Bar oil

[Lnewman]

 Another question for the old-timers.    Is there any difference in various brands bar oil for a weekend would cutter?

[thecfarm]

I sure don't have any thing that tells me one is better than the other. No way for me to turn back time and try something else. TSC oil for me. I do use both my saws quite a bit. I can go through 4 gallons of gas in a couple weeks or a month.

[ladylake]

 I just buy what's on sale, just picked some up for $4.99 a gal.  Steve

[HolmenTree]

Best quality petroleum bar oil I remember using was Texaco "Clingtex"
But what's available today you can't beat what Stihl and Husqvarna have to offer.

[leeroyjd]

I can't afford what Husqvarna and Stihl offer lol. TSC oil has been my mainstay for 8 years or so with no issues.

[HolmenTree]

Well I said "best" bar oil......for the less expensive tastes I guess Walmart it is :D
Merry Christmas to all.

[Texas-Jim]

The stihl platinum is one of best oil out there but its because it has lithium in it. It causes  oil to cling to metal parts better. Once that is removed from the oil im not sure theres lot of difference, husky has version of same oil. If you were running a 880 with 48 inch bar you might be willing spend lot more on oil because the bars are high. I use the wood cutter oil myself.

[346xp]

Save a Chain is the best, but can be pricey !! For the cheaper oils I like TSC it does the job ok. 8)

[mad murdock]

I have been using used gear oil from helicopter transmissions for years, and have noticed as good if not better results than the best bar oil i have ever used. Primarily because i get it for free. It is a mid of Anderol 471 synthetic gear oil ame Aeroshell 80w piston engine oil. The Anderol gets small microscopic bits of lead transferred in it from the Hiller transmissions as they have lead plated thrust washers on the planet gears. Strsight used motor oil is not a good choice, IMO. If ai did not have this free oil I use, i would probably go with motion lotion or whatever I could find at the best price online, or in a local store (purpose blended chain bar oil).

[_RJ_]

Around here most people use Durex bar oil. I've used it for use and can't complain. If you have money to burn the husqvarna bar oil is nice. I actually have a gallon of the husqvarna oil and put it on my axe heads and when not in use they never rust.

[beenthere]

Not sure how anyone can really tell what oil gives better results than another.

Very much like fuel additives.. boils down to what "feels good" at the moment because near impossible to tell what would have happened using the alternative.

No way to test the one single variable. Just my opinion. 

[OH logger]

Not sure how anyone can really tell what oil gives better results than another.

Very much like fuel additives.. boils down to what "feels good" at the moment because near impossible to tell what would have happened using the alternative.

No way to test the one single variable. Just my opinion. 

I tried husky bar oil cause that's what my neighbor started sellin and noticed immediately that I started goin through bars a lot quicker. went back to stihl oil and had great luck again. see what I get for trryin to save money. never tried anything else. im happy with stihl oil just not so much the price :(

[kantuckid]

I've always used Wally bar oil. For the record I've run through plenty of chains but not many bars over the years (nails hanging full of them!) but "the rocks don't seem to care" which bar oil your using. Even for pro users like loggers/arborists,firewood sellers, I'm a doubter that it's an easy test to know how an oil performs better- like already said above :D Way too many variables involved IMO. The firewood guys probably do more actual cutting than most loggers as for a test.
I wonder who pkg.'s the Wally bar oil? I buy TSC Hyd. oil for tractor but bar oils higher than Wally's.
I know for a hard that their self-branded engine oils are run on the same line & spec as Quaker State. NO!!!, I'm NOT! shooting for an engine oil thread here!!! :D
Whats the analysis of vehicle gear oil as compared to bar oil? Obviously cling & viscosity is a factor for both.

[Al_Smith]

Being some what frugal ( tight  wad ) I managed to get "leakers " from a no name repacker for nothing .After that is TSC .

[Al_Smith]

Whats the analysis of vehicle gear oil as compared to bar oil? Obviously cling & viscosity is a factor for both.

Gear oil smells like a bucket full of fermented skunk rectums .Besides that it costs more than bar oil .

[sprucebunny]

I use Stihl winter bar oil because my little saws can get it on to the bar better than the thicker summer oil. I haven't looked very hard but never noticed a cheaper brand that sold winter bar oil.

In the summer, I mix in some summer oil. My bars have been lasting better than when I used any old thing because there is a reliable amount of oil on them.

[Al_Smith]

I'm not sure if I've ever really "worn out" a bar. I have however spun the sprocket noses off  of a few .

You gotsta oil the things .--one more point of view in the ever present oil debates .Spare the oil, spoil the bar .

[kantuckid]

Whats the analysis of vehicle gear oil as compared to bar oil? Obviously cling & viscosity is a factor for both.

Gear oil smells like a bucket full of fermented skunk rectums .Besides that it costs more than bar oil .

This "real" tightwad was thinking used gear oil that was allowed to settle out, not new?  :
Years ago when I trapped in KS I never sold a skunk pelt as I'm a skunk sissy for what was a $1 or so of yuk. Never tried fermented anything except you know what and- we used to ferment shiners in a jar for catfish limb/trot lines.
I'm the same on bar wear outs, not very many over a lot of years.

As for "winter bar oil" I remember no box store oil that didn't feed to the bar in my area. I know some loggers here about do thin it if real cold-some also sit by the fire, like last year when it hit -22 here.

Between AG & the POTUS  maybe blame them for this Dec's average temp.,  a balmy 49.9 degree months average here-less than a whole degree from having tied the all time record of 1889. Makes me wonder if they were having global warming conferences in 1889?  ???

[Al_Smith]

I remember say 15-18 below and I used a little Poulan S-25 to cut a load of firewood using auto tranny fluid .Winter storm of 1978, lake states .I could hardly even using the thumb oiler get  oil to the bar .Had to use an Oliver model HG crawler to get it to the house,4 foot drifts .

I suppose gear oil would work .Actually any oil should  work if it had a tacking agent .It would work if it didn't have a tacking agent, just not as well .

[Al_Smith]

Now say a person had a never ending supply of some type clean oil,tranny fluid,hydraulic whatever .What would a person use as a tacking agent? STP, Motor Honey or something .Maybe someone knows of an alternative ,I don't

If that be the case you'd have as much money in it as buying regular bar oil I would think .

[HiTech]

I buy Husky summer blend bar oil at the Boonville field day by the cases. In cold weather I bring a couple jugs in to keep warm and then ad a little diesel and shake up. Seems to work ok for me. They seem to last awhile in the woods but cutting on the landing they disappear fast. lol So does the gas. lol

[nitehawk55]

Most important is to have  a bar oil that is tacky and you should feel that if you place a bit on your index finger and touch your thumb to it . Most bar oils are ok but I have seen some that looked like dirty engine oil and no tacky additive in it .

[Al_Smith]

Cheap oil! I've seen homemade filters made of toilet paper rolls ,like 6 in series .They poured about a bucket full of used crankcase oil through the top and a week later it dribbled through into another bucket, recycled oil .Now I'm tight just not that frugal . :D

[deerslayer]

In my experience, just about any mineral based lubricant will oil a bar adequately. Store bought bar oils have tackifiers in them. Ever pour a can of STP? You watch that last 10% of the can take 30 minutes to come out and it's one long hairy thread? Well, there's your tackifier at work.

A couple years ago or so, someone on a different chainsaw forum did some pretty detailed analysis of the characteristics of different store bought bar oils and the TSC oil rated as high as any of the others iirc. (some didn't fare so well)
I had already been using TSC oil because it's readily available to me, I noticed how tacky it was and I mix it 50/50 with 15w40 new diesel engine oil (I have a cheap source of that). That seems to work really well for me all year round. (I cut from about 30 degrees to 95 degrees)

[deerslayer]

And speaking of STP, since most newer engines like thinner oil, I have a few old cans of that I'm trying as a tackifier for the 15w40 motor oil. ie, I'm taking a can of STP and topping off a gallon jug with the 15w40. I haven't tried it yet but I expect it to work well.
Right now I have probably close to 40 gallons of bar oil mixed up so unless a natural disaster hits that will last me a few years.

[kantuckid]

Cheap oil! I've seen homemade filters made of toilet paper rolls ,like 6 in series .They poured about a bucket full of used crankcase oil through the top and a week later it dribbled through into another bucket, recycled oil .Now I'm tight just not that frugal . :D

I had some KS farmer neighbors that had you beat! Those were dust bowl guys and they saved everything. One had a large area full of antifreeze jugs where he settled it out and busted them open on a sub zero day and used the liquid left inside. Same guy had a 700# crate of aircraft hardware and he'd hunt for hours to locate a sae regular thread amongst the mostly fine threads. He had a glass eye from WWII and a crack shot on pheasants too! It's gettin cold here on my hill... ;D

[Bricklayer51]

A heads up tc has bar oil on sale for 6 bucks a gal.

[kantuckid]

A heads up tc has bar oil on sale for 6 bucks a gal.

I was in a "Rural King" store in Winchester,KY yesterday- their brand was $5.95 gl regular season and twice as much for winter oil. Me thinks between the POTUS and Al G. that winter bar oil's a waste? :

[CTYank]

For temps 32F or above, whatever's in gallons going for best price @ Homey's- typically a summer-VI lube. (Gotta figure in transportation cost, too! Local HD is a couple miles away.)  smiley_christmas

Below freezing, I mix in (in the saw tank) some no-nameo 5w-30 with the above, or up to 25% kero, or when down in single-digits I go to straight 5W-30 or 5W-40. No lube's gonna work if it can't be pumped to the bar, and pumping that lube shouldn't place great stress on the oil pump, or the clutch. IMO. 

Cutting frozen wood is hard on chains, so I file often and don't force things. Seems to work. The big fun is getting a large(r) saw to fire when really cold. Wheaties time!

There is no BESTEST-EVER bar oil, but there are lots of crazy-priced ones- fun to check the $

[ehp]

I run stihl or Performance plus , in the summer it does not seem to be as important but in the winter cutting white oak it does get important with what oil is in the saw , You can smell the bar and chain burning in the cold weather but seems to be fine using the stihl oil , I buy it by 10 cases at a time and get a good deal on it 

[schmism]

whatever "bar oil" is on sale at the store im at.  Farm store, HD, walmart etc.  But i do stick to something that says bar oil for chain saws.

in the winter (below freezeing) ill mix a little used motor oil in.  (which is going to be synthetic 5w-30)

[Northern Logger]

Not sure how anyone can really tell what oil gives better results than another.

Very much like fuel additives.. boils down to what "feels good" at the moment because near impossible to tell what would have happened using the alternative.

No way to test the one single variable. Just my opinion. 

I agree.  That is why I use used motor oil.  And I suspect a lot of others do too, for it's always on sale at rock bottom prices at Canadian Tire in Canada because they can't unload it at regular prices.

[Al_Smith]

Rambling on about frozen wood and oil .I only experienced actual frozen wood several years ago at about 10 below which hasn't happened in these parts for a while .

It was 3 feet diameter late fall cut white oak one of the trimmers dropped off . I threw everything  I had at it including a 125 McCulloch and it was just about like trying to cut concrete .Couldn't cut it couldn't split it .After dinging myself about 3 times from flying steel wedges in the knee I just gave up on it .Didn't have a problem with the oil flowing though for all that's worth .