best BAR-n-CHAIN oil

[333.okh]

yeah I might just be starting a fight, but what is it? If I had a new saw and wanted good oil who do I buy?

What do I know, I ran out of bar oil the other day and ran Phillips 66 Aviation 20W/50 motor oil. Worked like a champ and seems to have cleaned stuff up a lot while I did it. That work was done up in a tree with my CS3400 Echo top handle.

 

[scottmphoto]

My dad used to own a shop and I've been using NOS stuff that he had. I can't remember what brand it was, but it was a name brand. Recently, I've been using the stuff from TSC as it's cheaper than the Poulan stuff at Wally-World.

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

I've run TSC Brand, Stihl's Premium, "woodcutters", BioPlus, Save A Chain, Brad Penn, Poulan.

And the best combination of price and performance is Save a Chain it's very sticky, and retails for about 10-12$ a gallon.

 

[Warped5]

IMHO, all the 'name' brands are too pricy.

The stuff at Menard's is too thin ... will only use it down near zero.

Overall, I like the stuff at TSC the best. I usually stock up in February when it goes on sale.

 

[ttyR2]

Old engine oil strained through a pair of ladies nylons to filter out the metal chunks, obviously. :msp_biggrin:

 

[Homelite410]

:deadhorse:


I run whats cheapest....... Home brew in the winter..... Way lube from work is nice too......

 

[KenJax Tree]

Whatever kind the company buys but its usually Echo in a 55 gallon drum

 

[Fifelaker]

I use TSC brand. It's bar and chain oil, as long as there is oil on it I don't worry about who made it. Any bar and chain issues I have had were not the fault of the oil. Engine oil I feel different about.

 

[cat-face timber]

When the wife goes to Walmart I have her pick up a jug or two of Poulan Bar Oil.
It works good and is cheap.

The best I have ever ued in some old Motion Lotion my dad had one time.


JMHO

YMMV

 

[Mikesprojects]

Last week when looking at new stihl chain saws at the dealer I over heard the dealers certified technician tell a customer that stihl makes their chain saws with a special rubber type of gasket, that if ran with old motor oil or maybe clean car oil? it will actually deteriorate the rubber & make the saw leak on purpose & then its shame on the individual for using that oil.........I thought that was a weird thing to say & if true is something to think about. I think the technician mentioned the EPA.
That brings up another thing, stihl bar oil cost me 18.99 from the dealer last week for just one gallon. That's expensive.... I want to only use that brand for my new expensive saw so maybe buying in larger quantities is the way to go. I'm just newb, educating myself along the way.

 

[KenJax Tree]

18.99 for bar oil:bang: there is no need to spend that much or even use just Stihl oil. If you want good tacky oil use Itasca its about $7-$9 a gallon

 

[Fifelaker]

My MS440 has never had Stihl B&C oil in it unless the dealer put it in the first time. 9 years old and no leaks yet. A friend has a MS290 he bought last fall same thing. 18.99 a gal is nuts, it may be cheaper to replace the rubber parts once a month.

 

[Trx250r180]

I run husqvarna bar oil in my stihls ,it feels a little stickier than the stihl oil

 

[Gologit]

Last week when looking at new stihl chain saws at the dealer I over heard the dealers certified technician tell a customer that stihl makes their chain saws with a special rubber type of gasket, that if ran with old motor oil or maybe clean car oil? it will actually deteriorate the rubber & make the saw leak on purpose & then its shame on the individual for using that oil.........I thought that was a weird thing to say & if true is something to think about. I think the technician mentioned the EPA.
That brings up another thing, stihl bar oil cost me 18.99 from the dealer last week for just one gallon. That's expensive.... I want to only use that brand for my new expensive saw so maybe buying in larger quantities is the way to go. I'm just newb, educating myself along the way.

There's no need to pay that much for bar oil. I usually run TSC oil in my Stihls but there have been times when I had to run other stuff.
I've run out of bar oil (bad planning on my part) at work so I used multi weight automotive oil, gear oil thinned with kerosene, ATF, hydraulic oil...anything that's slippery. I've never had any problems with the oilers or seals.
The only thing I won't run is drain oil but a lot of guys do.
I'm sure the Stihl bar oil is fine stuff but you can do just as well elsewhere for a better price.

 

[w8ye]

I used drained motor oil for 40 years. Strained through pantie hose. Have used old Dexron and new 10W-40 too. Never any problem.

Right now I'm using Menard's which smells like old gear hypoid oil. It has some tacky in it.

Next up is TSC.

Have used Brad Penn or something like that? and Spectrum (liked the best as it had the most tacky but was acually reclaimed oil)

Never had a problem with the rubber in a Stihl unless it just got old from age but the oil never bothered it.

 

[Warped5]

I used drained motor oil for 40 years. Strained through pantie hose. Have used old Dexron and new 10W-40 too. Never any problem.

Right now I'm using Menard's which smells like old gear hypoid oil. It has some tacky in it.

Next up is TSC.

Have used Brad Penn or something like that? and Spectrum (liked the best as it had the most tacky but was acually reclaimed oil)

Never had a problem with the rubber in a Stihl unless it just got old from age but the oil never bothered it.

IIRC, Spectrum makes the TSC, Sears and Husky branded oil.

 

[w8ye]

IIRC, Spectrum makes the TSC, Sears and Husky branded oil.

Poulan & Dolmar too though they all may not be blended exactly the same.

 

[CJ1]

The cheapest bar and chain oil I can find, usually TSC. CJ

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

I recently picked up a gallon of TSC bar oil and it's too thin for my liking, and almost no tackiness
to it. The Stihl "premium" now gray bottle is retailing for close to 20$ a gallon, the "Woodcutters"
cheaper grade in the orange bottle is around 13$. For my customers 14$ is the max they're wiling to pay
for bar oil.

 

[lumberjack48]

When we had two trucks two skidders, feller buncher, four vehicles, every oil change took about 38 gals of oil. We were running up to six saws everyday, i used all of our used oil for chain oil with no issues.

Back in the 60's i used straight 80/90 in the summer. When it started cooling off we mixed it with number 1 or 2 fuel oil, the end of the bar would be green, it really kept things lubricated.

The best oil i ever used is rock drill oil, its the stickiest, stringiest stuff i ever used.