bar oil...cheap vs arm and leg

[mountainlake]

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.

I'll stand by my remark about you don't know what kind of quality you get from Stihl, it could be top notch or close to the bottom ,. I'd have no idea if Stihl oil is any better than lower priced oil. I've alway said there is nothing wrong with Stihl pro saws. Steve

 

[David (saltas)]

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.

I was going to buy some on your recomendation and then the holiday car meets kangaroos fixed that plan.
At the train station everyone had a suitcase at the except me who had the two biggest ones two back packs, all the pillows coats and umbrellas and assorted other nessesary items.............

and I'm back when the gulf western runs out I will be buying castrol B&C.

 

[Chris-PA]

That is my experience with both cheap and expensive bar oil

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

Sam

And that makes perfect sense. There's a world of difference between a pro outfit running teams of cutters with high performance saw all day and a guy like me cutting my own firewood and cleaning up the junk that falls. I'd buy the best too under those circumstances.

I used to mix cheap bar oil 50/50 with used motor oil. It worked fine, but I stopped because it was filthy and I didn't like the idea of spraying that stuff all over the place. Once I messed up and mixed it with gear lube instead - mmm did that smell good!

 

[slowp]

Back in the days when this was a logging town--Pre Spotted Owl times, one of the gas stations was also a saw shop. He sold bar oil, which was filtered used oil from cars, out of a barrel. You took your own container in and he filled it up. I did not have any problems, nor did I hear of any problems. That was the time of big saws and long bars as the old growth--large diameter trees were being cut. I had a hard time finding wood small enough to cut for firewood with my 032 and 20 inch bar.

I use whatever is the lowest price at the saw shop that is now 60 miles away.

 

[JimmyT]

Poulan Bar Oil is $7.97 plus $ .74 tax for a total of $8.71 at Wal-Mart. I am paying $10.00 per gallon for the Stihl oil with the tax included. I pay $4.00 a gallon for 93 octane ethanol free gas and use Stihl HP Ultra oil. My saws start better, perform better and run cooler.

 

[mizzou]

I got b/c oil at TSC for 6 dollars a gallon last week near Kansas City, MO last week. Used a jug of Dolmar oil that I got with a couple of saws and lied it very well, seemed stickier, but I have to drive 45 minutes to get it.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

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

It is my understanding that some of the older saws weren't designed to use bar oil..I don't think I ever saw bar oil back 30 or so years ago. The old Homelites I've had oil better using motor oil. Some of my old saws recommend non-detergent motor oil in the fuel mix even.

 

[Joe46]

It is my understanding that some of the older saws weren't designed to use bar oil..I don't think I ever saw bar oil back 30 or so years ago. The old Homelites I've had oil better using motor oil. Some of my old saws recommend non-detergent motor oil in the fuel mix even.

I was buying bar oil in the 1970's, and every saw I ran used it.

 

[Guido Salvage]

I was not aware that Stihl (or any other saw manufacturer) is in the oil business. Like many companies, they rely on a refiner to provide them with their petroleum products. They may have more stringent standards for their formulation than oil that is badged under a homeowner brand, but it is still being produced for them.

Many times you can find "house brands" that are the exact same product as a national brand but are selling for less. Unless someone has done an analysis on Stilh oil it is mere conjecture on their part that it is any better (or worse) than other products out there. Just because a brand name is affixed to a product does not mean is is any better than another or that it is made to more exacting standards.

I use what I can find on sale. My best haul was buying the entire inventory of Poulan oil from a closing hardware store for $.99 a gallon.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I was buying bar oil in the 1970's, and every saw I ran used it.

If you had one of the smaller saws without the gear oiler I don't imagine they oiled very well with the sticky oil, or was bar oil sticky in the seventies? Seems like I was cutting with a friend several years ago and he used Stihl bar oil and I don't think it was the sticky stuff, neither was the bar oil I got when I bought my Homelite Zip. I think it was just non detergent oil. I still have it, I'll go see what it's like.

I checked and it feels a little stickier than motor oil but not like the new Poulan bar oil I bought.

 

[Sport Faller]

Maruyama here for 6 clams a gallon, seems like decent stuff

 

[Somesawguy]

My dad always used 10w30 in his Homelite 350. I think he still has the original bar on the thing, but it's had a few chains on it.

 

[7sleeper]

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.

I thin it out with brand new engine oil (the cheapest 15w-40 I can find) at about 1:5-1:10 / engine oil : bar oil. You just have to shake it after mixing and you feel the more easier flow. I believe that the tackifiers are binded by the detergents in the engine oil.

I believe that the discussion is correct about chain speed and bar length. For special purposes there should be special oil.

7

 

[popoffice]

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

Stihl makes biodegradable oil which is mostly vegetable base (green bottle) but they do still make the regular oil (orange bottle). bio works and is better for the environment. however it is recommended to flush the bio out with regular after about a month, especially if not running the saw because it could potentially damage the oil pump. my thought is though, if you have to flush out the bio with regular why not just buy the regular to begin with?

 

[splitpost]

bar oil or any oil will do the job ,once it reaches the tip, most of it regardless of what it is ,is flung off leaving the the under side pretty much lubed but not dripping wet,thats what flipping the bar is all about

 

[bplust]

Poulan Bar Oil is $7.97 plus $ .74 tax for a total of $8.71 at Wal-Mart. I am paying $10.00 per gallon for the Stihl oil with the tax included. I pay $4.00 a gallon for 93 octane ethanol free gas and use Stihl HP Ultra oil. My saws start better, perform better and run cooler.

Ethanol-free gas, huh? Well, I wish I had that luxury. The last place selling that around here stopped doing so last year. Now I gotta separate!

Husky oil's $8.00/gal here. I also filter used engine oil as well. Haven't tried used ATF, saw that a couple guys used it, I figured it would be on the thin side, but heck, I'll try it tomorrow. I run my vehicles on used veg oil, haven't used it for cutting anything but game up, but I'm thinking of trying it. I personally haven't found a more efficient way to clean a saw than a pressure washer, and you wouldn't want to do anything less after coating your saw in used veg.

 

[Guido Salvage]

Stihl makes biodegradable oil which is mostly vegetable base (green bottle) but they do still make the regular oil (orange bottle).

Not to be contrary, but what evidence do you have that Stihl manufactures oil?

 

[a. palmer jr.]

To each his own, but one thing I wouldn't do is put used motor oil in my chainsaw. Chainsaws have enough going against them without adding one more thing.

 

[7sleeper]

Stihl makes biodegradable oil which is mostly vegetable base (green bottle) but they do still make the regular oil (orange bottle). bio works and is better for the environment. however it is recommended to flush the bio out with regular after about a month, especially if not running the saw because it could potentially damage the oil pump. my thought is though, if you have to flush out the bio with regular why not just buy the regular to begin with?

I've had bar oil go really bad once in a chainsaw after a year of non use. It wasn't just tacky it was one clumpy mass! It took forever to flush out and the oil pump died also.

7

 

[MattCrowe]

May sound silly to some of you guys but i use 85w/90 gear oil, i have the pump turned right down 2.5-3 tanks of fuel to 1 tank of oil, now as this oil is so heavy, not designed to be burnt and about 4 times as tacky as light engine oils , what little oil i am using seems to stay where it is meant to be. Works great, my advantage is an endless supply on tap that seems to make it to my place for free, however in saying that, diff/gear oil may not work out to be an expensive option as you seem to only need to use so little of it by comparison. The only area for concern is if or if not stihl would warrant a pump pumping oil of this weight, who knows, but a 460 and 660 do it with what seems to be ease anyway.