Bar Oil Recommendation

[ghostrider990]

--long-time lurker, first-time Poster!!-- :greenchainsaw:

At the risk of being flamed and/or called a Troll (I'm NOT: i swear upon my beady little eyes!).....
I need to tap the conventional wisdom on what type of BAR OIL to use in my saws.

I PROMISE I did multiple searches....returning nothing on the topic -- I was ACTUALLY shocked it wasn't in the stickies?!

By my sig you can see I run 3 Stihl saws for moderate home/property use. I have about 10acres of mixed land, and have a regular amount of felling/cutting year 'round.....and YES I use Stihl HP Ultra ONLY in my mix!

Until recently, I was buying "cheap" Bar Oil at Farm&Fleet, $5/gal.
Generally, my maintenance practices don't subscribe to the "cheap and dirty" route -- but I'm having a hard time justifying more $$$ for what seems to be regular-old "bar-oil".

Upon chatting with a pro -- he suggested I stick to Stihl Brand Bar Oil, to avoid future oiling / Oil pump problems with my saws -- citing his own experience with "cheap" bar oils.

So the question is this:
Am I damaging the internal components of my oiling system by using "cheap" bar oil, and not STihl-branded lube??
My local dealer is getting $16+tax per gallon of the warm-weather stuff, and frankly, that's a BIT too much for me, for what seems to be fairly BASIC oil.

I'm not looking for the "tell me what to use" responses.....I'd ACTUALLY like to hear the why and how of Bar Oil formulations, and what type of additives/modifiers (if any) are put in this stock.

Speaking of which: can anybody clarify the mystery of bar-oil??
just exactly What Weight/viscosity is this stuff, anyway?!?
sae50 / 90??
i'm "stumped"!

Sorry if this is a "tired" newbie topic -- but I simply couldn't find this info in a search.

Begin the FLAMING. :newbie:

thanks,
gr

 

[MNfarmer]

I use only Cenex bar and chain oil. Not too expensive and works as good as stihl bar oil as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure there are those who don't like it, but I've never had a problem with it.

 

[striperswaper]

pleazzzzzzzzzzzzzzze...try to use the search again before Gary sees this

 

[ghostrider990]

pleazzzzzzzzzzzzzzze...try to use the search again before Gary sees this

I SWEAAAAARRRRR I did.....does search not work for newb's or something....I got bupkus, or I would NOT have asked such a BAD question!!!

I was LITERALLY sick of looking with no results.

couldn't even get a return on "BAR" for goddsake!!!

gr

 

[StihlyinEly]

The search function isn't working for me, either. I typed in "bar oil" using the basic and the advanced searches.

Nada.

Have mercy on poor ghostrider. We gotta butter him up so Gary can swallow him whole when he sees this thread. :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Freehand]

The next sucker that posts a bar oil thread,will result in a bunny fatality

 

[Bob Wright]

I beleive him the search engine brings up everything but what you want. Type in "bar oil" and you will get this
1.Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. %1$s
I just tried it...Bob

 

[Bob Wright]

The next sucker that posts a bar oil thread,will result in a bunny fatality

At least she is using a Ruger Blackhawk...Bob

 

[Freehand]

I beleive him the search engine brings up everything but what you want. Type in "bar oil" and you will get this
1.Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. %1$s
I just tried it...Bob

LOL there's four bar oil threads on page one alone....

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

My recommendation: Use some.



Stihl is too thick for me, even in summer.





Next?

 

[mikefunaro]

You're not going to damage the pump unless you use either dirty engine oil or oil which is not suited to the temperature (if it's too thick/too hard to pump).

Stihl oil is good but not 3x the price good.

The cheaper oils vary but the real concern is whether or not you find your chains really stretching and/or your bars wearing.

Most of the cheaper oils that have tackifier seem to have A LOT of tackifier; they turn into glue when it gets cold.

I can get the stihl for $9 to $10 and husky for about the same so it's not totally crazy, but TSC for $6 gets me moving...

 

[mikefunaro]

To everyone going crazy about this guy not searching, just answer the question quickly and efficiently rather than making 20 posts asking why he didnt search. This will turn into a three page thread regardless, but if it bothers you, just let it go. You look bad holding onto all that anger.

 

[BigJ]

To everyone going crazy about this guy not searching, just answer the question quickly and efficiently rather than making 20 posts asking why he didnt search. This will turn into a three page thread regardless, but if it bothers you, just let it go. You look bad holding onto all that anger.

Agreed. Search (busted for me right now, too) is ineffective when all you come up with is BS about searching. Makes for a stale forum IMO.

I use stihl light in winter and stihl medium in summer. I haven't seen bio-nothin around here.

Stock at Canadian Tire or Wal-Mart for this kind of stuff is hit and miss so it's not worth my time and fuel to go hunt some down to save a couple bucks. I'm not anywhere near production cutting, though...I might go through two gallons a month..max.

 

[Freehand]

The Google search always worked better anyway,even before the server switch.

Teatersroad came up with a good fix, Type your query in the google search engine and add:

site:arboristsite.com

with no spaces at the end.Works better than the site function ever did.....

 

[ghostrider990]

Again - sorry guys.

I searched thru EVERY page of the FAQ, oils, chains, etc.....including the first 15 pages of the most recent threads.
Have to admit, I got WAAy sidetracked looking at kewl saws, and mods!

I DID miss that one post that just got bumped to page one -- but in all honesty....THAT didn't answer my question, and it got way off-topic past page 1 anyway. :biggrinbounce2:

I'm not looking so much for recommendations: I'm looking for DATA/INfo from those who KNOW.

In addition to long-term effects "lesser" bar oils may have on the oiling system --
I REALLy want to know what weight/viscosity branded Bar Oils are, and what friction modifiers/additives are IN these oils?!

What is IN these oils?! What's the Base-stock?? Is it as simple as acquiring an MSDS sheet, and filtering thru Stihl's "proprietary formulas"????

I actually called and spoke with an engineer at Belray Products a few months back, inquiring about the chemical make-up of one of their Brake Fluid products -- and got TOTALLY stonewalled, due to "Proprietary Formulations".

I know this is a TIRED topic, but WHY isn't it in the FAQ of the stickies for Newb's like me?????

thks again for the tolerance. i REALIZE i opened a can of worms, but just COULDN'T waste more time searching fruitlessly!!

gr

 

[ghostrider990]

The Google search always worked better anyway,even before the server switch.

Teatersroad came up with a good fix, Type your query in the google search engine and add:

site:arboristsite.com

with no spaces at the end.Works better than the site function ever did.....

i'll try this -- thanks.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Agreed. Search (busted for me right now, too) is ineffective .

Search seems to be busted for a lot of folks since the changeover, and it's not the be-all and end-all, anyway.

 

[gemniii]

search is broke, the guy gets rep for searching.
OP -
There are many long threads on bar oil, I don't think you can go wrong with any mid-level or better bar oil as long as it has the right amount of tackifier. Enough so it drips stringy at the temperature your using it at. You don't want a thick tacky oil that goes solid if you try to use it in the winter. You don't want to be using something that doesn't hang on to the bar at all when you use it in the heat of the summer.

I have bought all my Motion Lotion bar oil at Bailey's when it's on sale with free shipping to my door.

 

[Trigger-Time]

I hope bar oil doesn't go bad over time, I stocked up a couple years
ago. Bought Stihl bar oil by the cases. My wife was also buying
2 gallons of Pullon bar oil at W-Mart every week at $4.25 a gallon.
Stihl oil at that time was $5.50 per gallon and $5.00 by the case.
I use the Pullon on 12, 14, 16 and 18 inch bars and the Stihl on
20in and longer. When chain saw milling you can use up some oil and mix.




To the OP, ask and Post all you want, let'em all they want :greenchainsaw:



TT

 

[TreePointer]

My understanding is that typical bar oil is about 30 weight and has a tackifying agent added. The tackifier helps to keep the oil on the bar and chain longer so that it traverses around the entire bar.

With that being said, the goal of bar oil is to lubricate the entire length of bar on both sides, including the tip sprocket (setting aside arguments of those who grease the sprocket). There is plenty of testimony here on AS that even oils without fancy tackifiers are sufficient in normal conditions (motor oil, canola oil, etc.). You may need a lighter weight in cold temperatures, but the idea of lubing the entire length of the bar is the same.

Veggie oils do tend to degrade and gum up oiler systems, so it is not recommended to store saws with veggie oils in them.

Regarding inexpensive bar oils, I've never had a problem with Poulan and TSC.