Best bar oil?

[Hunt4lumber]

Is there a viscosity difference between stihl and cheaper bar oil?( more Tacky, less tacky?)

 

[RED-85-Z51]

There is a wild array of bar oil makeups...from thinner to heavier, tackier, less tacky.

I like Amsoil, its tackier than most ive seen..

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[EchoRomeoCharlie]

There are slight differences between brands, but not enough to really see any significant differences in wear IMO.

The key is use bar and chain oil. If it makes you feel better to use a specific brand, go for it. I'll pretty much use anything...I've not seen a significant difference between any of them.

 

[cookies]

i have had good results using the super tec (mixed with used engine oil or trans fluid when its cold outside) its pretty tacky stuff , 9.75 a gallon... imo what's more important than the oil brand is the oilier system functioning 100% properly

 

[motorhead99999]

I have never noticed a huge difference between brands. I use stihl oil. Orange in the summer and blue in the winter. As mentioned above. It depends more on your Oiler working correctly

 

[sbhooper]

Stock up, when you can find the cheapest possible on sale. Not worth spending a bunch of money-unless you hardly do any cutting, then buy whatever.

 

[sean donato]

I currently have some pro-select brand oil. Been using it the past several years. Works well enough. Last time I bought it it was around $7.00 a gallon. Last time I looked if you bought 4 gallons they would knock the price down to $10.00 and some change per gallon. I'll be looking for something else when I run out of the stash I currently have. Only bar oil I flat out avoid is the county line or country line oil TSC sells. It's very thin and practically runs out of the saws. Never impressed with it. It was cheaper then the pro-select I use now. Where unused to work we used stihl brand oil, it was pretty much the same as any other brand out there.

 

[REJ2]

I've used several brands through the years about all of them say 30w if you look close enough, winter formula weights may be different I don't know. Around 2013 Walmart sold a Poulan branded bar oil in a green jug for $7 a gallon, I bought as many as I could. Checking Walmart the other day all I could find was super tech for around $10 a gallon. I have Echo, Shindawia, Husqvarna, TSC, etc., I just do not notice any difference except the price. The cheap stuff works for my personal firewood adventures. Likely all of it made by just a few refineries.

 

[Hunt4lumber]

I currently have some pro-select brand oil. Been using it the past several years. Works well enough. Last time I bought it it was around $7.00 a gallon. Last time I looked if you bought 4 gallons they would knock the price down to $10.00 and some change per gallon. I'll be looking for something else when I run out of the stash I currently have. Only bar oil I flat out avoid is the county line or country line oil TSC sells. It's very thin and practically runs out of the saws. Never impressed with it. It was cheaper then the pro-select I use now. Where unused to work we used stihl brand oil, it was pretty much the same as any other brand out there.

Very interesting that you say it's thinner and practically runs out of saws( found county line for 5$/ gallon and had issues with saws leaking ever since)
I'm going to dump out and buy a thicker/tackier oil and try it for a while...
Thanks

 

[FlyingDutchman]

I like buying (usually they give it away) partial jugs of oil at auctions and garage sales and mixing them into one jug. One time, I had blue, red, brown, and clear all stratified in one jug. Felt like a little kid eating a snowcone pouring oil in.

576xp didn't give a **** and ate that whole gallon in a day. I do regret emptying the rest of gear oil bottles into the bar oil. That stuff realllllly stinks.

 

[jetsam]

I use canola oil (which I hate) when I am doing a lot of cutting, and use el cheapo bar oil for slower times of year.

If you ever put up a saw full of canola for 6 months, you will be sorry when you come back to it.

My neighbor uses used motor oil. He keeps offering to give me some.

I don't know what benefits fancy bar oil is supposed to offer, but I guarantee the price difference between it and the cheap stuff will buy me more new bars than I will ever need.

 

[bwalker]

I have used mostly Walmart Super Tech and never had issues. However, the last few gallons I bought were made by Cenex. It seems a little more tacky than ST and its dyed red if that matters.

 

[Lionsfan]

I currently have some pro-select brand oil. Been using it the past several years. Works well enough. Last time I bought it it was around $7.00 a gallon. Last time I looked if you bought 4 gallons they would knock the price down to $10.00 and some change per gallon. I'll be looking for something else when I run out of the stash I currently have. Only bar oil I flat out avoid is the county line or country line oil TSC sells. It's very thin and practically runs out of the saws. Never impressed with it. It was cheaper then the pro-select I use now. Where unused to work we used stihl brand oil, it was pretty much the same as any other brand out there.

Very interesting that you say it's thinner and practically runs out of saws( found county line for 5$/ gallon and had issues with saws leaking ever since)
I'm going to dump out and buy a thicker/tackier oil and try it for a while...
Thanks

I've used the Countyline stuff for the last couple years and I can't honestly say I've noticed a problem with it. Seems to do the same job as the brand name stuff imo.

 

[Woodslasher]

I use the Stihl stuff, ~$11 a gallon and they let you buy it by the case. I put the oil in old Husky jugs as the Stihl bottles are quite flimsy, but the oil itself works well. Just don't ask me what bar oil ratio I use....

 

[Horrigan72]

I caution everyone against garbage like this! Turned solid in a saw of mine over the winter. Still trying to get saw fixed after cleaning out all the garbage from it. Be careful what you use!

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[sean donato]

I've used the Countyline stuff for the last couple years and I can't honestly say I've noticed a problem with it. Seems to do the same job as the brand name stuff imo.

Yep thin as water, cant say it didnt work, but I used way more of it then anything else. Havent had that issue with any other oils. Even straight 30 weight didnt run through the saws as fast as the tsc oil. Havent used it since.

 

[sb47]

I know it taboo but I have been using used motor oil for over a decade and I have never had any kind of bar wear issue or failure.
How much does a new bar cost, 50 bucks? How much does even the cheapest bar oil cost 7 dollars a gallon. The average amount of bar oil used is 1 to 1 one gallon of fuel = 1 gallon of bar oil. 7x8=56 bucks.
Are you gonna wear out a bar by running 8 gallons of fuel/ bar oil. NO
If used motor oil is free and you get 100 gallons of use out of it before it wears out. It's way more cost effective to run used motor oil instead of spending all that money on new bar oil.
Now stihl bar oil is 12+ a gallon. You can replace a lot of bars with that oil money your throwing away.

 

[Ontario Firewood Resource]

I made a video about this

 

[Woodslasher]

I know it taboo but I have been using used motor oil for over a decade and I have never had any kind of bar wear issue or failure.
How much does a new bar cost, 50 bucks? How much does even the cheapest bar oil cost 7 dollars a gallon. The average amount of bar oil used is 1 to 1 one gallon of fuel = 1 gallon of bar oil. 7x8=56 bucks.
Are you gonna wear out a bar by running 8 gallons of fuel/ bar oil. NO
If used motor oil is free and you get 100 gallons of use out of it before it wears out. It's way more cost effective to run used motor oil instead of spending all that money on new bar oil.
Now stihl bar oil is 12+ a gallon. You can replace a lot of bars with that oil money your throwing away.

Won't used motor oil wear out your oil pump prematurely due to metal particulates "grinding" the inner workings? Also, isn't it kinda thin to be used as bar oil? I do like the math you're showing as I know of 500+ gallons of used oil I could get my hands on for free, but I wanna hear others weigh in before I decide. One little thing though, a new Oregon 28" bar is ~$80 and a new Oregon 36" is~$120 in my neck of the woods, so for bigger saws the math is different.

 

[sean donato]

My old man uses uses old engine oil. I think besides the chance of metal particles, and carbon and whatever it lacks the tackifiers, to helping cling to the chain.