I have a buddy who runs a place where I live who gets me Kawasaki bar and chain oil and Kawasaki mix oil. I own a tree business and these things have gone up in price a lot. I’m paying $20 for a gallon of it so that’s not a bad price for a quality product. I also switched from the Stihl chains to the Copperhead ones and they are half the price so that helps a lot too. I’m sure Stihl isn’t charging that much but their dealers are and it’s getting out of control.
Project Farm did a great comparison and the cheap oil blew the completion away. From wear, to cold flow, to keeping the bar roughly 23/25 degrees cooler near the sprocket area. Pricing from $11.00/gal to $26.
Unfortunately his winner, Harvest King, is near impossible to find. No farm store in my area carries and only 1 online source ships, which cost more than the oil itself.
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging Can't find that one either. My options are Home Depot, Lowes, Rural King, Ace, Tractor Supply. Just the big box stores. Our local feed store burned down. Rural King carries Cam2, but haven't seen a good comparison of that one to others. I've had no problems with Echo , but after seeing that comparison video it got me curious. I don't care about price, just the effectiveness and long term maintenance aspect.
@@Swearengen1980 i run the cam 2 quite a bit whenever im not running the mystic or the black max the cam 2 seem to do all right bottom line is i run any thing under 10 bucks a gallon because im not giving 20 dollars a gallon for the same stuff that cost 10
Up here in PA husky oil went up to 28 bucks and I use a little over a jug a week...that ads up so I just run the cheapest I can find..regular gas is 529 here
I am not a stickler when it comes to bar oil, I buy whatever is cheap and crank up the oiler to max. I have used trans oil and gear oil in the past too with no problem, I have never burnt a bar yet. I will be going to Walmart now to see if I can get that black max oil, seems good for the price.
Thats the way i am but around here all the other is just as high if not higher so i run bar oil but that black max is the cheapest bar i found here lately tsc country line use to be the cheapest at 699 a gallon and i ran it for a few years and never had a problem but there just as high as name brand now im all about cheap if that stens was 5 or 6 bucks a gallon id run it but im impressed with the black max for the money
The County Line brand used to be a lot better. About a year ago the bottle changed and it wasn't nearly as tacky. I going to hang it out there and say that they changed suppliers. I do miss those day of 2 for 12.99 and $2 gas.........
I know this - Echo Premium Bar Oil is an all season bar oil. It flows better in cold weather than Stihl Platinum. I do not know which protects the bar better but I have found the Echo bar oil works just as good as Stihl Platinum in hot weather.
I'm no expert, but just bought couple gallons of hyper tough from Walmart, I think it replaced black max, same oil. Poluan pro new jugs are exactly the same as hyper tough and oil is red tinted. I believe hyper tough, black max, Poluan pro and echo are the same oil and is really good oil at that.
Nice test. I have been entertaining the idea of using CountyLine bar & chain oil on my motorcycle chain, since I have a gallon of it. I watched a guy talking about using bar and chain oil, and he states in long run, you can save money over buying expensive chain lubes. Might work, will see.
For years I had an old cool whip container and a 2 inch paint brush and would pour either used engine oil or bar and chain oil in the container, then brush that on the inside of my dirtbike chains. Inside bc spinning force pulls the oil through to the outside of chain. My chains lasted a long time. My rear rim got filthy but I was willing to live with that.
Thanks for sharing👍 for years I've only bought husqvarna x-guard, just never tried anything else🤦♂️ I'm a creature of habit😅 and it's been 10-12$ since I started buying it. But last time I got a gallon it was 24.99😱 was thinking of giving the echo oil a try, as it's 12.99. But may just have to check out the black max! I've always just walked on by it whenever I'm at WM! Figured it was junk🙄
I just dumped bar oil out of my saws, don't know what brand but it would turn to sticky dry scum very hard to clean off, I spray my saws with diesel and blow clean with compressor and had to scrub the mess off. I'm not ever using bar oil again. Non detergent 30 wt engine oil only.
I deal with wide temp. Changes here in montana... No way am i gonna change out bar oil.... I use sthil and add 10% ATF and 20% in the winter.... It flows great.
They can all go pound sand, as they are charging $25 and up for a jug in our area. I've been using 4 different saws over 20 years and found this mixture gives me longer use between chain adjustments & multiple chains to a bar. The savings on buying "bar oil" easily pays for the bar & chains used. Decent used synthetic 5-W40 or 20W50 mixed with a bit of ATF on a ratio of about 5:1 . Strain it through a coffee filter to make sure no dirt fell into drain pan. Does anybody think that the bar oil quality is superior to SAE engine qualified motor oils? Also, the older saws all recommended motor oil for lube back before this crap became a cash cow for them. Cheers
I just think they add the tack to the bar oil not all have a lot some is better than others about it im not crazy about motor oil or atf but to each his own
You would need SAE 90-140 oil to be in the viscosity range of bar and chain oil. That is a gear oil, not a motor oil. And gear oil may not have the right tackiness.
That's kind of what I've been thinking. Unlike motor oil, bar oil doesn't have to meet any real specifications, just has to be oil of some sort. As far as being tacky, it's being constantly supplied, so it only has to stay on the chain for one revolution around the bar.
OK go ahead and laugh. I found some Itasca Outdoors bar and chain oil at my local grocery store. It is made by Warren Oil Co. A gallon costs 10$. Plus, I get fuel points. Warren also makes 2 stroke oil plus a whole plethora of oil and lubricant products. I also look for half-used gallons of bar oil as well as 2 stroke bottles at estate sales.
@@Firewoodguy-t6m winter oil is supposedly thinner but i think anymore they just sale an all season ive very rarely seen a winter bar oil i think one time the hole time ive been buying oil
Riddle me this. Adding tack may reduce creep & slinging... but ... this would entail it also not creeping or penetrating in to lubricate the chain link pins. Why would I want this?? Any extra slack caused by this that is not immediately corrected would result in quicker bar and drive sprocket wear. Just the ticket for higher maintenance costs buying parts. Good for manufacturer but not for your wallet. So how does the expensive "bar oil" know how to creep into the tight fitting pins but not jump off a chain?
I try not to think that in depth i dont use high dollar bar oil i use the cheap but any oil or hydraulic fluid is just as expensive as bar oil and im not running used oil threw my equipment
CountyLine oil just sucks. Way too thin and makes my bars & chains run way hotter than any other oil. It's one step up from water. The Echo, Husqvarna, and Pro Select have been the best for my big saws with longer bars. The County Line is absolutely horrible in temperatures above 85°.
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging I haven't tried the Black Max yet. Next time I need bar oil, I'll grab some of it. Been wanting to give it a try. The Pro Select is pretty good. It's sold at Lowes for $9 or $10 a gallon.
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging Ever since the price jump in everything, I'm always looking for a good cheaper oil. The Husqvarna oil is $24 a gallon now. I like the stuff but I don't like the price jump it just had. I try to find some good sales too. They pop up a lot.
Have you tried, tested the new bio degradable / non petroleum bar oil? It is being priced lower than conventional oil , probably due to government intervention causing prices of conventional to go up.
If its all you have or can get ahold of it will be better than nothing i know a lot of people do it but to me the mess and the extra wear isnt worth it but it all some can get ahold of
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging as a retired STIHL tech I've had some customers running used motor oil and they're wondering why the bar is worn out. Used motor won't hang on to the chain and bar. Motors and chainsaws have two different requirements for lubrication.
Great video. Thanks for sharing this. If you want to know how the price of gas and oil is determined, check out the recent video that "Climate Town" did. Long winded but, you will soon see that JR has nothing to do with it. Thanks again.
I will have peacefully disagree with that when he shut the pipelines down here in the US he may not have directly sky rocketed gas prices but his actions snow balled because now we are buying more form overseas and it cost more to get it here and so on that guy was very informative but if we were using our on product again the gas price would be a little cheaper
Thats not a fair test. I have tried that test and its not accurate. For example to do a finger test, more tacky doesn't always = better. Stens oil has very little tack, so after 2 years of using stens oil, i try'd Rotary oil which is really nice and tacky, I figured thats gotta be much better, well after using 2 gallon jugs of it I realized that test is not fair, because my bars are wearing alot after 2 gallons of use. A more fair test would be to heat it up to the heat of a bar and then do a friction test. I'm not a fan of the Stens oil but it has done a better job when the bar gets used hard and is hot then the rotary which is really tacky.
I deal with wide temp. Changes here in montana... No way am i gonna change out bar oil.... I use sthil and add 10% ATF and 20% in the winter.... It flows great.
I have a buddy who runs a place where I live who gets me Kawasaki bar and chain oil and Kawasaki mix oil. I own a tree business and these things have gone up in price a lot. I’m paying $20 for a gallon of it so that’s not a bad price for a quality product. I also switched from the Stihl chains to the Copperhead ones and they are half the price so that helps a lot too. I’m sure Stihl isn’t charging that much but their dealers are and it’s getting out of control.
Project Farm did a great comparison and the cheap oil blew the completion away. From wear, to cold flow, to keeping the bar roughly 23/25 degrees cooler near the sprocket area. Pricing from $11.00/gal to $26.
I believe the cheaper oils are better 2
Unfortunately his winner, Harvest King, is near impossible to find. No farm store in my area carries and only 1 online source ships, which cost more than the oil itself.
@@Swearengen1980 i really like mystic bar oil
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging Can't find that one either. My options are Home Depot, Lowes, Rural King, Ace, Tractor Supply. Just the big box stores. Our local feed store burned down. Rural King carries Cam2, but haven't seen a good comparison of that one to others. I've had no problems with Echo , but after seeing that comparison video it got me curious. I don't care about price, just the effectiveness and long term maintenance aspect.
@@Swearengen1980 i run the cam 2 quite a bit whenever im not running the mystic or the black max the cam 2 seem to do all right bottom line is i run any thing under 10 bucks a gallon because im not giving 20 dollars a gallon for the same stuff that cost 10
Up here in PA husky oil went up to 28 bucks and I use a little over a jug a week...that ads up so I just run the cheapest I can find..regular gas is 529 here
I agree I use to run country line that was the cheapest I found around here but now it’s as high as anything else
Sweet name Joshua.... 👀 see what I did there!!! Where you at in PA? I'm out in Allentown.
I'm in montrose ..North East pa
I am not a stickler when it comes to bar oil, I buy whatever is cheap and crank up the oiler to max. I have used trans oil and gear oil in the past too with no problem, I have never burnt a bar yet. I will be going to Walmart now to see if I can get that black max oil, seems good for the price.
Thats the way i am but around here all the other is just as high if not higher so i run bar oil but that black max is the cheapest bar i found here lately tsc country line use to be the cheapest at 699 a gallon and i ran it for a few years and never had a problem but there just as high as name brand now im all about cheap if that stens was 5 or 6 bucks a gallon id run it but im impressed with the black max for the money
Hands down to HUSQVARNA bar oil.
ua-cam.com/video/CIlRBI2ccZE/v-deo.html
Stihl orange jug is still $12.31/gallon here. I just bought a case today. I might grab another case since I just saw TSC has it at 15.99/gallon.
$27 gallon here in california at stihl dealer
The County Line brand used to be a lot better. About a year ago the bottle changed and it wasn't nearly as tacky. I going to hang it out there and say that they changed suppliers. I do miss those day of 2 for 12.99 and $2 gas.........
I thought that i remembered it being a little better than that when i first started buying it i would have put it against any oil
Usually one of our farm and fleet runs a special. When it hit 4.50 a gallon i bought 50 gallons.
I wish one of ours would that’s a good deal
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging both good oils. Milemaster and FVP.
I know this - Echo Premium Bar Oil is an all season bar oil. It flows better in cold weather than Stihl Platinum. I do not know which protects the bar better but I have found the Echo bar oil works just as good as Stihl Platinum in hot weather.
I will agree with that the echo and black max are real similar
I'm no expert, but just bought couple gallons of hyper tough from Walmart, I think it replaced black max, same oil. Poluan pro new jugs are exactly the same as hyper tough and oil is red tinted. I believe hyper tough, black max, Poluan pro and echo are the same oil and is really good oil at that.
I use automatic transmission oil. That seems to work as good as any.
Nice test. I have been entertaining the idea of using CountyLine bar & chain oil on my motorcycle chain, since I have a gallon of it. I watched a guy talking about using bar and chain oil, and he states in long run, you can save money over buying expensive chain lubes. Might work, will see.
Id say its pretty close to the same thing
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging I think you are right, just tried works fantastic, and actually cheaper!
For years I had an old cool whip container and a 2 inch paint brush and would pour either used engine oil or bar and chain oil in the container, then brush that on the inside of my dirtbike chains. Inside bc spinning force pulls the oil through to the outside of chain. My chains lasted a long time. My rear rim got filthy but I was willing to live with that.
Thanks for sharing👍 for years I've only bought husqvarna x-guard, just never tried anything else🤦♂️ I'm a creature of habit😅 and it's been 10-12$ since I started buying it. But last time I got a gallon it was 24.99😱 was thinking of giving the echo oil a try, as it's 12.99. But may just have to check out the black max! I've always just walked on by it whenever I'm at WM! Figured it was junk🙄
Of course this isnt actually running them but the consistency on the cheaper one look and feel as good as any of the name brand
I have been Liking the black max been running it for a few years now pretty good stuff for the money
I think so to to me it’s the cheapest and the best
I just dumped bar oil out of my saws, don't know what brand but it would turn to sticky dry scum very hard to clean off, I spray my saws with diesel and blow clean with compressor and had to scrub the mess off. I'm not ever using bar oil again. Non detergent 30 wt engine oil only.
All oil has went crazy high, I know a logger who runs cheap aw32
I only use STIHL bar and chain oil SynthPlus👍👍
Greetings from Germany
Piet
It is good oil
The lesser tacky oil will leak out of the saw more when the saw is put away also!
Make sense if i go to put a saw away i let the pressure off of the oil take the cap off when im done and that helps some
Never thought of that before. Great idea 👍
I deal with wide temp. Changes here in montana... No way am i gonna change out bar oil.... I use sthil and add 10% ATF and 20% in the winter.... It flows great.
Been using black max for a while now, 4 gallons worth It's great oil but you can't find it anymore. what happened to it?
@@GozonTheGonsarian idk wal mart carried it for awhile but i havent seen it there since i first bought it
Im sure u can order it but it may cost to ship
They can all go pound sand, as they are charging $25 and up for a jug in our area. I've been using 4 different saws over 20 years and found this mixture gives me longer
use between chain adjustments & multiple chains to a bar. The savings on buying "bar oil" easily pays for the bar & chains used.
Decent used synthetic 5-W40 or 20W50 mixed with a bit of ATF on a ratio of about 5:1 . Strain it through a coffee filter to make sure no dirt fell into drain pan.
Does anybody think that the bar oil quality is superior to SAE engine qualified motor oils? Also, the older saws all recommended motor oil for lube back before this crap became a cash cow for them.
Cheers
I just think they add the tack to the bar oil not all have a lot some is better than others about it im not crazy about motor oil or atf but to each his own
Why add ATF? What is your theory on why that is needed? As for used motor oil, you don't want to be breathing in used motor oil vapors. Sounds toxic.
You would need SAE 90-140 oil to be in the viscosity range of bar and chain oil. That is a gear oil, not a motor oil. And gear oil may not have the right tackiness.
That's kind of what I've been thinking.
Unlike motor oil, bar oil doesn't have to meet any real specifications, just has to be oil of some sort.
As far as being tacky, it's being constantly supplied, so it only has to stay on the chain for one revolution around the bar.
OK go ahead and laugh. I found some Itasca Outdoors bar and chain oil at my local grocery store. It is made by Warren Oil Co. A gallon costs 10$. Plus, I get fuel points. Warren also makes 2 stroke oil plus a whole plethora of oil and lubricant products. I also look for half-used gallons of bar oil as well as 2 stroke bottles at estate sales.
I think thats great wherever you can get good cheap bar oil works for me
Black max is still $10 a gallon
walmart sells Black maxs 9.94 per gallon bar and chain oil you can find promo codes to get it cheeper on line
Thats where i get it too
whats the diffence from winter and summer bar and chain oil
@@Firewoodguy-t6m winter oil is supposedly thinner but i think anymore they just sale an all season ive very rarely seen a winter bar oil i think one time the hole time ive been buying oil
Riddle me this. Adding tack may reduce creep & slinging... but ... this would entail it also not creeping or penetrating in to lubricate the chain link pins. Why would I want this?? Any extra slack caused by this that is not immediately corrected would result in quicker bar and drive sprocket wear. Just the ticket for higher maintenance costs buying parts. Good for manufacturer but not for your wallet. So how does the expensive "bar oil" know how to creep into the tight fitting pins but not jump off a chain?
I try not to think that in depth i dont use high dollar bar oil i use the cheap but any oil or hydraulic fluid is just as expensive as bar oil and im not running used oil threw my equipment
Thanks, for the review. Very useful!
I run the sthil its 15somethn had decent luck with it.
I like it and its not bad oil
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging no an its right beside the 2stroke mix!
DID YOUIN EVER TEAST ALL SEASON MYSTIC BAR CHAIN OIL
Im running it right now and its probably the beat ive ran
countury line I bought 20 gallons @ 5.99 gallon
helo is black maxs bar and chain oil good
I like it for sure
I like the holsforma jug to is it a fuel oil jug or?
I think its a little fuel mixing bottle
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging i was thinkn dam thats the smallest fallers jug ive ever seen lol
@@justinweaver8787 yea it came with that pro saw i got its a mix bottle i think it is pretty small lol
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging lol
It’s both fuel and bar oil.
CountyLine oil just sucks. Way too thin and makes my bars & chains run way hotter than any other oil. It's one step up from water. The Echo, Husqvarna, and Pro Select have been the best for my big saws with longer bars. The County Line is absolutely horrible in temperatures above 85°.
I like the echo and black max at the moment there pretty close oils and the black max is about 10 bucks a gallon
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging I haven't tried the Black Max yet. Next time I need bar oil, I'll grab some of it. Been wanting to give it a try. The Pro Select is pretty good. It's sold at Lowes for $9 or $10 a gallon.
@@CutterCH ill check it out first i heard of it im all about cheap and good
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging Ever since the price jump in everything, I'm always looking for a good cheaper oil. The Husqvarna oil is $24 a gallon now. I like the stuff but I don't like the price jump it just had. I try to find some good sales too. They pop up a lot.
Have you tried, tested the new bio degradable / non petroleum bar oil? It is being priced lower than conventional oil , probably due to government intervention causing prices of conventional to go up.
I have not
What's your in put on used motor oil?
If its all you have or can get ahold of it will be better than nothing i know a lot of people do it but to me the mess and the extra wear isnt worth it but it all some can get ahold of
My question on used motor oil is why did you take it out of your car? Good bar oil is sticky, used motor isn't. Just trying to help.
@@richardfuerst5286 sorry but you have lost me i didnt take any out of a vehicle
@@MitchellsBackyardLogging as a retired STIHL tech I've had some customers running used motor oil and they're wondering why the bar is worn out. Used motor won't hang on to the chain and bar. Motors and chainsaws have two different requirements for lubrication.
Oops. I was trying to reply to Luis Godoy
Great video. Thanks for sharing this. If you want to know how the price of gas and oil is determined, check out the recent video that "Climate Town" did. Long winded but, you will soon see that JR has nothing to do with it. Thanks again.
I will have peacefully disagree with that when he shut the pipelines down here in the US he may not have directly sky rocketed gas prices but his actions snow balled because now we are buying more form overseas and it cost more to get it here and so on that guy was very informative but if we were using our on product again the gas price would be a little cheaper
What is Ole, don't you mean Oye ill? 😊
No i mean ole im redneck country as hell lol
What colour is the echo oil? hard to tell in the video.
Thats not a fair test. I have tried that test and its not accurate. For example to do a finger test, more tacky doesn't always = better. Stens oil has very little tack, so after 2 years of using stens oil, i try'd Rotary oil which is really nice and tacky, I figured thats gotta be much better, well after using 2 gallon jugs of it I realized that test is not fair, because my bars are wearing alot after 2 gallons of use. A more fair test would be to heat it up to the heat of a bar and then do a friction test. I'm not a fan of the Stens oil but it has done a better job when the bar gets used hard and is hot then the rotary which is really tacky.
It means better if u like more tack and i do
I deal with wide temp. Changes here in montana... No way am i gonna change out bar oil.... I use sthil and add 10% ATF and 20% in the winter.... It flows great.