Stihl Bar Oil- Is it really worth the price?

[Captain Bruce]

Todd (Project Farm) is a good dude. I've chatted with him many times in the comments of his vids. Just a hard worker like the rest of us, except he found a much needed niche that Google compensates him extremely well for. He turned me on to Diablo cutoff wheels - I've tried just about every single brand out there and haven't been impressed. When the Diablo won his shootout, I bought some. He wasn't lying - these things last at LEAST 2x longer than ANYTHING I've used before. I run a small shop out of my property. I've cut hundreds of bolts, exhausts, hardened steel bearing races, you name it. He also got me to buy a Audew jump pack after that won the jump pack shootout. I've started DIESELS with NO BATTERY with this thing! I don't know about you, but I think that's friggin impressive! Thing is 1/100th the size of that cart charger I bought at Sears 20 years ago! Cost less than half what I paid for it, too. What a time saver when I can drive a vehicle up instead of winching. I even winched a Lexus RX350 onto my dovetail trailer on a hill, TWICE (winch failure caused it to roll backwards until I slammed the freespool selector back in gear) with a dead deep cycle battery using this pack!! Has to draw at least 200A under load! When I got the vehicle up there the 2nd time, it wouldn't work anymore. Contacted the company, and they sent me out a replacement set of clamps with the little computer gizmo inside that plugs into the jump pack itself. Been working great since! I've driven cars home with no battery just clamping this thing in (just have to use electrical tape so you don't burn the vehicle to the ground, lol). Several other products he tested that won other shootouts I had already been using for years, and his all his test results matched my experiences to a tee. Just my .02.

As far as saw oil contaminating anything ... if the general public knew the scale of oil dumped every day on construction projects, they'd drop and convulse! One blown hydraulic line on a big excavator can blast 5 gallons into the dirt faster than you can blink! Happens every single day on every single project all over the country at some point. I used to drive recycling trucks in a big city - I've laid down the contents of a 55 gallon drum myself over the course of 5 years, just due to leaks and hose failures. Typical big company - let things go until they fail. I've dumped at least 10 gallons on my own property in one season, thanks to my 60+ year old backhoe between leaks and hose failures. Who knows how many the previous owner did - there was a rainbow sheen on the swamp out back here for the first 15 years I lived here. He got his tractor stuck over there cleaning up the property for me before the sale date, so I know that's where it came from. Add up how many cars and heavy trucks drip all types of petroleum products on the highway, and it's probably a 55 gallon drum per mile on EVERY expressway in America. Chainsaws are MINISCULE in this arena. I guarantee any water that comes out of ANY well has petroleum products in it at some level. It's unavoidable. People are still living to be 90, so it's not as big of an issue as the powers that be would have you believe. Bacteria and natural breakdown dispose of oil faster than most think, too.

As far as my saws go, I run cheap Poulan oil bought by the gallon from Walmart (same stuff Harmon was just talking about!). The stuff barely moves in this weather, but it still keeps the chain wet. If I didn't burn used motor oil for heat, I'd probably use it in the saw, too.

As soon as I saw 250 words, I stopped. What are you talking about?

 

[pdqdl]

Stuff that takes longer to convey than 250 words.

Why would you ask someone to explain what you admit you didn't read? Just go back and read it.

 

[Brufab]

Dad has bushed and cut fire wood for 60 years.
Only ever used new engine oil.
Never worn out a chain or bar before their time.

I've used the new engine oil in winter when it was super cold out if I didn't have winter grade. Worked great standard 30wt or 10/30 5/30. Sometimes it can be had cheap at box stores on clearance in the jugs of odd ball oil or discontinued stuff

 

[pdqdl]

Engine failing? since there are no motors on chainsaw........have you ever seen a filthy saw, coated with black? Pull the clutch and inspect the oil system...its worn out from being fed cheap lube, by a cheapskate operator....

Silly assumptions. There are no indications anywhere in the repair market that I have seen that suggest cheap bar oil causes your oil pump to wear out. As to "coated in black"? That only happens with used motor oil.

Did you stop to think that internal combustion engines are commonly called motors? You are unwise to criticize someone for referring to a chainsaw "motor". Don't argue with me about that, either. It will get very embarrassing, very quickly.

And... I have a chainsaw with a motor, BTW. So they do exist. Commonly, in fact.

 

[SweetMK]

My most used chainsaw has a "motor",,,

The 660 Magnum has not had its chain sharpened in 5 years because of this motor,,

 

[SweetMK]

As far as oil contamination,,,
I worked with a guy, he complained to the city where he lived,, about his water.
EVERY day, they would see an oil sheen on the water in the toilets in the house.

He assumed the oil was coming in with the city-supplied water.

Well, the city engineer came to his home, and did some tests.
A week later, the guy got a letter from the city.

What was happening is ,, every time a toilet is flushed, some air is sucked in from the vent pipe on the roof of the house.
This home was just about 1 mile north of Interstate 81 (the interstate is oriented east-west for about 20 miles)

The diesel fumes from the interstate were drawn into the roof vent pipe.

Even at one mile away, this home was able to draw in enough oil out of the air through a vent stack,,
that the oil could form a sheen in the toilet.

I told him to sell, and move, his health is worth more than the cost of moving..
He stayed in the house,,,

 

[pdqdl]

I don't doubt that's what some city engineer told him, but that wasn't the source of the oil in his toilet.

Sewer vents are for the release of sewer gases, and only rarely does a large water discharge create suction on the vent. Even if it did, the water trap built into the toilet would prevent oily air from entering the user-side of the toilet. Suction pulling air from any source into the house still wouldn't make it to the toilet.

Maybe he had sewer rats covered in vegetable oil climbing out of the toilet. Or more likely, someone in the house had steatorrhea.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541055/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatorrhea

 

[L34]

People say bar oil is cheap.
I know I can buy 4L of 10w/30 cheap engine oil cheaper than I can buy 4L of bar oil here downunder.

 

[mountainguyed67]

As soon as I saw 250 words, I stopped. What are you talking about?

I read 42 words before I moved on. Ha!

 

[sb47]

Engine failing? since there are no motors on chainsaw........have you ever seen a filthy saw, coated with black? Pull the clutch and inspect the oil system...its worn out from being fed cheap lube, by a cheapskate operator....

Your opinion means nothing to me, because I have been using old motor oil in all my saws for about 18 years now without one single failure. I have a ms290 that is over 15 years old and still on the original bar. I run that saw almost everyday. It has many hundreds of hours on it. I cut, split and sell over 100 cords a year. I also run that saw in very large oak up to 48'' logs. If old motor is so bad, you would think it would show up after all these years, but that has not happened.
You say cheapskate, I say smart. I think some people are just fooling themselves or are so uppity that they are ashamed they have been duped into thinking using old oil is somehow bad.
I know for a fact I am not alone and there are many people that use old oil for bar oil and have not had any issues. I do this for a living and my equipment are my money makers. What is the worst that can happen? You prematurely wear out a bar or sprocket. Those parts are cheap compared to the high cost of bar oil.

 

[Hermio]

Why would you have that feeling. I would honestly be supprised if any of them are recycled engine oil. For something like bar oil it's probably cheaper to make it from virgin oil.

Engine oil does not have the tackiness or viscosity of bar oil. I use TSC bar oil; usually less than $10/gallon. My bars last for at least 10 chains being worn out. Then I get the bars swaged and ground to extend their life 4-5 times.

 

[SweetMK]

I don't doubt that's what some city engineer told him, but that wasn't the source of the oil in his toilet.

Sewer vents are for the release of sewer gases, and only rarely does a large water discharge create suction on the vent.

If you think the roof vent does not suck air,, put a plug in your roof vent(s) and watch the sinks stop working,,
While the roof vents are plugged, when a sink of water is emptied, all the water will be sucked from the trap
and while the vents are plugged,, watch how the water is sucked out of the toilet bowl EACH time it is flushed.

Absolutely air is sucked in every time (more than a little) water is introduced into the drain,,

We used to watch the Canadian Mike Holmes,, on his show,, Holmes on Homes,,
about every other episode, someone had an improperly installed (or missing) roof vent,,
Mike was almost famous on his show for saying "Air Follows Water",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[huskihl]

That's neither here nor there. The guy is a joke and that people watches his stuff just proves the average person in this country is a moron.

Don’t hold back. Tell us how you really feel

 

[Sawdust Man]

Stihl Bar Oil- Is it really worth the price?​

No....

 

[OM617YOTA]

Put me in the middle I guess. I'll run the cheapest bar oil I can find, it all works the same as far as I can tell. I won't run used engine oil. I'm not worried about it hurting the bar, chain, or saw at all, I'm more worried about what it'll do to me. I'm cheap, but not that cheap. Y'all have to adjust your cheapness scale to your own liking.

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

If you think the roof vent does not suck air,, put a plug in your roof vent(s) and watch the sinks stop working,,
While the roof vents are plugged, when a sink of water is emptied, all the water will be sucked from the trap
and while the vents are plugged,, watch how the water is sucked out of the toilet bowl EACH time it is flushed.

Absolutely air is sucked in every time (more than a little) water is introduced into the drain,,

We used to watch the Canadian Mike Holmes,, on his show,, Holmes on Homes,,
about every other episode, someone had an improperly installed (or missing) roof vent,,
Mike was almost famous on his show for saying "Air Follows Water",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Even if ALL of that is true, the vent is hooked up to the drain pipe down stream from the toilet.

HOW is the oil you suggest is getting in through the vent pipe defying gravity and going UP the drain pipe into the bowl of the toilet?

Also, I lived in a old house without a vent pipe as a kid. Sinks worked fine, tub would burp when draining though. TV is just that TV. They like over dramatization.

 

[SweetMK]

Even if ALL of that is true, the vent is hooked up to the drain pipe down stream from the toilet.

HOW is the oil you suggest is getting in through the vent pipe defying gravity and going UP the drain pipe into the bowl of the toilet?

Oil floats on water, and coats anything it is in contact with,, the oil will just float past the trap,, over time.

Trust me,, if the plumbing in the old house worked fine,, there was a vent,, somewhere,,
If you do not "believe",, i told you haw you can test it,,


Squirrels are notorious for clogging roof vents,, and the homeowner does not know how to fix it,,,

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

Oil floats on water, and coats anything it is in contact with,, the oil will just float past the trap,, over time.

Trust me,, if the plumbing in the old house worked fine,, there was a vent,, somewhere,,
If you do not "believe",, i told you haw you can test it,,


Squirrels are notorious for clogging roof vents,, and the homeowner does not know how to fix it,,,

I re-did the entire plumbing system when we remodeled. So no, I won't trust you, because I literally know for a fact that it didn't and you do not.

Also, I know several people that live within a mile of a major interstate and none have this issue. So...I simply don't believe your story.

 

[Brufab]

If you think the roof vent does not suck air,, put a plug in your roof vent(s) and watch the sinks stop working,,
While the roof vents are plugged, when a sink of water is emptied, all the water will be sucked from the trap
and while the vents are plugged,, watch how the water is sucked out of the toilet bowl EACH time it is flushed.

Absolutely air is sucked in every time (more than a little) water is introduced into the drain,,

We used to watch the Canadian Mike Holmes,, on his show,, Holmes on Homes,,
about every other episode, someone had an improperly installed (or missing) roof vent,,
Mike was almost famous on his show for saying "Air Follows Water",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Maybe a venturi effect?

 

[user 122190]

Stihl Bar Oil- Is it really worth the price?​

No....

I just picked up 2 gallons of Black Max B&C oil from Walmart. At $9.98 tis a deal.