Bar oil..beating a dead topic?

[Rocky_J]

Growing up around my father's service station, I learned an oldtimer's trick. In his commercial parts cleaner he would use 5-10 gallons of kerosene and then he would add a couple quarts of transmission fluid to condition it so it wouldn't eat up your hands.

Reminds me of a post I read once where somebody claimed that leaving bar oil residue on your saw would eat away the magnesium case.  : Talk about being confused.


I use the cheapest bar oil I can find because it has a tack additive to reduce the amount slinging off the tip and help keep more lube on the bottom side of the bar. Bar lube is less than $3 per gallon at Wally World, less than half the cost of motor oil. The only difference between $3 bar lube and $5 bar lube is $2.

I've worked for people who supplied motor oil to use as bar lube. It worked ok but I could tell that the chain tended to get slightly hotter and stretched just a little faster and the bars wore a little quicker. It is also more expensive than bar oil. Cheapest motor oil around here is over $6 per gallon.

Used motor oil is out of the question for me. The only person I ever knew who used used mortor oil for bar lube  had the most slipshod, backwoods hick operation of anybody I've ever known. All his equipment was junk, he only got work based on his ridiculously low bids and he treated his help worse than he treated his equipment.

[jokers]

Used motor oil is out of the question for me. The only person I ever knew who used used mortor oil for bar lube  had the most slipshod, backwoods hick operation of anybody I've ever known. All his equipment was junk, he only got work based on his ridiculously low bids and he treated his help worse than he treated his equipment.

Not to mention the carcinogenic risk of handling or breathing in vaporized used motor oil as it flies off your chain.

Russ

[bwalker]

Using drain oil is plain stupid when a  good, purpose made bar oil is available for $3 per gallon.

[Corley5]

Using drain oil is plain stupid

: :

[timberjack240]

in the summer we use husky oil or supertech or if we change oil in the skidders which is johndeere 50 plus we use that to my personal favorite is the supertech 30w or the used motor oil. my saw works better with it the husky oil seem sthicker but oil is il to me. i never really payed much attetion about dirt stickin to it. the way i see it you want dirt to stick to it.... it makes it look like you worked hard all day with  the dirt on the bar  ;D

[bwalker]

Corely5, you like inhalling heavy metals like Zinc, Cadmium,  and Molybdendum?
BTW IN the 100" firewood post i saw you where looking for some wood. Did you ever locate any? With the loge trucks going to clean up the hurricanes and the loss of rail cars getting hardwood pulp can be difficult. At least here in the central UP.

[Corley5]

I  : because you called someone stupid.  Now that's not what I'd call real polite in this environment.  I don't run used oil in my saw but I have and if someone does it's entirely their own choice and that choice shouldn't be referred to as "stupid".  Perhaps a better way would have been to explain the dangers of inhaling heavy metals.   I don't have any trouble getting 100" firewood here.  I've talked to several producers and haulers and with notice I can have as much as I can pay for in two weeks or less 8)

[Jeff]

Actually I gotta agree in part. I think its stupid as well. He really was not calling an individual stupid as he didnt say "You are stupid for..."  He said in effect that the practice of using drain oil is stupid, and again, I gotta say I agree with that. Maybe a kinder word then stupid would be better such as "unwise" , but coming from you guys in here, well, thats expecting a little much even for me. :D

[J_T]

Well after smoking 30 or so years and standing behind my saw I don't think I could breath that far if I tried  :D :D I do use cheep bar oil get it by the case don't last long :( :( Last chains I got from Baileys 12.95 for 24" and they are great chains now days cutting every day you can go through some parts .

[bwalker]

I   because you called someone stupid.  Now that's not what I'd call real polite in this environment.  I don't run used oil in my saw but I have and if someone does it's entirely their own choice and that choice shouldn't be referred to as "stupid".  Perhaps a better way would have been to explain the dangers of inhaling heavy metals.

I never called anyone stupid. However, I did say the practice of using drain oil as bar lube is stupid.
I stand by that statement. ;)

[rebocardo]

> what is the effect of transmission fluid on the hands?

New or used it causes dermatitis or in layman's terms the hands turn into red bloody hamburgers.

Which allow you to absorb even more chemicals and solvents. The car dealerships I worked at any professional (usually the guys earning $30+ an hour) wear a chemical barrier on their hands, then they put on past elbow length gloves. There are certain chemicals that when together on the skin allow the absorption of metals into the blood stream and skin fat.

Look at the chemicals in transmission fluid, then go to www.osha.gov, and see what it says about exposure to it in a mist. Look for the N word.

>  learned an oldtimer's trick. In his commercial parts cleaner he would use 5-10 gallons of kerosene
> and then he would add a couple quarts of transmission fluid to condition it so it wouldn't eat
> up your hands.

Maybe old timers were using all natural veggie oil based transmission fluid, certainly nothing from the 70s forward is safe for long term skin contact. First guy I saw with hamburger hands was about 1983.

> > Talk about being confused

Just so you and others are not confused with the hazards of transmission fluid. 

Here is a Material Data Safety Sheet of ATF3 (Chrysler tranny fluid ):

http://www.mapllc.com/msds/0272MAR019.PDF

"Skin contact: Prolonged or repeated liquid contact can cause dermatitis, folliculltis or oil acne"

You can go to the Quaker State website (I could not connect to it at the moment) , download all their MDSS for their various fluids, read the warnings, then go to OSHA, do a search about the chemicals and what happens with bare skin exposure on rats.

So, I do not think I will confuse transmission oil with skin conditioner because that kind of conditioning I don't want  ;)

Pretty good yardage for beating a dead topic  :D

[David B]

Pretty good yardage for beating a dead topic 


I'll say!  :D

[chet]

In all fairness here are a few links to MSDS's for bar and chain lube   ;)

Lubriplate bar and chain lube

Shell bar and chain lube

Golden Spectre bar and chain lube

Stihl bar and chain lube

[Gary_C]

From "beating a dead topic" to "hamburger" to "inhaling oil" this has been a memorable topic.   :D :D

I will sure have to bookmark this one for reference.  But where will put it, under "things to eat?"   ;D ;D

[rebocardo]

> where will put it

Salad dressing?
  :D

[timberjack240]

all this talk about keroseene oils and metals and eatin yur hands orrrr you could go out and spend a few doallars and get a tub of gojo  ;D i think ill stick with that  ;D