Chain saw bar oil homebrew

Anything besides bar and chain oil that you can use in a chainsaw? I can't get ahold of my old tree falling buddy, but if I recall right, he used to use something that he made from vegatable oil or something? Used motor oil? Anyone got any homebrews?

 

Plain 30 wt motor oil (clean and new) is acceptable, don't use old engine oil.

There are some biodegradable substitutes available, Stihl markets some mix and bar and chain lube that I believe are vegetable based. Ultra Plus 2-cycle mix and Bio Plus Bar and Chain Lube.

 

I have only 27 years in the business but I disagree with 30-year. I say SAE 30 engine oil will fly off as soon as it gets onto the chain doing the chain, bar and sprocket little good. Strider, with as many Lowes and Home Depot's in the world, not to mention the independent saw dealers, why don't you use what should be used and buy a gallon of bar & chain oil? FYI, this oil is the same viscosity as SAE 140 gear oil but is has additives to keep it tacky so that it won't fly off a chain that is doing in excess of 4000 RPM. If you're trying to save a buck, may I recommend seeing your local oil distributor and purchasing a 55-gallon barrel of bar & chain oil. Cost per ounce is pretty resonable with the barrel.

 

I run 40 weight in cold weather, as I don't trust bar & chain oil to run thru the pump and passages like it should when it's below freezing.

 

Well puey61, I am just offering advise from the knowledge I have accumulated from my years in this business. I certainly do not not know everything there is to know about this industry, but I do know a little bit.

Most bar and chain oil has a 30 wt sae viscosity with friction reducing agents and additives to make it tacky and help keep it on the bar. I really don't think 140 weight oil would meter through the oiler in the cold winter and I am not sure it would even work in the summer months.

There has not always been available Bar and Chain Lube. In the 1970's most all of the major chainsaw manufactures (McCulloch, Homelite, Poulan) recommended 30 weight motor oil for the bar and chain. I have used 30 wt oil in my chainsaws over the years with no drastic wear characteristics then when compared to bar and chain lube. I am sure if you are using the equipment heavily or in commercial applications you would be able to tell a difference. The most important thing is to use some kind of lubricant and to not run the bar and chain dry.

 

Just to be sure I had not gone senile, I checked owner's manuals for various model chainsaws from Poulan, Echo and Stihl and all recommend SAE 30 wt for summer and SAE 20 or 10 wt for winter in absence of bar and chain lube.

 

sounds good! I plan to continue buying gallons of bar and chain, but just incase I was in a bind, I wanted to know what I could use.

 

Hello: strider380

Just in case you're in a bind? Try this home brew.

Mix STP or similar product, to regular motor oil. Mix ratio about 1/3rd STP to 2/3rds oil. Works well. Provides the sticky/tacky adhesion required.

Bar and chain oil is not the same as standard motor oil. Standard motor oil is constantly being used, cleaned, circulating and reused in an engine. Bar and chain oil is not.

Bar & chain oil must be sticky/tacky in order to adhere to a chain rotating on a bar at about 60 miles per hour. Regular motor oil alone will not provide the protection from friction needed. Adding STP will.

Regards & Good Luck. Sharp Advice.
25 year Vocational Small Engine Tech. Web Site Host, Forums Monitor and Multiple Topics Moderator.

 

It would seem to me that going to the trouble of trying to create a product readily available out of questionable ingredients,questionable oil or other products that are sold at the very same places that carry the right product to use in a saw is a pointless endeavor.

What kind of bind would someone be to be able to buy STP but not bar and chain oil?

In these times of businesses being open 7 days a week and having longer hours I can't believe anyone would really need to make "homemade" bar oil or be unable to go and get the real thing.

And I can tell you that it is likely that any damages to an under warranty saw caused by improper oiling would be the "homemade oil makers" responsibilty.

 

Spectrum Oil Corp has three different viscosity BAR & CHAIN oils, SAE 30, 20 and 10. 30 being good for hot climates (summer), 20 good for cool climates (spring and autumn) and 10 for cold climates (winter). 30 is roughly the equivalent of 140 weight gear oil, 20 is comparable to 120 weight and 10 is close to 85 weight. I don't recall a manual ever indicating to use 30 weight motor oil for bar oil but I do remember when an owners manual specified using 40 weight engine oil to mix with your fuel for use in two-stroke cycle engines but we now have oil specific for these engines, not four-stroke cycle engine oil. And I remember the Lauson overhead valve engine (exposed valve train) requiring the operator to use a pop can of unrefined oil to keep the valve train quiet. And I remember leaded gasoline. And points and condensor. And only two or three different heat range spark plugs. Point being, we have come a long way and maybe not always for the better but, in most cases, we have products on the market that are for intended purposes and since obtaining these products is relatively simple, it is best to use the proper tool for the job at hand.

 

You know puey, that was not the original question that was asked. They simply wanted to know if there was something else that could be used in lieu of bar and chain oil.

I don't know why you feel the need to criticize my posts, but if it makes you feel like you know more or are better then the rest of us, well good for you. If you pick up a chain saw's owners manual and read it you will see what the manufactures recommend. The proper tool is what the manufacture recommends.

SAE 30 is NOT 140 and it's not gear oil either, it's 30 weight plain and simple.

If you don't want me posting on here you could have just said so. I have 34 years of experience repairing 2 and 4 cycle engines and outdoor power equipment. I am an MST, have attended factory schools for most all of the major equipment manufactures, and have taught small engine theory and repair.
I have always told my students that there is more then one correct way to do things, as long as the end result is the same. Do what works for you.

I was just simply sharing information and ideas with others who were asking for advise. I was not trying to get in a p*****g contest with you or anyone else, although it seems I have. Since you seem to have all the answers and have this forum well under control, I will just wish you the best of luck, and stick with the other forums that welcome my contributions.

Good Day...

 

Easy now...

I don't see a pi**ing match. I see a disagreement handled amicably until this point, where you got a little thin-skinned...which is easy to do on a forum-based conversation. I know because I've done it too. It's all good, and it's all about helping folks get their stuff fixed, not our egos. (right??) Don't let a difference of opinion run you off.

The way I figure, both of you are right. I have used 30 weight oil for bar oil in a pinch (if you're out in the country 35 minutes from the closest store, 2 miles deep in the woods with a 4 wheel drive and a 16 foot trailer loaded with wood, and your jug of bar oil fell over in the bed of the truck and spilled out, there is such a thing as getting in a pinch). It worked and didn't hurt the saw itself. I've used it for a few hours at a time. It didn't/doesn't work as well as bar oil, and the chain was worse for the wear, but it did the job for as long as I needed it to. So I personally would say you can use it in a pinch, but don't expect it to work like bar oil. It's better than nothing.

 

I realize that this reply is years late but perhaps I can resolve the difference of opinion on this subject for any future readers. I suspect that the suggester of SAE 140 may have mistaken it for 'ISO 140' which is recommended by some chain saw manufacturers and approximates SAE 40 viscosity It appears that some chain saw manufacturers actually use an ISO rating and others SAE. for Chain Bars. ISO 100 approximates SAE 30. However, the viscosity used for chainsaw, chainbars is not merely an SAE 30/40 or ISO 100/150 viscosity because it also includes additional additives and "tackifiers".

 

The US Forest Service did some tests and concluded that vegetable oil works fine and has the benefit of not being a carcinogen or pollutant.

Google this study from the Canadian Forest Service to see the US report "FERIC General Field Note Number 35"

 

It should be noted that this was not done with convensional cooking oil
I took a really quick look and this is esentially the same idea as bio-fuel. Instead of using petrolium as the base, they are using vegetable-based (or canola-based) oils. As per the article I looked over, it's been in the market since the mid 1980's in europe (where petroilium is way too expensive).

Not exactly a homebrew bar oil (possible, but not what the OP was looking for).


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