Yikes! I swear Steahl oil goes up a dollar every year!...Screw them! I got the Rural King or TSC brand last time at $5
When I started cutting firewood I remember Husqvarna bar oil was $4.99 a gallon or $24.00 for a case of 6 ! Guess we won’t be seeing those prices again.
Right now I’m buying Itasca at the local mom & pop hardware store. $48.00 per case (6 gallon) I know I could get it cheaper other places but it’s good quality oil & I like supporting local. They’ve been there since 1903 & I know it’s a struggle for them to hang on in the corporate run world we live in these days. If it costs me a few dollars here & there to help keep them going I figure it’s well worth it. When places like that go I fear they’ll be gone forever.
Yes you can even use spent peanut oil from say your turkey fry as well but this would be when you’re running your saws so often, it’s not giving it time to sit in as you observed, don’t use it your tank in temps lower than 40°.
You can run brake fluid... or used motor oil. I'm not trying to be a Debbie-downer but I wouldn't even consider it. These liquids are not designed to do the job, no additives to keep it on the chain when it's at speed going around the tip. I used a non specific "motor" type oil (mobil DTE) and it slung off. Long story short, I watched used printing press oil be wasted enough times I decided to try it. I now have a 37" bar that is unusable. I see proof of extreme heat due to lack of lube. My mistake, won't make it again. And if I can help prevent someone else from doing it... I will. Maybe a small bar with light use? My question is, why not use canola in you car? It's cheaper. Why treat your saw any less? If anyone takes that as a rant, I'll apologize. Wasn't intended as one. Just sharing my experience.
No I got this info off a chainsaw group and people were using it left and right as a backup, mostly in the summer time because it would just be used up and I guess they ran it through their saws NBD. I wasn’t them. Use it in a pinch? Sure but definitely not recommended as a surefire thing. I’d only use it on a very cheap saw, maybe a trimmer only.
Oh I didn’t think about that. Since it hardly drops anywhere near that and only up in the mountains and Eastern WA . Never cut in that kinda cold.
Not well, hydraulic oil is very light. I’m lucky at my work we use a special preservation oil before we ship our gearboxes, and it has a tackifier additive. Very similar to bar oil and free! My former boss cuts a lot of wood and has several 55gal barrels worth.
Used up the last few drops of that expensive bar oil and am not back to using the cheap County Line oil.
Honestly, I’d prefer the Husky (sorry, no experience with the Stihl) oil. It has more tackiness than the TSC, but there’s no way it’s worth the price difference. I find the Itasca and the TSC do the job just fine. As long as there’s a tackifier it in, I’ll run it.
