Rising Gas Prices & Bar Oil

Another reason I'm getting into air rifles.

 

I have more than enough propellants to last me until I'm not around anyway. All 8 pounders too. I don't reload that much, I only reload to hunt and only Berger pills and Federal Match primers. When I kack, someone is gonna get a bargain. Guns are all willed ahead of time.

 

Hodgon is way high. Must be the import duty from the land of Oz or something.

 

76.8 ounces for $53 vs $65 for 128 oz / gallon.

 

There's nothing wrong with that. I have 5 break barrel pellet rifles and 3 PCP air rifles. They definitely serve more than 1 purpose.

 

Definitely more than one use. I have a few reasons for wanting to get into them. Not to replace powder burners, in addition to them. One is its different. I like different. Another is they are cheaper to feed.

 

I have a bar oil question. How many gallons would it take for you to feel comfortable with your bar oil supply and you no longer have to worry about price increases?

 

A 55 gallon barrel would probably last me till I can't start a saw anymore.

 

I had 11 gallons and just gave a gallon to a friend for giving me a hand with a task. So down to 10 and I feel ok.

 

I inquired about self life of bar oil with the technician in the MFA oil lab when I was buying barrels.

Here were my questions from earlier in this thread.

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I just got off the horn with the MFA oil lab in Moberly. I had some questions about their bar oil.

1.) Shelf life ? Fella said after about 5 years the tackifier may start to separate but a good shake of the jug or stir of the barrel would take care of that.
The reason I inquired is, I read on one of the spec sheets for another bar oil ( I can’t recall the brand ) the shelf life was 2-3 years.

2.) Whether it was virgin oil or filtered used oil with tackifier added ? He said that theirs is always virgin oil. They occasionally use older hydraulic oil & use hydraulic oil from damaged containers then add the appropriate tackifiers to get their blend correct.

The fella also told me that they could blend up smaller batches thicker or thinner per customer preference.

He then said they could deliver in bulk with thetank wagon using 275 gallon or 330 gallon totes. I told him that wasn’t really in the cards for me.

Very nice, helpful & informative fella.

 

I have 10, but I’m feeling the need to double it to relax. If I used 3 per year that’s only 6.75 years of bar oil. Time flies by, so 20 doesn’t seem big enough. Probably should have a decade + stocked.

 

Currently have 17 gal. I think 8-10 would put me in that zone. It only takes one big milling job to blow through a couple though. So if I see a great deal, I'll buy more.

 

I bought 2 cases of Stihl orange jugs and 1 case of winter blend today. I normally keep a decent amount on the shelf, but with my boys cutting and placing partial jugs back on the shelf, I didn't realize how low I was. Once I get paid from a few gigs coming up, I'll probably wait and see if TSC has a spring sale, if not, I'll buy 2 more cases of Stihl.

 

Last week I had in the neighborhood of 15 gallons and felt pretty good about that but still planned to grab some occasionally when I see what I perceive to be a good deal. But in the last 2 days I’ve used over a 1 1/2 gallons. Not stressing, but will just continue to grab one or two when the price is right

 

For me, I'm comfortable with 50 gallons mix and 30 gallons bar oil.

To no longer have to worry about price increases? If all I focused on was firewood, 50 gallons of bar oil would probably do it.

 

That's always the issue in my world too. I may not even fire a saw for a couple months, then go through a gallon or 2 in a week.

 

I would have to take a head count but I have an easy 10 on the shelf if not more.
If I run across more at bargain I would buy a few more.

I am a member of The Bar Oil Hoarders Club.

 

Honestly its something i never worried about. Years back, i had a gallon on hand and when i got low i just went out and bought another. Its not like im burning through vast quantities of it on a regular basis. If i went through a gallon a month, even at $15 gallon (which is nuts) its not going to stop me from cutting wood. If the price kept going up by stupid amounts, then id start hoarding it in quantity.

 

Bars and chains as well.