Chain bars and oil holes

[3000 FPS]

I am curious as to how many of you make it a standard practice to drill out the oil holes on your bar to larger sizes for better oiling? Could it be that certain saws need this or if a saw has been ported you may want to drill them to get better oiling because of speed.

Some of the bars that I see have very small holes and some others twice the size. I even have a McCulloch 20" bar that came off a 610 that did not have any holes at all.

 

[ncfarmboy]

I don't as standard practice. If I had an oiling problem I would. Bigger holes don't stop up as easy. Bars with no oil hole oil through the bar stud hole.
Shep

 

[3000 FPS]

Hey ncfarmboy thanks for the reply. :msp_mellow:

 

[Jtheo]

I have drilled out several of the small holes when the bar was not getting enough oil. especially on the 24 inch bars.

It looks like all the new bars are comming with the small slanted hole. I have to wonder if the EPA is behind this.

None of the saw I now own oil like say the Stihl 026 or a Sachs Dolmar 112. Those saws and others like them put plenty of oil on the bar.

 

[Sagetown]

How about something like this. Out of frustration because the bar was overheating and the chain was showing signs of lack of oil, I used a dremel tool and milled a channel in the bar, from the saws oil port, indicated by the arrow, to the bar intake port to get the maximum amount of oil to the chain. It works.

 

[nmurph]

The next step in non-EPA compliant chainsaw modding: oiler porting.

 

[Hitman30]

I used the Sagetown method on the 20" bar of my 261 and it worked well. Only difference between what I did and what Sagetown did was I ground the channel in both directions from the holes.

 

[mowoodchopper]

The next step in non-EPA compliant chainsaw modding: oiler porting.

yep, the secret underworld of illegal chainsaw modders, its gonna get dangerous around here, we may have to change are names and use code words so they dont know what were talking about, LOL

 

[Sagetown]

I have drilled out several of the small holes when the bar was not getting enough oil. especially on the 24 inch bars.

It looks like all the new bars are comming with the small slanted hole. I have to wonder if the EPA is behind this.

None of the saw I now own oil like say the Stihl 026 or a Sachs Dolmar 112. Those saws and others like them put plenty of oil on the bar.

Repped

 

[Eccentric]

I am curious as to how many of you make it a standard practice to drill out the oil holes on your bar to larger sizes for better oiling? Could it be that certain saws need this or if a saw has been ported you may want to drill them to get better oiling because of speed.

Some of the bars that I see have very small holes and some others twice the size. I even have a McCulloch 20" bar that came off a 610 that did not have any holes at all.

That McCulloch bar didn't have oiler holes because they oil through the adjuster holes. There's passages from the adjuster holes to the bar groove. Talking the McCulloch 10-series bars here (Oregon D276 and Windsor TMX). The current production Oregon D176 bars have these same passages, as well as sepperate oiler holes drilled for use with medium size old Echo and Poulan saws.

 

[MCW]

Actually some oil holes block up a LOT easier if opened up - the angled holes are designed for a reason and that is so that chips etc move past the hole and not get caught in it (this theory doesn't always work ). I've had to modify a lot of bars to get more oil and enlargening the hole only works sometimes. Quite often the larger oil holes will block up quick smart. I've also ground out slots around the bar holes to gather more oil as Sagetown has done above. You can also add an extra oil hole if you need to as long as it lines up with the saw's oil channel. It works as a rule. I had some older Total II 24" bars made by GB that I had to drill an extra two oil holes in to create enough flow. Unfortunately though some people expect a lot more oil than their saws can deliver. Stihls are a classic for making saws that can run 42" bars yet fit an oiler that can only run 32". Dolmar 7900's are the same and I've found that oil supply to any bar over 32" is marginal.

 

[abureels4me]

I'm glad I read this post. I just bought an Oregon 24" power match and it had the slanted holes. I'll have to keep an eye out to see how it does.

 

[MCW]

I'm glad I read this post. I just bought an Oregon 24" power match and it had the slanted holes. I'll have to keep an eye out to see how it does.

I haven't had any major issues with the slanted holes however it does depend on the type of timber you're cutting too.

 

[dingeryote]

Opened up another newish 24" Oregon Power match today. It's beginning to be SOP. The slanted holes get clogged easy and are stingey when they aren't.

The old style GB holes were perfect. I gotta agree the EPA or pressure from the wackos is behind the slanted oil passage nonsense.


Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[MCW]

Opened up another newish 24" Oregon Power match today. It's beginning to be SOP. The slanted holes get clogged easy and are stingey when they aren't.

The old style GB holes were perfect. I gotta agree the EPA or pressure from the wackos is behind the slanted oil passage nonsense.


Stay safe!
Dingeryote

I don't think it's the slanted oil hole but more the size of the oil hole. The GB Pro Tops and Ti bars have run a lot of slanted oil holes and have never given much trouble at all but they were larger than the Oregons, that's for sure. Actually if it's been done over the years there is a good chance GB tried it. However sometimes, for whatever reason, their ideas just didn't work...

 

[Modifiedmark]

Actually some oil holes block up a LOT easier if opened up - the angled holes are designed for a reason and that is so that chips etc move past the hole and not get caught in it (this theory doesn't always work ). I've had to modify a lot of bars to get more oil and enlargening the hole only works sometimes. Quite often the larger oil holes will block up quick smart. I've also ground out slots around the bar holes to gather more oil as Sagetown has done above. You can also add an extra oil hole if you need to as long as it lines up with the saw's oil channel. It works as a rule. I had some older Total II 24" bars made by GB that I had to drill an extra two oil holes in to create enough flow. Unfortunately though some people expect a lot more oil than their saws can deliver. Stihls are a classic for making saws that can run 42" bars yet fit an oiler that can only run 32". Dolmar 7900's are the same and I've found that oil supply to any bar over 32" is marginal.

Good post and good points as there is no one fits all solution. Seems the bigger holes to plug easier for me alot of times. Sharp chains will eliminate alot of plugged oiler hole problems.

When Sage posted that picture of the Stihl, I was thinking the same thing about there stingy oilers.

 

[Sagetown]

Good post and good points as there is no one fits all solution. Seems the bigger holes to plug easier for me alot of times. Sharp chains will eliminate alot of plugged oiler hole problems.

When Sage posted that picture of the Stihl, I was thinking the same thing about there stingy oilers.

REPPED.... Stingy Oilers is right-on.:greenchainsaw:

 

[MCW]

Sharp chains will eliminate alot of plugged oiler hole problems.

That there is very true. Some timber types are shocking too and especially some of our hardwoods - particularly certain Eucalypt species that when green have sap oozing out everywhere

 

[Sagetown]

Eucalyptus are common where I lived in California too. But a real sticky sap clogging bar/chain tree back here in Oklahoma is the Osage Orange. I cut one recently thinking the sap would be down because it's wintertime. Wrong!; that milky stuff just poured out.

 

[Somesawguy]

My dad had to open up the hole on one of his bars. I think it was for his Jonsered 2055. I've found that a loose chain tends to clog up more easily. The chips don't get wiped out by the drive links as well. The Stihl oilers are a bit stingy, but I haven't had to mod the bar on my 290, just keep it cleaned out once in awhile.