quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:
..I recommend that your chain not be all that tight -- but tight enough to keep the saw from throwing the chain.

How come?

A tight chain causes additional friction, which means higher bar and chain temperatures. Motor oil won't lube the entire bar & chain as well as a quality bar oil, therefore reducing the temps on the bar & chain is a good thing. As sourdough44 stated, a slightly looser chain is fine in larger wood, especially for vertical cuts. Throwing a chain is more likely with smaller wood and and horizontal felling cuts.

On my own I would said you can use anything you want that's a decent lubricant for .5 hours without issue. Since it was said above its really bad I thought what mechanism would that be so I read dozens of discussions about it.
I stand by my original thought, its not going to hurt anything. Get some 30w motor oil if that is what you have access to, I would get one of the older formulations if its available.
In the course of my reading I found this little tidbit...(I didn't chase down the original)
"A study by Oregon State University’s Forestry Department showed that using motor oil instead of bar oil increased chain wear by an average of 35% over a 100-hour period."
which suggests your risk is a reduction of chain life of .175%.

Thanks guys about the chain tension. I'll just use bar oil with minimal chain slack.

As a related aside, my favorite way to sharpen the chain is off the saw with the chain in a bench vise. The teeth are held firmly, you can get the tooth sharpened to perfection, at least that’s the goal.

I have the handful of chains, so when the mood strikes, in the garage with the radio on & go at it. I have tried various methods, most often just use quality files.

quote:

Originally posted by Suppressed:
My Stihl dealer used to sell Bel Ray Hi Tac bar and chain oil that seemed to work well. Now, I just use tractor supply bar oil, Stihl oil, or Walmart oil. I go through 50 at least 50 gallons a year.

Holy cow! 50 gallons of bar oil a year?
You must be single-handedly deforesting Maryland.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

Originally posted by Suppressed:
My Stihl dealer used to sell Bel Ray Hi Tac bar and chain oil that seemed to work well. Now, I just use tractor supply bar oil, Stihl oil, or Walmart oil. I go through 50 at least 50 gallons a year.

Holy cow! 50 gallons of bar oil a year?
You must be single-handedly deforesting Maryland.

We would easily use a gallon a week when I was climbing years ago.

My bones start to ache with the thought of going through 50 gallons of bar oil a year.

I just cut down, cut up, then cleaned up a fairly large White Pine the last 2 days. My project is to get more sun in certain areas, then allow oaks & sugar maple trees better growing conditions. These trees were kinda close to the house, needles end up in the gutters.

I’ve done 3 so far, also splitting the wood to mix with hardwoods in my woodstove. In the Midwest it’s kinda frowned upon, other areas of the country various evergreen tree use is common.

I kinda have a lifetime supply around here, with just the trees I want to thin. Yes, I am an advocate of a clean chimney and stove baffles, so there’s that.

I admire the climbers... I can watch them for hours. I've done some ground work as they lower limbs by rope.

I have used my old motor oil in my Stihl with no issues.

I do not run a TIGHT chain on my 028 Stihl. While sitting on the bench, before use, saw, bar and chain cold, the chain will sag about 1/2 tooth in the middle of the chain. The “tooth” is the part that rides in the bar groove. Any looser and there is a chance of throwing the chain.

Running a tight chain, in my experience, shortens the life of the bar where you get the heat discoloration on the edge of the bar. You also use a percentage of your effective power to move the chain - tight means less power for cutting.

If you throw the chain frequently either the chain is too loose or you are twisting the bar while cutting. A chainsaw will normally cut quite well if your blade follows a flat plane. You don’t change direction, even a little, while cutting.

If the saw doesn’t seem to be able to keep a chain in place for a full cutting session, check the edges of the blade for excessive wear (where the tooth rides). Sometimes one side can be worn more than the other. This would allow the chain to tilt in the groove - ie lean excessively to the left or right. This would make throwing the chain much easier. You might file both edges square to the face of the blade or simply replace the blade.

So, am I blowing smoke or do I have some experience? The 028 was bought new in 1988 to help build our log home. I used it last week. It is sharp and ready to go now. I have a 20” blade on it so I lean over less when cutting pieces on the ground. Throwing chains? In those 37 years I could count how many time I threw a chain on my two hands - and have some fingers left over. Part of my experience is from paid work, part volunteer and most doing work around home. I have been blessed with no chainsaw accidents.

quote:

I have used my old motor oil in my Stihl with no issues.

It might have no issues per se, but its really not a great idea except in an emergency. And with the continuing shift to lower viscosity engine oils it gets worse and worse as an idea.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

Originally posted by Suppressed:
My Stihl dealer used to sell Bel Ray Hi Tac bar and chain oil that seemed to work well. Now, I just use tractor supply bar oil, Stihl oil, or Walmart oil. I go through 50 at least 50 gallons a year.

Holy cow! 50 gallons of bar oil a year?
You must be single-handedly deforesting Maryland.

Whoa you're doing a lot of cutting! I generally go through 1-2 gallons a year but this year will probably be double that or more. The local farm supply store sells Stihl so I generally pick Stihl bar oil but when at RK or TSC, and I remember, I pick up a couple gallons there.

quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
Some places require vegetable oil in saws.

Really? That sounds like the kind of mental retardation that the criminally stupid morons in Sacramento would come up with (says the guy who unfortunately has too deal with some of their stupidity).

Bio bar oil is a real thing and real products that get the job as well as petroleum bar oils do exist, and may make sense in certain circumstances where the small amount of petroleum from regular bar oil is a problem (like near water bodies). The Stihl one I am familar with is called BioPlus.