vegetable oil

[g/n]

Have you guys ever heard of using vegetable oil instead of bar oil

 

[jeeptj19992001]

no, please tell use how it works.....



http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/147638.htm


http://www.arboristsite.com/milling-saw-mills/131533.htm




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[caleath]

I have seen it mentioned....not sure I would though....but hey some folks make use of used engine oil

 

[Labman]

You need to be very careful. They are all related to linseed oil, the stuff they used to make paint out of. If you do use it, at least make the last fill of the day mineral oil. You are really risking gumming up your saw. It also doesn't have the ''cling'' additives.

I don't claim to know much about saws, but I am a chemist and spent 10 years working in the paint industry.

 

[GASoline71]

canola/veggie oil = crazy

Gary

 

[wheelman]

I have said this on here before but a guy that I haul logs for used used deep fryer oil for bar oil for nearly a year. He claimed that it worked well but after a while the whole saw gets a sticky film on it.

 

[stderr]

Only if you're cutting frozen meat, like a Moose quarter.

 

[eyolf]

I agree with Gary, even though he's usually not one to sugarcoat anything, he's right about this one.

If you really look at costs, maybe using cheap corn oil from Sam's club would be cheaper than name-brand bar oil at a low-volume OPE shop. But the stuff will oxyidize and polymerize (turns into plastic) on you.

Some people might be lumping veggie oil in along with some highly refined synthetic bar lubes. Oregon has one that starts with a vegetable oil, and I think there's one made from beef tallow and veggie oils. These are very costly, but I hear are required in certain situations...like trimming trees in some eco-conscious cities.

I spent some serious chainsaw time today processing boiler firewood out of 8' logs...stay in one spot and cut all afternoon. MY clothes stink like bar oil and two-stroke exhaust, but I can guarantee you I won't see or smell bar oil in the sawdust next spring. a small part of the oil will evaporate, even in the winter, and the rest will slowly biodegrade as the sawdust rots away; I don't have the equipment, training, or inclination to determine if any meaningful portion of the chainsaw emissions enter the watershed or water table, but I'll bet my Jonsered its isn't enough to be concerned with.

 

[pgg]

Some would be surprised at how much oil flings into the surroundings from a chainsaw, trimming some trees over a dead-calm pond a while ago, sun was shining at a low angle on the water and wow, within ten minutes, talk about an oil slick, looked like BP had been for a visit

 

[Rustynutz]

As a point of interest I use boiled linseed oil on steel / metal parts to protect them
wipe a thin layer over, go's like varnish only a lot more tougher good on unpainted bar's and last for ages looks good to...
however putting it on or in any moving parts, your gona be asking for trouble!

 

[2dogs]

canola/veggie oil = crazy

Gary

You can call me crazy then but I have been running Stihl Bio Plus or a mix of Bio Plus for years with no problems. That is personal experience talking, not theory. I have no idea how Bio Plus works below freezing.

I try to remember to flush the oil tank on the saws once a year or so but I have been doing that since the mid seventies.

 

[Labman]

The Stihl Bio Plus is plus all right, plus anti oxidants. I used to hang out on an oil forum until I got tired of a heavy handed moderator who ignored shills. About once a month, somebody would start another thread on vegetable based motor oils. I pointed my quartz work light straight up and put a piece of sheet metal on it. I poured a little Pennzoil on one side and some cooking oil on the other. In less than a half hour, the cooking oil solidified. The Pennzoil thinned out, but was still liquid.

If you want to save money, buy some cheap, off brand bar oil at Big Lots.

 

[oscar4883]

I'm crazy. I use canola, Tractor Supply bar oil, or whatever else is cheapest. I often mix the canola 50/50 with a regular cheap bar oil, but have run it straight for months on occasion. Never had any issues with oilers or wear items.

 

[WoodChuck'r]

It's all I use.

Currently I'm using old deep fryer oil from a restaurant kitchen. Stuff woks great.

 

[fearofpavement]

As a previous poster mentioned, vegetable oils are used in chainsaws that cut and quarter large game animals so they can be packed out of the remote locations they're killed in. Ya wouldn't want inedible oil in your meat so the veg oil does the trick. I haven't used that but used to use drain oil in saws. (not anymore)

 

[2dogs]

The Stihl Bio Plus is plus all right, plus anti oxidants. I used to hang out on an oil forum until I got tired of a heavy handed moderator who ignored shills. About once a month, somebody would start another thread on vegetable based motor oils. I pointed my quartz work light straight up and put a piece of sheet metal on it. I poured a little Pennzoil on one side and some cooking oil on the other. In less than a half hour, the cooking oil solidified. The Pennzoil thinned out, but was still liquid.

If you want to save money, buy some cheap, off brand bar oil at Big Lots.

Your "scientific method" is nonsense. How can you argue with someone who has used veg oil for years (because the work takes place in a watershed) and has had great results? I have never had any oil turn to a solid due to the heat generated by a chainsaw. That is fact, not theory. In my opinion all chain oil should be biodegradeable veg oil.
Having said that I still use petro oil (on non-watershed jobs)because it is cheaper. Bigger jobs require a heck of alot of bar oil and 50 gallons of Bio Plus would break my meager bank account. The 090 sucks bar oil so fast I get a thank you card from my jobber. They don't have much spill oil.

 

[Justsaws]

Canola or soy bean works fine. The only issue that I have had is it tends to promote mold/mildew faster on any surface that gets covered in oil/dust fines. Plus for veg being that it washes out of clothes better.

They are seed oils so they will oxidize faster than dino. I use soybean oil finish on certain outside projects.

Currently TSC oil is cheaper gallon to gallon and with the increase in consumption that occurs when using straight soy bean I use mostly TSC now. The soy bean is also frozen like a brick right now.

 

[SawTroll]

Veg-Oil that is formulated as bar oil works fine, but avoid other types of veg oil.

 

[JustinM]

Around these parts, Vegetable oil is more expensive than Bar oil, so I dont see why one would want to, even if it worked.

 

[Guido Salvage]

It used to be that you would have to pay a rendering service to pick up used vegetable oil. Now with the advent of biodiesel, people are fighting to get the oil and suppliers are now being paid to dispose of it.

Nothing like running your saw to the smell of french fries...