Waste motor oil as bar oil

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Several owner’s manuals will note the option to thin bar and chain oil, up to 25%, with kerosene or diesel fuel in cold temps.

I don’t like the smell of diesel fuel, so I bought a gallon of kerosene for this purpose. Especially important with battery and corded electric chainsaws, which do not generate any heat to thin the oil.

Philbert
I always use a splash of #1 diesel or Kerosene to thin bar oil or just left the bar oil in a heat truck or skidder cab.
 
I pretty well use winter grade oil 24-7 , may use a little more oil however never have any plugging issues with the lite oil & better flow characteristics !
The refiner I now work for makes summer and winter grade or shall I say markets winter and summer grade. I just use winter when needed, which isn't all that often.
 
The refiner I now work for makes summer and winter grade or shall I say markets winter and summer grade. I just use winter when needed, which isn't all that often.
To each his own bud , I have done this for close to 60 yrs . Never had a oiler related fouling . However have had to clean , rinse numerous other saws with kerosene to resolve heavier viscosity bar oil fouling issues likely caused by our colder Northern climate saw usage .
 
Does the kerosene and oil ever separate or does the vibration keep it mixed? I know alot of old times that use that method if mixing for cold temps.
Prior to winter grade bar oil , in the 60's kerosene was utilized for this purpose often in colder climate saw use . However bar & chain , sprocket diminished life was what it was back then . Much like Sae 30. fuel / oil mix & bar oil usage . Hell , when I raced snowmobiles in the 70's caster race oil was mixed in the heated race trailer , and would fall out of suspension in fuel storage tanks unless agitated often , kerosene & oil will separate also if let stand. It was what it was ! Thankfully task specific oil technology allowed for better selections today lol.
 
Gear oil?

Baby oil?

Deep fryer oil?

More to the point:
Bar oil here is available at every farm supply store, every hardware store. Someone is going to be open on Sunday. It's not as cheap as the forestry supply store where you have an account.

You wouldn't substitute melted margarine for your engine mix oil would you? Even if it did make the woods smell like hot buttered biscuits? No. It would wreck the saw.

So keep one jug of oil ahead. Soon as you open the last one, add 'bar oil' to the errand list.
Bought a case of 4 x Gallons, of Stens Hi-Tack, on Amamzon, delivered next day, fir 38 bucks.
Used motor oil is too valuable for me. It keeps my 21st Century low-bidder-junk GM truck from turning to scrap in 5 years from road salt, so long as I find the time to get it on the lift and blast the undercarriage with it. I also burn it in my home-built waste oil burner I nicknamed, "The Face Melter". Free heat! A little bit of work screening larger crap out of it, but boy does it COOK!
View attachment 938750View attachment 938751View attachment 938752
Polar Bear Murderer
 
Does the kerosene and oil ever separate or does the vibration keep it mixed?
I have never known it to be a problem. I shake up the jug before pouring it into the saw. If I am not going to use a saw for a few days I usually drain the bar and chain oil back into the jug, to avoid leaks and messy clean ups - this is something that I do with all oils.
The refiner I now work for makes summer and winter grade or shall I say markets winter and summer grade.
Winter grade oil helps, but I still have to thin it for battery / corded electric saws when it is cold outside 20°F. Storing it warm, inside, helps, unless you are outside all day.

Philbert
 
Back in the sixties we used automobile oil for all of our equipment outboaeds snow machines saws etc.
My dad was a bit of a perfecionist his three lines i remember clearly
use a filter funnel mix the gas and oil in a seperate can and shake it well
go easy
if it is running good leave it alone
We had an old Snow Cruiser snow mobile 14 hp opposed twin a great machine way ahead of its time but it weighed a ton.
My younger brother was about twelve he poured the clear gas in the snow machine and didnt warm the oil up on the wood furnace register so much for dads golden rules.He got side tracked for the rest of the day and that night it was about 40 below with a clear starry ski.He came and told me the machine quit he said it started but then quit outside we go.I try a few pulls then give her a couple of squirts of gas with the sunlight soap bottle we always kept for easy starts.The machine started up but would only run on prime.He held the flash light while I unscrewed the gas line connector from the tank.I can still see this picture vividly when the hose and fuel pick up came out the line and fitting had a golden veil of mollasses like 30 weight oil.When I shone the flash light in the tank you could see the oil sitting on the bottom in a ball.I gave him a blast and asked him if he warmed the oil and shook the machine he confessed he had not warmed the oil up much because it was only 10 below in the afternoon he said it was kinda hard to pour the oil it was the old paper oil can type.I took the tank out warmed it up shook it well and of we went in a blaze of 16-1 mix smoke.
Good memories
Kash
Kash

l
 
I guess I will be the contrarian again.
But first, all my saws are Stihl old school and 40+ years old and running fine.
My 041 farm boss has been with me since 1975, and its only seen used motor oil.
I collect it in a 2 gallon jug every time I change oil, so it sits for awhile and the heavy junk settles to the bottom.
only last year did I have an oiling problem with a leaking pump. Not bad for that much service.
Every few years I will run some 2 stroke gas in the oil tank, but thats it.
I cut 2-4 chords of wood each year and an occasional storm damage tree or two.
I have a few 011's as well and they all use used motor oil.
I think the newer saws suffer from too tight a manufacturing tolerance, whereas the older ones are less finicky.
So I have been kinda recycling used old for a longtime. basically cause I'm cheap!
Now I have to knock wood to avoid any bad luck that come from telling my deep secrets.
Bobmo
 
Back in the sixties we used automobile oil for all of our equipment outboaeds snow machines saws etc.
My dad was a bit of a perfecionist his three lines i remember clearly
use a filter funnel mix the gas and oil in a seperate can and shake it well
go easy
if it is running good leave it alone
We had an old Snow Cruiser snow mobile 14 hp opposed twin a great machine way ahead of its time but it weighed a ton.
My younger brother was about twelve he poured the clear gas in the snow machine and didnt warm the oil up on the wood furnace register so much for dads golden rules.He got side tracked for the rest of the day and that night it was about 40 below with a clear starry ski.He came and told me the machine quit he said it started but then quit outside we go.I try a few pulls then give her a couple of squirts of gas with the sunlight soap bottle we always kept for easy starts.The machine started up but would only run on prime.He held the flash light while I unscrewed the gas line connector from the tank.I can still see this picture vividly when the hose and fuel pick up came out the line and fitting had a golden veil of mollasses like 30 weight oil.When I shone the flash light in the tank you could see the oil sitting on the bottom in a ball.I gave him a blast and asked him if he warmed the oil and shook the machine he confessed he had not warmed the oil up much because it was only 10 below in the afternoon he said it was kinda hard to pour the oil it was the old paper oil can type.I took the tank out warmed it up shook it well and of we went in a blaze of 16-1 mix smoke.
Good memories
Kash
Kash

l
Yeah those were the days , Valvoline 30 motor oil @ 16:1 , hard starts , fouled plugs , blue smoke filling the air . Decarbonizing the heads & muffler . Thanks for the memories . P.S. You Dad was a wise man !
 
I guess I will be the contrarian again.
But first, all my saws are Stihl old school and 40+ years old and running fine.
My 041 farm boss has been with me since 1975, and its only seen used motor oil.
I collect it in a 2 gallon jug every time I change oil, so it sits for awhile and the heavy junk settles to the bottom.
only last year did I have an oiling problem with a leaking pump. Not bad for that much service.
Every few years I will run some 2 stroke gas in the oil tank, but thats it.
I cut 2-4 chords of wood each year and an occasional storm damage tree or two.
I have a few 011's as well and they all use used motor oil.
I think the newer saws suffer from too tight a manufacturing tolerance, whereas the older ones are less finicky.
So I have been kinda recycling used old for a longtime. basically cause I'm cheap!
Now I have to knock wood to avoid any bad luck that come from telling my deep secrets.
Bobmo
You , devils spawn ! ;)
 
I have heard that. Guys change their hydraulic oil in equipment and you get alot of liquid gold by the barrel. I cut alot of dead ash and that is like steel laced with sand/silica/ dirt. I usually try to knock all the bark of if possible. Those emerald ash borders really wrecked havoc here. Tree services made alot of $ cleaning up the dead ash.
 
Bobmo -Every few years I will run some 2 stroke gas in the oil tank, but thats it.




WOW Scary
 
Several owner’s manuals will note the option to thin bar and chain oil, up to 25%, with kerosene or diesel fuel in cold temps.

I don’t like the smell of diesel fuel, so I bought a gallon of kerosene for this purpose. Especially important with battery and corded electric chainsaws, which do not generate any heat to thin the oil.

Philbert
 
A couple of the recent posts spurred this response ... particularly Bobmo's ....

I, too, have an old stihl 041 farm boss that I bought new in '76, along with
three husky's .... since last century, I've used nothing but drain oil from
trucks/equip of mine. I've still got the original bar on the 041, and have
never replaced a bar on any of the huskys. Granted, I'm not a pro, but
I heat two houses with nothing but wood - one has an outdoor furnace,
and I but about 15 cords a year plus some firewood for other folks, and
the slabwood from a bandmill I have. The last three years it's been all
dead or dying ash, and as mentioned, that's hard ****. One think I'll
mention that I do think makes the difference here is that when I drain
the oil from something, it's hot, and I immediately pour the oil into
a container *** through an automotive paint filter ***. Using drain oil
without filtering just strikes me as flat out dumb ...

I've rebuilt one of my huskys and do all the work on the saws
myself .... yes, the drain oil makes things black, but hey, it's
only a color ... and compared to cleaning all the sawdust gunk
out around sprockets/etc, gawd.

As far as the lubrication qualities of drain oil ....gimme a break ...
the oil doesn't stay put very long, and it's got a constant new
supply ... compared to 200 hours constant use in an engine,
it takes a couple trips around the bar, and see ya later.

can only imagine I'll be ducking from the flack on this one,
but like I said, nothing but used oil, and have never had
to replace any oiling related items on any of the huskys.
Did put a new oil pump on the 041 about 8 years ago,
but hey - that was 37 years after I bought the saw.

The key is the paint filter.

Hagman
 
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