Waste motor oil as bar oil

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
TRTermite

TRTermite

Addicted to ArboristSite
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
2,424
Location
Table Rock, NE.
I have read through 140 posts and NO ONE has mentioned cutting/felling cottonwood with the sap up. Or even live trees like walnut and so on. When your oil doesn't stick to the bar the sap wins and the bar and chain slow way down and or seize up. It sometimes is bad enough you are better off boring into the tree so it starts to drain, then walk away to another and drain it next sap sometimes will run for hours and not stop completely for days. I was reading a chainsaw milling thread and putting the auxiliary oiler at the tip gets the oil where you want i other wise it gets flung off just when it is needed. Bar oil for me.
 
Brufab
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
9,271
Location
Michigan
I have yet to cut a cottonwood but there is some to fell in the future. Thanks for that info. I know maples in my area are like a waterfall at certain times of the year. And what I have experienced with black walnut has always been like I was rolling around in poison ivy all day. Says juglone is toxic and can cause chemical burns. I have experienced that.
 
Wood Doctor
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
12,563
Location
Omaha, Nebraska
I have read through 140 posts and NO ONE has mentioned cutting/felling cottonwood with the sap up. Or even live trees like walnut and so on. When your oil doesn't stick to the bar the sap wins and the bar and chain slow way down and or seize up. It sometimes is bad enough you are better off boring into the tree so it starts to drain, then walk away to another and drain it next sap sometimes will run for hours and not stop completely for days. I was reading a chainsaw thread and putting the auxiliary oiler at the tip gets the oil where you want i other wise it gets flung off just when it is needed. Bar oil for me.
The loggers around here have found this out tend to cut more cottonwood in the winter when the sap is down. The big 36" bars grab that sap something fierce in the summer especially. Steam will actually escape from the log after a cut:
1641848353844.jpeg
 
bwalker
Joined
Jun 3, 2002
Messages
13,914
Location
Montana
Got any real evidence of how much bar oil is inhaled? Any evidence that regular bar oil ISN'T toxic? If not then you're just making an assumption. That kind of thinking is exactly how this country has ended up wearing face diapers.
The toxicity data of normal bar oil is available on the MSDS. Check them out for your self.
It should be apparent to anyone that's ran a saw that a good portion of the bar oil used ends up on your clothing. The Carhart p pants I use to cut in are stained with regular bar oil. As for inhalation it should also be apparent to anyone that's ran a saw that you can observe the mist coming off the tip of your bar.
 
kenfain

kenfain

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
37
Location
noplace but texas
The toxicity data of normal bar oil is available on the MSDS. Check them out for your self.
It should be apparent to anyone that's ran a saw that a good portion of the bar oil used ends up on your clothing. The Carhart p pants I use to cut in are stained with regular bar oil. As for inhalation it should also be apparent to anyone that's ran a saw that you can observe the mist coming off the tip of your bar.
I try not to put my nose, or allow anyone else's nose, to be anywhere near my running chainsaw. So oil mist really isn't a factor for me, or those nearby. That's just how I was raised. Besides, It's a ridiculous argument.
 
bwalker
Joined
Jun 3, 2002
Messages
13,914
Location
Montana
I try not to put my nose, or allow anyone else's nose, to be anywhere near my running chainsaw. So oil mist really isn't a factor for me, or those nearby. That's just how I was raised. Besides, It's a ridiculous argument.
When your done cutting for a day do you smell like exhaust? Of course you do. Do your saws have oily residue on the cylinder fins? Of course they do.
You are mostly certainly exposed to aerosolised bar oil.
 
kenfain

kenfain

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
37
Location
noplace but texas
When your done cutting for a day do you smell like exhaust? Of course you do. Do your saws have oily residue on the cylinder fins? Of course they do.
You are mostly certainly exposed to aerosolised bar oil.
Well I guess that we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Because I always stand to the side when cutting. No, I don't get all oily, no, I don't smell like oil at the end of the day. No, I don't smell bar oil, unless it's burning from too much heat in a cut. I smell like sweat from the Texas heat, the wood chips, that cover my clothes, the engine exhaust, and usually the smoke from the fire. So I have no idea what you're talking about there. If I used this type of bar oil, then I'd probably have a pretty good reason why. So that's what I'd do. What has happened to the men in this country is pathetic. Imagine arguing on a men's forum, about some imagined amount of toxic vapor? What's next? Fashion tips? I'm done here.
 
TRTermite

TRTermite

Addicted to ArboristSite
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
2,424
Location
Table Rock, NE.
I have yet to cut a cottonwood but there is some to fell in the future. Thanks for that info. I know maples in my area are like a waterfall at certain times of the year. And what I have experienced with black walnut has always been like I was rolling around in poison ivy all day. Says juglone is toxic and can cause chemical burns. I have experienced that.
I have a retired sawmill friend that had to wear long sleeve shirts when sawing walnut. So now I get to google
"?JUGLONE?"
Years ago I was cutting and splitting white oak and thought I was having a skin reaction to it. (like the walnut stuff) Turned out I acquired an allergy to horseradish. I do miss horseradish and can eat it now but in moderation, no sense tempting fate.
 
Brufab
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
9,271
Location
Michigan
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/content/contact-usYea juglone is no joke. Some guys have gone into aniphilatic shock from it. After I read up on juglone I noticed the only thing growing around a black walnut tree was grass. I have some in my yard what a mess they make. A 8"-10" one has almost killed a tree about 6' away. I will have to take both down. Thinking winter is the best time since I will be bundled up.
 
TRTermite

TRTermite

Addicted to ArboristSite
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
2,424
Location
Table Rock, NE.
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/content/contact-usYea juglone is no joke. Some guys have gone into aniphilatic shock from it. After I read up on juglone I noticed the only thing growing around a black walnut tree was grass. I have some in my yard what a mess they make. A 8"-10" one has almost killed a tree about 6' away. I will have to take both down. Thinking winter is the best time since I will be bundled up.
My sawmill friend chuckles when he sees some one with a grove of walnut with mowed grass around them. I see those groves that people intend as an investment towards retirement. After watching one grove for 30 plus years it has went from wrist size to leg size. I have some ground with walnuts that I don't want that grew from sprout to leg size in less than 7 years. It has buckbrush and is growing in bottom ground/black dirt. As my friend told me years ago walnut really thrives in bramble and buck brush.
 
TRTermite

TRTermite

Addicted to ArboristSite
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
2,424
Location
Table Rock, NE.
You should start a thread about "JUGLONE" might really the readers attention.
I have yet to cut a cottonwood but there is some to fell in the future. Thanks for that info. I know maples in my area are like a waterfall at certain times of the year. And what I have experienced with black walnut has always been like I was rolling around in poison ivy all day. Says juglone is toxic and can cause chemical burns. I have experienced that.
 
Joisey

Joisey

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Jan 19, 2020
Messages
129
Location
USA
For over 23 years for American Home products my job was making Prep H.

I weighed the ingredients that went into each batch, and among them was phenylmercuric nitrate which acted as the anti-fungal agent for the product. I did this for thousands of batches of Prep H without a dust mask or vacuum hood, as none was provided by the company at the time.

My thyroid is shot along with my adrenal glands. The clock is ticking. Chain oil containing carcinogenic components isn't even on the list of my concerns.
 
ken morgan
Joined
Aug 9, 2016
Messages
1,905
Location
yokosuka, Japan
For over 23 years for American Home products my job was making Prep H.

I weighed the ingredients that went into each batch, and among them was phenylmercuric nitrate which acted as the anti-fungal agent for the product. I did this for thousands of batches of Prep H without a dust mask or vacuum hood, as none was provided by the company at the time.

My thyroid is shot along with my adrenal glands. The clock is ticking. Chain oil containing carcinogenic components isn't even on the list of my concerns.
but I bet you don't get the funky booty hole do you? they are plusses and minus's to every situation... Just gotta look for the bright side of it.
 

Latest posts

Top