It’s cold today - bar oil

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JW51

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At least cold by mid-south standards.

Below what temp do you all run a winter bar oil or a thinned mixture of your own?
 
My bar oil when the temps are cold there in a woodstove heated garage with my chainsaws. Then they go in the heated cab. In the beginning I was thinning the oil with kerosene.
 
I run winter grade at all times may use a little more but find better flow and never had a oiler plugging or bar & chain related issues . I buy only Premium Grade Bar oils , all my saws have adjustable oilers or manual . I have seen in the past when kerosene was added to purge or clean the chain oiling system as a preventative mtce , back in the day when temps were below freezing , as Bill has indicated .
 
Around 25 sounds good to me,too. I haven't run any pure winter grade this year but have mixed some at 70/30 or 80/20 summer/winter.As stated above,I only run premium oils.Stihl,in my case.
I know others have said some other brands are just as good and cheaper but no more oil than I use,a few dollars isn't going to hurt,especially if it keeps the bar and chains running longer.It's whatever someone wants to do.
I think the best answer is, probably, to let your saw tell you.If you aren't getting good oil flow and no other problems are found,use a lighter oil.If it's slinging too much,go back to summer weight. Different saws will oil differently.Some,like my MS 362 can be adjusted for more oil flow.My 028 and MS 250 cannot.
 
I leave my oil in the house and the saws on the floor of my sauna so they stay above freezing. But if I was leaving stuff sit outside I’d probably say 20’s is where I’d draw the line with summer weight oil.
 
My winter mix bar oil has written on the Jug to use in winter conditions when temps are 30 F and below. Cant think of oil name but it is red in color, LOL. Just opened a new jug yesterday and verified winter mix before opening. Had a high here in Central NY of 11 F, yesterday.

I leave my oil on top of my insulated wood boiler that is in an out building and the saws set on the firewood nearest the boiler in the winter months.

Ken
 
I spent most of yesterday cutting. Was our first cold snap since like November. Woke up to teens and didn’t make it to 30.

The Echo oil I run is supposedly “all season” but haven’t been happy with the bar oiling in cooler weather. Saw is consuming the right amount, but chain still seems drier than I’d like. I mixed up a little batch thinned with a splash of diesel that I’ll try next time.
 
I bought a 55 gallon barrel that was some really thick stuff and poured like molasses when it got below 20. I would pump a half gallon out of the barrel then full with diesel and shake the snot out of it.
today I buy summer mix from TSC (Country line) and use that straight. Isn't to many days in this area where it gets below 20F long enough I worry about it.

:D Al
 
Some poor city slob who burns fuel oil or natural gas.

They did a news story last evening about a mobile suna I believe the winter carnival is going ont in St Paul.


:D Al
 
One dumb, tangential question while I’m at it.

Are some woods more prone to soaking up the oil (the chips and dust on the bar grove) than others?

I was not at all satisfied yesterday with the oil on my chain whilst cutting some standing dead ash. And that was my suspicion.
 
One dumb, tangential question while I’m at it.

Are some woods more prone to soaking up the oil (the chips and dust on the bar grove) than others?

I was not at all satisfied yesterday with the oil on my chain whilst cutting some standing dead ash. And that was my suspicion.
Super dry wood is going to throw more dust and cause the bar to be drier than if you were cutting green wood. If you are cutting a lot of dry standing dead I would crank open the oiler screw if you have an adjustable oiler.
 
Some poor city slob who burns fuel oil or natural gas.

They did a news story last evening about a mobile suna I believe the winter carnival is going ont in St Paul.


:D Al
There are getting to be a lot of mobile saunas. In addition there are people trying to monetize that subset of sauna users. I am in a sauna group and they had to ban a couple of the investors to a mobile sauna company because they would barf product on every single post.
 
Super dry wood is going to throw more dust and cause the bar to be drier than if you were cutting green wood. If you are cutting a lot of dry standing dead I would crank open the oiler screw if you have an adjustable oiler.

There is an adjuster on my 362 and I always run it at max setting. It’s not super generous with the oil even then.
 

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