Chainsaw Oil Questions?

[Adirondack]

I have become curious about amsoil Sabre. I have stumbled through a lot of old posts to decide if it would be worth giving a try. I just have a couple of questions about oils in general.

1. What does it mean to be "synthetic"? It seems that is the better oil in general but what about it makes it have better ability to lubricate the parts?

2. I assume the ratio of mix has been calculated on the oil's quality to lubricate properly. 100:1 would be twice as concentrated as 50:1 to have the same lubrication quality in the final mix? Is this correct?

3. I take it different oils have different abilities to burn. Thus making it a good idea to re-tune a saw if you switch oil mixes. Does the ability of the oil to lubricate relate to the oil's ability to burn? Or said another way are some of the additives added to the oil blends there just for lubrication and do not become burned? Is this the reason people say you have to rich-en up the mix for amsoil because you want to add some more gas because possibly there is less of the oil burning?

 

[DTHCoCo]

Synthetic is man made, mineral oil comes out of the ground. You can usually run a higher fuel to oil ratio with synthetic. Allot of difference one being less impurieties.

 

[huskystihl]

I switched to saber from stihl synthetic purely based off cost alone. I run it at 70:1 and needed to lean the idle a tad on a few saws and my edger and trimmer and found that a couple of my saws are turning less rpm's therefore telling me that the saws are running a tad rich which is fine in the hot summer months.

 

[willsaw4beer]

I was talking to the local dealer about sabre and he said he sold it for awhile but a saw seized and amsoil wouldn't stand behind it...

 

[huskystihl]

I was talking to the local dealer about sabre and he said he sold it for awhile but a saw seized and amsoil wouldn't stand behind it...

I suppose it was a stihl dealer that said that? My dealer sells that opti 2 mix which I believe is a 100/1 ratio and sells a-lot of it and so far so good. I haven't used amsoil long enough to vouge for it but have several hours on it and no issue yet, but we will see.

 

[cherrycutter]

I bought a ne 346xp about 2 weeks ago now. I have ran about 25 tanks thru it so far on amsoil at 80:1. I pulled the muffler to look at the piston and mod it. The piston skirt still looks absolutely new. I could feel and see slippery blue oil film on it telling me that it is working just fine so far. I have used stihl ultra previously but did not really evaluate the saw in the same manner so I can not make a fair comparison. I will say the saw produces far less odor on the amsoil.

 

[sbhooper]

The difference between synthetic and petroleum is molecular. If you see a microscopic view of the molecules, the synthetic molecules are round and consistant and the petroleum molecules are jagged and of many different sizes. That is why synthetic motor oil does not have heat sheer-the molecules are stable.

 

[stihlboy]

The difference between synthetic and petroleum is molecular. If you see a microscopic view of the molecules, the synthetic molecules are round and consistant and the petroleum molecules are jagged and of many different sizes. That is why synthetic motor oil does not have heat sheer-the molecules are stable.

very good, that is the best way to explain it!! im proud someone else knows that...

 

[William Balaska]

100 to 1 is only half as concentrated as 50 to 1 you probably want to stick to 50 to 1. I use the Sabre in my snowmobiles with no issues and at $35 a gallon it's a lot cheaper than the ultra

 

[treelizard]

I like the Amsoil Dominator mixed at 50:1

 

[Adirondack]

Thanks for all the posts. Most helpful.

do they add an additive which allows the oil to bond tighter to the metal?

 

[Shagbark]

I use the Amsoil Sabre Professional at a 82:1 mix ratio. That is 1.5 oz. per gallon of premium 93 octane. I only buy fuel at stations that do not have ethanol in their gasolines. After 10 gallons through my saws, I have been pleased so far. Very little oil smoke.

 

[willsaw4beer]

I suppose it was a stihl dealer that said that? My dealer sells that opti 2 mix which I believe is a 100/1 ratio and sells a-lot of it and so far so good. I haven't used amsoil long enough to vouge for it but have several hours on it and no issue yet, but we will see.

Lol, it was a Stihl dealer, so take it for what it's worth I guess. I don't think oil is as important as people make it out to be- my boss has an fs85r trimmer with over 1000 hrs on it, and it had Sabre run through it for a few years but also had tcw-3 ran through it for most of it's life and sti(h)l runs fine.

Sabre is good enough for me at 50:1 if it's cheap and convenient to buy but I just get Ultra cause it's a good excuse to hit up the local shop for junk saws...