This may be a little off topic but there has been an extensive thread on chainsaws in general (which info I relied on when I purchased my new Husqvarna 55 Rancher).
Now I'd like to hear from everyone on what you use for bar oil. The question being do you use commercialy formulated "bar oil" (expensive) or would a generic automotive motor oil be good enough (cheap)?
Thanks for your input.
Siegfried
I have used SAE 30 motor oil for chain / bar oiling for decades and never had a problem. If you will sleep better by paying an extra $3.00
- $10.00 per gallon of a Manufacturer approved oil for chain / bar oil, go ahead and buy it.
Tim
You trolling?
My gallon of bar oil cost me $5.49. Not filthy black, and won't stain the wood nor my hands if I get it on them.
Most motor oils are too light for use on a bar, anyway, not to mention the detergent.
Go to your nearest Ace Hardware and you can pick up a gallon of Bar Oil for under 6 bucks. I quart of generic 30 weight costs a buck on sale. I'll pay an extra 50 cent a quart for the bar oil. Bar oil has a "sticky" feel to it similar to "STP" and other oil additives which I believe helps it stay on the chain, and bar better than automotive oils, besides it doesn't have any unnecssary additives. You bought a quality chainsaw, stick with an oil that does it justice.
Spy in Hawaii
I always use a good bar oil. Considering the use the bar gets, good oil is cheap insurance.
Bar Oil contains additives to help it cling to the chain rather than being thrown off. I believe this since when you get bar oil on your hands it is much more difficult to get off. I would also reccomend before using motor oil take a look at the price of a new bar and chain suddenly Bar Oil will look pretty cheap.
Scott Hogsten
Bar oil is simply not that expensive. Wal-mart el-cheapo car oil is perhaps 89 cents a quart or so. Bar oil from the saw dealer here is about $5/gallon - it was actually cheaper than the hardware store stuff. Even if you cut a LOT of wood, the diffence in price is trivial.
Bar oil is also formulated to do the job better (resist fling-off, etc.)
Admittedly, I use Stihl bar oil only. I have tried many different kinds, but didn't like the results. The cheaper stuff didn't cling to the chain as well and gummed up too much. Of course this is on a saw with an automatic oiler. If it were up to me I would run probably twice as much oil. What's the big deal, you spend $15-$30 on a chain, at least that much for a bar, and you skimp on the lube?
-- Steve Worcester
The Poulan stuff is about $3/gallon at Walmart. It used to be that I would get the oil at a local saw shop that refilled the gallon jugs for maybe $1.50 in the early 90's. They shut down after logging went to nil here in north-central Washington state. One local outfit used to have 50 trucks. Now you hardly ever see one on the roads.
Once I worked in the woods for a summer doing tree thinning. My oiler quit working and I didn't have the tools I needed to fix it. So I decided to keep making my $15/hour for the day and get it fixed after I was done. The chain was about sharpened away anyway and the bar didn't seem to wear too much in the oil-less time.
Derek
Bar oil or not, I've just siezed my second nose sprocket. Admittedly, I never knew I had to lube the sprocket every now and then. After replacing the first one, I lubed the sprocket before starting a cutting job and with each fuel fill-up. Still siezed up after a few weeks of not-quite-daily use. When this saw finally dies (Poulan
295), its a 60+cc Husky for me!Peter Teubel Milford, MA
Well, the sprocket is not lubed by the chain, as you know now, but don't throw the saw for the sake of the bar. Get a nice aftermarket like an Oregon, and don't use the nose as a pry bar....
never knew I had to lube the sprocket every now and then.
cutting job and with each fuel fill-up. Still siezed up
(Poulan 295), its a 60+cc Husky for me!
Peter Teubel Milford, MA
Thanks to everyone who took time to reply. I think I'm will go with bonified bar oil.
Another thing - you should not cut too near the nose wheel. A longer bar helps this. I love my 28".
Derek
Ahh.....maybe that's why I'm burning them out. I'm constantly burying the nose when cutting (20" bar). No choice when cutting 24" walnut (drive-by gloat).
Peter Teubel Milford, MA
Peter, I add grease to the sprocket nose every time I fill up the fuel tank and add bar oil. Yes, I use regular bar oil not automotive 30 SAE. Bar oil is cheap by the gallon. I use Mobil 1 in my truck, about $20.00 per gallon.
I bought a 031 Stihl with a 20" bar approximately 23 years ago and have cut large quantities of firewood. Initially, I used bar oil, but switched to
30w motor oil for its convenience. Every year before I started cutting I rehabbed it (clean filters, new sparkplug and grease the nose sprocket). I got it stuck in a tree that I was falling and had to abandon the saw to the fates. Turned out it put an almost 90degree angle on the bar. I brought it home, put it in the vise and straightened it out. Then with a little judicious hammer work, I remounted it and used it for the rest of the cutting year. I eventually bought a new 20" bar, kept it around for a few years as an "emergency" spare, but finally threw it out. My only regret with the saw is that I didn't get a longer bar to reduce my bending. I have cut through a lot of stuff bigger than the bar and made a lot of plunge cuts. I might go through a little more 30w than bar oil. Some loggers I knew up here in the Pac. NW used crankcase oil for bar oil. I don't know if it makes much of a hill of beans one way or the other. Flip a coin or go by the manual -- whichever oils your chain! Have you guys thought of using LDD? It would cut wood cleanly and wouldn't leave oil stains. *G*Leif
Laugh all you want. I keep a bottle of the cheapest LDD in the workshop to lube various saws, screws, etc when I don't want to have anything oil-based having the possibility of staining wood. Works like a charm on the little cheap electric chainsaw too. A few (ok- many) liberal drops on the bar helps prevent binding and keeps the bar free of sticky sap when cutting resinous woods.
happy turning... vic in chicagoland
I have used 30w motor oil on my bar and chain for decades as well. My original theory was that the chain to bar friction and heat, and chain link friction, are substantially less than that of piston ring to cylinder bore in an automotive engine, and 30w motor oil works just fine for automotive engines.
The staining issues is never a problem for firewood. :) And since I rarely use my chainsaw for the final machining of any woodworking projects, staining by the motor oil has just not been a problem.
While I agree that crankcase oil would work well for bar and chain oiling, my crankcase oil is used in a waste oil heater that I built years ago. Mother Earth News had plans for a dandy waste oil heater made out of a discarded 30/40 gal water heater. The unit cost (then) under $40 to build and the heat output was in the range of 20 - 25K BTU/hour.
Tim
Leif Thorvalds> I bought a 031 Stihl with a 20" bar approximately 23 years ago and have cut
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