Best substitute for bar and chain oil

[Egg Shooter]

Mineral oil sticks to clean metal surfaces "by nature".

Also:
1 - tacky oil will resist being pumped more than "normal" oil
2 - the tackier the B&C oil the more drag it causes while non/less tacky oil will lube and actually promote lesser drag
3 - worth considering, how much space is there between a chains individual components, which oil will penetrate all crevices faster the tacky or the less tacky one?

I am by no means against using dedicated B&C oil!
But if it's more expensive than other mineral oils I'll pass.
Budget B&C oils seem to be fairly non tacky anyway, I bet they are recycled used oil in many cases which I don't mind if the pricing reflects that.

Way back when I switched from Stihl bar oil to the synthetic gear lube the saw felt "freer running" and snappier. Less drag = more power at the cut. Less pumping power loss too. Thicker fluids require more energy to move.

 

[rogue60]

I've bought exactly one 4L bottle of bar oil in my life so far lol it was bout ten year ago and $35 yeah no thanks got better things to spend my hard earned on.
I've used all kinds of cheap oil anything but "bar oil" sometimes I even test run oil in my ute for 5000k to make sure it's good oil before using it as bar oil only the best oil for my saws lol.

 

[Kiwioilboiler]

I've bought exactly one 4L bottle of bar oil in my life so far lol it was bout ten year ago and $35 yeah no thanks got better things to spend my hard earned on.
I've used all kinds of cheap oil anything but "bar oil" sometimes I even test run oil in my ute for 5000k to make sure it's good oil before using it as bar oil only the best oil for my saws lol.

You break so many saw 'laws' that the millions of metres of Aussie hardwood sleepers you've cut are surely beginners luck...

 

[Sawrain]

Very important to remember that a number of people here are in the situation of being able to buy motor oil at half the price of bar oil, that is just the deal some places, so you have to consider that context.

It might not have the tack (obvious adhesive/cohesive properties), but I wonder if gear oil/motor oils most likely better base stock, additives package, VI, etc can help to make up for that, I doubt much development goes into cheap bar oil, make it appear tacky/stringy like people expect and it's job done?


Chart like Adam mentioned below, the viscosities of most substitutes do fall inside the normal ISO 100-200 range of bar oil, hydraulic oil excluded.

 

[Philbert]

I can often buy generic B&C oil here on sale for $4 / gallon, so it is not normally an issue, and usually the most cost effective option. Likely it is reprocessed motor oil, but as long as it seems to work, and does not stink from sulphur, I am OK with that. My interest in the thread is for those limited times when I need to improvise.

Philbert

 

[Wilhelm]

There is one dealer in my town that on rare occasions has very affordable B&C oil from Serbia.
He gets a pallet full of it in, places a sale price on the stuff and sells it off within days.

I used that oil bucking logs at an accuaintance of mine, works fine, doesn't smell, is quite fluid and not as tacky as one would expect from something claiming to be B&C oil.

Most likely recycled oil which I don't mind.

 

[rogue60]

You break so many saw 'laws' that the millions of metres of Aussie hardwood sleepers you've cut are surely beginners luck...

Was a family effort and a lot of gut busting hard work over the years.
We never did compromise the reliability of your Stihl saws just used what worked and worked well proven through decades of use as far as oils.
Had no time for issues with a saw with mountains of work to do rain hail or heatwave was always flat to the floor orders to cut for the railways.

 

[SpaceBus]

One big downside to a chainsaw is the way the lubricating oil is dispersed through the air during operation. Most oils used in lubricating the chain are carcinogenic if consumed. I recommend wearing at least a dust mask when using a chainsaw, even vegetable based oils are probably not ideal for your lungs.

 

[Wilhelm]

One big downside to a chainsaw is the way the lubricating oil is dispersed through the air during operation. Most oils used in lubricating the chain are carcinogenic if consumed. I recommend wearing at least a dust mask when using a chainsaw, even vegetable based oils are probably not ideal for your lungs.

What is NOT poisonous and unhealthy in some way nowadays?!

Oil is the least of my worries!

 

[rogue60]

Lol this might work..

 

[SpaceBus]

What is NOT poisonous and unhealthy in some way nowadays?!

Oil is the least of my worries!

If you use a chainsaw all the time it isn't. Plenty of things are not poisonous and unhealthy, just need to wear PPE.

 

[SpaceBus]

Lol this might work..

View attachment 297349

I literally wear a dust mask, chaps, gloves, ear pro, and eye pro. The only difference between me and professionals is that they might not wear the dust mask. I think it is silly that you guys make jokes about being safe as if being injured, ill, or dead is hilarious.

 

[Egg Shooter]

I literally wear a dust mask, chaps, gloves, ear pro, and eye pro. The only difference between me and professionals is that they might not wear the dust mask. I think it is silly that you guys make jokes about being safe as if being injured, ill, or dead is hilarious.

I think the point is there are much worse things to worry about than bar oil mist. Ya know, skin cancer fir instance. Also, arisols are not stopped by most masks. If you can smell it, you are breathing it in. Not saying bar oil gets misted enough to be considered arisol but 2 stroke exhaust is. I recommend a battery saw and canola oil for you.

 

[Steve Taylor]

If you have any milling equipment near you I have run 5 gallons of horizontal milling oil.
Works very well and smells just like bar oil.

 

[SpaceBus]

I think the point is there are much worse things to worry about than bar oil mist. Ya know, skin cancer fir instance. Also, arisols are not stopped by most masks. If you can smell it, you are breathing it in. Not saying bar oil gets misted enough to be considered arisol but 2 stroke exhaust is. I recommend a battery saw and canola oil for you.

Say what you want, but n95 dust masks absolutely do work. I can't smell anything through them, even pumping diesel. I can't figure out why we suffered for so long with toxic fumes when the answer was already there. I would be thrilled for battery saws that would be capable of keeping up with me, but there simply isn't anything on the market that would support that.

 

[wesamswailem]

The tree is a nice color. What is it? I'll guess that it stains paint and things well too!

Royal poinciana


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Egg Shooter]

Say what you want, but n95 dust masks absolutely do work. I can't smell anything through them, even pumping diesel. I can't figure out why we suffered for so long with toxic fumes when the answer was already there. I would be thrilled for battery saws that would be capable of keeping up with me, but there simply isn't anything on the market that would support that.

Thats why I said MOST masks not ALL masks. You can obviously choose to be overly cautious and fearful. That's within your rights. I choose to not sweat the small stuff.....like bar oil mist outside......where there is most often a breeze I can have at my back. If I dont have oily mist on my glasses im not hovering it up. Grilling, I get the grease mist on my glasses from burgers. You wear a mask to grill? Do you even eat grilled food? It linked to stomach and colon cancer ya know.

 

[Mastermind]

Thats why I said MOST masks not ALL masks. You can obviously choose to be overly cautious and fearful. That's within your rights. I choose to not sweat the small stuff.....like bar oil mist outside......where there is most often a breeze I can have at my back. If I dont have oily mist on my glasses im not hovering it up. Grilling, I get the grease mist on my glasses from burgers. You wear a mask to grill? Do you even eat grilled food? It linked to stomach and colon cancer ya know.

I stopped eating red meat. Dangerous to the cattle you know.

 

[Egg Shooter]

I stopped eating red meat. Dangerous to the cattle you know.

We have a good friend that is one of those fellers..... won't even use sun block "because the CHEMICALS"! He got the melanoma. Got it all this time. Next time maybe not. Still refuses the sun block. THE CHEMICALS!

 

[SpaceBus]

Thats why I said MOST masks not ALL masks. You can obviously choose to be overly cautious and fearful. That's within your rights. I choose to not sweat the small stuff.....like bar oil mist outside......where there is most often a breeze I can have at my back. If I dont have oily mist on my glasses im not hovering it up. Grilling, I get the grease mist on my glasses from burgers. You wear a mask to grill? Do you even eat grilled food? It linked to stomach and colon cancer ya know.

You do you, I'll do me.