Another bar oil thread

It's fine IME (Cutting about 6-8 cords per season for me, 3-4 for my parents and occasionally milling). I did buy a couple cases of the premium stuff;


When I run this, I can definitely notice my chain is "wetter". The tackifier is higher in content or just better quality because I'm able to turn my oil pumps down.

 

Belray makes some good sportrans oil for Harley sportsers too

 

I run their EXS ester based oil in my Ducati.

 

Project farm weighing in on name brand vs generic bar erl.

 

That was encouraging because I run a lot of harvest king oil. In fact if I’da had more cash with me today I would’ve picked up a couple gallons priced at $7.49

 

Very interesting!

 

Not what I was expecting! Stihl and Husky oil sure didn't test very well.

 

My oil performance testing involves looking at the chain after a bunch of cutting. Is it clean and oily looking? If so, oil doing it's job. I'm not too prudish about brands...though admittedly I trust the saw manufacturers to market a quality product. My favorites that I have used are Husky white bottle stuff with blue labelling (unsure if still sold used hapily for years), Some red colored Jonsered branded winter oil that was just excellent (cold flow and lubrication), and Makita's summer & winter oil. I'm spinning Husky winter oil at the moment, with a partially used Rural King jug waiting on warmer weather. Got a couple oddballs to try yet as well in Kawasaki branded and Fram branded oils. They'll be used in warmer season.

 

I usually buy what’s on sale at Rural King or Menards. Mystik, County Line, Poulan. I’ve never seen Harvest King but it probably about the same as anything I’ve bought. It would have been cool to see drain oil which I won’t put that chit in my saws. Also would have liked to see canola oil. If you want to have the best of both worlds just dump the off brand bar and chain oil into a Stihl brand jug.

 

I was thinking the same thing with the wear pin test as they kept getting worse with the Stil and Husky oils. Then it went back to less wear with another oil. So maybe it was a legit test. I would have liked to see the harvest King reran again to see if it was still the same though. If you are going to $25.00/gal the wear on the bar and chain would have to be pretty excessive to justify not paying $9.00/gal or less. I have not noticed that Cam2 or Harvest King caused that much more. I just wish Stihl would go back to having greasable roller tips. I have noticed them failing a lot quicker now. (2 different saws and sizes) I had one die before the paint was even wore very much and located a OEM one with a grease port. I don't do a lot of bore cutting either. Still running that older greasable one after 2 seasons using the cheaper oil.

 

yeah, how to run a perfect test could be debated until the cows come home. With the name brand sometimes being 2 to 3x more expensive, it is quite clear the name brand is not 2 to 3x better.

I am also positive that drain oil would do worse than clean oil, but how much. It probably wouldn’t matter to those that use drain oil anyways. Getting misted with dirty motor oil is a firm no for me.

 

I work on saws sometimes as a side gig. More of a favor thing as I don't normally charge too much or advertise. Anytime someone brings me a saw with change oil my labor rate doubles though and I tell them up front. LOL

 

Depends on the engine...a modern Honda...mmm, maybe...an old 471 Detroit, nope!

 

Just saw this thread. I'm looking for a quality replacement for the old TSC County Line oil that used to be tacky and on the thick side. I guess they recently switched suppliers and now the TSC oil is like water. I have not confirmed, but I read a recent thread on BITOG asking what happened to their oil and that's what someone said. All the cheap stuff has zero tack. May as well run baby oil. Bought 5 gallons of Mystic when on sale and when compared to the TSC I bought back in '19, it's like water and has zero tack.

Heard that's some good stuff. It's pricy now though. Cheapest I have found it. I don't know of any place locally I can buy it.

Bel-Ray Hi-Tac Bar and Chain Oil - 1 Gallon (6 pack)

I agree. He was using a saw that probably has a weak oiler, seeing it was a homeowner one (MS250) and based the whole test on that, outside of that wear bar test, which is also archaic. Weak oiler means needing thin oil for it to get enough. The saw was probably not getting enough oil with the thick stuff. That's a saw problem, not an oil problem. It seemed like all the more pricey oils flowed slower in his test. I've NEVER heard any arborist or full time tree service guy seeking out the thinnest oil...it's always been the opposite. Thicker and with good tack. He barely even mentions tack, one of the most important traits of a good bar oil and one of the main reasons for actually running dedicated bar oil, otherwise one could just run motor oil (which some do). LOL

I think once any bar oil warms up, it becomes more fluid and will get into the rivots and stay there due to tack. I don't think the more expensive stuff is almost always thicker/tackier just by chance. Has to be a reason.

I'm just kinda pee'd off that TSC's stuff went the way of the rest of the cheap stuff. They had a good thing going for a good price and they ruined it. The Mystic pours out like motor oil, the older TSC pours out like one would expect bar oil to.

I have a 5 gallon pail of Amsoil B&C oil coming. Looks to be pretty close to the tack of that Bel-Ray stuff. I got it for less $$$ than the Bel-Ray.

 

You reminded me of a time a some years back. I’m sitting at a red light on a 4 lane highway sitting next to an old clapped out, ragged looking semi truck. It was tired, no doubt had the fuel all turned up to compensate and had a stove pipe exhaust. Light turns green.. The windshield of my ford pickup was misted in a mix of water/diesel fuel and oil which I can only describe as a petroleum sputum. Mist and a number of chunks of this greasy filth. Absolutely nasty. Glad I wasn’t driving the Maserati that day.

 

They are nasty. I recently bought a used ms241 from eBay. Drain oil in the tank. Shipped it with it not drained.

 

I use the Amsoil bar oil in all my modern ported saws. Have for many years. No complaints. Tacky, flows well and doesn't stink. Bar wear seems to be the least of any oil I've tried so far, but I've only used 4. I have mystic as well as the Amsoil. Kinda stinks like gear lube. I use that in old saws with cheap bars.

 

Does your Maserati do 185?

 

Yes, here is proof.