Bar oil..beating a dead topic?

[David B]

 

So...name brand bar oil or any cheap brand? I will be cutting dirty wood. Seems like tackier (higher quality) oil would be a disadvantage cuz the dirt would stick in it more. What say ye experts?

[solodan]

I don't know if I understand the question, but if you are thinking of not running bar oil, I would advise against it.

[David B]

My goodness, no! Just whether i should run cheepy or spensive. Or maybe engine oil so it doesn't tack up all the dirt?

[dansaylor]

I would just get some poluan oil since it is cheap and does a good job....just my opinion.

[solodan]

good! I thought maybe you bumped you're head.

[micky boy]

I went through a spell of using the non-fling  chain oil (Rock Oil) and can honestly say that it did not lube the bar and chain any better than a cheaper motor oil. I previously and now always use standard engine oil 20/50 or similar cause it is half the price for a start. I suppose the powers that be would say that nom-fling oil is better for the envirionment, but really does it make that much difference, the oil still has to go somewhere. Also chain manufacturers are making bars and chains with better oil transfer systems these days, especially Stihl chains. So oil can still get to all the moving parts of the chain very well in my opinion.

[rickk]

Not sure how much difference there are between brands of bar oil, but I know it looks and feels different (stickier) than engine oil, so I use bar oil.

Putting aside the fact that bar oil is made for bars,  I am pretty sure that if one used motor oil that the oil metering system would be all screwed up and you would probably go thru more than a tank of oil for a tank of gas... a bad thing.

At Walmart bar oil and engine oil cost about the same anyway.

Poulan oil is what they usually have, so that is what I usually get.

I occationaly use Husqvarna brand oil cuz I happen to need oil and be at the chain saw store for somthing else and the gas  for my Ford Dually would cost more than the $1 a gallon price oil difference that driving to walmart would save me.

I think this is going to be a long and scarey message thread.... it would be safer to talk about opinions on what the most perfect looking woman in the world should look like  .

[Ed_K]

 I use the polan bar oil cause its cheap, but when it get real cold I use the husky 10#. We have enviro oil at the husky dealer's but its $8. + a gal  .

[David B]

The echo dealer here told me 18.95 a gal for their bar oil if i heard him right. 

[sawguy21]

The echo dealer here told me 18.95 a gal for their bar oil if i heard him right. 

Yer getting beat up. $10.95 canuckistan bucks for four litres, just shy of a gallon for the metrically challenged, here for Stihl or Husky oil. I use their stuff figuring it is a lot cheaper than bars and chains.

[David B]

Yeah..I'm not touching the Echo stuff...

[Coon]

Check the previously posted on this topic.  It does make a difference on your equipment.  Use only brand named cain oils for the cheaper brands are not good for the bars and chains.  Do not use motor oil in the saws.  The saws are designed around using chain oils and you will damage the oiler drives in your saw and you will have problems with plugging up.

[David B]

Yessir. I'll not use motor oil. And I will use a saw brand bar oil. Just like my 2 cycle. 

[rebocardo]

> I am pretty sure that if one used motor oil that the oil metering system would be all screwed up

Why, once the saw gets hot it all flows the same and is thin because the tank gets hot. I have used all sorts of motor oil ranging from 5w-30 to 20w50 and even for extended periods chain saw milling with no ill effects. Though I do have my oiler turned all the way up and taking the advice from people here did open up my oiler holes on the bar.

I buy "bar" oil for the best reason, it is cheap. Why is it cheap? Hardly any additives such as zinc. If I cut in a forest or near a water source I might hesitate, though the exhaust and any minor drip of gas (especially with MBTE) is far worse then the minor amount of oil additives spread around.

-imo- $0.02

 

[micky boy]

Always running a 15" or 18" occasionaly 20"  bar with oiler on full (357) and 3 turns on my 372's. Oil never runs out before fuel and plenty of oil gets on the chain and in the bar grooves, although I do appriciate that users with longer bars will use more oil per tank of fuel.  I fail to see why so many insist that a cheaper motor oil can be so bad, 20/50 isn't that thin and I have never had any components of an oil pump wear out in 11 years of commercial sawing, occasionally the plastic worm drives wear out but that aint connected to the lube anyway. Surely if motor oil is good enough to aid cooling an engine/bearings/shafts etc in our vehicles then surely it isn't going to over heat and wear a saw pump. As I look at it motor oil is exactly that 'motor oil' - for lubricating motors, surely an oil drive could slot into this category for satisfactory lubing.
Here in the U.K. motor oil is about half the price of chain oil and with expensive fuel prices you have to be realistic when it comes to how much you want to spend before you have earnt your days pay.
I am not preaching but offer my opinion on my own experiences with oil and respect that not everyone works there saw the same and everybodies needs differ from one to the next. Cutting different woods would have an effect on lube quality. I cut about 90 % softwood (Douglas Fir, Sitka/Norway Spruce, Larch and Western Hemlock) these are all easy cutting on the chain and I assume that those of you who cut a lot of big hardwoods would need plenty of lube to stop your bigger bars from drying up.
Keep on sawing !

[rebocardo]

Probably 75% of what I cut is red and white oak, with some hickory and sweetgum thrown in. I hardly ever cut softwoods. No problems for me.

[Corley5]

I've ran everything from name brand bar oil to two cycle mix and gear lube (kinda stinky) and have never had a problem.  I've been running Poulan oil from Walm-Mart because it's cheaper and convenient.  The Blockbuster firewood processor I've bought uses oil from the hydraulic system as chain lube for the 20" .404 bar and chain.  You just add hydraulic oil as the sight glass indicates.

[beenthere]

Corely5
Did that Blockbuster come yet? Or did I miss the announcement? 

[Corley5]

I'm still waiting patiently.  When I talked to them a couple weeks ago they said it'd be here by or before the 20th.

[IL Bull]

I've always had good luck running automatic transmission fluid.  Keeps the chain lubed and not much build up of saw dust.  Runs very well in the cold wheather.

[rebocardo]

> I've always had good luck running automatic transmission fluid

Please don't do that for your own long term health (you are breathing the mist in). I have seen the result of people that worked with tranny fluid without wearing hand barriers and it is not pretty.

[sawguy21]

WHAAT? That stuff does nothing for saw chains or bars but is a great parts and hand cleaner.

[Hoop]

I run whatever oil is the cheapest.  If its used motor oil, I run it.  I know several people that change their own oil.  I use it whenever its available.  Its free.

When I can't get my hands on free drain oil, its over to wally world for the store bought bar oil.  Only occasionally, will I purchase other types of bar oil.

I have never had an oiler problem in the 20+  years of running Husqvarnas.  I always run Oregon bars.  Do they wear out?  Of course they do.  I haven't noticed any difference on their wearout rate, regardless of the type of oil I'm running on the bar.  The bar rails spread, the tips blow, etc.  I'm convinced the high priced bar oil is marketed by companies that raise the prices, and pass the profits onto themselves.

[David B]

Just grabbed some Husqy 2 stroke and bar oil at Lowe's (no dealer here). Not much more $ that whatever else they had there.

[Dana]

Rebocardo what is the effect of transmission fluid on the hands?

[Rocky_J]

Growing up around my father's service station, I learned an oldtimer's trick. In his commercial parts cleaner he would use 5-10 gallons of kerosene and then he would add a couple quarts of transmission fluid to condition it so it wouldn't eat up your hands.

Reminds me of a post I read once where somebody claimed that leaving bar oil residue on your saw would eat away the magnesium case.  Talk about being confused.


I use the cheapest bar oil I can find because it has a tack additive to reduce the amount slinging off the tip and help keep more lube on the bottom side of the bar. Bar lube is less than $3 per gallon at Wally World, less than half the cost of motor oil. The only difference between $3 bar lube and $5 bar lube is $2.

I've worked for people who supplied motor oil to use as bar lube. It worked ok but I could tell that the chain tended to get slightly hotter and stretched just a little faster and the bars wore a little quicker. It is also more expensive than bar oil. Cheapest motor oil around here is over $6 per gallon.

Used motor oil is out of the question for me. The only person I ever knew who used used mortor oil for bar lube  had the most slipshod, backwoods hick operation of anybody I've ever known. All his equipment was junk, he only got work based on his ridiculously low bids and he treated his help worse than he treated his equipment.

[jokers]

Used motor oil is out of the question for me. The only person I ever knew who used used mortor oil for bar lube  had the most slipshod, backwoods hick operation of anybody I've ever known. All his equipment was junk, he only got work based on his ridiculously low bids and he treated his help worse than he treated his equipment.

Not to mention the carcinogenic risk of handling or breathing in vaporized used motor oil as it flies off your chain.

Russ

[bwalker]

Using drain oil is plain stupid when a  good, purpose made bar oil is available for $3 per gallon.

[Corley5]

Using drain oil is plain stupid

 

[timberjack240]

in the summer we use husky oil or supertech or if we change oil in the skidders which is johndeere 50 plus we use that to my personal favorite is the supertech 30w or the used motor oil. my saw works better with it the husky oil seem sthicker but oil is il to me. i never really payed much attetion about dirt stickin to it. the way i see it you want dirt to stick to it.... it makes it look like you worked hard all day with  the dirt on the bar 

[bwalker]

Corely5, you like inhalling heavy metals like Zinc, Cadmium,  and Molybdendum?
BTW IN the 100" firewood post i saw you where looking for some wood. Did you ever locate any? With the loge trucks going to clean up the hurricanes and the loss of rail cars getting hardwood pulp can be difficult. At least here in the central UP.

[Corley5]

I  because you called someone stupid.  Now that's not what I'd call real polite in this environment.  I don't run used oil in my saw but I have and if someone does it's entirely their own choice and that choice shouldn't be referred to as "stupid".  Perhaps a better way would have been to explain the dangers of inhaling heavy metals.   I don't have any trouble getting 100" firewood here.  I've talked to several producers and haulers and with notice I can have as much as I can pay for in two weeks or less

[Jeff]

Actually I gotta agree in part. I think its stupid as well. He really was not calling an individual stupid as he didnt say "You are stupid for..."  He said in effect that the practice of using drain oil is stupid, and again, I gotta say I agree with that. Maybe a kinder word then stupid would be better such as "unwise" , but coming from you guys in here, well, thats expecting a little much even for me.

[J_T]

Well after smoking 30 or so years and standing behind my saw I don't think I could breath that far if I tried  I do use cheep bar oil get it by the case don't last long Last chains I got from Baileys 12.95 for 24" and they are great chains now days cutting every day you can go through some parts .

[bwalker]

I   because you called someone stupid.  Now that's not what I'd call real polite in this environment.  I don't run used oil in my saw but I have and if someone does it's entirely their own choice and that choice shouldn't be referred to as "stupid".  Perhaps a better way would have been to explain the dangers of inhaling heavy metals.

I never called anyone stupid. However, I did say the practice of using drain oil as bar lube is stupid.
 I stand by that statement.

[rebocardo]

> what is the effect of transmission fluid on the hands?

New or used it causes dermatitis or in layman's terms the hands turn into red bloody hamburgers.

Which allow you to absorb even more chemicals and solvents. The car dealerships I worked at any professional (usually the guys earning $30+ an hour) wear a chemical barrier on their hands, then they put on past elbow length gloves. There are certain chemicals that when together on the skin allow the absorption of metals into the blood stream and skin fat.

Look at the chemicals in transmission fluid, then go to www.osha.gov, and see what it says about exposure to it in a mist. Look for the N word.

>  learned an oldtimer's trick. In his commercial parts cleaner he would use 5-10 gallons of kerosene
> and then he would add a couple quarts of transmission fluid to condition it so it wouldn't eat
> up your hands.

Maybe old timers were using all natural veggie oil based transmission fluid, certainly nothing from the 70s forward is safe for long term skin contact. First guy I saw with hamburger hands was about 1983.

> > Talk about being confused

Just so you and others are not confused with the hazards of transmission fluid. 

Here is a Material Data Safety Sheet of ATF3 (Chrysler tranny fluid ):

http://www.mapllc.com/msds/0272MAR019.PDF

"Skin contact: Prolonged or repeated liquid contact can cause dermatitis, folliculltis or oil acne"

You can go to the Quaker State website (I could not connect to it at the moment) , download all their MDSS for their various fluids, read the warnings, then go to OSHA, do a search about the chemicals and what happens with bare skin exposure on rats.

So, I do not think I will confuse transmission oil with skin conditioner because that kind of conditioning I don't want 

Pretty good yardage for beating a dead topic 

[David B]

Pretty good yardage for beating a dead topic 


I'll say! 

[Chet]

In all fairness here are a few links to MSDS's for bar and chain lube   

Lubriplate bar and chain lube

Shell bar and chain lube

Golden Spectre bar and chain lube

Stihl bar and chain lube

[Gary_C]

From "beating a dead topic" to "hamburger" to "inhaling oil" this has been a memorable topic.   

I will sure have to bookmark this one for reference.  But where will put it, under "things to eat?"   

[rebocardo]

> where will put it

Salad dressing?
 

[timberjack240]

all this talk about keroseene oils and metals and eatin yur hands orrrr you could go out and spend a few doallars and get a tub of gojo  i think ill stick with that