Bulk bar oil or alternative?

[regulate34]

. I run equipment doing logging/forest fire fuel management.

Some of the blocks we work on have recreation trails in them. Basically a 50m no go zone with the equipment. So it’s all hand work.

I have worked out a day rate with the boss for bringing my saws to work. But trying to figure out a bulk solution for bar oil. Keep a little more $ in my pocket.

We go threw about 1/2-1 Gal a day depending on what I’m bucking/slashing.

Can I buy bar oil by the 5gal pail?

Will a heavy hydraulic oil work?
(Cheap in 5gal pale)

Lots of processor guys use their used hydraulic oil for the bar oil.

What do you guys use.
I don’t imagine production fallers or firewood guys are buying it’s by the 1 gal jug.

Thanks for any help.

 

[clemsonfor]

I guess the processor guys have either done the math or they don't know how to see if the wear and tear of useing used hydro oil is worth it? Maybe they break chains or ruin bars before they wear out? But with a chain saw I don't know how that math works out either. I run bar oil but don't use more than a gallon or two a year max.

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[Mad Professor]

If you can find the supplier for name brands, you should be able to get 55-gal drums.

We did that for engine oils in car/truck and motorcycle shops. Way cheaper, but save some jugs for transfer.

 

[thomasinvancouver]

The processor uses hydraulic oil from the hydraulic system. There is no separate bar oil. You could buy bar oil by the 55 gallon drum if you wanted.

 

[Bobby Kirbos]

For any given application, the proper oil is the proper oil. How you buy it doesn't make a difference. If the $$/gallon is lower in bulk, you have a place to store the bulk container, and a way to dispense and transport smaller amounts as needed, I don't see any down-side beyond needing to hand over more $$ up front to purchase the bulk container. After that, it's $$ saved.

Assuming:

• 0.75 gallons used per day
• 5 day work week
  
• 55 gallon drum actually contains 55 gallons (they may not fill them completely, I don't know)

That drum of oil will last just over 73 work days, about 14 weeks

 

[regulate34]

I got room for a drum at the house. Then would just bring a jug or two in the work crummy.

Guess I need to talk to the saw shop about getting in a barrel.

Maybe go see what the log home builders do. Got 4 companies with in about a 1/2hr. Including them timber king guys.

 

[Justsaws]

Hydraulic oil will work. Very thin, no tack, so consumption goes up. Stinks, and gets everywhere. Much easier to smoke.

You would be better served by mixing it 50/50 with a cheapy bar lube that has a bit of tack. I get barely used ATF and often run it straight in the colder months and mix it with various(whatever is cheapest) store branded bar lube in the summer. I use it in everything from 8” trim saws to 60” milling saws.

That brings the cost of bar lube typically down to less than $3.00 a gallon for me, usually way less.

 

[regulate34]

Kinda what I was thinking. Mix it with cheap oil or maybe their is a tracking agent that I can add

 

[Jasonrkba]

I've heard hydraulic oil works but justsaws nailed the pitfalls of using it. If your saw is adjustable you may want to increase it. Guys in the field will use just about anything in a jam. I use 30 wt in my older saws and my ms170.

 

[sb47]

Ok so whats the cost of the average 20'' bar? $40 to 60 bucks? Whats the price of bar oil? I've seen stihl bar oil go for $16 bucks a gallon. TS has bar oil for $8 bucks a gallon. So it would only take 4 or 5 gallons of the cheap bar oil and only 2 gallons of the high dollar bar oil to match the price of a new bar.
Now estimate the average life of a bar under normal use. I can run 20 to 30 gallons or even more of bar oil before my bar starts getting worn out and I mix old motor oil with bar oil about 50/50 and it takes me a long time to wear out a bar.If you do the math even if you run the cheapest oil your bar is gonna last a long time. Is it really worth spending more money on so called high quality bar oil vs. cheap used motor oil mixed with cheap bar oil?
If you can find a truck shop that will save the old gear oil and mix it with used motor oil, you could save a lot of money. 90 weight gear oil has the sling resistance that you need and the motor oil is just filler.
Granted the gear oil stinks and smells like rotten eggs but who cares.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

If you could figure out the chemicals used in bar oil tactifier you could do a group buy on a commercial quantity and divvy it out for people to mix their own.

http://www.functionalproducts.com/products/tackifiers/

 

[svk]

Honestly if you can find bar oil on sale (such as Menards recent sale for 4.99 a gallon) just buy enough for 6 months and restock next time they go on sale (sales are usually once quarterly plus again on Black Friday). The marginal savings of pumping oil from drums to gallons and the need to do this frequently takes time and energy, plus storing a drum and potential to have to clean up a whoopsie spill every so often. So to me unless you can get a drum really cheap it isn't worth it IMO.

 

[stihl86]

I don't know about using used oil. Especially engine oil. Too many nasty things in it, aside from the micro abrasives. I've seen people wipe out oil pumps using drain oil. What kind of pump is in a harvester? I would think it's some sort of gear?
Going from dealer cost, the Stihl silver bar oil, the primo stuff, is only about $1.50 less per gal for a 55 drum vs a single gal.
Dealer gouging may vary.
They don't believe in the saying "Buy in bulk and save" That's not enough (for me at least) for the outlay of cash.
STP and the like is a good tackifier used in clean 30w.

 

[clemsonfor]

I'm not buying Stihl bar oil at all. Not worth the price over just regular cheap bar oil when you price out bars and chains

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[Leafy]

If you don't let your saws sit just buy the cheapest vegetable oil in bulk you can find. The canola and random veggie stuff crusts up on the chain and sprocket of you let the saw sit for a month, but wd40 spray down clears that right up. Just run the oilers full open. Plenty of people have been using this or olive oil. Olive oil doesn't get solid after use but is almost as much as bar oil but at least your polluting less.

 

[newforest]

Once upon a time I was re-using a Poulan Pro bar oil jug, filling it from a drum at a saw shop local to where I was working. (Lubricants distributor was mega-conveniently located right across the street).

Eventually, the screen on the oil pump got plugged up.

This had nothing to do with the actual oil in use. The culprit was the threads on the cap of the Poulan jug - the screen was full of black plastic fibers from it.


I actually wish the Poulan oil was still sold at Wally World. The new stuff there, in the blue bottle, is so thin it leaves a bubble inside the saw’s oil reservoir, the way fuel does. Have never seen bar oil do that before.

My regular shop sells the Poulan Pro now after dropping Itasca, @ $6. But they finally sell Husqy oil again, and @ only $7. I think they finally decided that loss-lead type pricing was worthwhile to keep customers happy. The choice is an easy one.

 

[clemsonfor]

Once upon a time I was re-using a Poulan Pro bar oil jug, filling it from a drum at a saw shop local to where I was working. (Lubricants distributor was mega-conveniently located right across the street).

Eventually, the screen on the oil pump got plugged up.

This had nothing to do with the actual oil in use. The culprit was the threads on the cap of the Poulan jug - the screen was full of black plastic fibers from it.


I actually wish the Poulan oil was still sold at Wally World. The new stuff there, in the blue bottle, is so thin it leaves a bubble inside the saw’s oil reservoir, the way fuel does. Have never seen bar oil do that before.

My regular shop sells the Poulan Pro now after dropping Itasca, @ $6. But they finally sell Husqy oil again, and @ only $7. I think they finally decided that loss-lead type pricing was worthwhile to keep customers happy. The choice is an easy one.

They have a black bottle sometime. Walmart always seems to have two totally different B and C oils. I'm thinking there both Walmart too?

I too liked that Poulan oil in the green bottle. Was thick and tacky. The current Walmart stuff is very thin

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