Chain oil

dodge man · Dec 25, 2017

Can you use motor oil for bar and chain oil? I have got some leftover oil sae 30 and 10w-30 that is new oil but has been sitting around a few years. Ok or a bad idea?

Toyboy · Dec 25, 2017

Bad idea. Bar oil is thicker and has additive in it to help it cling to chain. Put your left over oil in a oil can instead

DieselnHooters · Dec 25, 2017

Are we talking about a couple of liters or some pails ?

A few thankful is allright although regular bar oil is preferable because it sticks to the bar better

motownbrowne · Dec 25, 2017

I don't think it'll hurt anything, especially if you mix it 50/50 with some bar oil. Personally, I don't like the smell of motor oil, so I wouldn't use, but I wouldn't worry about it causing any problems. Now used motor oil on the other hand is something I wouldn't even consider. I've met people that use it exclusively, but it really makes a mess of saws!

tjkubota93 · Dec 26, 2017

I have used it in the past, it doesn't work that well. Like they said, bar oil has some snot like properties that make it work well. I use the Wal mart kind. It doesn't work as well as good kind, but it works better than motor oil.

4570Man · Dec 26, 2017

I usually use the $8 a gallon bar oil at tractor supply that goes on sale for $6 a gallon. I've used hydraulic oil in a pinch. Bar oil is obviously better, but I don't think occasionally running a tank full of whatever new oil you have laying around is going to hurt anything.

Egon · Dec 26, 2017

Motor oil has additives that are not environmently friendly.

dodge man · Dec 26, 2017

I have about three quarts of oil laying around I want to get rid of. I have a conainer that is about a pint in size that a dump out of a gallon jug and use to fill the saw. I blended maybe 20% motor oil with bar oil and thought maybe it was a huge mistake. I did some reading on the internet and got some conflicting data. It doesn’t sound like a big deal. Thanks for the responses, I often trust this web site for answers more than other random web sites.

s219 · Dec 26, 2017

Bar oil has "tackifiers" that help it do the intended job, just like oils you'd use on various machinery where you want the oil to stick to a surface. Motor oil doesn't. I know a guy who used uses motor oil in his saws on occasion, because he's cheap and can't bear to not use/reuse/hoard materials, and even he says it's not nearly as good.

xyz123 · Dec 27, 2017

Mix it in with bar oil IMHO. Summer weight is 30wt and winter weight is 10wt. Yes it can be used up. JMO

tjkubota93 · Dec 27, 2017

dodge man said:
I have about three quarts of oil laying around I want to get rid of. I have a conainer that is about a pint in size that a dump out of a gallon jug and use to fill the saw. I blended maybe 20% motor oil with bar oil and thought maybe it was a huge mistake. I did some reading on the internet and got some conflicting data. It doesn’t sound like a big deal. Thanks for the responses, I often trust this web site for answers more than other random web sites.

What you did is probably the best way to use the engine oil as bar oil. At 20% you may notice it but not alot.

hslogger · Dec 27, 2017

I can speak as a man who used BAR OIL by the fifty gallon drums and ran chainsaws for a living year in and year out. As a professional faller and bucker I would pour a gallon to a gallon and half of saw gas through a chain saw in a six hour period. Using used motor oil is a rotten idea even though some one else will say they use it. BAR OIL is made to minimize wear on the bar and chain at the same time. Have I cut the BAR OIL with gasoline, diesel, kerosene, in the bitter cold? answer is yes. Have I used regular motor oil of every configuration and hydraulic oil in a pinch? yes. Used motor oil, the risks of screwing up your oiler assembly and or filter make for me, the use of used motor oil a foolish option. Loving your saw as your work partner means you feed it right.

goeduck · Dec 28, 2017

hslogger said:
I can speak as a man who used BAR OIL by the fifty gallon drums and ran chainsaws for a living year in and year out. As a professional faller and bucker I would pour a gallon to a gallon and half of saw gas through a chain saw in a six hour period. Using used motor oil is a rotten idea even though some one else will say they use it. BAR OIL is made to minimize wear on the bar and chain at the same time. Have I cut the BAR OIL with gasoline, diesel, kerosene, in the bitter cold? answer is yes. Have I used regular motor oil of every configuration and hydraulic oil in a pinch? yes. Used motor oil, the risks of screwing up your oiler assembly and or filter make for me, the use of used motor oil a foolish option. Loving your saw as your work partner means you feed it right.

Well said^^^^. I use the orange jug Stihl bar oil, I think at $12/gallon. Not worth fussing over at a few gallons a year at my rate. I will not use the green Stihl bio oil again, too thin, the oil runs out before the gas if you are not careful and it seems to smell up the saw. I started using it since I live on the salt water but I do not cut much here anymore, most cutting is in my timber land. So I went back to the orange tacky stuff jug.

California · Dec 28, 2017

Egon said:
Motor oil has additives that are not environmently friendly.

This. It's probably not good for your soil.

Ergon what about using it up a few ounces at a time added to the diesel in the tractor?

xyz123 · Dec 28, 2017

He is not using USED motor oil he is mixing NEW motor oil in. :2cents:

I agree on the used motor oil deal though. Nasty to work on saws running it. Then I smile as I price them for labor and parts to replace their oil pumps.

Egon · Dec 28, 2017

New motor oil has additives in it.
Using use/new motor oil for fuel will put the additives in the air"

xyz123 · Dec 29, 2017

:confused2:

cqaigy2 · Dec 29, 2017

Egon said:
New motor oil has additives in it.
Using use/new motor oil for fuel will put the additives in the air"

Ok, i think i get it. If putting those additives in the soil is bad, then burning it will put it in the air. That might be bad for you and other people or just maybe it would be good for you, in the aerosol form as it will be able to better penetrate deeper into the lungs, someone needs to do a study. I know sitting behind a vehicle that burns oil is unpleasant.

Sonny580 · Dec 31, 2017

Motor oils are just that, for motors,---NOT chainsaw oil.---Depending on what you think of your saw, and the wrong oil damage cost later on, --I would never use it in any of my 29 running saws!
Use the oil in your squirt can to oil stuff with. thanks; sonny 580

newbury · Dec 31, 2017

Back in about 2010 or 2012 Baileys had a "by the case" sale of their bar oil. It was inexpensive ($6?) and good. I bought 8 gallons. I've still a few left.

BUT the name of the product is "Motion Lotion" and I faced some questions when wifey saw the bill and the name.