OT--Chainsaw Bar Oil--cooking oil?

Friend gave me 3 gallon of Wesson Canola Cooking Oil. It looks new but he said it was used and filtered.
I know some of you have suggested using this filtered oil as BAR OIL in chainsaws.
Just wondering if you mix it with bar oil or use it exclusively?

I personaly would not use it . It's totally to thin by itself and if mixed with bar oil it will be to thin for summer use. I use summer oil in winter because the winter bar oils is to thin for my saws in winter. I would run out of bar oil before gasoline if I use winter bar oil in winter. I don't think you will like the smell of cooking oil when it goes rancid. I had a factory that used cooking oil to control the dust on the drive going to their docks and it smelt like cooking oil for a week and after that it had a rancid smell that lasted all summer.

I would not use it, I think bar oil is special formula to stick and stick and STICK to the bar and chain, provided long life. It's fairly cheap too.

Ive never used cooking oil. Used motor oil works
good.

I wouldn't do it. I can't think of a reason to do it either.

I wouldn't use it for bar oil, I would use it
to oil the barn cleaner chain...

that's my choice too, used motor oil.

Son-in-law's brother is in a commercial tree
trimming operation. He says his boss gets recycled
oils packaged as bar oil. Says you can tell what
it is by the smell. Used motor oil, tranney fluid,
other oils -whatever lube change places dump in
the tank...

By the way, he buys his own, not recycled - says
his saw is worth more than cheap oil.

I had to laugh when I saw this topic, I thought about posting the same question myself early last winter.

I mixed up a gallon of bar oil and a gallon of the used fryer oil, tried it in the chainsaw. I ended up with a winter like mix, kind of thin. It works the same as plain bar oil, but doesn't seem to have the best lubricating properties. I wonder if something thicker, like 80w90 gear oil would work better, but I think the price of the 'other' oil would be something to consider before trying it. All in all, I'll use what I have but I'm not sure I would do it again...

I have heard of this being done by some people that cut wood for smoking BBQ to avoid hydrocarbons in the smoke during the smoking process. Seems a little excessive to me, I guess there are plenty of things that will 'hurt' me before a few drops of oil on a piece of smoldering wood under my brisket, or turkey, or whatever.

I agree! Lot of "pros" around here use the old oil out of log trucks, but then again they burn through saws and bars MUCH more quickly than me!!!

As far as I am concerned, there is a reason they make stuff called BAR OIL. It works good for oiling bars!!

I run Husqvarna "XP Bar Oil", which is supposed to be pro, but I really don't think that there is a difference! It is THICK stuff! MUCH stickier than motor oil, especially used...

Something else to keep in mind, my dad runs brand new motor oil on his bar, and loves it, BUT, he runs a Husqvarna 350 with a 24 inch bar. I run a 288XP with a 28 inch, and a bigger sprocket, and it will just throw the oil off the end of the bar, and nothing on the bottom, or the sprocket ever gets oiled! That is REALLY bad...

Like said, I run that Husky stuff (though I am sure any real "bar" oil is fine), and IF it is a little too thick in the winter, I put a cup of diesel/kerosene to the gallon of oil, just make sure you mix with a stick before use, and USE it in the saw, don't let it sit, because it will separate....

Don't be cheap with your saw! Run good stuff in it and it will last you a LONG time! Bryce

I don't cut much wood when it gets below 20 degrees in winter.My Stihl saws will pump summer bar oil down to that temp. I have tried winter bar oil but had problems with saw running out of bar oil way before I run out of gas. I found that mixing 50-50 mixture of winter and summer bar oil works better in real cold weather. For what the cost of new bars,chains and drive sprockets I use Stihl bar oil.

Not sure about the differences in wear or performance, that is a consideration, but motor oil, be it used or new, from what I have seen it just makes a real mess, slings off everywhere. I've got one friend who uses it, agrees on that too. He still uses it, but it makes a mess.

Strangest thing with one of these Husqvarna 455 rancher saws, friend got a really good deal on a new one, his dad runs that brand, local saw shop sells it, my neighbor owned it, his dad before him, retired, but works a few days a week there, he sold it to his partner and friend. Back to the point, he ran some of that bar oil in the green jug commonly found at big box or franchise, or national retailers. It leaked that oil like crazy, I went and put the Husqvarna bar oil into it and it stopped completely !

You may have seen my Stihl MS390 on tool talk, did some sprucing up on it, came out great and still runs like it did when new. One thing I noticed when I first fired it up again was it was slinging Stihl bar oil like crazy, new bar, chain, everything on that saw was new or cleaned like new, if I had motor oil in there, what a mess, and it can get onto the engine or help wood fines stick to the cooling fins on one side. One thing is for sure, chainsaws get caked in oil and wood fines just from bar oil, and its wise to clean them as much as you can, why make it worse?

I typically process about 5 cord annually, do a fair amount of felling, but nothing daily or for extended periods of time, unlike a logger or tree service or forestry worker. 2 gallons of bar oil goes a long way, whether its adjusted to max or set back a little. I collect all the sawdust for composting, so I don't want oil in it, and when it drys down, the sawdust is free of bar oil, + Stihl bar oil does break down, they even make one that comes in a gray jug, that is supposed to break down faster than any other bar oil, well who knows for sure, I had never heard of such a thing.

In my opinion, for most homeowners, farmers, ranchers or those who cut periodically, make their own firewood, there is no savings by using alternatives to bar oil.

Its imperative to keep the bar groove clean, or clear it often, as well as inside the sprocket cover and any passages to the bar. I made a rounded edge triangular tool out of thin aluminum sheet metal, shaped just like a slow moving sign on a tractor, perfect for bar groove cleaning, fits in the tool kit. I've learned over the years, ones chainsaw does require a fair amount of regular maintenance to perform, those that don't end up with the dozens of others that keep a constant stream of saws in for repairs.

Cooking oil will work fine people!! I use it all the time, you can use any oil you want you just have to adjust your oiler properly to keep a constant film on things. I ran saws for 4 years 40 hours a week/ I was also the head mechanic on these saws. I can promise you anything you put in there will work if you have the oiler set right. If you buy a brand new saw, tell them you want it dry (It will be from factory). Don't put any oil in the bar oil spot just vegetable oil. You now have a deer/steer dressing tool/meatsaw. Works great will last you a lifetime if you adjust oiler. If you are gonna cut meat just make sure you get a new saw so there is no residual oil in the bar oil tank.
Mike

I use my used cooking oil for lubricating my fertilizer spreader to
keep it from rusting, plus regular grease for the zerks. On bar oil, I
like the store bought because it has some stickyness to it but it's
too thick. So I thin it down with ATF. Don't know about the
lubricity of cooking oil.

Mark

You are talking about an electric chainsaw. Every chainsaw that I have ever seen around meat are electric chains and most are now using band saws.

Filter it again and add it to your diesel tank, a gallon on each fillup.
A friend manages 18 tree crews subcontracting to the power company, who makes them use a biodegradable, vegetable based bar oil. They hate it, it is expensive and chains wear out faster than with mineral based oil.

(quoted from post at 21:11:41 03/19/15) Filter it again and add it to your diesel tank, a gallon on each fillup.
A friend manages 18 tree crews subcontracting to the power company, who makes them use a biodegradable, vegetable based bar oil. They hate it, it is expensive and chains wear out faster than with mineral based oil.

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Good suggestion---I occasionally add a quart of automatic transmission fluid to a full tank on my Case Backhoe.

makes about as much sense as using engine oil in your differential!!!