bar/chain oil vs used engine oil?

[Oldpath05]

I started using used motor oil 30 years ago when it the oil was 10w40, the last 15 years my car said to use 5w30 which is a little thin for my tastes so from then on I split it 50/50 with bar oil, but when I buy a new chainsaw I use only bar oil till warranty is over. I drain my motor in a clean container, dump it in another clean-ish container, let it set for a few weeks so if there's any dirt in it, it will settle to the bottom. I dump out the last pint or so, then mix the rest with new bar oil. All together I go through about 10 gal. of oil on the chainsaw bar a year, with bar oil $10.00+/gal., in a few years that adds up. Out in the country there's only a few good ways to use used motor oil, for me chainsaw bar is one.
I've had 8 or so chainsaws, and so far I had 2 sprockets break on the bar, mostly engine problems, also I had one tree falling on saw problem, but never had oil pump problem, yet. Now I have 10 gal of 300 hr. old tractor trans. oil to use for bar oil, its been through the tractor filter, drained in clean containers, should work pretty good. I cant wait to read all the complaints from the bar oil police.

 

[Soundguy]

i bet trans / hyd oil is better for it than engine oil. no fuel and soot particles to deal with.

 

[KubotainNH]

i bet trans / hyd oil is better for it than engine oil. no fuel and soot particles to deal with.

Exactly. Smell your used motor oil and tell me what it smells like, usually you can smell the fuel in it. I'm sure there are other variables like does the car get lots of highway miles which can burn away some of the fuel or is it around town where it rarely gets warmed up.

 

[DarkBlack]

I started using used motor oil 30 years ago when it the oil was 10w40, the last 15 years my car said to use 5w30 which is a little thin for my tastes so from then on I split it 50/50 with bar oil, but when I buy a new chainsaw I use only bar oil till warranty is over. I drain my motor in a clean container, dump it in another clean-ish container, let it set for a few weeks so if there's any dirt in it, it will settle to the bottom. I dump out the last pint or so, then mix the rest with new bar oil. All together I go through about 10 gal. of oil on the chainsaw bar a year, with bar oil $10.00+/gal., in a few years that adds up. Out in the country there's only a few good ways to use used motor oil, for me chainsaw bar is one.
I've had 8 or so chainsaws, and so far I had 2 sprockets break on the bar, mostly engine problems, also I had one tree falling on saw problem, but never had oil pump problem, yet. Now I have 10 gal of 300 hr. old tractor trans. oil to use for bar oil, its been through the tractor filter, drained in clean containers, should work pretty good. I cant wait to read all the complaints from the bar oil police.

My state considers burning waste oil at the property of disposal to be 'green'. Kind of makes sense, it saves transportation which saves fuel, and the possible transportation spill.
It also saves all the environment damage that would be required to drill/refine/transport, new bar oil.
Sometimes being 'green' is counterintuitive to many people. Of course you don't want to be spraying a lot of excess in the ground.

 

[Sodo]

i bet trans / hyd oil is better for it than engine oil. no fuel and soot particles to deal with.

Touching dirt (or dirty wood) while sawing is a far more significant problem. I bet 5W30 or tractor fluid will leak out, make a mess though. Engine oil will make a black mess, tractor fluid may have less black.

 

[dragoneggs]

I don't cut wood for a living or even do much firewood cutting. Just misc downing of trees and limbs and let others cut up into bolts and haul away now. I have a couple of old saws and I do use old oil that has sat around for a while instead of bar oil when I don't have any and it works for me. Would I recommend it... no. Especially if I had a nice saw and used it a bunch.

 

[tcreeley]

Around here, a lot of people use drain oil. Drain oil runs through faster which is a pain. Sometimes people just don't want to shell out the few bucks to buy a gallon of bar/chain oil. They might not have the money to waste on it, but have plenty of drain oil hanging around.

 

[dgeesaman]

I think if you're going to do it, turn the oiler settings up to max.

My boss and I get used preservative oil from work. It's got a tackifier in it. I have a 5 gal bucket that I'll cut into once I use up the neat little bottles of bar oil I already bought. My boss has 4 55 gallon drums. (He cuts a lot of wood). Works quite well, and of course the bar and chain last longer when the oiler is maxed out.

 

[Oldpath05]

I think if you're going to do it, turn the oiler settings up to max.

My boss and I get used preservative oil from work. It's got a tackifier in it. I have a 5 gal bucket that I'll cut into once I use up the neat little bottles of bar oil I already bought. My boss has 4 55 gallon drums. (He cuts a lot of wood). Works quite well, and of course the bar and chain last longer when the oiler is maxed out.

The only (preservative oil) I ever heard of is used motor oil, I soak my log brow with it, and the (tackifier) I use is bar oil, I mix it with used motor oil, I take 1 gal. of bar oil, mix it with 1 gal. of used motor oil, it took me quite a while to do the math, but the answer I got is 1+1=2-1/2.

 

[CalG]

Exactly. Smell your used motor oil and tell me what it smells like, usually you can smell the fuel in it. I'm sure there are other variables like does the car get lots of highway miles which can burn away some of the fuel or is it around town where it rarely gets warmed up.

Yea! And tell that to the engine the oil came out of!
200K miles and counting. doesn't burn a drop ;-)

Now where is the rational that "used" motor oil is some foul. ill performing evil? 'Just doesn't make sense. It is black and unsightly though ....;-)

But I like the sticky stringy nature of bar oil, so I use that too!