Winter and Summer chain oil?

[Rye Oil Ltd]

Hi, can I tap the collective wisdom ( don't laugh) of the Arbtalk collective. I was having a conversation with one of my customers who is testing a new chain oil additive system we may be using next year, and we were discussing the amount of tackiness in the oil.

We run an ISO 150 oil with a reasonable level of tacking agent in it, and he said if it is too tacky it doesn't pump very well in the winter. Is this an issue anyone has had with our oil or anyone else's?

The point being is it worth us changing the tacky level dependent on the season, so it would be a bit less tacky in the winter to take account of the lower temp ( although not this year so far).

Cheers for any help in advance

Jon

[Wood wasp]

It can be an issue but I wouldn't bother changing the tacky level. Rightly or wrongly we used to just thin it out/thicken as required.

 

I've also read that shouldn't mix mineral and rapeseed oil but we used to do that also and never really had any issues.

[Jackalope]

To be perfectly honest, by the time chain oil has sat in the warm metal oil tank under the exhaust of a Husky it doesn't make any odds as it all pumps the same:thumbup1:

[Chris Sheppard]

Oregon Super Saw and the Husky branded stuff used to be really thick all year round, to the point where it was really slow to pour in the depths of winter, but it always oiled well IME.

[Couldyajust]

I use the Exol heavy oil (LO48) all year round, bit slower to pour it when temps drop below zero but none of my saws have any issues pumping it. Used to use Oregon oil but stopped when they changed the formula to the really thin stuff as it pumps it too fast even with the oiler shut down as much as I can.

[gensetsteve]

I had a hakki pilki processor with gravity fed oil supply to the bar. A winter grade oil would have been great. You can always turn the tap down if it flows too fast but on full bore if it won't flow you are a bit stuck. As for mixing mineral with bio I only made that mistake once big sticky jelified mess time to get the steam cleaner out. Not sure if it would make much difference on a gear pump chainsaw although different grades may get over a worn pump problem.

[TheHungrySquirrel]

Been using oregon for a while and not noticed any difference between hot/cold.

 

Keep meaning to pop down and grab some of the rye oil stuff see what it's like.

[Stubby]

To be perfectly honest, by the time chain oil has sat in the warm metal oil tank under the exhaust of a Husky it doesn't make any odds as it all pumps the same:thumbup1:

 

Exactly . The only thing I have found is it takes forever to pour out to fill up when its cold weather .

[agrimog]

it becomes a lot more evident when you start milling with 20-30" bars, oregon is ok in the summer, but way too viscous in the winter, change over to stihl seems to cure this, I notice a resin build up on the links when the oil is getting too viscous, its not flowing quite fast enough

a good "sticky" fast flowing oil designed with milling in mind would be a brilliant addition to the armoury of whats already available...Rye Oils?, somethine you might look at

[Billy]

I use your oil and have had no problems. Also worth considering that bar the first cuts of the day the oil in the saw gets heated and stays at quite a high temperature through the day when the saw is being used.