Question on bar oil

I use canola and soybean in a dino mix . Works great. No issues.
As to the cost difference ,,, I don't know. I get WVO from a restaurant my GF manages for free and filter it.
Try it. If your bar starts smoking , turn your oiler up. If it still smokes stop using it.

I've used straight canola after hearing those on here endorse it. No major issues, but I only run 16" and 18" bars. Once the oiler on my stihl got gummed up a bit with dust, the bar heated, and it smelled like my days frying at Ruby Tuesday's

I was trying to run another tank on a dulled chain , BTW.

I've been using the drain oil from the vehicles oil changes. "Been that way for a number of years now with no known bad effects...and its just one less payment for a gallon of oil, ya know?

The big thing with bar and chain oil you buy is that it is biodegradable and safe for the environment. Cooking oil fits this bill and will work fine. We have had fried turkey for Thanksgiving and then filtered that and used it.

Don't use waste car oil, as it needs to be recycled. It can contaminate the water table, which is why you aren't supposed to dump it.

Be careful using vehicle waste oil. It can have some nasty chemicals in it!

I cut 35 full cord of firewood last year, I'm as cheap as they come but I wouldn't use drain oil. If you watch for sales at Tractor Supply and places like it you can still get good prices on oil. I bought a case [6 gal] at our True Value a few weeks ago for 6.00/ gal. Not the tacky-est oil I ever used, but it works just fine.

Went to TSC yesterday and they wanted $9.79/gal, wife wanted to go to Magic Mart and they had Poulan brand for $8.75 so I bought a gallon there. Then she wanted some flowers from Lowe's and they wanted $10 for some brand I'd never heard of and $12 for Husqvarna. This is the first bar oil I've bough in about 5 or 6 years because when my FIL passed away he had a gallon or two and I had a gallon or so, so I hadn't needed any. The stuff used to be about $4-5/gallon all the time at TSC.

OT: I guess it's like motor oil for 20-30 years it seemed like you could always find oil for around a $1/quart then about 10-15 years ago they must have decided that motor oil needed to follow the market fluctuations. Now you're lucky if you find it for $3/qt. and bounces all over the place. Even when I remember gas being $0.29-0.39/gal, motor oil was like $0.69-0.79/quart. I did notice Magic Mart had Shell Rotella T 15W40 for $12/gallon, that's not bad for decent diesel oil. No more bar oil than we use I just can't see using burnt motor oil, especially out of the any of the 4 tractors.

Thanks for the advice on the canola oil. I will pick some up for my next batch of bar oil.

I can't imagine pouring used drain oil into a saw that cost a few hundred dollars just to save a few bucks. It lasts forever and $10/gallon isn't that bad. Interesting idea to use canola though. Seems too thin.

In the mid 60's I bought my first saw, used 10w in the winter and 30w in summer - cost about 25 cents a qt. ...... teamed up with the old chipper chain - Boy, that was living !

I was very concerned about using drain oil for the bar of my chain saw until I found out what a benefit it was. There have been no adverse effects or damage of using it, so I will keep on using it. People used it for years, before I started, and there were no problems with their use of it either. I use about 2 gallons per year (minimum) and I would rather spend the money on a tank full of gas for the saw. I am in a sense, using it completely/recycling it. I think the exhaust from the chain saw would be more of a concern for damage to the environment.

I've heard of the canola oil thing working, but if a gallon will last you 2-3 years like me, I say why bother.....

The heavy metals in the oil are much worse than the saw emissions, I would think. My dad used it in his saw, "knowing" it was harmless. Similar to using leaded gas back in the day, we didn't know how bad it was until one guy realized it. Great episode of Cosmos on that recently, called "The Clean Room".

Heck, I grew up chewing on split shot every time I wanted to catch a bluegill, and played with quicksilver from TV tubes.
Sometimes, The good old days, weren't...
Where the heck did I hear that?..hmmm....I forget....darn quicksilver....

Ram 1500 with an axe... said:

I've heard of the canola oil thing working, but if a gallon will last you 2-3 years like me, I say why bother.....

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That's always been my feeling ... when cutting up five or so cords each year it seems as if my bar oil lasts for several years ... I figure I'm saving enough money on heating costs that I can afford to "splurge" on buying bar oil which was actually made for the job instead of an oil made to fry potatoes.

I know a moose guide that uses canola in a new saw for food grade purposes when quartering for pack out. Beyond that I will stick with the sticky stuff. Watch for sales and get it for under $10 a gallon. Not pricy enough for me to look elsewhere -YET.

BobUrban said:

I know a moose guide that uses canola in a new saw for food grade purposes when quartering for pack out. .

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Hmmm....need to get a top handle 150 for my whitetails...

AK13 said:

I can't imagine pouring used drain oil into a saw that cost a few hundred dollars just to save a few bucks.

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I picked up a used saw Sunday, (Husky 288XP Lite) and the previous owner used drain oil. I ran the saw before purchasing and could see the oil sling off the bar as it has not tacifiiers in it. I have heard about people doing it and now seeing what a mess it makes would never consider it myself.

Seems like you should choose an oil that matches the temperature. I was using a very heavy tacky bar oil at about 32 degrees and it would not pump adequately enough to lube the bar and the paint on the bar burned and the chain was ruined.
At the temperatures some of you northern folks endure, as said above, seems 10 W would be better, or as I was always told, the gas and the oil should run out at the same time.

mstoelton said:

Be careful using vehicle waste oil. It can have some nasty chemicals in it!

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Like what?
Where did the chemicals come from?

JustWood said:

Like what?
Where did the chemicals come from?

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Metals, from the engine.

Interesting post. I have an electric saw that I use a lot around the house, as it is quieter and has no (cough cough) fumes; the directions say NO bar and chain oil, to use straight motor oil. I wonder if canola oil would work as well. I do like to keep it "green".

firebroad said:

Metals, from the engine.

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Yep. In addition to that used engine oil contains polyaromatic hydrocarbons which impair plant growth and can work as endocrine disruptors in animals and humans. Petroleum-based bar oil is mostly a blend of long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons that are less toxic.