motor oil

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Just got me thinking i still got some of metal spouts around somewhere. Thought someday i might find a use for them never have though. Any thoughts or what they could be used for?

The cans don't exist except for random NOS, so..if you can find one, stick it in and nostalgia mancave decoration, like old signs.

Post up a pic or two for the younger guys, I don't have a spout anymore.

Ha! Thought of a funny use, maybe at camp or someplace. If you got one real clean, you could open and pour out like soup into a pan!
 
If my saw is under warranty I will use nothing but bar oil. Not worth risking voiding the warranty.

I've used many types of oil in a pinch and even made a "concoction" by mixing multiple weights (i.e. gear oil and motor oil) together to get it closer to the thickness of bar oil. Never had a problem but then again my year of use is comparable to a week or two of a pro. As noted, other oil runs through the pump much faster than bar oil so you use quite a bit more.

Also as noted bar oil is cheaper than any other oil (not including used oil) so there is no feasible reason to use anything else.

My buddy's dad always ran strained, used motor oil. Never had a problem with it and he heated his house and two cabins each year with the wood so he was cutting a good amount.
 
Cut Hedge and Cedar with used 10-W30

I have been using used used 10-W30 for cutting osage orange, cedar, oak, honey lucust and elm, for the past several years. i take my time, keep the chain sharp and nose greased. i must have saved at least 20 gallons of bar oil purchase by know.

In the hot summer months I mix it. MOST OF MY CUTTING THOUGH IS BELOW 50*
 
Forgot to mention this.

Our local stores sell a lighter weight bar oil for the winter as standard bar oil gets pretty thick. If I dont have any of the winter weight handy I will use a lighter motor oil.

Not sure if the lighter bar oil is available everywhere as I know MN is amongst the colder of the lower 48.
 
My dad has been using 10w-30 for as long as I can remember. He cut firewood with that old Homelite 350 the whole time I was growing up. As far as I know, he's still using the original bar. Used oil is pretty dirty, but it probably lubricates well enough for one time through the saw. I'd worry about gumming up the oil pump with all the contaminants.

I use the Tractor Supply Bar oil, and it works pretty well for me. It's inexpensive, but doesn't just drip off.
 
Used to just run the cheapest motor oil because it was cheaper than bar oil. That's no longer the case with cheap bar today so no reason to use motor oil if you have bar oil available.

A sufficient quantity of oil on a properly sharpened properly tensioned chain will do the job in most situations. Heck some people run vegintable oil. I've run all sorts of misc left over motor and gear oils from vehicles I no longer owned. A dull chain, or an improperly sharpened chaing that runs crooked in the cut will damage your bar no matter what oil you use.
 
Forgot to mention this.

Our local stores sell a lighter weight bar oil for the winter as standard bar oil gets pretty thick. If I dont have any of the winter weight handy I will use a lighter motor oil.

Not sure if the lighter bar oil is available everywhere as I know MN is amongst the colder of the lower 48.


I recently bought some Power Care bar oil at Home Depot, I is not very thick or tacky like the name Brand stuff I have used is, it would be a good cold weather oil.
 
Used to just run the cheapest motor oil because it was cheaper than bar oil. That's no longer the case with cheap bar today so no reason to use motor oil if you have bar oil available.

A sufficient quantity of oil on a properly sharpened properly tensioned chain will do the job in most situations. Heck some people run vegintable oil. I've run all sorts of misc left over motor and gear oils from vehicles I no longer owned. A dull chain, or an improperly sharpened chaing that runs crooked in the cut will damage your bar no matter what oil you use.

If you in a hurry vegetable oil, and quartering a Moose with a Partner go hand in hand...Or so I've heard
 
If you in a hurry vegetable oil, and quartering a Moose with a Partner go hand in hand...Or so I've heard

I've heard of this also...unfortunately our moose season is now suspended indefinitely. :(

I run my old saw with no oil when cutting holes in the ice for spearing to eliminate a slick. By far the fastest way to cut a dark house hole. This may harm the pump long term but its worth it.
 
I run my old saw with no oil when cutting holes in the ice for spearing to eliminate a slick. By far the fastest way to cut a dark house hole. This may harm the pump long term but its worth it.[/QUOTE

I live in Wisconsin, near lakes Poygan, and Winnebego where there are annual sturgeon spearing seasons. I've never went and don't really plan to, but from my understanding, nobody uses their oilers when cutting through the ice. The oil slick is one thing, but apparently it's just not needed when cutting in ice and water. I'm sure it can't be as good as oil, but most of these saws would be lucky to run a half a tank a year through them while cutting ice. It's more common for someone around here to have a big saw, that's over 24", for cutting ice, then for cutting trees.
 
Motor Oil vs Bar Oil

Using motor instead of designated bar oil will cause you no problem, especially in the short term. In the 70’s when bona fided bar oil was (IIRC) $3.50 to 4.00 / gallon the local service station carried their in-house brand of straight weight motor oil at $1.50 / gallon. In the summer we would run straight 30 or 40 weight and in the winter we would run the thickest weight that would pour, mostly 20 and 15, but even 10 weight when it was well below zero. It was a matter of pure economics, which no longer exist as several have pointed out as, at least cheap bar oil, is cheaper than most motor oils.

I have read several of these bar oil threads and one consideration I haven’t noticed addressed is the cost of the bar. As the OP was running an 025 he was likely running a laminate bar that might be replaced for $30 +/-, so that in 4 gallons of “cheap” bar oil @ $7.50 a gallon over $15.00 a gallon Stihl oil he could afford to replace his bar. If I have $150 or $200 or more invested in a long bar that is constantly in long cuts I’m more likely to pay the extra for name brand bar oil (maybe I’m being taken, I don’t know).

P.S. I have run nothing but bar oil for the last 35 years except when in a bind when out in the bush. (Bar oil with its tackifiers are definitely superior to motor oils).
 

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