Bar and chain oil additives.

[Raj]

I've been using Poulan pro B&C oil, but TSC has changed names and doesn't carry it, it seemed to oil real well even on my 47" hard nose milling bar, and it often went on sale.

Has anyone added Lucas oil to B&C oil? Google told me add 10% and it helps a lot.

 

[flushcut]

I have not but IMO if there is oil then it’s getting lubed.

 

[Bart]

I accidentally bought a jug of Stihl winter/light oil and only when it poured like water did I realize it after I'd broken the seal. Point being it would flow just right in the winter. In the winter medium oil flows like Lucas flows in the summer. Get where I'm going with this? The difference in the Stihl oils is probably basically in-house version of Lucas additive. Base oil is always just base oil. I may salvage my jug in this fashion now that you brought it up. try BITOG for oil geekery. then you'll be in on UOA

 

[Raj]

I have not but IMO if there is oil then it’s getting lubed.

With Poulan B&C oil I can do a cut milling, and wipe off oil residue on the cutting side drive links with a tissue paper, other available brands (in my area) would not leave anything on the tissue. Just something I noticed.

 

[TINYHULK]

What would be a really good oil for the summer? Humid 95-110 degree days? We always run stihl synthetic b&c oil (grey bottle). It slings oil on a piece of wood but seems to get hot super quick in the summer, even with all oilers turned up to max

 

[Bart]

If your bar gets hot you may be short on lube, as hot and seizing is the telltale for a plugged oil pump on my pole saw. Also, if the saw motor heats up the reservoir that may affect the initial pumping, but sticking to the bar and chain is based on ambient i.e. the weather. Synthetic's claim to fame is running better when cold i.e. viscosity vs temperature. Also not degrading at extreme high temps and pressures vs dino oil. Talking piston walls circumstances. Chain isn't that severe, mostly needs to stick while also working its way into the links. IMO You might need goopier oil for hot days - lucas!

 

[SeanKroll]

Keep your bar groove cleaned out for better lubrication.

 

[friedrich]

do most of you guys use synthetic bar oil? always thought that was questionable because of this "one drop oil pollutes 1000 liters of water" thing.

little hippie that i am i use the biodegradable option, i think its canola oil with some sort of carcinogentic additive but smells better than the synthetic stuff 🤷

 

[lxskllr]

I've been using canola. It's not professional use, but I think I've been through six gallons so far, and I haven't seen unusual bar wear. I don't cut much in the summer, so that could be a difference. Dunno how much the additive you use costs, but if it's pretty close to just buying a new bar at end of life, I'd just buy a new bar. Bars are consumable items, and spending $110 extra to save a $100 bar doesn't make sense. The cutoff is a personal decision, but mine would be somewhere below $100. It's worth something to not have to hassle with mixing oil, or go somewhere special to buy a product. I can get my oil at any grocery store.

 

[SkwerI]

Chainsaw bar lubrication is designed as a 100% loss system. The oil only has to make it one or two times around the bar before getting flung off. Most bar oil is whatever is available at the refinery with some sticky additive to help it stay on the bar a few seconds longer. Why in the world anybody would spend the extra money for synthetic bar oil is beyond me. I have always bought the cheapest bar lube I could find, and stocked up on it because I'm a cheapskate. For years I bought Poulan bar oil from Wal Mart but figured out it stained my clothes and didn't wash out. Then I found Tractor Supply bar oil and they put it on sale every January so that's all I have used since.

I use Stihl synthetic mix oil for my fuel (grey bottle) because that is critical to engine life and performance. But bar lube is not that critical, it doesn't last long enough to justify the extra money.

 

[theTreeSpyder]

As long as tack additives that can hold , like a motorcycle chain lube, designed as well as can not to fly off, cuz can't help it eventually.

 

[PCTREE]

I always used my old used hydraulic oil. Never had a bar wear out, they always get bent before that doing crane work

 

[SeanKroll]

I've used canola for over a decade.


Anyone have two washing machines for clothes, one for work clothes, another for regular clothes?

 

[Bermy]

Used hydraulic oil! Yuck, I wouldn't want to breathe those atomized particles.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

Some hydraulic oil are made with a base of canola. That's why I choosed the canola as a bar oil in the first place, even before seeing used like that here. My main concern with the mineral oil in general is precisely the breathing issue of the oil fog.

 

[flushcut]

I've used canola for over a decade.


Anyone have two washing machines for clothes, one for work clothes, another for regular clothes?

No but my wife wishes we did. I am not allowed to wash my work cloths with any other cloths. The dryer gets vacuumed out more often and the vent gets replaced more often.

 

[SeanKroll]

I don't know which is better/ worse for residue, canola or petroleum oil.

A bucket pre-wash might help.

I wash work clothes separately. And rinse the washer afterward, and/or wash twice, as much as possible.


Edit: autocorrect is my worst enema!

 

[Tree09]

That's kinda what i do too, 1 washer household here too. After we wash my work clothes we do a load of towels and that is usually enough. If they're really bad we simply run a cleaning cycle and then the towels. If they are doused in oil taking them up to a car wash first isn't a bad idea, just put them on the floor or where you hang up the floormats. I suppose you could do similar in a bucket with dawn but the pressure washer action combined with no cleanup means I'm going up to the car wash.

 

[Raj]

I add borax to the wash.

 

[Cobleskill]

Yes. Me also.

 

[Raj]

A little update, I've been adding a squirt or two of Lucas into 1L of all season bar oil. Seems to really stick. Chain on the tree saws keeps a good coat of lube. Not sure what to do when I run out of Lucas, I had a few unused bottles for some reason.

I'll update once I mill.

 

[Al Smith]

I just wait until it sells on the cheap and stock up .Brand names mean nothing to me .Same with mix oil but being a 32 to 1 type I don't get concerned about it .No more than I use I suppose I have 2-3 years on hand of both .

 

[Al Smith]

I figured this out years ago .Places like Menards for example try to move stock late in spring time because they have a surplus of it .That's when it goes on sale .At the Stihl shop it only goes up never on sale .Evidently stuff in orange bottles are like fine wine .

 

[BlackSmith]

I add borax to the wash.

TSP works good too.

 

[Raj]

I figured this out years ago .Places like Menards for example try to move stock late in spring time because they have a surplus of it .That's when it goes on sale .At the Stihl shop it only goes up never on sale .Evidently stuff in orange bottles are like fine wine .

TSC was the place for us up here, they had great sales, now they changed to Peavy Mart and don't carry nor have the sales TSC did. Dealers give no sale prices, and other big box have crappy sale prices. There is a auto parts store on the reserve that I drive through every day, $14 for a gallon, which is cheaper than everywhere else, no tax, but it's all season, I like to see my milling bars get a good thick film of oil, sadly Poulan Pro, no longer available up here, did that.