chainsaw oil and cheapest decent one

happyhero

Hi I have a Stihl petrol chainsaw and you mix petrol with oil for its fuel but you also have to buy another oil that goes in another chamber which is what lubricates the cutting chain etc. I looked in homebase and this stuff is £5.99 for one litre. I'd obviously rather pay less for it but I would like to buy it in a bigger quantity, say 5 litres or so.

What I am wondering is if it is just lubricating the chain and saving wear on the machine, could it be it is exactly the same as some other cheaper oil that is sold for something else? You know what I mean sometimes you buy something and it says it is for doing such and such and then the seller will put on a different label and say it is for doing something completely different, whereas really it is the same stuff just relabeled and sometimes repackaged, nothing dodgy but just what goes on occasionaly.

If this were so and someone could tell me what chainsaw cutting oil is the same as, I might end up buying something like motorbike oil etc that is exactly the same stuff but I can buy it cheaper as that and in bigger quantity from an ordinary shop. Not saying it is, thats just an example.

Sorry if I am rambling but it just seems to me to be sold as something special and expensively for what it is. So need someone who knows their oils to advise me. I'd rather pay the money than wreck my machine but just though someone might know, especially people who cut down trees for a living and use tons of the stuff, so any ideas, or know where to get the right stuff in bigger quantities, cheap?

Any help appreciated.

never_enough

I recently had some trees cut down & one of the guys doing the work asked for some cooking oil for his chainsaw. He poured it into a hole on the saw (I thought it was just to clean the blade or something at first). It can't have been to run it as it was a petrol machine. Maybe it was an emergency fix (it was near the end of the day). I certainly wouldn't recommend doing something like that on my say-so, but I'd be interested to know if anyone else has come across or done this themselves.

John_3:16

I have a chain saw and use left over engine oil have had no problem yet.Although i am not a big user of the saw. I always make sure the oil hole is clear so oil can get to the blade. sawdust often buils up and blocks it

Debt_Free_Chick

happyhero wrote: »

Hi I have a Stihl petrol chainsaw and you mix petrol with oil for its fuel but you also have to buy another oil that goes in another chamber which is what lubricates the cutting chain etc. I looked in homebase and this stuff is £5.99 for one litre. I'd obviously rather pay less for it but I would like to buy it in a bigger quantity, say 5 litres or so.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

OH pays £9 for five litres!!!

What I am wondering is if it is just lubricating the chain and saving wear on the machine, could it be it is exactly the same as some other cheaper oil that is sold for something else? You know what I mean sometimes you buy something and it says it is for doing such and such and then the seller will put on a different label and say it is for doing something completely different, whereas really it is the same stuff just relabeled and sometimes repackaged, nothing dodgy but just what goes on occasionaly.

It's just a high viscosity lubricating oil. Try a Garden Machinery centre - one that services as well as sells garden machinery - and I don't mean hovver-mowers! .

Out in the sticks, we get the stuff from agricultural engineers.

OH says a motorcycle engineer could also recommend something, which fits in with your idea of trying motorcycle oil.

Other oil - cooking, used engine oil - could also work, but isn't generally recommended.