Are you running cold weather bar oil?
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David, I didn’t know there was a cold weather bar oil. I may have to take Al’s suggestion and run some diesel in my existing oil. I’ll to buy more soon so I’ll look for the cold weather oil.
Al,
I’m looking at this Birch and how big it is, I can’t stand the thought of turning it into firewood. I think I will cut the next log at 9’ and save it to cut boards.
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I have had bad luck with the chain oilers on the cheaper saws . so i dont use them. I just dip the hole bar and chain in a gallon bucket of drain oil and it seems too work quite well.
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Hi Michael,
I’ve never had any problems to do with frozen wood. However dirt is a problem. Dragging logs in the mud will make you spend a lot of time sharpening.
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What JO sayd.
I am “fortunate” to live on a hill of quarz sandstone. When cutting dragged logs, its like a angle grinder more thain a chainsaw. Sparks fly from the chain. It destroys chains and swards wery fast.
A company not far from us makes widia (dont know the correct term in eng.) chains. They cost 4 times the normal chain, but can cut trugh everything from sheet steel to concrete. So they say. Never gave it a try. I allso dubt such a chain can cut trugh logs as fast as a sharp steel chain.
About frozen wood and chains, l wuld say the sharpness lasts longer. Unless mus is frozen on them of corse.
Some types of wood (beech particulary) are allso super easy to split when frozen.
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Good morning all.
Wood Supply.
I have plenty of motor fuel wood bagged and stored , also plenty of home heating wood on hand.
I loaded up a few loads of the extra wood , hauled it in to town and traded for $$ 
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Hi Bill. Yes, once you get to temperatures around freezing you have to use thinner chain oil to protect bar and chain. Up here you can buy the lighter grade, might be available in your area with some searching. I use varsol or “paint thinner” (not laquer thinner)! to achieve the same effect. Just don’t use too much. I guess it helps if you know the proper consistency of winter bar oil. I suspect ATF may be a good thinner. I would be cautious about vegetable oil, as it tends to “freeze” at sub zero temperatures. Personally I would avoid diesel, probably just as good, but has a persistent smell.
The aim is to provide an oil which will freely lubricate the bar and chain. You can check this by revving the saw over wood or snow, it has to always cast a bit of visible oil. Any time this isn’t the case damage is likely. First be sure the oiler port is clear, and the bar port, and the chain groove in the bar is scraped clean (I keep a flattened finish nail as a cleaning tool, clean and reverse the bar with every chain change, as soon as the chain begins to feel dull). If necessary you may have to adjust the oiler, the goal being to lubricate, but always have a bit of oil left when a tank of fuel has run out.
If using winter oil, be careful to change it back in the spring.
As for winter cutting, I actually think wood cuts best in cold weather, cuts cleaner.
Regards,
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Bill a chainsaw shop is a good place to buy your bar oil. They have the good stuff and always correct for the season. Many buy it in bulk and it is very reasonable in price if you bring your own jug. It is where the professionals get there’s. The big stores like Home Depot and Menards buy whatever is cheapest and are nationwide so no regard is given to season, It is all the same .
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This is probably not good advice but I use nothing but used motor oil. I have never changed a bar in 20+ years. I turn them around every now and then. Chains are used as long as there is something left to charpen.
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What JO said .
I don’t want to give advise but has worked well for me .
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I have never used anything but the cheapest SAE 30 weight in my sawmill and logging chain saws all year round. You are probably a little colder up there Bill, if needed you can cut it with some diesel fuel. I know for a fact that 30 weight works well in teens, 20’s and 30’s. Strained motor oil would be no different than 30 weght.
I never thought of using my used engine oil in my chain saws…I will be saving some money down the road.
I could never tell a difference with a crosscut chainsaw in frozen timber, only maybe it cut a little better.
A sawmill is a hole nother animal in frozen timber. You have to feed the log through the saw slower when they are frozen. Feeding the saw slower causes finer sawdust which can and does freeze to the side of the log and crowds the blade out of the cut. To combat this one must make normal size sawdust while sawing slower. A winter headsaw blade can be made by grinding back every other tooth in the saw. So far back, the tooth does not cut anymore and virtually becomes a “Sawdust Raker”. This makes the sawdust normal size (coarse) like summertime sawing. The same can be done with bandsaw blades. I used to have to do this for my Baker Bandsaw when the timbers were really frozen.
Bryan S
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Ok now that someone else has let it out of the bag I use used motor oil in my saw in the winter. Usually synthetic from the truck.
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I’m guessing that you are talking about carbide chains. They last for a long time.
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Motor oil works better when cold for the same reason that it is better in your engine. It holds a more consistent viscosity, over a wide range of temperatures. Of course on a chainsaw you’re working the bottom end of that range. But it still helps. Plus it’s free!
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My used motor oil would be great, it always has Lucas oil in it.
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It’s been a long time since I helped on a bandsaw mill, but my recollection is that winter sawing of well frozen logs is like sawing harder wood, requiring more hook angle on the teeth, and possibly more set. The major issue in bandsawing in extreme cold is the buildup of sawdust on the wheels, and on the blade. The fix is similar to cutting resinous wood, use a liquid to remove deposits, in this case windshield washer fluid or a methanol - water solution. Periodic applications keep deposits down.
Regards,
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I’m really glad I brought this up now. I really like the used motor oil idea. I was wondering what I was going to do with it. Problem solved. Do you guys filter it through an oil tee shirt or something first?
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I have been told that used oil out of a diesel is even a little better. Diesels put more soot into the oil and it acts something like graphite making the metals slide over each other better.TomC
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Bill, there are so much wood, bark and dirt in contact with the chain that any lubing will do, but don’t forget additional grease into the bar top gear and clutch bearing.
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Good point Jo, the cutter bar nose sprocket bearing should have grease pumped into it and worked around daily if possible.
I have a personal objection to using used motor oil, 2 actually - the oil is going to get on clothes, boots, and vehicle if carried there. The used motor oil is also toxic in the environment, dioxins, etc, whereas the commercial chain oil is biodegradable. I would rather send the used oil to a refinery, or burn it in a waste oil burner.
Regards,
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