Vegetable oils for bar lube? Is there really a need for bar specific oil?

[rustyb]

Several weeks ago, I posted a question about Stihl bioplus oil. Some one mentioned vegetable oil as a less expensive possibility. I had also read about carvers using it in National Parks where standard petrol based oil was not allowed.

After giving this a lot of thought, I decided to drain the oil tanks in my four saws & replace the "bar oil" with Canalo Oil. Sure, the Canalo Oil has no added tack but is tack really needed? I have taken my chains off after running the Canalo Oil and there seems to be plenty of oil all the way around. So, why not use it? It has to be healthier for both operator & the environment & as far as I can tell, no more pricey than standard "bar oil". Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Could we perhaps have gotten locked into a hard-to-let-go belief system that standard "bar oil" with the added tack is the only way when in fact there's a better alternative right before our eyes?

 

[Pioneer]

Rustyb, watch for accelerated nose wear on the underside of the bar just where the chain first comes in contact with it. I have been using Canola in a couple of my saws and have had this happen on one of them, but it might just be a soft bar. So far the chains seem to love it; very little stretch. I did some research on Canola's lubricating properties a while back, it reports to work very well in thin film applications, but I am keeping an eye out on the parts that have large clearances and would benefit from a higher viscosity oil.

Keep us posted , I would like to see what your results are with this stuff.

 

[Wood Cutter]

I have been thinking of switching over to a vegetable oil. Will a plain vegetable oil work or will I need to get canola oil? Thanks.
Ryan

 

[bvaught]

Any lubricant will work as long as it will flow through the oiler and onto the chain. But make no mistake bar oil is better for your bar and chain.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

"better" hasn't been proven. Opinions have been tossed around though.

Go to Costco or some other big box store and buy seed sqeezin's in five gallon jugs. Compare the price to petro oil. I found that veggie was cheaper. Even if there is a bit of wear the savings would offset the replacemnt. And...the veggie is renewable along with all of the other environmental issues.

 

[stihltech]

bar oil

So the resins added to bar oil to make it tackier and stick to the chain so it is lubricating the bottom of the bar is a bunch of hooey?

 

[ron in sc]

What about just using regular motor oil? Is that good, bad or doesn't matter. I have a small stock of old dino oil I don't use anymore in any of my vehicles so I've just used it as bar oil. It's 10W 30 if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

... a bunch of hooey?

Has there been side by side tests to show the value? In 30 years of cutting I've never bought a drop of "bar lube" New motor oil, used motor oil, used hydraulic fluid and veggie oil. In all those years I never saw my bars wearing away to nothing. chains always had long life.

When I worked out the cost savings of the alternatives vrs. bar lube, I was putting money in my pocket that could be used later in the odd case that the chains and bars wore out.

 

[clearance]

Veg oil is not as good for your saw as regular bar oil, epecially when its hot outside in my opinion. UAroundcreeks and water but thats it. I heard that guys running excavators in enviromentally sensitive areas have to use veg hydraulic oil and that it has a detrimental affect on the rams and pumps. One thing to use it in a chainsaw but how about using it in a quarter or half million dollar machine?

 

[Lobo]

Several years back there was a thread on another site on this exact same subject using motor oil as chain & bar lube. A fellow many of you here may know by the name of Walt Galer had done such testing while working for either a chainsaw manufacturer or a chain manufacturer. He actually encouraged using motor oil as according to him it was the best lube he had found. I believe he claimed we should use 30 in the summer and 20 diluted in diesel in winter. Actually any new motor oil would do (not dirty oil out of a vehicles crankcase however) I have done so in the past without a problem.

Please note that I am going from memory on this and I am trying to remember facts of a few years past. I do remember our friend Gypo participating in this thread also.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Clearance,

You're mixing metaphors again. Are we talking about veggie bar oil or veggie hydraulic fluid? Two different issues...and you're sharing anecdotal stories.

I'm sharing my experiences. Things may be different for others.

 

[galde]

One way to gauge the performance of a bar/chain oil is to stop the saw and feel the temperature of the bar/chain immediately after doing a long, hard cut. This test is most revealing with a hard nosed bar and an upward cut. No oil will keep a bar/chain cool if the chain is dull, so this test should be with a sharp chain.

 

[2Coilinveins]

I've used vegi oil in several saws with no ill effects, and continue to do so. Bars seem to last just as long as they did with regular bar oil, and chains seem to stay sharp longer.

 

[njforestfire]

I have a good supply available of bar oil...wonder if it could be mixed with the veggie oil (1 to 1 ratio or 50%) to increase the duration of bar oil one has to use. I would think since the viscosity is different between bar and veggie oil, one would have to turn down the oiler supply feed rate if possible? Would suck if one couldn't do that on the older, non-adjustable oilers. I would think it would be sitting in a pool of veggie oil then....IMO.

 

[Molecule]

Hope you love cleaning your saws ... real good!

I'm convinced that while heat is the acknowledged or "visible" killer of saws, sawdust is the most vicious of the so-called unacknowledged or "invisibile" killers of a saw. And, the worst kind of sawdust by far, is the oil-impregnated sawdust that saturates everything around a saw when it breathes.

Of the 3 saws I've bought which had seized, all from eBay, the saws were compacted througoutt (including under the flywheel ... inside the oil pump ... everywhere imaginable) with a 1/8" to 1" layer a kind of dried out and hardened oil-impregnated sawdust. In one case, a 120si, the air filter compartment was so compacted with the cr@p, there was no way that carb could breathe thru the air filter (the sawdust cake could not be removed from the fabric of the filter without destroying the filter itself), let alone the control valve air vent on the bottom of the carb (and the metering value loses its "access" to atmospheric pressure, the fuel pump is no longer able to deliver its fuel pressure to the jets, and the saw leans out ... from dust! blocking air to a 1/16" breather hole.)

In one case, the oil impregnated sawdust was hardened like a brick. And lo!, the oil in the oil tank was a pink color ... I never saw oil like that! It smelled like it could have been vegetable oil. It could also have been maybe a detergent soap (which might also make an interesting bar lube).

TMALSH, if I was going to use vegetable oil, I would (a) use a chain whose characteristic is low sawdust generating (a subject for worthwhile thread IMHO, if someone has any experience with that .. maybe the semi-chisel might be better than the full chisel in terms of minimum sawdust at the end of a day), and (b) don't let vegetable oil impregnated sawdust (which fills the air everywhere around the saw) harden up on you. The one I had looked like it had been put up for a couple of months, but at some point, it had hardened up like a brick, while in other abused saws using regular mineral oil, the sawdust was relatively soft and easy to clean.

 

[rupedoggy]

I like to use the bacon grease left over from the local diner. If I cut just before lunch the smell makes my co-workers hungry. They buy more food at the local diner and then I have more bar lube. It does clog a bit on cold days.

 

[Bills Oak]

Bar Oil

I could not stand it any more so here goes!--I cut a HELL OF A LOT of Oak--really hard stuff & I use my old drained off diesel oil out of my truck mixed 50/50 with 90 weight gear lube--much less expensive than any commercial bar oils!. I can see no difference in bar & or chain wear using this mix. The problem I have with bar oils like Husquvarna is that they are sticky & everything sticks to the bar when this gooey crap is used, i.e. sand, dirt, wood chips, etc. This extra grit does more damage than appreciable bar wear using any other decent lubricant. My old mac saws with roller tips lube just fine & I have not had a failure yet. My Husquvarnas get used daily--about four tanks of fuel & bar oil each & they also do just fine if maintained properly. Thanks--I feel better now!.....Bill Irvine

 

[bvaught]

Why dont all you veggie oil guys start putting that in your automobile crankcase. Couldnt hurt, theres no "real evidence" one is better than the other. And its got to be better for the environment.

From now on Im using bacon grease too. I like the smell, and if it clogs because its too cold out, the heat from the bar not getting lubricated willl eventually heat up the grease and it will start working again.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Why dont all you veggie oil guys start putting that in your automobile crankcase. Couldnt hurt, theres no "real evidence" one is better than the other. And its got to be better for the environment.

If you're making a funny, why not put in a smiley

I'll take it that you're serious. Do you realize the different lubrication of a chainsaw and a motor? Also, what the consequences of using the wrong lube? If a bar/chain/sprocket goes bad it costs a few dollars. There seems to be a lot of vege-bar-ians posting about their success. What's the harm in giving it a try?

I got a chuckle from the anti-veggie posts I would expect that feedback if we were talking about the choice of something important like a hunting dog

 

[Lobo]

If you're making a funny, why not put in a smiley

I'll take it that you're serious. Do you realize the different lubrication of a chainsaw and a motor? Also, what the consequences of using the wrong lube? If a bar/chain/sprocket goes bad it costs a few dollars. There seems to be a lot of vege-bar-ians posting about their success. What's the harm in giving it a try?

Tom, Its gotta be some engineers humour, you know how some of them knot holes can be !