each time the cutters would walk back out of the woods and say something is wrong with the oil or come in for lunch and mention that they were getting the same problems, lol. I'd tell them then that i switched it.

Also it didn't matter which oiler was on the 441's either the ho oiler or the regular one, both got hot chains with gunk stuck all over them.

I personally think that stihl bar oil is the best, i have proven it to myself. That said, i don't think all setups need it. I know i cut for years and never thought i "needed" it, now, i know, i don't want to run slower saws just because of the bar oil, lol.

It should be noted that i get the stihl bar oil for $1-$1.50 more than "cheap" stuff, so its a no brainer for me. I did have thoughts of mixing it to see if the additive package in the stihl would suffice for "fixing" the cheap stuff, but for the $1 difference, which would only be 50 cents difference per gallon after mixing, 50/50 whats the point, my time is worth something.

I still have about 10 gallons of tractor supply (i bought a pallet of it last year) to burn up on the saws with 20" bars on them, but should get through that this next month.

I might still check out a oil company that makes it own bar oil and will sell it for $4 per gallon if you bring your own barrel in. I bought 840 tubes of red grease from them for 80 cents a tube last year and it is great grease, so maybe the bar oil would be good to, dunno.

That is my experience with both cheap and expensive bar oil

if you don't need expensive, don't waste you money.

Sam

well thought out/said

 

[SkippyKtm]

Napa has a B&C oil sale every sept for $5.99. I buy a couple of cases every year.

Mike

Thanks for the suggestion, I sent some rep your way...

 

[TreePointer]

TSC also drops their prices around that time, too. Let's see if they go down to $5.99 again....

 

[JimmyT]

Best Bar Oil

Bite the Bullet and pay the extra price for Stihl or Husqvarna oil. I have read that the new Stihl oil is formulated from a vegetable base and has the tackifiers that help the oil stick to your bar and chain at high rpm's. Here is a website from the U.S. Forest Service.
http://
www.
fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/html/98511316/98511316.html

 

[mikefunaro]

I think the qualities of tackifiers and other additives only become relevant when you're working in very high temperatures or with longer bars. When I mill I generally try to use better oil, as things tend to get hot.

The ultimate test of bar and chain oil is whether or not your chains are stretching out and your bars are burning up. If neither, then keep using whatever you're using.

Nobody seems to really have problems. You can go and say that bar and chain oil is cheap and bars are expensive, but it really depends on what you're running all around. I've seen shops that want like $16 for a gallon of stihl oil, which is more than I pay for a loop of chain, and I've been running like $25 and $30 baileys bars, so it's really not all that far off, even if things wear out faster.

 

[tdi-rick]

i use cheap bar oil because STIHL oil is a rip off,am currently running 30w motor oil and have been for months with no ill effect on bars or chains

wish that was true here

Last time i priced STIHL bar oil it was about $150 for 20L..........That aint cheap


:eek2:Not used oil,no way,only new stuff,i buy my farm oils in 205L drums and just use that in the saws for B&C lube

Stihl is only re-packaged Castrol B&C here, and both are ridiculously overpriced.

I buy Caltex, (Chevron/Texaco for those in the Northern Hemisphere) and the last 20l drum I bought was $61 incl. GST, walk in off the street price and it's damned good B&C oil.

B&C oil is roughly equivalent to an SAE30 oil in viscosity (OK, you can get ISO 100, 150 and 220) with a few limited additives for anti-wear and extreme-pressure use and a small amount of tackifier, and one blender I used to talk to reckoned most had too much tackifier, less was more.

 

[Terry Syd]

I've switched to Caltex myself. Not only was it cheaper from the local Co-Op, but it flowed better at lower temperatures.

Anybody have any comments about thinning their oil with ATF during the winter? I was a bit leary of the idea as ATF has different lubricity considerations for automatic transmissions, however it does have the high pressure additives for gear faces. Anyway, I tried it to increase the cold weather flow and it seems to work, but I'd like to hear from others with more experience.

 

[pgg]

Bar-oil schmar-oil. Obscenely over-priced "bar-oil" has to rate right up there with some of the best cons pulled on the unsuspecting public this century. It's bollocks, anyone claiming that brand A is "better" than brand B is away with the fairies LOL the cheapest budget engine-oil you can find in wally-mart is all you'll ever need. Ever. BTW, poke your finger down into the oil tank after running your saw for ten minutes or so, your "special" bar-oil will still be hot as hell and thin as water. Tackiness schmackiness :wink2:

 

[tdi-rick]

Bar-oil schmar-oil. Obscenely over-priced "bar-oil" has to rate right up there with some of the best cons pulled on the unsuspecting public this century. It's bollocks, anyone claiming that brand A is "better" than brand B is away with the fairies LOL the cheapest budget engine-oil you can find in wally-mart is all you'll ever need. Ever. BTW, poke your finger down into the oil tank after running your saw for ten minutes or so, your "special" bar-oil will still be hot as hell and thin as water. Tackiness schmackiness :wink2:

I agree, only because I know what goes into most (bugger all, they are the cheapest of cheap oils) but the tackifier doesn't reduce thinning as it gets hotter (that would then make it a viscosity index improver, VII) but makes it 'tack' or not fling as easily.

 

[tdi-rick]

I've switched to Caltex myself. Not only was it cheaper from the local Co-Op, but it flowed better at lower temperatures.

Anybody have any comments about thinning their oil with ATF during the winter? I was a bit leary of the idea as ATF has different lubricity considerations for automatic transmissions, however it does have the high pressure additives for gear faces. Anyway, I tried it to increase the cold weather flow and it seems to work, but I'd like to hear from others with more experience.

ATF's fine Terry, I do that myself.

IMO the additive package equivalent of a GL5/hypoid gear oil would be ideal, but cost prohibitive.

 

[splitpost]

Bite the Bullet and pay the extra price for Stihl or Husqvarna oil. I have read that the new Stihl oil is formulated from a vegetable base and has the tackifiers that help the oil stick to your bar and chain at high rpm's. Here is a website from the U.S. Forest Service.
http://
www.
fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/html/98511316/98511316.html

I got no probs biting the bullet if the price is ballpark but there is a difference between biting the bullet and :msp_w00t:bending over:msp_w00t:

Stihl is only re-packaged Castrol B&C here, and both are ridiculously overpriced.

I buy Caltex, (Chevron/Texaco for those in the Northern Hemisphere) and the last 20l drum I bought was $61 incl. GST, walk in off the street price and it's damned good B&C oil.

B&C oil is roughly equivalent to an SAE30 oil in viscosity (OK, you can get ISO 100, 150 and 220) with a few limited additives for anti-wear and extreme-pressure use and a small amount of tackifier, and one blender I used to talk to reckoned most had too much tackifier, less was more.

yeah i got onto the caltex stuff as well and for what it cost per 20L($64)i was happy to pay ,when it ran out i tried the 30wt and well still going

 

[splitpost]

ATF's fine Terry, I do that myself.

IMO the additive package equivalent of a GL5/hypoid gear oil would be ideal, but cost prohibitive.

i thinned some out with diesel for when running through AUX oiler on the mill,works good

 

[Stihlman441]

On Friday i got 20 lts of TRU BLU (Australian made) chain & bar oil 150 for $69. Stihl (Castrol) $150 / 20 lts.
I have been using this Tru Blu stuff for years.

 

[tdi-rick]

On Friday i got 20 lts of TRU BLU (Australian made) chain & bar oil 150 for $69. Stihl (Castrol) $150 / 20 lts.
I have been using this Tru Blu stuff for years.

Freight's a killer for for the Tru-Blu for us interstate though.

Castrol, Hi-Tec, Gulf Western, etc are stupidly priced.
They are charging a lot more for B&C oil than their premium diesel engine oils. :msp_rolleyes: