In the video above, Project Farm compared different chain bar oils and the Harvest King came out on top overall. In one category HK finished second behind the Mobil Delvac motor oil with the second smallest metal scar. Mobil Delvac had the smallest wear scar size. Is it ok to add and combine a little Mobil motor oil to the Harvest King chain bar oil for added metal protection or will it cause malfunctions/damage to the saw? Have any of you done that as an experiment to see or is there another superior lubricant you can add to chain bar oil for added protection against metal wear?
Oils ain’t oils as the old advert went!
This is long grab a cuppa!!!
One of the biggest arguments around engines etc all kinds, revolves around oils quite often
Anyway, my experience is this that follows, take it with a bag of salt or not its up to you. In writing this here i also refer to always having ‘sharp chains’ not blunt stuff.
The bar oil is there to lubricate the bar, chain & sprocket tip if it has one, in low horsepower saws high quality bar oil is not as much of an issue due to less torque and ability to cut at high speeds. In high horsepower saws, i will use my 592 for eg here, one must use good quality bar oil or severe wear on bar rails and sprocket tips occurs. Why? Because friction causes heat and heating steel causes it to soften, the other factor is this saw has the power to accept high pressure at the uses handles and still cut without dying or slowing much in the rev department. I disappointingly and surprisingly found this out the hard way. The bar oil i used for decades was my mix of purchased chain and bar oil mixed fifty fifty with 85/140 gear oil, i would be given or purchase cheap in unused containers, or at times if it were clean direct from a differential it would be filtered. I had very very little bar wear in fact i have work bars thirty years old i still use, dress them, run sharp chains, oil them well, replace a tip when required and they last. Heres my catch- i next ran the new gulf western bar oil upon release it was excellent stuff, and then the 592 is bought, all of a sudden a new hot running cannon duralite
but couldn’t work out why? Hot to me is a bar you cant hold after cutting, also bar wear
one bar for the price of two plus in Au’. I had refilled the combi can but when i got to the last of the oil i noticed the oil colour change and viscosity in its pour and thats when the penny dropped
the viscosity/oil thickness had been changed! I had noticed the blue colour as opposed to yellow prior but didn’t read the label. The new oil is 150 in its weight, the older batches were 220 weight oil! The two oils had stayed separated and the last full tank was the old 220, no heat its gone! I rang the tech department and found out that yes they had changed the viscosity from a 220 to a thinner 150 grade, apparently to suit manufactures requirements! Now back to mixing oils- any 150 viscosity oil mixed with a 85w140 gear oil will give you a 220 grade.
I now but Atlantic Oils 220 chain and bar oil, as GW are not at this stage reproducing there 220. Bar wear is back to not being noticed and they run warm not hot, expensive lesson to learn when one considers bar prices and imho i have not found any bar as good as the cannon. The brand new fitted husky xtough lite was blued and showed wear on its first tank of fuel being lightly used
its hung on the wall ever since, yes husky bar oil is a 150 grade here in Au’ i imagine the same elsewhere. Now here’s a bit if trivia, the stihl 660 magnum i have will not drive a blunt chain anywhere close to the 592, i just dont go there with it even if its just the last few blocks to cut, and it does not therefor put the pressure on the rails anywhere near as much, but dont friends take that as a cheap excuse to not use quality oil, learn to understand when your equipment is happy. Now back on powerhead wear as some ask does this happen?- Over general wear imo it all comes from dull chains and excessive force, and clogged air-filters, maintain your gear and it lasts for years, if it ain’t cutting well then sort it out, if you cant hand file on the spot then put another chain on or learn, i am still running a 1994 61 orange-top over new stuff as a go to saw beside the 592 & 562, yes with its original 20” oregon bar that now uses an .063 chain and not .058 its been a work saw and weekend saw all its life and has given no trouble nil, other than a failed ngk plug, keep them sharp friends and turn that oil screw up to max run them tank for tank. And does the so called thicker oil affect the oil pump? (Remember its been a 220 for a long time GW and AO and few even knew) in my forty years of swinging off saws, No, not even in the minus degrees C. And the Trivia is- when i mixed the old 150 bar oil with 85/140 i never knew i had brewed a 220 weight oil! But i knew i had very low wear and cool running bars!! Go with your gut when things are working well, take note and smile
