Using engine oil as chain oil

[magwick]

Hi all, I need a bit of help. Basically the firm I work for uses cheep car engine oil thinned with parafin as chain oil. I have raised the environmentally implications to no avail. Does anybody know what the health impact to operators would be? Can't find any info on web as no body uses it for this purpose.

Ta very much.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Firstly, why thin it with paraffin?! Chain oil needs to be thicker (higher visc) than engine oil; so they've got that the wrong way round for starters...

 

If they're trying to save money, they can kill two birds with one stone by buying tesco veg oil at £1/litre...

[magwick]

It was clogging the oil pumps

[doobin]

The firm you work for are retards. Move on.

 

Engine oil is no cheaper, and thinned with paraffin they are limiting further it's lubricating properties leading to far greater wear of cutting gear. Not to mention environmental/H+S issues.

 

Idiots like your boss are the reason I went self employed- I knew I could do it better, and have proved as such

[spudulike]

Used engine oil is carcinogeniic but new engine oil is clean and OK, some bio and veggi oils dry up in time making saw maintenence a right PITA as you can't remove this dried up gunge for love nor money - believe me.

 

The Stihl chain oil is good from my maintenence point of view!

[humpo48]

Just use proper chain oil, no more expensive and it's better for the saw, wear life on chain and bar, the environment! Do not understand why people use engine oil?

 

 

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[Marc Lewis]

I used to use engine oil as chain oil until about 10 yrs ago. Then realised if you buy 25l or more at a time, chain oil is just as cheap.

 

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[njtimber]

would you put chain oil in your truck????...no only an idiot would do that,so why put engine oil in a £500 to £1000 pound saw. 20 years ago people did it because supply availability was limited and there were less environmental restrictions,obviously some people haven't moved on!!

[Big Beech]

Only in an emergency have i used new engine oil, perhaps it wasnt on board and too far from yd or dealer. Even then its only for a day at most, so what 5 6 tankfulls. But certainly not as an everyday occurence.

[doobin]

Used engine oil is carcinogeniic but new engine oil is clean and OK, some bio and veggi oils dry up in time making saw maintenence a right PITA as you can't remove this dried up gunge for love nor money - believe me.

 

 

Whilst I agree that solvents won't touch it, near boiling water will will do the trick. Run it through the tank to solve oil pumps blocked with veg oil without dismantling.

 

By the same token, a steam cleaner on the saw will sort veg gunk on the outside.

 

 

Blimey, it's not every day you can teach Spud a new trick!