Best Bar Oil?

[kram]

Both over priced, what do you hope to gain from using Stihl branded oil?

 

You can get 20L of good oil for under £40, delivered. 

 

5L containers are an extremely expensive way to get it. Suits home owners that might use only a couple litres a year, I only bought it like that the first time.

 

Edited Monday at 21:23 by kram

[Muddy42]

17 minutes ago, kram said:

Both over priced, what do you hope to gain from using Still branded oil?

 

You can get 20L of good oil for under £40, delivered. 

 

5L containers are an extremely expensive way to get it. Suits home owners that might use only a couple litres a year, I only bought it like that the first time.

 

until you buy 25l of something new and unsuitable. I bought 25l of rotatech bar oil. Its too thick so i have to thin it on every refill with diesel.

 

[kram]

Too thick for what? My 020T, 2511 and G372XP gobbled 20 litres of Rotatech with no issue. What saw were you using? Might be due some maintence or you have the oiler turned right down to minimum?

 

The £34, 20 litre listing I shared on the previous page, they have several different viscosities to choose from.

Edited Monday at 21:22 by kram

[Muddy42]

10 hours ago, kram said:

Too thick for what? My 020T, 2511 and G372XP gobbled 20 litres of Rotatech with no issue. What saw were you using? Might be due some maintence or you have the oiler turned right down to minimum?

 

The £34, 20 litre listing I shared on the previous page, they have several different viscosities to choose from.

 

Stihl MS261 and MS460.  Both saws got clogged up and I had to flush out the tanks, lines and bar oil pumps inside the saws. I had done this before, so its not through lack of maintenance. 

 

Its the pretty standard ISO 100 stuff.  I admit its a bit odd, they have been fine since I thinned out the bar oil.

 

[Peter 1955]

22 hours ago, kram said:

Both over priced, what do you hope to gain from using Stihl branded oil?

 

You can get 20L of good oil for under £40, delivered. 

 

5L containers are an extremely expensive way to get it. Suits home owners that might use only a couple litres a year, I only bought it like that the first time.

 

What do I hope to gain? Peace of mind, and long bar life. So far, so good.                                                        Re unit cost, I know that bulk buying saves money, but while I certainly use more than a couple of litres a year, I don't use so much that saving money on chain oil is vitally important, especially if:

22 hours ago, Muddy42 said:

until you buy 25l of something new and unsuitable. I bought 25l of rotatech bar oil. Its too thick so i have to thin it on every refill with diesel.

 

it leads me to have issues with oiling, or incur repair/early replacement costs. Like I said, if it ain't broke........... 

[Oldfeller]

22 hours ago, kram said:

Too thick for what? My 020T, 2511 and G372XP gobbled 20 litres of Rotatech with no issue. What saw were you using? Might be due some maintence or you have the oiler turned right down to minimum?

 

The £34, 20 litre listing I shared on the previous page, they have several different viscosities to choose from.

I bought the varcol 150 @£34, around the time kram spoke of it, I'v used it so far in 9 different saws, of all ages and brands and it's performed flawlessly in all of them.

[kram]

On 02/09/2025 at 20:21, Peter 1955 said:

What do I hope to gain? Peace of mind, and long bar life. So far, so good.                                                        Re unit cost, I know that bulk buying saves money, but while I certainly use more than a couple of litres a year, I don't use so much that saving money on chain oil is vitally important, especially if:

it leads me to have issues with oiling, or incur repair/early replacement costs. Like I said, if it ain't broke........... 

 

A large number are using Rotatech oil, and the many other brands listed in this discussion, with no problems.

 

On 02/09/2025 at 08:55, Muddy42 said:

 

Stihl MS261 and MS460.  Both saws got clogged up and I had to flush out the tanks, lines and bar oil pumps inside the saws. I had done this before, so its not through lack of maintenance. 

 

Its the pretty standard ISO 100 stuff.  I admit its a bit odd, they have been fine since I thinned out the bar oil.

 

 

The only issue I've had with rotatech oil was a small sealed pot of it that I left some chains soaking in the garden outside, wasnt as sealed as I thought!

After using the electric sharpener I was dunking/soaking them in diesel for a few days and then oil. The diesel probably had water in it.

Rain got in, and the oil turned to a thick white emulsified gloop. I believe thats caused by the sticky additive for making it cling to the bar, reacts with water. 

 

I'd expect water might turn other chainsaw oils to gloop, perhaps something to test with several different brands.

 

Anyway thats never caused an issue with my saws, I'd happily buy it again if the price were more competitive.