Winter weight bar and chain oil?

I stopped by my local stihl dealer today to pick up some winter weight bar and chain oil to find out they didn't carry any. When i asked one of the owners why they didn't have any he told me I wouldn't need it and that the regular bar and chain oil would pump through my saw just fine down to around 0 degrees. Is this true?

It may or may not get pumped through, but that's not the totality of the issue. It's harder on the pump and may not fully lubricate the bar & chain. Call around to another Stihl dealer or just put a touch of diesel/kerosene in some of your regular bar oil. Some say canola oil does fine in cold temps, but I haven't tried it below 40.

Below 30you can have problems with summer weight oil. To get around that, I leave my saw and bar oil in the mud room at night if I am going to cut in below freezing weather the next day. Once the saw gets warm the oil tank at the front of the saw near the muffler will keep the oil warm enough to flow well, and having room temp oil in the jug when you go out will usually stay warm enough for the day of cutting.

+1
Saw keeps the bar oil warm.
Just let the saw idle a while & warm up , then you'll be good to go.

The green bottled veggie based oil (Stihl Bio Plus) flows better in cold weather without thinning out too much for summer use. A bit pricey but it depends on your usage if that extra cost is significant or not.

Just buy winter bar oil. Your dealer doesn't have a clue.

Just bought a gallon @ TSC for $13.99
Still had Huskies on the shelf.
Sean

Just going to warn you, the Stihl winter oil is kind of on the expensive side.

Dad picked some up last week and at was over $20 bucks a gallon!

K

A little kerosene will hook it right up..........

I've never ran winter weight bar oil. If you can get it out of the jug and into the saw, it will make it to the bar just fine.

If it gets REAL cold (0's or low teens) my saw and bar oil spend the night inside before a day of cutting. Easier to start the saw.

saw and oil stays inside before use here too.
once started it seems to be fine.

I keep mine in a heated garage, too. It works out just fine for cutting a little bit in very cold weather. If, however, I'm out for an extended cutting session on the farm, the stored heat doesn't last and I need the winter weight oil.

Not being a smart a55 but idling a saw for extended periods can wear out the needle bearings that the, I guess, fly wheel spins on. The only time the fly wheel spins freely is when at idle because it is not engaged from the centrifugal clutch. It is also good to check these bearings occasionally and a small dab of grease keeps em nice. NEVER too much or often as it will make a mess in the clutch mechanism.

Zap suggested canola oil and it is cheap and works fine.. Get the great value brand at Walmart for well under $10.00 a gallon..

Ray

10w-whatever, whatever you have left in the back of the garage works fine.

I was out cutting last weekend, with temps 22 - 28F during the day. I was running a Stihl 064, a Husqvarna T435, and an Echo 510EVL, all started with a full tank of standard bar oil. I noticed they had varying degrees of success in keeping the bar lubed, but all ran dryer than normal. I also noticed my bar oil was so thick in the bottle, it almost could not be poured. After I was able to use some of the oil in each saw, I replaced with Winter Grade, and things flowed a little better.

I'm sold on Winter Grade (gotta run something, might as well be the right stuff for the conditions), but have also used 5W-30 in the past, when it was too cold to pour my standard bar oil.

I was switching saws a good bit (T435 for clearing branches, 064 for the big trunks, 510EVL for everything else), so none had a chance to get all that warm.

Sorry to be a pain..but I'm right.....Just buy winter bar oil. Your dealer doesn't have a clue.

CANOLA oil

Just a question . Does the Canola oil ,or for that matter any other vegetable oil degrade over time in the saw ? Basically ,does it foul the oil pump and bar during storage ?

I read that canola oil has a shelf life of 1 year at room temperature.. Since you're not going to cook with it I doubt that would matter for our intended purpose..

http://www.canolacouncil.org/oil-and-meal/canola-oil/canola-the-myths-debunked

Ray

My old saw runs regular Stihl fine when cold. My new saw doesn't....have to use winter grade.

Yes

Fair enough . But it does get somewhat warm in the saw ( read the winter oil threads ) .

find-a-dealer that knows. Mine gives me a deal by the case 2 gals for summer and 2 gals for winter for $38. Winter weight makes a big difference when it get gets below freezing up here. if you use summer weight in the winter you will go through 75% less oil and 175% more gas, chain, & bar.

I learned about this from Zap and he runs his saws often and he had no problems.. Cooking with oil is done at temperatures of hundreds of degrees which your plastic oil tank could not handle very well.. Zap runs canola oil in his saws year round..

Ray