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Bar and Chain oil

I am not in the best of health like some of you may be. I am not bedridden or crippled (yet) and I am not fading away too quickly (I hope) but I'll be 74 before this year is over.There comes a time in an Old Man's Life when he puts away "heavy" and cumbersome things. Hey I don't climb ladders anymore either. But so far firearms are not that heavy.
 
Geez, I remember when chain saw oil and bicycle chain lube on guns was in style. Fashions change.
I found a bottle of two-stroke oil from when I had a gas weedeater. I bet it would slick up other moving parts, too.

Years ago the pawn shop operator here called an extension cord electric chain saw "an apartment dweller's saw."

My Dad once mowed with an extension cord electric mower. He figured out a route that would minimize cord movements. There was a mower company that would do that for you if you sent in a map of your yard.
 
I never even thought about mixing fuel for a 2 stroke engine. Brain fog? That is until I read Walkalong's post. I keep gasoline on hand for the riding mower and update every few weeks to keep it fresh. The old stuff goes in my wife's car or my pickup. I can mix it with the chainsaw oil (along with motor oil) to make fuel for my 2 stroke/cycle.Or could I? That "Store Bought" fuel is expensive.
 
Eutycus said:
I never even thought about mixing fuel for a 2 stroke engine. Brain fog? That is until I read Walkalong's post. I keep gasoline on hand for the riding mower and update every few weeks to keep it fresh. The old stuff goes in my wife's car or my pickup. I can mix it with the chainsaw oil (along with motor oil) to make fuel for my 2 stroke/cycle.Or could I? That "Store Bought" fuel is expensive.
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When you say "chainsaw oil", are you talking about the bar oil? If so, no, you should not attempt to make 2 stroke fuel using that. Shouldn't use motor oil either. Use 2 stroke oil.
Eutycus said:
I am curious why that fact has been pointed out several times. I kind of thought everyone knew that.
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Because you stated that you "may go electric", giving us the impression, here in this discussion about bar oil, that you thought that bar oil wasn't needed for an electric chain saw. Believe me, that's far from the craziest idea I've heard from folks new to chainsaws. Sometimes it can be tough to tell, in these types of online discussions, what people are really getting at.

Anyway, in your OP, you mentioned having a "few ounces" of bar oil. If you don't think you'll buy another saw, just give it to a person who has a saw. Seems fairly simple.
 
bearcreek said:
Really? Amazing that engines last as long as they do without corrosion protection. :rofl:
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It's a fact, not my opinion. The internals of an engine are exposed to what, exactly? Nothing that would cause internal corrosion. It's not a place where moisture can live. Lots of folks have done tests to determine this, motor oil always fares the worst.
 
CraigC said:
No, you'll have to find it yourself. Motor oil has detergents to improve its performance, as motor oil that generally operates at high temperatures. ATF is mostly hydraulic fluid.
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As someone who has never brought a vehicle to a mechanic, who has worked on heavy equipment and who has used firearms extensively for decades, I've seen plenty of what different oils do and don't do to protect different metals from corrosion. Don't need a study, but I'll do some looking anyway, just out of curiosity.
 
bearcreek said:
As someone who has never brought a vehicle to a mechanic, who has worked on heavy equipment and who has used firearms extensively for decades, I've seen plenty of what different oils do and don't do to protect different metals from corrosion. Don't need a study, but I'll do some looking anyway, just out of curiosity.
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You obviously do if you don't know that motor oil has no corrosion protection properties.

Then you should know that moisture cannot live inside a functional engine. What happens when it does get in there? Rust. Seizure.
 
Regarding two stroke oil, a chainsaw shop had a sign over the counter warning about using outboard motor two stroke oil in chainsaws because it was not formulated for the much higher RPMs that chainsaws run at.
 
Just because everyone is so adamant that its a bad idea.... im going to run an experiment this summer and mix some stihl b&c oil 50/50 with 30w valvoline and see how it works.
 
Eutycus said:
Yeah and IF I get a chainsaw it will be put to use in that fashion. But again what if I don't get one.
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They are your guns and it is your oil, you can do anything you want. Motor oil has detergents in it and ATF has a LOT of detergents in it. Not something I would want to put on my guns. Chain and bar oil has tackifiers in it to make is stick, watering it down with motor oil or ATF isn't going to remove these tackifiers.

I would take the unused oil to the recycling facility. But, again, you can do what ever you want to with your guns and your surplus chain/bar oil.
 
CraigC said:
You obviously do if you don't know that motor oil has no corrosion protection properties.

Then you should know that moisture cannot live inside a functional engine. What happens when it does get in there? Rust. Seizure.
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It’s especially interesting when it gets in the cylinder……
Strange that water doesn’t compress very well and is much stronger than the steel connecting rods…. 🤪 :(
You prolly don’t have to ask why i know this…..:oops:
 
Ironicaintit said:
Just because everyone is so adamant that it’s a bad idea.... im going to run an experiment this summer and mix some stihl b&c oil 50/50 with 30w valvoline and see how it works.
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The results may surprise a lot of folks. I ran 90 weight rear gear oil in a 289 ford engine once with no issues. At one time the plant I work in just put rotella 30 weight in everything, gas, diesel, 1000+ gallon air compressors, pumps, gear boxes, planetary drives, literally everything that didn’t take grease. Turns out if something doesn’t get “dry” even the wrong oil/lube we’ll go a very long way. I strongly suspect guns are no exception.

All that said, lube is relatively cheap and good insurance so I try to use what I’m supposed to nowadays.
 
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