In need of advice

[waldershrek]

Why spend money on bar oil at all? I've been using used motor oil on the same bar and chain the past 100 cords. The only thing I do is strain the oil in a paint strainer. Next time you change the oil in your car run it in your saw.

I dunno about that. I suppose one could make the argument for new motor oil since it is meant to lubricate moving motel parts but used oil is all used up.

My Stihl dealer actually doesn't even carry the Stihl bar oil. They recommend the Husqvarna oil. Say it's cheaper and works just the same. I've been using it for about 2 years now and I like it. $9.99 a jug.

 

[biglogging]

I dunno about that. I suppose one could make the argument for new motor oil since it is meant to lubricate moving motel parts but used oil is all used up.

My Stihl dealer actually doesn't even carry the Stihl bar oil. They recommend the Husqvarna oil. Say it's cheaper and works just the same. I've been using it for about 2 years now and I like it. $9.99 a jug.

They arnt motor parts that they are lubricating. You have a pump a chain and bar. My grandfathers been running used motor oil to lubricate the bar on his saws for 30 years.
Any he still uses this old homelites.
If you do everything the dealer says you will spend thousands.

 

[Gologit]

Thousands?

 

[ShaneLogs]

Why spend money on bar oil at all? I've been using used motor oil on the same bar and chain the past 100 cords. The only thing I do is strain the oil in a paint strainer. Next time you change the oil in your car run it in your saw.

No way. I'm all set. Long bars and chains are exspensive and cost to much when you burn them up to replace! I'll stick to bar oil for sure.

 

[RVALUE]

I don't count, because I don't count. But I use cheap bar oil and add one pt. ? of STP per gallon, really makes it stay on.

It's just what I do, not necessarily right.

 

[philoshop]

Let me think here:
$600 260
$50 bar
$25 chain
Risk ruining all of it to save a few $,
I don't think so.
BTW, I run Stihl oil in the summer and TSC when it's cold out. All is well!

 

[513yj]

Almost like what's better Stihl, Husky, Dolmar, Johnsered, etc, etc. Never had a problem with cheap bar oil, but then I had a good lesson by an old timer about chain tension and the problems with too tight and too loose and how both can affect time between filings and so on. I never had good luck with Ford, but I have friends that have,, so oil brand is along the same line for me, I form my own opinion and don't bash other peoples.

 

[CTYank]

I don't count, because I don't count. But I use cheap bar oil and add one pt. ? of STP per gallon, really makes it stay on.

It's just what I do, not necessarily right.

That's my next experiment, with the jugs of Wally-World b&c oil I have on hand. A bit less than a can/gal. though.

Haven't had any noticeable probs with their oil, and don't want any. I'm all for tacky. Might just mix in less for January.

 

[513yj]

That's my next experiment, with the jugs of Wally-World b&c oil I have on hand. A bit less than a can/gal. though.

Haven't had any noticeable probs with their oil, and don't want any. I'm all for tacky. Might just mix in less for January.

If you want something to make it tackier maybe try some Lucas Oil Stabilizer. Been using it for years in many applications and it's worked great for me.

 

[fields_mj]

BTW, I run Stihl oil in the summer and TSC when it's cold out. All is well!

That's funny, I do just the oppisite. I run the cheapest stuff I can find in the warmer months, but when it gets down in the single digets I mix in some of Stihl's winter grade to thin it out a little. I don't think it makes a lick of difference once it gets in the saw (where it's nice and warm), but thinning it out some makes it a lot easier to pour.

On a 20" bar, I would run what ever I could find. There just isn't enough of a difference in the various oils to make any diffrence on shorter bars. On longer bars I can understand the need to run a better oil, expecially if you're running a long bar with a smaller oiler.

That's my 2 bits anyway...

 

[avalancher]

Why spend money on bar oil at all? I've been using used motor oil on the same bar and chain the past 100 cords. The only thing I do is strain the oil in a paint strainer. Next time you change the oil in your car run it in your saw.

Here is a simple fact that applies to all chainsaws (okay, there may be some oddball designs, but Im talking the majority of commonly run saws here). Your saw oils the chain on the way out, namely on to the links on the top of the bar where it spins around the nose and back to the surface that is really doing the work, the underside. Its safe to say that a good bit of your oil is getting flung off the nose when the saw is running WOT, so why would you want to run a dirty mixture of oil, carbon, and metal particles with very little tacking properties in a saw just to save a few bucks?

Bar oil is cheap insurance, and can be found in plenty of places on sale, here I watch the sales and when it hits that $6.50 to $7.50 mark per gallon, I buy what I need for the year. Last fall TSC had bar oil on sale and I bought every case they had in the place, and came back for more later in the week. I figure if its too dirty to be used in the engine of my truck or car, I dont want it in my saws either. Just aint worth the few pennies I would save to possibly have an oil pump go out when 50 miles from the house,or wear out a $150.00 bar sooner than it needs to.

I have found one thing is a certainty, the majority of the saws that get dropped at my shop to fix on have simple problems that cant be avoided, even with good maintenance. The saws that come in with serious problems long before they should have generally have cheap two stroke in the tank and dirty motor oil in the bar oil reservoir. And those are generally the guys that have a stroke when I hand them a $200 repair bill just to straighten the mess out they brought in.

 

[kodiak]

Why spend money on bar oil at all? I've been using used motor oil on the same bar and chain the past 100 cords. .

I'm much less concerned about the life of your bar as compared to the fact that you are out there flinging used motor oil all over the woods. Hopefully you are at least smart enough to see the problem with this.

 

[biglogging]

I'm much less concerned about the life of your bar as compared to the fact that you are out there flinging used motor oil all over the woods. Hopefully you are at least smart enough to see the problem with this.

Isn't bar oil made out of petroleum? If it is petoleum it is as harmful to the environment as used motor oil. Hopefully you are smart enough to see this.

 

[Whitespider]

Isn't bar oil made out of petroleum? If it is petoleum it is as harmful to the environment as used motor oil.

Ahhhhh...... no it's not.
Used motor oil is loaded with all sorts of heavy metals and chemical contaminants from combustion. You could drink a pint of clean motor oil and likely just get an upset stomach, spend a bit of time sitting on the toilet seat. A pint of used motor oil, if it didn't kill you outright, would put you in the emergency room with serious poisoning... and likely require a long, long time to full recover (if you ever did recover, some nervous system damage would surely be permanent). Used motor oil is classified as a cancer causing agent... but it's perfectly safe to take a bath in new, clean motor oil.

I wouldn't put used motor oil in a chainsaw (or any other machine)... after-all, I removed it from one machine because I felt it was harmful to leave it in there, why the hell would I pour it in another machine?? In my mind, using it in another machine makes absolutely no sense at all... but it makes a wonderful preservative for the wooden floors on hay racks and such.

Anyway, Stihl brand Bar and Chain Lube is good stuff, really good stuff, but there ain't any way I'd pay the price... it ain't that much better than some less expensive Bar and Chain oils (but some of that "cheap" stuff is real crap also). I buy Chain Pro brand Bar & Chain Oil at the local fleet store... it's been a while since I bought any, but the last time it was on sale for $4.99 per gallon (normal price, $5.99)., and I have picked it up for as little as $3.99 during special "seasonal" sales. The bottle says it can be used in both winter and summer... which I do, without problems. It's really "tacky", the apparent viscosity changes little with temperature changes, it has never failed from heat (the gummy residue thing)... and my chains stay "wet" and clean during heavy cutting.