Waste Oil/Used Engine Oil

[Rocky_J]

Have any of you guys ever made a call that Stihl bar oil vs "walmart equivalent" prevents a chain-saw from having any major problems?  It is hard to me to see why, unless there is some special kind of ingredient or the "w-mart" like brand is pure crap.

Thx,
tstex

I run a stable of pro saws, most of which have been engine ported for increased performance. I use these saws to their maximum capacity and expect maximum performance from them on the job with no excuses for anything less than top performance. And I run the cheapest bar lube I can find in all of my pro saws. Currently that is the Poulan bar oil that I buy from Wal Mart.

Wal Mart also has another brand called Super Tech (you'll find it over in the automotive oil area) and it is a lot thinner. Would work fine as a winter weight oil for you guys up in the cold.

[tstex]

Rocky_J,

Perfect, just what I hoping to read...thank you, tstex

[ErikC]

  I use the cheap stuff on my saws, and they work pretty hard with bars on the longer side, but I have had no trouble. I use poulan or tractor supply brand, the two cheapest I have found. I have used old oil in a pinch but don't care for the mess or the smell. That bar oil isn't much in the way of operating cost for the advantages.

[taw6243]

woodland pro from Baileys is $4.98 a gallon, and before Christmas since I bought so much with a friend of mine the shipping from California to Michigan was free delivered right to my front door.

[bill m]

woodland pro from Baileys is $4.98 a gallon, and before Christmas since I bought so much with a friend of mine the shipping from California to Michigan was free delivered right to my front door.

How much did you have to buy to get free shipping? I am getting ready to order more oil from my local supplier but if Baileys is cheaper I might order from them. I normally get about 15 cases (90 gal. ) at a time.

[Log Hogger]

Used motor oil is good for slicking back your hair, too.  It's the same stuff as that high falutin' stylin' gel, except without the fragrance.  The old timers in these parts slather it all over themselves at the first sign of the flu, it works too, they never get sick or nothin'!

[Al_Smith]

It could also be the fact some of those old timers might be a little sparse regarding top foliage also , like in bald as a cue ball .

If that be the case good old black oil could work as a sun screen in addition to preventing the old noggin from rusting in wet weather . ;D

[sd locke]

is bar and chain oil really cheap oil with just tack agents in it ? my cousin when he was 13 or so his dad bought him a new 4 wheeler we rode the pith out of it and i can remember us using bar and chain oil for motor oil all the time that is all we had we were just 13 so we didnt no anybetter i guess that 4 wheeler  ran for 12 years . now that he thinks about it and so do i hit is just funny u now kids got to play not think .

[Al_Smith]

I don't know if it's really just bottom of the barrel stuff or not .Everybody says it is ????

Who knows other than maybe a chemical engineer working in the petro buisness ?

What I do know is you can put tacking agent in anything .Fact is before modern auto engines got to such tight tollerences the "break in " oil had tack added to it right from the factory which in essence is just some form of STP .

I imagine and am just speculating that bar oil is oil with basically no additives such as detergents and high temp anti friction additives etc. but I really don't know . If that is the case I wouldn't think it would make for a good engine oil but obviously works fine on a chainsaw bar ..

[Reddog]

Well if stihl bar oil is bottom of the barrel, then so is waylube.
When I talked to both the Mobil oil rep and my stihl dealer both said good bar oil was just waylube. Seeing as I have used numerous barrels of waylube over the years in the shop makes since, looks and acts the same.
When I priced waylube it was just as easy and cheap too buy bar oil by the case from the dealer.
ISO 220 is the summer weight and ISO 68 is the winter weight.

[Al_Smith]

Mobil would be "Vactra " I assume .

Actually until this mention of it I never gave it a thought about way oil being the same . It is indeed because way oil has plenty of tack to it .Trust me I've wiped gallons of it off my hands .  Crawled though gallons of it too from leaking broachs on auto engine assembley lines .Yuck .

[JohnG28]

It seems to me, with all the money spent on saws, that buying bar oil would be a negligable cost at now ruining these saws.  Yeah, over time it adds up, but Id rather pay that cost and not risk an expensive and avoidable repair...JMO

[timber tramp]

  JohnG28 I agree, I don't think that the price of bar oil is a signifigant cost. (13.49/ gal. at my local stihl dealer.) However I do turn the reciepts in to the bean counter every month.

  I would'nt run used motor oil though, for the same reason I would'nt siphon gas from cars at a junk yard and run that in my saws. If you're dependant on a piece of equipment to make a living with, why take any unnecessary chances with it.      TT

[ely]

i used to run the cheapest bar oil i could find in my 1972 toyota corona deluxe. since it pumped alot out the side of the engine i didnt see any reason to buy the good stuff.

i drove it like that for two years , driving 100 miles a day, 7 days aweek most times. i used the empty jug as a catch container where it blew out the pcv on the engine. just poured it back thru.

life was simplier then, to be 19 again and know it all. :

[ely]

also had an uncle who used the used oil from engines in his chain saw as bar lube. he did use up alot of bars imo. he even used it in the gas as oil mix sometimes :  so.... alot of the times his bar outlasted his saws. i was only 12 but i can still hear him when i tried to tell him things.... "shut up kid" ;D

[GASoline71]

It seems to me, with all the money spent on saws, that buying bar oil would be a negligable cost at now ruining these saws.  Yeah, over time it adds up, but Id rather pay that cost and not risk an expensive and avoidable repair...JMO

Good post... I agree 100%...

Gary

[chucker]

heck! theres so much gas/oil mixed when i change oil in the truck i can just fill the saws gas tank and start cuttin....... enough over spray to lube the bar and chain all in one swift move????? lol now thats save ing hey!!!

[GASoline71]

... I had a 1979 GMC 3/4 ton with 0vr 350,000 miles on it... I used to add a quart of oil every week, and changed the filter every 3,000 miles or so.  It changed it's own oil...

Gary

[RandyMac]

Yer funny nGary.
I had a 1964 Chevy with a 292 six, it had a cracked block, it freely exchanged water and oil both ways, what a stink it had, not to mention the smoke.
I mix my own bar oil, STP keeps the fling off to a minimum, and seems to keep the sap from sticking.

[timberjack240]

we have run used motor oil it waterproofs your shoes they get all black  ;D i noticed it wore the bars out faster but didnt have any problems other than that but we strained it first

[des170stihl]

 I have allways used Bar and Chain oil. If someone wants to sell me a saw and I see they have put junk oil in it. I tell them it,s not worth as much now because I,ll have to replace the filter and the pump and most likely a new bar. Most dealers around here tell people the same thing when they want to trade in their saws.

[barbender]

It's black and messy, otherwise I don't see the harm in using it. I've seen guys mix it 50/50 with bar oil to thicken it up, don't need to thicken it around here in the winter. Personally, I just use regular bar oil, the cheapest stuff I can find. Sometimes, I'll find a jug of "mystery" oil lying around the garagewith the label wore off. That is immediately recruited for bar oil duty. If used oil wasn't so messy I would happily run it for bar lube, even if I had to replace a pump or filter once in a while.

[boobap]

hello all, i am a newb and this is my first post. i am currently in afghanistan fighting this "war on terror". well, let me tell you this is a "terror-ble" mess we are in...anyways. that being said i love chainsaws and will miss mine dearly until this Novemeber when i get back. it all started when i got my first stihl 020av two years ago. i picked it up off of craigslist for $20 and it didn't run...come to find out that the only problem was the on/off switch was grounding out...since then i have purchased 10 used saws to fix and "turn around" a few of them. i now have to by them secretly because my wife is sick of me spending money on them... 8) anyways my take on the subject of bar oil is:

a good cheap non-detergent 30wt for the summer, and for the winter, the same but add some dextron ATF to thin it (about 50/50) plus ATF is a really good cleaner!! the inside of my clutch covers are so clean in the winters. i would never use used engine oil because of all the "metalics" and acids that build up after 3000+ miles of hard use. that being said, used motor oil is better than NO oil, but just be prepared and you shouldn't run out.  ;)

[beenthere]

Welcome to the forum.
Many thanks for you service and efforts in Afghanistan. You are in our prayers, and hope you and your fellow comrades stay safe and get the job done.

We too look forward to you returning safely home.

Hope you get home so you can get back to sawing.

[1GUNRUNNER]

Used motor oil will wear your oil chainsaw pump gearing and your bars and chains. Setteling and filtering it will not (repeat, not) get rid of all the fine particles in there, and it is rather abrasive. It is also a lot more toxic than fresh oil; heavy metals and blowby hydrocarbons remain in that stuff. And if you think that oils like hydrolic fluid, tranny and diff fluid are good for running in your chainsaws, think again. You can absorb hydrolic fluids through your skin in about 20 minutes, and you can also breathe it in throught your lungs. It winds up in your fatty tissues, and raises havoc with enzyme activity, screws up your nervous system, can permanently affect your nerves and cause paralysis and impaired muscle function, can cause tremors, vomiting and dirrahea. Good stuff, eh?

I have bought saws with used motor oil in the oil tanks, and I dump it into the motor oil recycle tank and I flush out the tank with paint thinner, and dump that one firewood that I am going to burn. Then I use fresh bar oil, made for chainsaws, like anyone that is sane would do. That also has tackifiers in it to make the oil stick to your bar, which used motor and hydrolic oils will not have. You hillbillies wanna save money and ruin your saws and spray heavy metals and hydrolic fluid around where you work? Well, good luck with that. My father used to do that kind of stuff, and he died of cancer at a fairly young age.

I swear, I can hear the banjo music playing around here...  smile_banjoman

Get real people. Do not do this crap to yourselves!   

You would think an oil 'expert' would know how to spell hydraulic.