electric chain saw

I have a couple of electric 16" Remington chain saws, 1 manual chain oiler the other auto oiler.  Both manuals say not to use bar and chain oil, but to use 30 weight motor oil. This seams strange to me. Why not bar oil ?

I love my little Remington..................

Could be the chain don't travel near as fast? I've never looked at the RPM on an electric. I've used anything slick on my old gear drive chain. Boogers would probably work.

Edited by Walker - 06 Jun 2018 at 7:18pm

The bad thing about motor oil is it don't have the tackafiers to keep it from flying off the chain. I've heard of using peanut and veggie oil in environmentally sensitive areas. Like I said anything that felt slick used to go in my old David Bradley.

Edited by Walker - 06 Jun 2018 at 11:10pm

We got a Makita electric chainsaw for work in the barn last December.  Calls for regular bar oil and does fine with it.  Chain speed is equivalent to a typical gas chainsaw, it's really a nice unit.

I shoulda specified, our Makita is 120V.

When I was in the logging business in the late '70's, there was an additive sold at saw shops to add to regular motor oil that made it work better.  Haven't seen it in years and don't remember the name.  Would something like STP added to motor oil do the same thing?

If you look at the right place, chain oil does come in two grades. Winter and summer, winter grade thinned a bit with whatever may just work in your electric.

Edited by Walker - 07 Jun 2018 at 8:34pm

Dusty....my pole saw also runs slower than both my electric and either/both of the battery saws. both my battery saws are B&D as is my pole saw, the instruction manuels call for non detergent 30 wt for the chains. I have always used the 30 wt non detergent in my gas saws too in summer. I cut back to 20 wt in winter on the gassers. I was watching a chain saw carver one day at the fair. I asked him what he used for bar oil since I would have thought the oil may stain the wood. he said he used a mixture of what ever he had sitting around. poured it all together and shook it. he said the regular bar oil is to thick and would sometimes stain the wood he was cutting.

I found this doing a search;

Chainsaw manufacturers make bar oils matched to the air temperature and the saw in which it is operated. Although they don't disclose the weight of their oil, the University of Missouri Extension recommends in lieu of using a bar oil, select SAE 30 weight oil in summer and SAE 10 in winter.

A gentleman I knew, who was a 30 year Vocational Small Engine Tech., said that you could use 30w oil and add STP.  1/3 STP to 2/3 oil.  I've used it that way for YEARS....  I've never worried about bar wear either.

A Old-timer told me to use canola oil its cleaner easy to find and cheap at the dollar stores

In order for the canola oil (from rapeseed plant) to smell like rotten flesh, you would have to change the polymuric valance viscosity of the canola oils polypeptite bonds on the Phosphital chains. This is not the easiest to do but is possible. Until then your chainsaw would only attract squirrels, and rodents.  

One more reason to use bar and chain oil, then ya don't have to learn all them hard to say words.