Stihl bar oil costs $17US/gal - can I use motor oil?

R.Boreal

I looked for a previous thread on this...

It just seems logical to me that a lightweight motor oil would work as well. I mean crikey, if it stands up to crankshaft bearings, how in the world could it not protect a bar and chain? I imagine as long as I go with a light viscosity that the small pumps in my Stihl's will move, I should be golden.

I was knocked back at the price last time purchased. This local shop is not known for being reasonable, but I imagine by the time I add shipping, internet wouldn't be much better.

I do know of one cheaper alternative - Poulan bar oil from a home store. Bought it once long ago, but didn't like the viscosity. Seems much thinner than Husky or Stihl branded bar. I want to save money, not burn up my bar and chains.

Any comments, horror stories, etc??

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Willard Holmen

Go to your grocery store and pickup a gallon of canola oil for about $5. Not corn oil, sunflower oil etc....... buy canola oil. Never use used oil either.
Canola takes better heat then regular petroleum baroil. On a hot frying pan put a drop of baroil and a drop of canola oil on it at the same time, see which one smokes first.
People say "well baroil has a tacktifier agent in it". The truth is, sure it sticks to a cold bar and chain. But when the b/c is heated up the tacky stuff is gone off the end of the bar all over your boots, clothing.
I've been using canola in my saws for over a year now and I would never go back to regular bar oil.

Willard.

R.Boreal

That's an amazing tip. I have read 30W oil with STP for tackiness, and yatta yatta. But have a non-toxic solution would really be preferable. My MS-310 is about 7 yrs old with its orig. 23" bar, and the groove is still 9-10mm deep. so obviously the factory stuff works well. But if Canola oil works as well as you say, I think I'll change over. Certainly cheaper, A?

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I'm not smug, but I do feel elevated.

Willard Holmen

Give the canola oil a try, its got very strong lubrication properties. you also won't worry when you wash your work clothes with your kids clothes, if you got kids.
I see your Canadian "A" lingo should be "eh". But that doesn't matter because its basically an eastern Canadian thing . Here in central Canada [Manitoba] we don't speak it . We also have the same neutral english accent as the folks from California.
But try the canola.

Willard

R.Boreal

Hey there Willard. Canola on sale at local store for $7 a gal. Ha! That's $10/gal savings. Returned the 2 gals of Stihl bar. Lemme know if you're ever around the Philly area. It's a good tip, I owe you a drink!

PS - I only use 'A' because it reads more like it sounds, y'know? I write it all the time in emails - wasn't thinking about you hailing from Rush-land (One of my all time favorite bands for sure.)

G'Day,

Miko

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I'm not smug, but I do feel elevated.

Willard Holmen

Miko I'm sure you'll be happy with the canola oil. Tree Machine started a thread on another site about canola bar oil and that thread went on for about 4 years.
Yes Rush is a fine band I grew up with them . Last summer I found a remastered CD of their very first album that came out in 1974 [I was 16 then and had that album in 8 track tape] Still sounds excellent especially the 1 st track "Finding My Way" and the last track "Working Man". Listen to these songs on You Tube video, they still raise the hairs on my arms.
I believe Eric Frei has a video on this site with "Working Man" as background music.
Yeah if I'm ever in Philly I'll take you up on a beer.
Willard.

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Bruce Hopf

I've got one more 4 Liter jug of light bar oil to go, for winter cutting of fire wood, then I'll be switching over to Canola oil.
I raided the shelves at TSC, when the price of bar oil was $8.99 (that was 3 years ago), for a 4 liter jug, so I have lots of heavy oil, about 6 jugs of it left out in the barn, then it will all be canola oil I'll be using. Bruce.

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Cut4fun

Bruce TSC here is $5.99 right now per US Gal.

danschweitzer

cheers for sharing all the info guys does this have a different name here in england,or is it available here i dont think i ve ever seen it. never looked mind, will be keeping my eyes open next time i go shopping.

1duck

Cannola oil over here in britain is called rapeseed oil :-P i too shall give this a go! good tip for sure.

Willard Holmen

Here in Canada we used to call it rapeseed but changed it to canola to better market it seeing the US calls it that and they are our largest trading partner. Lots of canola produced here in Canada.

Willard.

R.Boreal

Well, seems like a good fit. It sprays off the chain like nobody's business, but I don't care. Certainly, when I'm cutting there's no evidence of undue heat during or after. Bars still look good, no discoloring.

One word of caution - it gets used up quicker than the Stihl bar oil I had been using. I don't know for sure if it will last a whole tank of fuel in my MS200T climber's saw. (I have the oiler cranked all the way up.) So keep an eye on it.

And here's a thought, but I'm no physicist...
Since it's thinner, I think it runs higher volume, a bit lower pressure thru the oil pump. I was seeing no spray at all one morning until I cleaned the bar groove of my climbing saw. I never had to do this before. I mean, I've cleaned it, but I never HAD to because I was seeing no lube coming thru, not with the MS200. So it doesn't force thru as well (in my experience) as the thicker stuff. This was just recently here in PA, USA. Temp was maybe 50*

Still, I think it works great. Smells like a deep fryer at your local burger place.

__________________
I'm not smug, but I do feel elevated.

Willard Holmen

R Boreal you are probably used to having red dye in your bar oil, unless your Stihl Baroil is clear like we get here in Canada. Red dye looks like you have lots of oil on the chain ,where clear looks dry.
If your bar's oil hole plugged up that probably happened because your max setting ran the oil tank dry way before the gas did. For example I never touched my MS200's setting so its probably at the middle factory setting. Same with my other saws.
If you want to increase oil pressure at the bar's oil hole with a lighter oil, fill the oil hole with solder and then drill a smaller hole alongside it.

Willard.

R.Boreal

Oh God we got a tinkerer here, what with solder and drilling and whatnot! Actually, I ran the saw dry the other day and when I came down, there was still some canola left. Certainly enough for a nice fish dinner. };p

So no worries there. And yes, it is harder to see, comes off the chain as a fine mist, the light has to be just right. I normally check it against something where the spray shows up when it throws. So it actually wasn't flowing that other time - I had a dirty groove. (You dirty little groove... Ha!)

Really working out great, just as you said. On one of the other threads, I mentioned that my MS310 bar had oil flow problems, and I eventually traced that down to a loose (don't know watchacallit) bit of metal in the bar groove. Stihl put two little "steps" on either side of the oil hole on the MS310 bar, maybe to create a barrier so the sawdust doesn't easily back up into the oiler hole. Anyway, one of those steps came loose and slid in the channel, and was actually blocking the oil hole almost totally. I thought they would be part of the bar, but they're not, they are inserts. So I turned the bar around and it's better. But that's not such a great design. You really have to keep your eye on stuff, as I'm sure you well know.

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I'm not smug, but I do feel elevated.

Willard Holmen

Yes tinkering from the enduser is very much part of millions of dollars spent on product research and development. Without input from guys like you or me Stihl or Husqvarna or whomever would never be in business.
That "eco" insert was an idea Stihl introduced years ago. It was designed to stop baroil from running down the bar groove onto the ground or the floor of your garage.

Willard.

Garry Brockley

ive been useing canola for a couple of months i haven't seen any excessive wear or stretching of the chains, i actually think my pole saw oils better with it i lay it on the floor yesterday and reved it up there was a distinct line of oil on the ground thats the first time ive seen it on the pole saw which has always had issues, plus it smells of chip shops not burning oil and it comes out of the chainsaw pants easier.

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R.Boreal

Saw this in their 2010 catalog... (attached)

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__________________
I'm not smug, but I do feel elevated.