This Post is about lubricants on you saw.As usual it will draw a lot of attention to personal choice and ones preference, please understand this. f you use the right chainsaw oil it will be like cutting through butter with a hot knife when you tackle tree branches. If you don’t have the required lubrication it’s going to cause all sorts of problems. The friction will be so bad it will take you much longer to cut through anything and it’s only going to take so long before something breaks. When your oil is topped up your chainsaw will cut through anything at great speed as long as the teeth are sharp. Please Note: The chainsaw oil doesn’t help with the lubrication between the chainsaw and any wood you’re cutting. It’s the friction between those two things that lets you cut easily in the first place. The oil is simply to reduce the friction of the chain as it spins around the bar at exceptionally high speeds. It prevents Clogging: This is one thing people don’t talk about a lot, yet it’s a particularly bad problem during the wetter months because everything has a habit of sticking to your chainsaw. When the sap and debris from whatever you’re cutting eventually clogs up the chainsaw, you’ll need to keep cleaning it away while you’re outside working. If you use the right chainsaw oil some manufacturers offer it will drastically reduce the amount of clogging in the first place. Next it keeps things clean: Earlier on we talked about a supplemental high tack additive you’ll find in chainsaw oil, which is maybe the biggest reason why you shouldn’t be fooled into using other kinds of oils. This will make sure your oil actually sticks to the bar and chain to do its job properly, and when you don’t have oil flying around everywhere it will keep things nice and clean. This will also help your chainsaw last longer, because once the oil disappears it can’t do anything to reduce friction. Offers You Safety: When you’re operating a chainsaw you should use the proper safety equipment at all times, which includes a pair of googles to keep wooden chips out of your eyes. I’m positive you’re still not so keen about ending up with an avalanche of oil splattered across your face too, which might happen if it’s not been designed to stick to the chainsaw. If it ends up blocking your vision it could lead to an accident, so at no point while cutting branches do you want chainsaw oil covering your face. Prolongs Chain Life: Any regular home owner doesn’t want to spend time needlessly replacing or sharpening blunt chains. It comes with the job if you use a chainsaw as part of your profession, but a normal person wants to cut wood when the time comes without worrying their chain isn’t sharp enough to cut properly. Using the correct oil means your chain will last a lot longer until it won’t be able to take care of your needs. It equals less work for you in the long run which is always a good thing, especially when you’re dealing with dangerous tools. I hope so far I have not confessed anyone I will continue my Post on Chainsaw Oil later... Have a nice day. Stumper
you are discussing bar oil right? juse buy whats on sale. as long as it's chainsaw bar oil I am good right? or do I need to check for a tackiness number? oh on stihl combi unit pole saw I use a lighter or thinner oil cause someone told me too as its not usually level
In the winter up here I run full synthetic motor oil if I'm going to be leaving my saw in the cold. And , I keep my regular bar oil in the house , then in the heated cab . I keep my saw gas outside constantly. . The heat from the engine of a chain saw will warm up oil to the point it will pump and flow . but, a saw needs to idle for At least 10 minutes minimum to warm up an oil tank full of bar oil. Longer is advisable. It depends on the outside temp. If anyone has tried to pour winter grade bar out at 30 below F. They know what I mean. And at 40 below. Well. It ain't happenin.
I bought my Husky 445 about 8 years ago. I used actual bar oil for the first couple years. After my initial 1 gallon jug ran out, I ran 10w40 (or close to it) in the summer and 0W40 synthetic in the winter (I get leftovers from work all the time, so its free). Ive never noticed a difference in wear or preformance of the saw. Im just a home owner though, and I only cut a few cords per year. Im sure if I did it for a living, my sense for the finer points of oil types would become more refined. My chains usually dont wear out. They usually get tossed when I do something stupid like find a rock or loan my saw out to a friend to "trim a few branches".
I haven't seen any increase in wear between bar oil in the summer and full synthetic like Aero Shell. However, with full synthetic my chain is Much quieter , smoother and the bar doesn't seem to heat up as much.
I used to buy Chevron RPM bar oil in the 55 gallon barrel for around $112. And rock drill oil was even tackier and it was less than $100 a barrel. NAPA used to have it ( bar oil) on sale here in the fall. For 8-9 bucks a gallon. I'de get a bunch of cases of it for my winter season.
I mostly winter cut here and run the Stihl artic. CTF is dead on with pour ability at below zero. When I buck a home where everything can stay warm before I start I use summer bar oil. Where I can’t full synthetic rules the day. I even keep the jug near the fire by the truck. Spare saws, perculator water all stay round the fire.
Stumper, Thanks for digging up this info. It can also be found here by scrolling down a bit. http://www.chainsawjournal.com/chainsaw-oil/
