Bar oil SUBSTITUTES

[jakethesnake]

Or they somehow got ahold of "unrefined" canola oil which polymerizes at 225F, and got their saw HOT.

Refined canola oil doesn't polymerize until 400F, and if you got anything on your saw anywhere near 400F you've got way bigger problems than some gummed up oil.

How much money are you saving on bar oil? It's $9.99 a gallon at my local farm store. The cheapest canola oil I can find is Walmart brand at $9.12 a gallon.

It was 7$ when I bought it. Bar oil was unobtainable at the time. Hydraulic oil was also 13$ish. So maybe saving half at that time. I got 5 gallons I believe. Still have a good bit left. Maybe 3 gallons if I dumped a couple of the open jugs together.

After using it though I’m not sure what I’ll do when I run out. Price may be the factor. At the same cost I’m not sure what I’d do. Honestly if I needed bar oil tomorrow I’d pick up a gallon of canola.

I might even pay a dollar more a gallon just to continue this experiment. Think I’ve been using it a few years now. No reason to change

 

[jakethesnake]

It was 5 gallons for 31$ about a year ago. That’s when I started using it. I had to check a different thread to see. Couple guys liked it and had long term experience. I trusted them enough to try it myself based on cost. I’ve left it in my oil tank over the summer with no runtime. Fired it up this winter and went back to work. So that’s all the experience I’ve got with the stuff but I trust it in my saws now and it’s in every saw ive used this fall/winter

 

[davefr]

I have some old 16:1 John Deere two cycle oil in pint cans that I have no use for. Instead of tossing it, is there any reason I can't blend it in with regular bar and chain oil as long as the ratio doesn't exceed 50/50?

 

[KostasVolos]

Well,I tried some fine french champagne as bar & chain lube.
Went fine for the first half hour or so...
Until the saw started cutting crooked, stalled when I was pressing the trigger and reved like crazy when I let go ,started four-stroking with a french accent and then just stopped .I can hear a snoring sound coming from the carb ,along with some burping .
Guess I will wait until next day .
Anyone knows how to deal with a
chainsaw hangover ?

 

[Dennis Gauge]

Bar oil was unobtainable at the time.

Wow, bar oil is the one thing my local farm supply store did not run out of during the past few years.

 

[cookies]

I wonder if there would be enough interest in pure tackifier. its about 8 bucks a pound and takes 1 pound per 100 pounds of oil or about 1%.

 

[bwalker]

I wonder if there would be enough interest in pure tackifier. its about 8 bucks a pound and takes 1 pound per 100 pounds of oil or about 1%.

I wonder if there would be enough interest in pure tackifier. its about 8 bucks a pound and takes 1 pound per 100 pounds of oil or about 1%.

What tackifier are we talking about?

 

[cookies]

Commercially available additive only sold in bulk for making oil tacky so one could add it to whatever oil you have laying around. Bar oil has skyrocketed around here...16-27.00 a gallon. One pound of tackifier is enough to make roughly 10-12 gallons of bar oil depending on the version.

 

[dmb2613]

If I run out of bar oil I use new motor oil. I always have that here. I bet I have 30 gal. of roteller left from when I had a Duramax GMC

 

[JohnL]

There was a lot of talk about switching to canola oil right here around the mid 2000's. People tried it for a while with mixed results. Some said it was hardening and causing damage, building up around the clutch. I don't do enough cutting to really put it to the test, never tried it.

 

[cantoo]

I have about 10 cases of bar oil here. Last year I noticed that the shelves were near empty at a few stores so I started bidding on cases at a local auction place. I would pay around $8 or $9 per gallon for Echo oil. I also bout a few cases of oil mix too. Can never have too much.

 

[Long Bar 60]

Commercially available additive only sold in bulk for making oil tacky so one could add it to whatever oil you have laying around. Bar oil has skyrocketed around here...16-27.00 a gallon. One pound of tackifier is enough to make roughly 10-12 gallons of bar oil depending on the version.

I looked into tackifier to add to "bottom of the tank" oils from a nearby oil jobber last year and the price of the two combined was in the $7.00 per gallon range. Trouble was, as mentioned, the tackifier was only available in bulk and that translated into thousands. I couldn't find enough fallers to go in on it with me and I'm near the end of my cutting career so it just didn't make sense to go it alone. Funny thing is, that oil jobber is owned by a major logging company and one would think that they would mix the two products themselves. There's definitely a market for the stuff even if they kept it in house.

40 to 50 years ago we used to get re-refined oil cheap but haven't seen the stuff in decades. Worked well... but I also didn't have a lot of experience back then.

 

[bwalker]

Commercially available additive only sold in bulk for making oil tacky so one could add it to whatever oil you have laying around. Bar oil has skyrocketed around here...16-27.00 a gallon. One pound of tackifier is enough to make roughly 10-12 gallons of bar oil depending on the version.

Which additive are we talking about specifically?

 

[Long Bar 60]

Which additive are we talking about specifically?

Afton Chemical; HiTEC 151. You have to submit a request to a sales agent to get a price quote.

 

[bwalker]

Afton Chemical; HiTEC 151. You have to submit a request to a sales agent to get a price quote.

Thank you.
Appears to be PIB, which is commonly used in bar oil. Often called paratac.

 

[056kid]

It's pretty stupid to use drain oil.

What do you think huffing exhaust does? On the stump, it is an everyday occurrence to be inundated with exhaust smoke that doesn't have anywhere to go but in your face.

 

[bwalker]

What do you think huffing exhaust does? On the stump, it is an everyday occurrence to be inundated with exhaust smoke that doesn't have anywhere to go but in your face.

At some point in your life you should try to use your brain a little..

 

[KostasVolos]

Afton Chemical; HiTEC 151. You have to submit a request to a sales agent to get a price quote.

https://m.chemicalbook.com/Price/POLYISOBUTYLENE.htm

 

[William Wallace]

I have some old 16:1 John Deere two cycle oil in pint cans that I have no use for. Instead of tossing it, is there any reason I can't blend it in with regular bar and chain oil as long as the ratio doesn't exceed 50/50?

That's an interesting thought as I have some OLD Evinrude 2 cycle oil that I won't use in my engine but for bar oil additive? Sounds like a thought I use Itasca Outdoors bar and chain lube but in the local hardware store that stuff is about $27/gal, but it IS about the best bar oil I've ever used.. I bought a case of Pro-Select brand bar oil at like $6/gal but that stuff gums up bad when it's below 40° and thins out too much above 70° so I'll add it to that

 

[bwalker]

That's an interesting thought as I have some OLD Evinrude 2 cycle oil that I won't use in my engine but for bar oil additive? Sounds like a thought I use Itasca Outdoors bar and chain lube but in the local hardware store that stuff is about $27/gal, but it IS about the best bar oil I've ever used.. I bought a case of Pro-Select brand bar oil at like $6/gal but that stuff gums up bad when it's below 40° and thins out too much above 70° so I'll add it to that

Thickness of the oil in high temps matters little. The bar is much harder than the chain so the lubrication requirement is slight. The bar tip uses roller bearings and likewise they require little lube.
If thickening is a problem thinning with a little diesel, mineral spirits, or charcoal lighter fluid works just fine.
I'm all about use quality two cycle oil, but IMO and IME bar oil doesn't matter as long as it's some type of oil. That and not used oil.