Bar oil summer vs winter

[pbillyi69]

i doesnt get cold enough here for me to really worry too much about thick bar oil. if its that cold out i would not be out there working i it unless its an emergency. thankfully. but where it gets really cold you can do what some of the others have suggested by thinning the oil or just get some that is already thinned down. i just depends on how much time you want to spend screwing around with oil.

 

[Philbert]

i doesnt get cold enough here for me to really worry too much about thick bar oil. if its that cold out i would not be out there working

If it’s cold enough, you don’t need bar oil, in the right applications!

* Note: I would suggest a modified 2-wheel dolly, to saw from a standing position.

And many people make a notch, and attach a large, trolling motor for movement.

Philbert

 

[pbillyi69]

i like it. i did a tree job one time where the only way to get the wood out was in a lake or on the barge that we had to rent from the city that the lake was in. we did a fair amount of limbing with our bars in the water. luckily it was an unusually warm winter that year because we got pretty wet every day. running the bar under water.

 

[bwalker]

I thin 25% with kerosene in cold weather: this was a recommendation from Oregon (?), or in a manual from one of my saws.

I don’t like the small of diesel.

Corded electric and battery saws don’t have internal combustion to heat up the bar & chain oil. But, because they don’t contain mixed gasoline, I can safely keep them warm, indoors, or in the cab of a vehicle, until use.

I have used battery saws down to about 20°F. The same batteries are used to power ice fishing augers, etc. Just don’t charge them when frozen.

Philbert

Mineral spirits works too and is cheaper than Kero in many cases.

 

[Jeff Lary]

Mineral Spirits, I never thought of that. I am going to get a re-fillable air pressurized sprayer for my shop. was told many people fill them with mineral spirits instead of bulk carb cleaner or brake cleaner because its cheaper.

 

[IffykidMn]

If it’s cold enough, you don’t need bar oil, in the right applications!

* Note: I would suggest a modified 2-wheel dolly, to saw from a standing position.

And many people make a notch, and attach a large, trolling motor for movement.

Philbert

I am not certain but believe that the guys cutting spearing holes in the lake use vegetable oil for bar oil for pollution reasons.

 

[Joe Kidd]

Probably not needed with the excessive water, I'd guess.

 

[Philbert]

I am not certain but believe that the guys cutting spearing holes in the lake use vegetable oil for bar oil for pollution reasons.

Probably not needed with the excessive water, I'd guess.

What I have heard is no oil, and sometimes, no depth gauges (!) for a dedicated, ‘ice only’ chain.

Philbert

 

[redline4]

Most of the saws I've seen that were set up for ice had a grease gun attached to the top handle and the hose connecting somewhere at the clutch cover.
What was actually in there as far as lubricant goes I couldn't say.

 

[Joe Kidd]

I've got some VP (rated down to -9°) and Husky all season (rated down to +15°) that I'll test at 5-10° in the freezer when I get a chance, to see which one flows the best, cause I don't have anything better to do.

 

[Lions fan]

I am not certain but believe that the guys cutting spearing holes in the lake use vegetable oil for bar oil for pollution reasons.

We used to dump the bar oil out and fill it with dish soap.

 

[Mig_Selv]

In negative F, even canola oil has a viscosity index, somewhere around that of Hellmanns mayonnaise, and gets difficult to handle.
I was working in -5F yesterday, and at that temp, it's no longer simple to make oil do it's job, not damage the pump, and generally just be able to pour it in the tank.
Oregon bar oil, simply refuses to leave the jug at that temperature.
I give the canola oil 10% isopropyl alcohol. It doesn't stink, is relatively harmless to its surroundings and does the job.
This is good down to -20F. At that low temps, it can't catch fire.

 

[IffykidMn]

i doesnt get cold enough here for me to really worry too much about thick bar oil. if its that cold out i would not be out there working i it unless its an emergency. thankfully. but where it gets really cold you can do what some of the others have suggested by thinning the oil or just get some that is already thinned down. i just depends on how much time you want to spend screwing around with oil.

Being able to work and earn money might not be an emergency but was considered rather important , many a morning we started out at -20/30f and never used anything but summer blend squeezed out of the jug or prewarmed under the trucks floor heater.

 

[IffykidMn]

Being able to work and earn money might not be an emergency but was considered rather important , many a morning we started out at -20/30f and never used anything but summer blend squeezed out of the jug or prewarmed under the trucks floor heater.

I still have a couple of my 10mm 044s with heated handles that I ran back in the mid 1980s and they still have their original oil pumps in working condition.

 

[IffykidMn]

We used to dump the bar oil out and fill it with dish soap.

Did it look like a very cold bubble bath brrrrrrrrrrrrrr ?

 

[Mig_Selv]

Won't that kill oil pumps if done on regular basis?
Or was it something you did, once in a blue moon?
Here it's around -15F a large part of the year, hence the canola oil / isoprpyl mix, based on the assumption that oil too thick to get out of the fueler, won't do much better in the saw, but it's nothing I can claim to have tested long term.

 

[Mig_Selv]

I still have a couple of my 10mm 044s with heated handles that I ran back in the mid 1980s and they still have their original oil pumps in working condition.

Thanks
You answered my question as I typed it.

 

[Jusgunn3]

Canola is what I use but I do not work in negative temps, it does get nice and thin in the 110f summer days.

 

[Al Smith]

If it's that cold I just stay in the house .

 

[Loony661]

Dedicated B&C oil is a hoax/scam for the masses to milk $$$ off.

Nuff said!

Suit Yourself!

You’re a broken record. Bar and chain oil is cheaper here than canola, and cheaper than hydraulic fluid.

I understand it’s not that way where you are, but for a lot of us, bar and chain oil is the less expensive option. So yes, I’ll continue to buy it and talk about it here with peers.

“You’re barking up the wrong tree” as we say around here, when you try and tell us that they are scamming us.