Used motor oil for chainsaw lube?

Have any of you used the oil from your oil change for the chain lubricant in your chainsaws?

 

I wouldn't because of particulates and contaminants in the used oil, also because of how thin Tundra oil is. You need enough visocity for it to be distributed properly.

 

For bar oil?

 

Yeah, bar oil only.

 

This will make a oily, slimy, disgusting mess of your saw, you, and anything within a 10ft radius of the saw while running. Bar oil is thick and sticky for a reason. When the chain is moving at a high RPM the oil needs to stick to it, any other type of oil at all is just going to fling off.

 

Yeah my grandpa used long long ago along with other things.. I'd stick with bar oil

 

bar

 

It'll ruin your oiler on your saw. I only use the stihl or husqavarna bar and chain oil. I never use the garbage at home depot or the hardware store. You can tell the viscosity between the cheap stuff and the good stuff. It's better for your bar and chain to have the good oil it won't over heat and burn out. I've destroyed bars from using cheap oil.
Unless you're in a pinch I wouldn't do it. Just spend the 20 bucks and get some decent bar and chain oil. A bottle usually lasts me few months and I cut alot.

 

Nope, I wont even use clean motor oil. Like others said bar oil has properties specifically for chainsaw bars

 

Highly suggest using a proper chain oil. It doesn;t have to be an expensive one and a gallon of bar oil will last forever unless your running it professionally. I Have 2 Stihls and would never dream of using motor oil, like said above its the chains and bars that are the real expense

 

Bar oil is like $5....

not worth it

 

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a chainsaw with injectors.
I’ve had maybe 7 chainsaws and always have run the 30w motor oil. This never seemed to cause any problems.
I just got a new stihl and wondered about other people’s thoughts.
I’m cutting a LOT less these days and considering the cost of both the saw and bar oil, I will probably just use bar oil going forward. Thanks for the feedback!

 

I’ve used motor oil in mine. Whatever I have a little extra of. probably not the best for the chain but at least it’s always lubed. After reading all this I guess I’ll buy a bottle of the correct stuff next time I’m at the hardware store.

 

Straight 30w is about the same viscosity as bar oil so it's a solid choice. Bar oil has some different additives though.

 

If you do any plumbing work and find yourself threading pipe, I've used motor oil as threading lube before. Works well enough if you go slow. Just be sure to clean it off if your doing water lines.