Simple question - chainsaw bar grease gun

[Dusty Rhodes]

Back to grease or not grease. Well, I grease. I use the blue lube in a tube that Oregon puts out. Pretty cheap and lasts a long time. I use it to grease the clutch once in a while too. Does it help? Well I grease the bar tip sprocket ever other time I cut and the blue grease comes out onto the chain on the tip and the tip sprocket seems to move more freely after I grease it.... so guess it doing the job its suppose too. Never had a sprocket fail yet, but I only cut about 20 cord a year, so not what you'd call high production cutter. Maybe if your bar oil is flowing the way it should, if you keep your chain sharp and don't overheat your bar by running without oil or cutting when you chain is dull you will increase your bar life whether you grease the tip or not. Could not tell ya as I said, I grease. I am probably a little anal about my saws, Clean them up in the evening after I have been cutting, touch up the cutters with a file if needed, clean the air filter, take off the chain, clean out the bar groove etc, etc. When I put the saw away I want it ready for the next outing.

 

[Philbert]

I grease the drive sprocket bearing when I am doing any clutch or sprocket maintenance. I had one fail once.

Philbert

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Good advise Philbert, I just acquired a new to me used Jonsered 2165. Put on a new rim sprocket and chain and I just had to go in there and clean up the clutch and roller bearings and re-grease. Hey the manufacturers recommend you do these things, if the saw owner is not doing it or your not having your dealer do it, you better not scream foul when something fails. Same thing with greasing the bar sprocket, if the holes are there and the manufacturer recommends it..... I suppose some maintenance items are small $ to replace, Good bars with sprocket tips are not small $ items in my book, like saw chains, I want to get every bit of wear I reasonably can out of them, if it means a little maintenance on my part to do so, I am going to be on it.

 

[Real1shepherd]

So I picked up this Poulan bar greaser, no directions with it. I'm assuming I just pull the white plug and load it with grease. I have white Lithium grease and regular black automotive grease. What say you?

I have one bar that gets real hot at the sprocket. I tried oiling it but it didn't seem to help. Thought I'd try grease before I toss the bar. $5 on evilBay was not a bad deal.

I realize this is an old thread, but I'm curious WHERE you got that particular grease gun?? I have one very similar that I ran over in the 70's...straightened it out and been using it ever since...tough little critter. But it's not completely round anymore, of course...

I bought a Oregon grease gun last yr and I'm not making this up...I destroyed the gun getting it out of the packing. Just friggin' broke!

Kevin

 

[flashhole]

I bought it on eBay.

 

[Idahonative]

I stay away from those little specialized grease guns because they, and the grease cartridges, are very expensive.

I use my regular grease gun. Went to NAPA auto parts and bought a needle attachment which I needed to grease the "fish eye" u joint on my truck anyway. It just snaps onto the guns zerk. Easy, cheap, and I have to have a regular grease gun for all the zerks around the place anyway. Needle looks like this:

http://www.grainger.com/product/WESTWARD-Needle-Nose-Adapter-13X058

 

[Real1shepherd]

Thanks, I found two on the bay...one was an old style Oregon which is probably what I have, as I was loyal to them back then. With good reason, their products were great...talk about slipping....

I couldn't find them at first on the bay except those cheap, plastic Oregon numbers....then I finally filled in a field that their search bot liked.

Kevin

 

[Real1shepherd]

I stay away from those little specialized grease guns because they, and the grease cartridges, are very expensive.

I use my regular grease gun. Went to NAPA auto parts and bought a needle attachment which I needed to grease the "fish eye" u joint on my truck anyway. It just snaps onto the guns zerk. Easy, cheap, and I have to have a regular grease gun for all the zerks around the place anyway. Needle looks like this:

http://www.grainger.com/product/WESTWARD-Needle-Nose-Adapter-13X058

Yeah, I've had one of those since the late 80's, but need something on my truck that's small. That attachment to a grease gun is the only way I can grease one of my saw's drum sprocket bearings...it's needs a lot of pressure. I've had it apart...I think maybe the hole in the shaft is too small or something...not really high on my list of to-do projects.

Kevin

 

[Derf]

I realize this is an old thread, but I'm curious WHERE you got that particular grease gun?? I have one very similar that I ran over in the 70's...straightened it out and been using it ever since...tough little critter. But it's not completely round anymore, of course...

I bought a Oregon grease gun last yr and I'm not making this up...I destroyed the gun getting it out of the packing. Just friggin' broke!

Kevin
Kevin

Old thread yeah! And he said he got it on eBay. Here ya go
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=360839222061&globalID=EBAY-US

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Old & dead thread, might as well bring 'er back to life.

I bought "the good pump" as others call it from Forester, then had to find the grease. Discovered the Forester "Made In China pump" is the same as Oregon P/N 110534, seemingly "the same" as the "Made In Germany" one, and in theory they all use these cartridges:
$26 Oregon Chain Saw Grease Gun Refill Cartridges For 21939, 40469-A and 110534 - 3 Pack 108653

Stihl still says to grease the sprocket tips (due to the balls), and since the bar oil tends to sling outward and onto the chain that seems prudent. I clean my bar grooves frequently which seems to keep the nose bearings lubed from what I can tell, but greasing them probably helps them last longer.

I read that if you grease, keep greasing, as the grease will block chain oil that was lubricating the bearings from getting to the bearings and lubricating them. To me that makes sense. Guess I'm now a greaser.

There are cheaper alternatives, though the grease gun is probably easier, faster, more reliable, and uses less grease.

 

[Old2stroke]

If you’re a greaser, just remember to clean out the holes before greasing or you will be forcing any crud in the hole into the bearing.

 

[Real1shepherd]

This has been debated so much by the "experts', I'm sick of it. Professionally, I greased my bar every morning....that's it. I don't ever remember a tip failure. But the 'boys' that plunge cut say differently. But then again, I never considered 'plunge cutting' a thing. I did it when it suited me while falling.

I won't own a bar without the grease holes in the tip. As far as those little grease guns, I used them, but they're a finicky lot. I just shoved grease in there and hoped for the best. Most of the time they worked but seem to airlock easily. Mine was not what you linked....it was the kind where you pushed the grease reservoir toward the tip....like a pump.

Kevin

 

[Hman1024]

For the bars that I grease, I have been using this version of a 3 oz grease gun for a few months and no issues so far.
ARES 53010 – 3-Ounce Push-Type Mini Grease Gun - Needle Nozzle Easily Greases Small Fittings – One-Handed Operation - 3000 PSI Working Pressure https://a.co/d/9tuWdp3

 

[Evan]

This is a naughty read.
Lube or not packing crud on accident ****

 

[spuldup]

To be fair to everyone, no one here reads or remembers every post/thread from/by/about every member, at least I hope that no one does.

So cut folks some slack by not knowing the current health status, marital status, or whatever. Especially in a forum that oozes in ribbing
other members about anything/everything.

I love Sawtroll, always give him hell, but did not realize he had any serious health problems worse than mine, and neither does %90 of the
forum. These guys were just talking smack, returning smack....

No harm no foul.....

We should start a health/dying sticky, I guess.......

Tone can be difficult to convey in written text.

Ending a post with /s indicates sarcasm. Maybe we need something like /r indicating ribbing, haha.

 

[Sidecarflip]

I won't own a bar without the grease holes in the tip.

Neither will I and why I don't care for the new Stihl bars with no grease hole in either side. I use very high buck extreme pressure grease made just for high speed bearings. I've never had a sprocket nose failure ever. I wear out a bar before that. Another reason why I like Echo saws. they all have greaseable noses on their factory bars.

 

[jellyroll]

I grease mine every sharpening. I use echo red armor grease.

 

[Sidecarflip]

Being a farmer, everything I own, needs greased. Every implement, every tractor is loaded with grease fittings (too bad modern vehicles aren't (but that is another story for another time). Anyway, I learned from experience that there is a distinct difference in grease formulations. The cheap grease you can buy at a box store or Tractor Supply is 'clay based' and clay based grease will harden inside joints and grease fittings after a time, whereas grease made from semi synthetic formulations (no clay) don't. I use a very specific synthetic grease (expensive) on my chainsaw bars and a different (also pretty expensive) semi synthetic grease on everything else. I do buy my grease (for the equipment) in 150 pound open head drums and I use an ARO air greaser to deliver that.

 

[Real1shepherd]

Being a farmer, everything I own, needs greased. Every implement, every tractor is loaded with grease fittings (too bad modern vehicles aren't (but that is another story for another time). Anyway, I learned from experience that there is a distinct difference in grease formulations. The cheap grease you can buy at a box store or Tractor Supply is 'clay based' and clay based grease will harden inside joints and grease fittings after a time, whereas grease made from semi synthetic formulations (no clay) don't. I use a very specific synthetic grease (expensive) on my chainsaw bars and a different (also pretty expensive) semi synthetic grease on everything else. I do buy my grease (for the equipment) in 150 pound open head drums and I use an ARO air greaser to deliver that.

I had a big farm in MO once upon a time. I tried a lot of different equipment greases......you can make your farm a 'test trial' if you own it.

For things that move, articulate and rotate at slow speeds, I'd go into the Case dealer and buy their Moly formula for outdoor equipment. For bearings that turned fast, I used a variety of greases depending on the application.

However, on chainsaw bars I don't think it's necessarily mandatory to use exotic, expensive greases.....but you should grease the drum sprocket and bar every day.

Kevin

 

[Sidecarflip]

you can make your farm a 'test trial' if you own it.

I prefer not to. Bad enough my dealer had to borrow my new round bailer for fair week last year because he didn't have one to display. I asked him if I was going to get any compensation and he just smiled. I do work for him part time so I guess it was an employee-employer thing. Besides I got into the fair for free (wife and I) and got all the funnel cakes I wanted too.

Farm is free and clear as is all the land too. All we have to pay is the taxes.