Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Zale]

Love your kids and abuse your chainsaws.

 

[Ambull01]

Love your kids and abuse your chainsaws.

Words to live by right there. Since the paint on on the carb butterfly valve and the thick oil issues interrupted my chainsaw cutting plans, I'm bringing the saw with me this weekend to the base. Hope I'm not arrested by the military police. You guys may hear about me on the news soon. "Lumberjack Wannabe Soldier Arrested."

 

[svk]

Thanks. You do anything special with your saws during winter? Your winters are much more severe than mine so I'd like to follow your protocol to be safe. Or I may be over thinking things again

I normally buy the generic gallons of oil from the local fleet supply. FWIW the summer grade is marked 30W and winter is 10W. Or in winter I just run cheap ATF if its really cold. As a plus the pink dribbles in the snow let you know the oiler is working.

I know guys who run used, strained motor oil also. This gets everything black from the carbon in the oil so I personally don't.

There's a zillion oil threads over in the saw forum. You'll find about as much of a consensus as asking us which splitting tool is best.

 

[MechanicMatt]

The counsel tools POS of course...........

 

[svk]

The counsel tools POS of course...........

Watch it my friend....don't feed the trolls LOL

 

[GL0B0TREE]

never ends...

 

[svk]

Ambull: One other thing about cold weather cutting. If its going to be much below zero I take the saw in overnight. At -15 or more it takes a lot of convincing to get things moving. Then you've got extremely thick oil trying to move through the pump=unnecessary stress on everything in the oiling system.

 

[MechanicMatt]

Good point Steve, but in Maryland I doubt it'll be that cold

 

[svk]

I'd hope not.

When I lived in upstate the world stopped when it reached +5F. I was outside in my fall weight wool coat and sweats and people thought I was crazy LOL

 

[Ambull01]

I normally buy the generic gallons of oil from the local fleet supply. FWIW the summer grade is marked 30W and winter is 10W. Or in winter I just run cheap ATF if its really cold. As a plus the pink dribbles in the snow let you know the oiler is working.

I know guys who run used, strained motor oil also. This gets everything black from the carbon in the oil so I personally don't.

There's a zillion oil threads over in the saw forum. You'll find about as much of a consensus as asking us which splitting tool is best.

Probably looks a little like blood. What makes the green grass grow?

I need to check out my local TSC. Not sure where it is.

I ran new motor oil in the Homelite, father in-law said it is the same as bar oil. Noticed he was using a gallon of bar oil for his Stihl though.

Ambull: One other thing about cold weather cutting. If its going to be much below zero I take the saw in overnight. At -15 or more it takes a lot of convincing to get things moving. Then you've got extremely thick oil trying to move through the pump=unnecessary stress on everything in the oiling system.

If it gets to -15 here, my little butt will be staying in doors.

 

[svk]

Bar oil is tacky whereas motor oil is just slippery.

Unless you are running long bar and chain it really doesn't make much of a difference.

All of my saws run about 2 tanks of gas to a tank of oil. I've run just about everything as bar oil and have yet to have a problem. In full disclosure my longest bars are 18" and normally run 15-16". Not much for big trees up here.

 

[Ambull01]

Bar oil is tacky whereas motor oil is just slippery.

Unless you are running long bar and chain it really doesn't make much of a difference.

All of my saws run about 2 tanks of gas to a tank of oil. I've run just about everything as bar oil and have yet to have a problem. In full disclosure my longest bars are 18" and normally run 15-16". Not much for big trees up here.

Nope, 16" on the Homelite. Makita has a 20"

I may get a 24" bar sooner or later. That should take care of everything I could run into on a scrounge. Bars are kind of expensive though. It's just a flat piece of metal, jeez.

 

[MustangMike]

Run bar oil, regular motor oil is not as tacky, and eventually U will ruin a bar, not worth it.

At 44 degrees, U don't need to worry about winter oil.

Make sure everything is clean & clear & working properly.

Don't get in trouble this WE, U will be home soon enough!

I think UR chain hit something in the wood, and the rest of the symptoms were the result of pushing a dull chain.

 

[Axfarmer]

Your tractor looks like a Power King, is it one of the models with dual transmissions??

I always thought they were kind of neat!

SR

S R this tractor has the single trans.i had another with the dual setup but sold it when the new Kubota 4x4 came home. This one is for pulling my splitter only.

 

[Ambull01]

Run bar oil, regular motor oil is not as tacky, and eventually U will ruin a bar, not worth it.

At 44 degrees, U don't need to worry about winter oil.

Make sure everything is clean & clear & working properly.

Don't get in trouble this WE, U will be home soon enough!

I think UR chain hit something in the wood, and the rest of the symptoms were the result of pushing a dull chain.

That's what I was thinking. Wasn't cold at all today. Husqvarna oil sucks. Made for cutting in the Amazon or Africa.

Tons of gooey stuff in the bar groove. Cleaned it all out with a tiny little screwdriver that I had no idea I owned. Found it in my toolbox lol

I never get into trouble anymore. Used to when I first joined the military, been in for 15 years now. Well most of that is just the one weekend a month deal, four years active.

I don't know, the cut started smoking. Stopped the saw and noticed absolutely no oil on the chain or bar, bone dry. Gooey oil and wood dust all caked up under the cover. Went through the process of elimination and determined it HAS TO BE the oil or else I really, really suck at mechanical issues. I also did the whole point the saw at a round and run it to see oil splash test and nothing.

 

[MustangMike]

Take the bar off of the saw, take the metal plate between the bar & chain off, clean everything, make sure the holes are lined up when re-assembling, and sharpen the chain again. Make sure chain is tensioned properly, not too tight or loose. Sharpen the chain again for good measure.

I also take a small metal wire and clean the oil hole in the bar.

 

[Ambull01]

Take the bar off of the saw, take the metal plate between the bar & chain off, clean everything, make sure the holes are lined up when re-assembling, and sharpen the chain again. Make sure chain is tensioned properly, not too tight or loose. Sharpen the chain again for good measure.

I also take a small metal wire and clean the oil hole in the bar.

Will do. Not coming home tomorrow night so I'll sit in my room and tinker with the saw. Yep, I'm that much of a dork.

I followed the directions exactly from the manual on how to tighten the chain but still seems a bit too tight.

Metal wire sounds good. I can take one of my wife's hair pin thingies. They're all over the house.

Jeez I need to sleep but have to leave in 4 hours so what's the point. I hope this chainsaw obsession subsides once I start using the saw.

 

[CTYank]

That's what I was thinking. Wasn't cold at all today. Husqvarna oil sucks. Made for cutting in the Amazon or Africa.

Tons of gooey stuff in the bar groove. Cleaned it all out with a tiny little screwdriver that I had no idea I owned. Found it in my toolbox lol

I never get into trouble anymore. Used to when I first joined the military, been in for 15 years now. Well most of that is just the one weekend a month deal, four years active.

I don't know, the cut started smoking. Stopped the saw and noticed absolutely no oil on the chain or bar, bone dry. Gooey oil and wood dust all caked up under the cover. Went through the process of elimination and determined it HAS TO BE the oil or else I really, really suck at mechanical issues. I also did the whole point the saw at a round and run it to see oil splash test and nothing.

If you have access to compressed air, blow out the bar grooves and passages. Much quicker. Good idea to dump b&c oil and add some kero/diesel. Then run the saw with bar off to pump that through the oiler lines.

Most saw mfgs recommend cutting b&c oil with kerosene below 40 deg., but most don't specify what pct to use. A year back a bud found a big jug of synthetic oil washed up on a beach. Dunno the product ID, but the stuff goes through very little viscosity change with temp change- works well over wide temp range. Of course it only gets used in winter.

On another forum a member claimed that shortage of lube could dull a chain and make the saw cut crooked. If saw's suddenly spitting dust, examine the cutters, and locate the rock/metal so you don't hit it again. Full-chisel chain can go from sharp to dull in a heartbeat. The tiny cutter tip is not robust. BTDT

 

[Ambull01]

If you have access to compressed air, blow out the bar grooves and passages. Much quicker. Good idea to dump b&c oil and add some kero/diesel. Then run the saw with bar off to pump that through the oiler lines.

Most saw mfgs recommend cutting b&c oil with kerosene below 40 deg., but most don't specify what pct to use. A year back a bud found a big jug of synthetic oil washed up on a beach. Dunno the product ID, but the stuff goes through very little viscosity change with temp change- works well over wide temp range. Of course it only gets used in winter.

On another forum a member claimed that shortage of lube could dull a chain and make the saw cut crooked. If saw's suddenly spitting dust, examine the cutters, and locate the rock/metal so you don't hit it again. Full-chisel chain can go from sharp to dull in a heartbeat. The tiny cutter tip is not robust. BTDT

Hey, metallurgy expert, you're awake! Didn't realize you visited this thread. No compressed air, Ambull out of luck. I may have messed up. Got so frustrated I took the bar to my kitchen sink and washed it with a hard bristled scrubber and dish detergent. Ran a tiny flat head screwdriver through the bar groove to remove all the caked in gunk. Dumped the bar oil and took that crappy Husqvarna poop back to the hardware store.

Hmm, so some type of thick/thicker full synthetic bar oil is the answer to my prayers. I'll never had to worry about temps.

So there's no way heat can dull something? I was sure of it lol. It was spitting out some nice long flakes then turned real fine. I just sharpened the chain so we'll see tomorrow/today. Yep, I just sharpened a chain at 2 in the morning on my living room floor.

 

[Ambull01]

@zogger , this is what you want right?

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/hvo/4789251385.html

Kind of pricey though.