Saute a chainsaw?

[Charlie Velasquez]

Maybe....
I mentioned to a friend, an outdoors type naturalist, that I needed to fell a tree behind my workshop. Said I needed to get some bar/chain oil first, or maybe just use some SAE 30wt, as I've heard that works in a pinch.

He glared at me as if I had killed his first born. Told me not to use anything but off the shelf vegetable cooking oil from my local grocery store for my bar, specifically canola oil (I assume it has more of the good cholesterol). He said it's cheaper and biodegradeable. Said no oil is going to break down in the short time before it is flung off the chain and at summer temps it won't gel, so no problems.

Got on the internet and found several references to canola based oils for chainsaws, though not current references.
Found some canola based bar oils made by Stihl and others. Nothing I found references grocery store canola oils.

So my question, has anyone used grocery store grade canola oil as a lubricant for their bar and chain?

[Larry Frank]

I have looked at using other oils with my Stihl and decided for the minimal cost I would just use the Stihl brand.

But, I would bet for most of us that our chainsaws have carburetor problems and not bar wear problems.

[Myk Rian]

How much oil does he think you'll be slinging around? A quart? A pint?

[Tom M King]

Any oil other than bar oil will sling off the blade too fast, so it will be bad for your bar, chain and sprocket. I've tried other oil in a pinch, and now make sure I don't get in that pinch. Bailey's sells some biodegradable bar oil, but I've never seen any bad effects from the Stihl bar oil.

[julian abram]

Another solution in search of a problem. My Stihl uses the oil that was designed for it, Stihl bar oil.

[Jason Roehl]

Any oil other than bar oil will sling off the blade too fast, so it will be bad for your bar, chain and sprocket. I've tried other oil in a pinch, and now make sure I don't get in that pinch. Bailey's sells some biodegradable bar oil, but I've never seen any bad effects from the Stihl bar oil.

This. I don't care about brand for bar oil, but I do use bar oil because it has a fair amount of tack to it. On a cold day, it can be downright stringy. The point is to keep enough oil on the bar and chain to make it around to the bottom side of the bar before the chain goes around the drive sprocket. A side benefit is that it doesn't muck up your wood as much, either.

Save the canola oil for frying.

[Jim Matthews]

Get a count of how many bent bars, stretched chains and toothless drive sprockets
he has in his basement stash. That should indicate if he's onto something,
or on something.

It's a simple machine. If pollution is the issue, chainsaws aren't the solution.

[ryan paulsen]

I agree with the above posts. Plus, if any of that canola oil remains during when it gets cold out, you'll have a solidified mass of goo to deal with. You said you have a single tree to fell? Use the bar oil, and then plant a new tree and call it even.

PS don't let him see your burn pile after the limbing is done...

[Larry Edgerton]

That kind of reminds me of one of my friends giving me a hard time about hunting, as he is munching on a steak.

We are a species that is intent on ruining the planet. I have read that the ultimate solution is suicide, but I think a compromise is the best we can hope for. If you use canola oil and ruin your bar and chain, how much energy/pollution is burned/created in manufacturing a new one?

Fanatics..........

[roger wiegand]

used plain old 30 wt for decades without apparent issues. Bar/chain problems came from crushing and bending them, other than that the lifetimes seemed long. Use "official" chain oil now because 30 wt is harder to find and now I don't go through enough of it in a year to make a difference. Don't know about vegetable oil, Extra virgin olive oil (organic, of course) might smell better.

[Peter Kelly]

Should mention to your friend that a not insignificant amount of hexane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexane) is used to refine canola. If he feels this strongly about chemicals on his property he ought to consider taking the tree down with an axe and hand saw.

[Kent A Bathurst]

That kind of reminds me of one of my friends giving me a hard time about hunting, as he is munching on a steak.

Fanatics..........

Exactly!! I was thinking about the implications of a greenie lecturing you on the proper way to cut down trees. Got into kind of a Mobius Loop I couldn't get out of.

[Mark Patoka]

I'm thinking the exhaust emissions alone will far exceed any amount of bar oil splatter. But I guess he's not concerned about breathing that in.

[Charlie Velasquez]

The unanimous opinion was don't take a chance on ruining bar, chain, socket for a dubious benefit; stay with a product designed specifically for chainsaws. Picked up a qt of bar oil and the tree comes down this PM. Thanks for the input.

[Rich Riddle]

Tell his someone took that oil from the ground and you are simply retuning it home.

[Bruce Darrow]

I had a BIL of that pie in the sky bent. After he drank himself to death (!), my sister gave me his nearly new Stihl, which he, of course, ran w/ vegetable oil. The splatter on the body of the saw, nicely mixed w/ sawdust and then cooked by the heat of the saw, was nearly impossible to clean off. Soap, detergent, various solvents - nothing seemed to make much of a dent in it. Ended up scraping off the worst of it, and decided the rest of it would live with the saw for the rest of its natural life.......Me: never ever!

[Bradley Gray]

butter is always better

[Ole Anderson]

Personally I have a gallon of Stihl bar oil I use, but then while I have 3 saws, they don't get much use. Go to Arboristsite dot com and search for bar oil and see the ruckus when the subject comes up.

[Jim Andrew]

Seems the pie in the sky bunch inhabit the state house. I got a burn permit, and they have statutes posted you are supposed to read before applying for the permit, and they do not allow burning of any wood, other than brush. Lumber burning is prohibited.

[Justin Ludwig]

I've ran my Stihl MS280 with used truck oil (45w) for hours and never had a problem. It has a lighter viscosity, so it will run out before you run out of gas. Chainsaws are calibrated to use bar oil and gas as close to 1:1 as possible. That way you can refill them at the same time.

As for a single chain saw burning down the rain forest mentality of your friend: I'd just smile and agree that it's a novel idea. I'm all about reducing my eco-footprint, but I also know where to draw the line.