Is chainsaw oil something special?

[dave]

Can more or less any light oil be used for chainsaw lubrication? Whether it'd be any cheaper is another question of course :-)

[usenet]

It's usually pretty high viscosity, hardly a 'light' oil. It's more like rear axle oil or similar, SAE80 or 90 viscosity.

Why not buy the proper stuff, it's hardly expensive, B&Q have it (assuming you believe that B&Q's is the 'proper stuff'!).

[Christian McArdle]

I don't know, but I was caught out and used engine oil once (for a very small job) and the chain didn't seem to mind (it wasn't my chain, so I took the risk!)

The engine oil was a lot more expensive than the chainsaw stuff, but the tree had to go. After that, I emptied out the motor oil and bought a supply of proper McCulloch stuff.

If you want the chain to last, I'd use the proper stuff.

Christian.

[Grunff]

I have to own up here - I never seem to have any chainsaw oil around (maybe because I always forget to buy some, I don't know), so I always use engine oil. The chain has a good few miles on it now, has been sharpened a few times, but is still in good condition.

[sylva]

I use pure vegetable oil (OSR is best) from Safeways at 55p/ltre.

AJH

[Michael Mcneil]

The oil is a lost lubricant. You will see it spraying out on a revving saw when you press the oiler button if it has one. I used the heavy stuff and it wouldn't come out the port. In a timberyard I used to work in they used red diesel. As long as the chain is not run dry, you should be OK.

This is probably apochryphal but I did hear from a mechanic that you aught to be able to run an engine on water as a lubricant. By the way the finest lubricant is castor oil. You might want to put some of that in the can if you decide to use diesel. Modern two-stroke chainsaws use microscopic amounts of lube in their mix these days compared to the ratios I had to use when I had one.

There is another place that requires oil beside the chaincase and the petrol tank, that is the clutch and gear box. It requires grease-thick oil. Don't let that box get low, whatever you do. Every day you use it, check it.

[Huge]

Some breathing air compressors use it thus ...

[Harry Ziman]

One consideration is that the chain oil ends up in the environment. Engine oil is not too friendly in that respect.

[N. Thornton]

its oil thats not so thin it flies off.... what more do you need on a chain? People will pay triple for anything these days.

Regards, NT

[N. Thornton]

its oil thats not so thin it flies off.... what more do you need on a chain? People will pay triple for anything these days.

Regards, NT

[Dave Liquorice]

For the second time... I hope google fix their poxy system soon, multiple postings are poping up everywhere.

[Mouse]

Chainsaw chain oil is designed to stay on the chain and bar long enough to keep it lubricated properly, it is also biodegradable. Using any other oil will cause overheating of the chain and bar causing damage and possibly injury to the operator. This may not show up on a couple of logs, but it certainly will on any heavy or prolonged cutting.

Mouse

[The Natural Philosopher]

The point is, even with the proper stuff the chain doesn't last forever.

If you get caught short, engine oil is better than no oil by a long margin.

But chain oil doesn't have to woithstand the temps and pressures that engine oil does, and so is usually a LOT cheaper.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well thats the start of it.

In addition you don't want it to dry out and prodice a dreadful gummy lacquer (castor or linseed oil)

Nor do you want it to instantly poison the groundwater Or you.

[Alan Campbell]

Hi,

I have known tree surgeons who used to take all our used engine oil away and use that with no negative effect on their saws. I guess in theory, impurities could impede the lubricating action of the oil or block the oiler but in practice, this is highly unlikely - it isn't a piston/crankshaft you are lubricating. I have seen chain oil advertised as "non-drip" but I think that basically chain oil is a nice little earner for the chainsaw and oil companies.

I think Harry has a point although I'm not sure that proper chain oil is any less damaging to the environment than used engine oil as they are both mineral. Perhaps if someone made a vegetable one then it would be different.

Alan.

[Grunff]

Used engine oil is nasty, nasty stuff - much more so than new engine oil. It carries a horrible mixture of organics and metals. There is a whole world of difference between used engine oil and new engine oil.

[sylva]

OK

Originally the mineral chain oil had an adhesive added to make it more sticky, you could pull a string of oil from the tin to demonstrate this.

Not necessarily though most public bodies have it in their terms that you should use the bio degradable type when on their land. There are two types of bio degradable oils I am aware of, the OSR based ones and the Stihl one that is an emulsion, like suds on a drilling machine, I have never used the latter.

The straight OSR veggie oil has an affinity for metal, something to do with the way the fat molecule is polarised, so though thinner it does stay on the bar well. I know a chap whose Phd was on researching the properties of chain lube oils at Bangor, since reading his thesis 10 years ago I stopped buying the proprietary OSR based chain oils and went to straight OSR from the supermarket.

Not in my experience, I will grant that straight veggie oil increases wear rate slightly but if you consider a motor manual harvesting system will put 1-2 litres of oil through a bar a day and the bar and

3 chains cost about GBP50 the savings on the cheaper oil make sense to me.

AJH

[sylva]

Yes and it has been implicated as a carcinogen in the earliest industrial related cancer, such that one poster on this forum remembered a warning displayed to tell mechanics not to put oily rags in their pockets. As a portion of chain oil ends up sprayed on the trousers I would say it was not worth any saving.

AJH

[Pet]

And it makes a good substitute should you run out of diesel not be near a garage.