Chainsaw cutting lube in a pinch

[Grub54891]

Have never lubed a sprocket on a chainsaw. I was a C faller working woodland fire in 12 states, heated my house with wood. Never had a sprocket fail before the bar was shot. People do not realize how important the bar is to have a good cutting saw. I replaced bars every year.

I used to have the grease deal for lubing the front sprocket. Till I found out the hard way. The bearing went out. Found out that the grease actually formed a “dam” around the bearing and some debris was held in there also, causing it to go bad. Without the grease, the oils from the bar can lube it just fine, and helps fling any stuff out.

 

[dwco5051]

Not dishsoap please purge that saw now, it will effect lubrication going forward. The bearing behind the clutch will be shot, it will repel lubrication.

Tip of the day. Many casual chainsaw owners are not aware of the grease hole for the clutch bearing. A hit of grease now and then is all it takes. Even when I am using my saws on a regular basis I only hit them every month or two.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=80UMQQtYuqM

 

[crazy charlie]

My only other lube option I had that day was to use extra virgin olive oil that
my wife uses often and I believe she would have choked me out if I used it.I stay out of that part of the pantry. Charlie

 

[dingbat]

Hard to believing someone that owns a chain saw doesn’t keep bar oil around.

A kin to owning a emergency generator but don’t own a gas can to fill it…lol

 

[harringtondav]

I bought my first new chain saw in 2008. Husqy 450 Rancher. I made sure it was full of their fancy blue chain oil, and ran it for several hrs. cleaning up storm damage.
Then it froze up. hmmm? First saw I owned with a sprocket bar. Frozen sprocket. New bar, and one of those push grease injectors.
...just another experience scar on my butt.

 

[dingbat]

I bought my first new chain saw in 2008. Husqy 450 Rancher. I made sure it was full of their fancy blue chain oil, and ran it for several hrs. cleaning up storm damage.
Then it froze up. hmmm? First saw I owned with a sprocket bar. Frozen sprocket. New bar, and one of those push grease injectors.
...just another experience scar on my butt.

Never heard of greasing a bar or drive sprocket until now. Must be a husqvarna thing.

Bought my Stihl 028 in Spring of 1990. With two wood burning fireplaces, 30 acres of storm damage and over a 1 mile of four board horse fence to maintain, that saw has been though the ringer and back over the past 30+ years.

Other than replacing more bars and chains than I care to remember, and a new fuel line and filter stone 4 years ago, I've done nothing to the saw except keep it full of fuel and bar oil.

 

[harringtondav]

Never heard of greasing a bar or drive sprocket until now. Must be a husqvarna thing.

The original bar was an Oregon bar. Stenciled Husqvarna, stamped Oregon.
The sprocket is the idler sprocket in the nose of the bar. Surprised me since I thought the bar oil would keep it spinning. Apparently not.
I don't use it much, but after I do I run the gas tank dry. After 2-3 yrs sleeping it wakes up with fresh premix and two or three pulls.

 

[matt167]

Not every bar is greasable. If they are, there’s a little hole near the tip. Takes a chainsaw greaser

 

[Grub54891]

As I said before, my husky bar went south even as I greased it regularly. Quit doing that and never had an issue in the last 20 years.

 

[dwco5051]

I have never had a nose sprocket go bad. The only time I ever grease one would be after cleaning the bar in solvent to clean it up before filing it back square. Just to prevent rusting the bearing as it may spend weeks in the back of the truck before being put back in use. I don't baby my saws and they get used hard and I make plunge cuts often when felling leaners which has to put strain on the sprocket.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

I will never own another saw that has a clutch sprocket vs a driver. Commercial grade saws are made to last a year or two, pro grade is worth the extra $.

 

[Scott06]

Oh charlie, you must know that the EPA type folks use dawn to wash the oil off of ducks.. what do you think it does to the chain links on your saw?

Had a vet recommend the same to get heating oil out of dog fur ... worked very well at 11 pm on a sunday night... although he recommended Palmolive.

given the amount of time on this thread the OP could have driven to any gas station for motor oil

 

[crazy charlie]

UPDATE!!!!! Was just about out of the dishsoap in the small resevoir and fillled it with sae30 oil .Cut fine with no change what so ever. dishsoap was not such a bad choice in a pinch after all. Turns out that I DID have some used gear oil on hand that I could have used,I just didnt know it at the time and I hate the idea of putting dirty lube in a newer saw.....Though used gear lube does not get nearly as dirty as used motor oil. Charlie

 

[KJM]

For what its worth, I tried using veg oil one time. I found that it got too thick and dried on the chain between uses, to the point of practically seizing up the chain. Back to used motor oil for me.

 

[bigdee]

Used gear lube

Gear lube is stinky and almost impossible to remove that smell from clothing!

 

[DeepCMark58A]

For what its worth, I tried using veg oil one time. I found that it got too thick and dried on the chain between uses, to the point of practically seizing up the chain. Back to used motor oil for me.

Would you put used oil in any engine? Why treat a saw especially a bar like that? The bar and chain are as important or more than the engine running the saw when it comes to performance. Go buy quality bar and chain oil if you have a saw keep it on hand.

 

[crazy charlie]

OK, Time to put this thread to sleep. Thanks guys!!! Charlie

 

[Chris1956]

One more observation. I had a control cable from an outboard. The inner wire was solid stainless steel, but it did not move smoothly. I had just changed the oil in my car, so I put the entire cable in the used motor oil to soak.

After several hours, I pulled it out and wiped it off. The cable was much worse, as it was much stiffer. I ended up having to throw it away. I blame the acids that build up in the motor oil.

 

[crazy charlie]

One more observation. I had a control cable from an outboard. The inner wire was solid stainless steel, but it did not move smoothly. I had just changed the oil in my car, so I put the entire cable in the used motor oil to soak.

After several hours, I pulled it out and wiped it off. The cable was much worse, as it was much stiffer. I ended up having to throw it away. I blame the acids that build up in the motor oil.

One less observation would be better. Mods,please put this one to sleep .Charlie