Veggie oil for bar and chain?

[bstewert]

I've been using (and paying extra) for Stihl's BioPlus with vegetable oil. What would happen using something like these?

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Canola only from what I hear. I'd been BioPlus all the way, until switching. I hear cold pressed canola is better. Some people run their chains a bit looser with canola. Others say only for smaller bars. At my new job, we only use canola, even on 60" bar, but might wear more. Dunno.

I wonder about actual rapeseed oil, the base oil that Canola (Canada Oil Low Acid) comes from. Rapeseed was used historically as an industrial lubricant. It was processed to be used for cooking. From what I've heard, its low in saturated fat, technically, but clumps in the body, and is bad for you.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Also, heard something about it being thickened with animal lard for less fling, but no substantiation.

 

[bill22]

I've talked with some people on other forums who say it works just fine, then again I've heard from some others that it doesn't oil chain rivets well and can cause stretching, I've never used it so I can say for certain. Hope that helps some.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

A factor can include how frequently you have to file your cutters. If you rarely need to file due to clean wood, and keeping it out of the dirt, you may need to remove a link part way through the chain life due to stretching. Might depend on chain type, too. For my personal business, I run Stihl chain. At Parks, its Oregon. The Oregon seems to stretch more, both short and long bars, from what I can tell.

 

[GASoline71]

If you do use that crap... don't let it sit too long in your saw unused. I will harden and gum up. Run a tank of real bar oil through your saw every few months to break up the residue that stuff will leave behind.

You can use it... but if you neglect it... you will pay the price with the oiler in your saw.

Gary

 

[Al Smith]

Being rather old school and set in my ways I've never used veggie oil other than on salads .That plus the fact I already have about twenty gallons of oil on hand .Bear in mind though that veggie oil contains no tacking agent as does petrolium based oils and will not cling to the bar and chain as well .

 

[woodworkingboy]

Chain and bar oil has some qualities to it that make it appropriate for it's use, as opposed to just plain lubricating oil or vegetable oil for cooking. High thin film strength that protects against wear, tackiness so it doesn't sling, rust protection, and it doesn't foam up, is what they claim the oil is designed to do.

 

[Jack]

FWIW - for 2 years, I've only used the exact same Kirkland Canola in the second picture of the OP. My experience with canola:

Saws see a lot of use through the winter - canola works better in cold weather, about the same in summer.
Saws sit more in summer (thin & deadwood mostly with hand tools) -- have not had any gumming problems, it does 'leak' out though.
When running, the chain 'throws' about the same amount as petroleum oil -- does that mean it's tacky enough???
If the bars wear more I can't measure it -- does that mean it lubes enough???
For one entire summer before adopting the use of canola, left an open jug in the shed -- no discernible change; canola did not 'go bad' or turn rancid.
I've read canola oil is pressed from a cultivar of rapeseed, hybridized for human consumption -- does that mean it's more biodegradable than petroleum???
HO's like that I'm using it -- works for me.

 

[stig]

I use coldpressed rapeseed oil for cooking, it has been used here for generations.

When I log for the state, I have to use bio degradable oil, which around here means canola.

It seems to wear bars out a little faster than mineral oil, but pours way better when it is cold.

I have never had ANY problems with oilpumps, whatever caused by it gumming up, like Gary says. Maybe they add something to it here to reduce oxidation.

The one thing I dislike about it is that when you spill some on the hot muffler, it smells like french fries.
At the end of a long day of logging, that smell can make my mouth water, almost enough to drown me.

 

[Magnus]

I use coldpressed rapeseed oil for cooking, it has been used here for generations.

When I log for the state, I have to use bio degradable oil, which around here means canola.

It seems to wear bars out a little faster than mineral oil, but pours way better when it is cold.

I have never had ANY problems with oilpumps, whatever caused by it gumming up, like Gary says. Maybe they add something to it here to reduce oxidation.

The one thing I dislike about it is that when you spill some on the hot muffler, it smells like french fries.
At the end of a long day of logging, that smell can make my mouth water, almost enough to drown me.

I have a couple here every week that have trouble from it.
No pro's unless they have saws they rarely use. It has more wear, costs and I doubt it is better for the forrest than a good grade dino oil.
If you look at this with environmental eyes it is not better with veggie oil. It has more work and Kw spent on it when you pour it in your saw.
Rotating a number of chains on a bar is not a option as it will eat rim's like crazy...

 

[sawinredneck]

Interesting points Magnus, hadn't thought of it in those terms!

 

[stig]

I totally agree, Magnus.
Also it is about twice the price of " Dino-oil" ( great phrase BTW!!) so the very moment we go into privately owned forests, we all switch to "Motion Lotion".

The dino bar oil that gets sprayed into the forest bottom is in so fine particles, that microbiological cleanup starts immediately.
It is not like we pour it on the ground by the gallon.
If that was the case, I think canola oil might degrade faster.

 

[Magnus]

It is a simple test to do...

I tried here in a box.... Veggie oil killed the grass, dino oil didn't. Same grass, same box, same amounts...

 

[Al Smith]

That doesn't sound good at all . Good heavens we've been ingesting it .

I suppose though it's better than using chainsaw bar oil on your salad .

 

[Magnus]

I think it is quite different for us to digest it... We are not plants...

 

[tophopper]

Do you all believe you are reducing your impact on the planet by not using petr. bar oil?

 

[sawinredneck]

I don't, that's why dino oil is all I use.

 

[GASoline71]

LMAO... main reason I don't use it is beacuse I don't wanna get laughed off the landing...

Gary

 

[Al Smith]

Much ado about a little bar oil on the ground like it was the BP spill in the gulf or something .

 

[SkwerI]

The entire premise for using veggie oil is based on the idea that using petroleum oil is incredibly harmful and bad for the environment. This idea has been blown way out of proportion and I am not buying into the concept. If oil was that bad for the environment then we wouldn't be using it to make asphalt pavement. If oil was that bad then we wouldn't be using twenty million barrels per day as our primary energy source. We use oil in almost everything we do, and to think I'm going to double my cost and inconvenience of lubricating my saw chain in order to make some sort of philosophical statement while I'm burning a hundred gallons of diesel per week in my bucket truck then you're sadly mistaken.

 

[woodworkingboy]

When in the states, there was a small distributor for standard oil I believe it was, outside of Petaluma where I resided. I stopped in there once for the heck of it, to ask if they had anything available that would work as a chain oil. For a number of years after that, I would buy my chain oil from them, sold in something like a twenty gallon plastic container. Not exactly sure what the oil was designed for, but it had an anti sling additive in it. It was quite cheap and worked super well. No name to it, just a number code. I suspect that chain oil is basically some fancy packaged standard stuff that people get overcharged for. If you have an oil distributor in your area, it might be worth making an enquiry.

 

[SkwerI]

Jay, it is typically regular motor oil with some tack additive in it. Since viscosity isn't critical, it can be a blend of several different weights of oil. Packaging bar oil is a way of using up leftover or excess production.

And I'm paying $6 per gallon.

 

[tophopper]

Bio motion lotion is running $20 p gallon.

 

[Al Smith]

In the low down dirty it's nothing more than oil with STP added or something like it .Fact is machine way oil is about the same stuff but let me tell you the price far and exceeds chainsaw bar oil .