Just by noticing the spike in my car/mower/quad oil prices, I figured bar oil jumed too, BUT, I paid $18 for a gallon of Stihl bar oil a few weeks ago. Oh my, my cheap dago butt's gonna have to pour with a steadier hand from now on.
Man! I never tried stihl oil, that is wicked expensive! Have you really seen a big difference from cheaper brands? I was using the husky oil for awhile, then tried tractor supply for a few bucks cheaper...dang if I can see much difference.
I can't say I have tried a whole lot of different bar oils in my life. In ye olden days, I just used car oil for mix oil and bar oil. Won't call 'em the good old days, I'll call it the stinky smelly old days.
Modern oils are just so much better, bar or mix, I think even the cheaper oils are better than what passed for premium just some years back.
Gasoline now though...different story. Premium no ethanol right from the pump seems to be the equivalent of olden days lowest octane cheap stuff that sat around a few months in the sunshine....and that's the best I can get around here, I won't even consider the 87 octane corn liquor gas. I don't even care if it is fresh from the tanker, I've tried it in way too many small engine things to not notice how sucky it is and what a short shelf life it has, even with proper storage.
I was running a little tiller today, fired right up one pull. Same as it did a few weeks ago when I first used it this year. Sat all winter with the local no ethanol premium in it, worked just fine, like olden days gas more or less. With ethanol fuel, I had to drain the tanks, run the machine dry etc all the time, now I don't bother. Now two stroke mix I will drain back into the can, any unused stuff, just so I can shake it up again, that's all.
For the bar oil, tractor supply on sale. In the colder weather, it stays inside and stays warm, then right into the saw warm. When I refill, I let the saw sit a few minutes with fresh bar oil poured in, let the engine heat spread to it, then fill the other tank with premix and go cut again. Not long, just a few minutes, either take a break or touch up the chain before the mix goes in.
If you open it back up and stick your finger in the bar oil side, you can feel it got warmer just from that few minutes heat transfer, so I know it will pump better, especially in my older impulse/crank pressure oil pump saws.