Environment friendly bar oil.

[BoBDoG2o02]

A good amount of my cutting is done in the front/back yards of friends and family. Many have kids crawling around in said yards. Does anyone have experience using canola, soybean, or other cooking oils as bar oil. I have access to large volumes at costco for reasonable enough prices. Im just trying to be considerate of my peeps...

 

[Raganr]

I am a big recycler so I just use used motor oil. Don't worry about the kids, it will put hair on their chest.

How much cutting could you possibly do in a playground....I am sure the snakes, ticks, mosquitos, gmo foods, and copius vaccinations pose a much larger health risk than the small quantit of bar oil the EPA has given you permission to fling on the ground.

 

[chris zautner]

yes there are more than a few people here that run canola oil as bar oil

 

[BoBDoG2o02]

I am a big recycler so I just use used motor oil. Don't worry about the kids, it will put hair on their chest.

How much cutting could you possibly do in a playground....I am sure the snakes, ticks, mosquitos, gmo foods, and copius vaccinations pose a much larger health risk.

I appreciate your input but used motor oil isn't something I would consider kid friendly. It's loaded with known carcinogenic compounds. I try not to let it touch my bare skin when doing auto maintenance, let alone fling it all over my nephew's play spot.

 

[BoBDoG2o02]

yes there are more than a few people here that run canola oil as bar oil

What is consumption like? Will I need to reduce the oiler output or increase?

 

[NewToStihl]

A good amount of my cutting is done in the front/back yards of friends and family. Many have kids crawling around in said yards. Does anyone have experience using canola, soybean, or other cooking oils as bar oil. I have access to large volumes at costco for reasonable enough prices. Im just trying to be considerate of my peeps...

I use Stihl BioPlus which is vegetable oil based. Like the oils you mentioned above, it's thinner than traditional bar oil (and more costly), but it has worked very well for me. I haven't adjusted my oilers at all, but you could probably turn them down a bit if you wanted to conserve.

 

[chris zautner]

What is consumption like? Will I need to reduce the oiler output or increase?

if i was going to run canola oil i would turn the oiler up if that's a option. the reason is the canola is thinner and its not going to sling around the bar and chain as easy because there's no "tackifier" in the canola oil.

 

[BoBDoG2o02]

Good thought. Thanks

 

[MrGiggles]

I really wouldn't worry too much about it, as long as you aren't running waste oil in the saw.

If bar oil was detrimental to the environment, the EPA and tree huggers would never allow it. It's pretty safe as far as I'm concerned.

 

[BigJonInMs]

Just use canola oil. It was originally designed for industrial lubrication. Before some "genius" decided people should consume it.

 

[Bingo]

I agree on the canola oil being originally formulated as a machine lubricant. Wouldn't use it in food prep. But a mix of 80% canola to 20% reg. bar oil seems to work well for me and perhaps adds a bit of tackifier for the bar...It's quite thin, like most winter bar oils.

 

[Rockjock]

A good amount of my cutting is done in the front/back yards of friends and family. Many have kids crawling around in said yards. Does anyone have experience using canola, soybean, or other cooking oils as bar oil. I have access to large volumes at costco for reasonable enough prices. Im just trying to be considerate of my peeps...

I have to agree that Canola oil is a good option. I happened across a free source not too long ago. The local chip truck is always at the local Canadian Tire so I asked what does he do with the oil, he has a pay to dump it.. 20 litres at a time. So now instead he just drops it by my place and we are all happy. I have not had to adjust my oilers and the bars look just fine.

 

[CR888]

'IF' using canola oil, the only downside l have experienced is bar nose sprockets siezing if bars are stored for prolonged periods (say 3 weeks or more). lf you use canola and you want to store bars with sprockets they need cleaning/drying and a few shots of bearing grease in the nose sprocket hole. Other than that it performs as good as conventional bars oil, you can spray it all over someones backyard and the resident dog will lick it up!lol Run your oilers on high and if using filtered oil used to cook fish and chips thats perfectly fine.....you will just have the resident K-9 licking your saws when your not watching! lts a far better option if working near veg gardens, over fish ponds ect. After runnig canola in many saws for many years it's VERY hard to go back to petrolium stuff, you simply will not want to.

 

[Mad Professor]

'IF' using canola oil, the only downside l have experienced is bar nose sprockets siezing if bars are stored for prolonged periods (say 3 weeks or more). lf you use canola and you want to store bars with sprockets they need cleaning/drying and a few shots of bearing grease in the nose sprocket hole. Other than that it performs as good as conventional bars oil, you can spray it all over someones backyard and the resident dog will lick it up!lol Run your oilers on high and if using filtered oil used to cook fish and chips thats perfectly fine.....you will just have the resident K-9 licking your saws when your not watching! lts a far better option if working near veg gardens, over fish ponds ect. After runnig canola in many saws for many years it's VERY hard to go back to petrolium stuff, you simply will not want to.

That or the stihl bio-oil gums up everything if you let it sit too long. Turns any sawdust it soaks to stuff that is hard to remove with a scraper. I had one saw I had to pry the chain out of the bar with a screwdriver. Kerosene or naptha would not cut the stuff the only thing that worked well was engine degreaser. Had to pull the clutch too as the bearing was all gummed up. That chain I managed to fold up, only wearing gloves, then put it in a coffee can with degreaser to soak, with an occasional shaking.

I ran the stihl oil for my sawmill so I could use the sawdust to mulch my fruit trees/berries. But I would advise cleaning out the clutch, bar, and tank if you are going to let it sit for anytime. Also if you don't get the crud off the casings or bar, in a timely manner, the paint will come off with it.

 

[OldJack]

Just use canola oil. It was originally designed for industrial lubrication. Before some "genius" decided people should consume it.

I was a student of that genius who was Keith Downey. He bred the nasty stuff, mainly Erucic acid, out of it and made it a cooking oil although my stomach doesn't agree. They named it canola to distinguish it from rapeseed oil which is still grown for lubricants. Dino oil is cheaper here even though I'm sitting in the middle of 10 million acres of canola

 

[crotchclimber]

The company I work for uses soybean oil primarily because it's cheap. $5/gal vs . $11 . But soybean oil is a drying oil which hardens. It makes a mess of the saws, clogging oilers, tensioners, etc. Canola is a non-drying oil. I've used it, and it works OK but I wouldn't use it on a bar longer than 20" because it is thin. It does get everywhere. I've had to pull the clutch drum after it got oily enough to not work properly. I've tried mixing with regular bar oil and it separates with time.

 

[Little Al]

Oregon used to market a non toxic bar oil "Arborol" it was mixed 1 part oil to 3 parts water, it ended up very similar to soluble oil used for machining A milky liquid with an unmistakable smell it worked well for wear & keeping the bar cooled we only used it on state owned sites as they required a non toxic oil for bar lube. Have no idea if it"s still available as we've not need to use a non toxic oil for some time.

 

[BigJonInMs]

Old Jack that's my problem with it as well. I have to make sure a restaurant uses vegetable or peanut oil before I order anything fried.

 

[OldJack]

I mostly stick to pizza or Chinese food if I eat out now, although the local A&W will make an edible Papa burger if you ask them. Mayo is my stomach's arch enemy.

 

[BigJonInMs]

I do eat a lot of pizza come to think of it... Blue plate mayo, however, I could not live without haha