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Thread: 2 Stroke Oil

  1. #1
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    Default 2 Stroke Oil

    Hi All,

    Not sure if this is the correct forum for the question, and if not Mods please move it.

    I have heaps of motor oil remnants left over ie 5w-40w etc.

    The question is, can I use this for the added oil in petrol to make 2 stroke fuel mix for chainsaw, mower, brushcutter etc?

    It just seems a waste to throw it away.

    TIA

    George

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  3. #2
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    Default

    I would only do it if I needed an excuse to buy a new chainsaw, mower brush cutter etc,
    2 stroke oil is quite specific and even different between air and water cooled motors.
    Some people use engine oil for bar oil

  4. #3
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    Yep definitely do not use engine oil as a two stroke lube.
    Engine oil is not really designed to be burnt and has additives like detergents that will gum up a saw really quickly and no smoke suppression additives so it will make large amounts of smoke

  5. #4
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    It appears to be a bad idea, so apart from chainsaw bar lube, what can I do with the excess oil?

  6. #5
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    I would not even use it as bar oil as you will be spreading it every where and ecologically it’s bad. Bar oil is biodegradable, engine oil isn’t.
    Take it to your local waste disposal centre for it to be recycled correctly.

  7. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cal View Post
    I would not even use it as bar oil as you will be spreading it every where and ecologically it’s bad. Bar oil is biodegradable, engine oil isn’t.
    Take it to your local waste disposal centre for it to be recycled correctly.
    Not all bar oil is biodegradable. Many, especially cheaper B&C oils (but also good products like HD Stihl B&C oil) are mineral based oils and are about as degradable as engine oil. MSDS instructions on these products are to, where possible, avoid spills and keep bulk amounts out of the environment.

    Stihl Bioplus is a mix of vegetable (probably including canola) oils and tackifiers is considered more biodegradable but it's still not recommended to dump it into the environment.

    I've used straight canola oil in auxiliary oiler not because its biodegradable but because it was cheap. It's actually a PITA to use as long term it forms rubbery tacky gooey layer everywhere and gums up the aux oil pathway. Now I buy my B&C oil from a local oil recycler as he sells it cheaper than I can buy bulk canola. It's just cleaned engine oil with tackifier added to my specification. This guy generates 10,000 litres of this oil every few months. I've see a half dozen 1000L tanks of this oil leaving his yard on a truck for sawmills down south.

  8. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by cava View Post
    It appears to be a bad idea, so apart from chainsaw bar lube, what can I do with the excess oil?
    Mix it all up in a drum then give it away as oil can oil for general use, great for bolts, hinges and the like.
    Rgds,
    Crocy.

  9. #8
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    If you simply want to dispose of it any car wprkshop can do that for you.
    CHRIS

  10. #9
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    One of the original biodegradable oils used as a two stroke lube was Castor oil which is pressed from Castor beans. The brand name Castrol almost certainly comes from this. Castor oil was used at ratios of around 8:1 as a two stroke lube and as a general motor lube. Like Canola it makes a ferkin mess and eventually breaks down and gums everything up so was only used on motors that had to be regularly stripped down and cleaned like racing motors and early aeroplane engines. Most of the Allied WWI planes were lubed with Castor oil. It was said to form a varnish on the insides of cylinders helping to improve ring seals.

    I use quite a bit of engine oil in my shed, mostly as a basic quenching oil for heat treating tool steels but also at the ends of the metal bluing process when the pieces are heated in a bath of hot engine oil. The other oils I use are hydraulic oil as a light machinery lubricant, and Automatic transmission fluid as a lube coolant for metal working.

  11. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    Not all bar oil is biodegradable. Many, especially cheaper B&C oils (but also good products like HD Stihl B&C oil) are mineral based oils and are about as degradable as engine oil. MSDS instructions on these products are to, where possible, avoid spills and keep bulk amounts out of the environment.

    Stihl Bioplus is a mix of vegetable (probably including canola) oils and tackifiers is considered more biodegradable but it's still not recommended to dump it into the environment.

    I've used straight canola oil in auxiliary oiler not because its biodegradable but because it was cheap. It's actually a PITA to use as long term it forms rubbery tacky gooey layer everywhere and gums up the aux oil pathway. Now I buy my B&C oil from a local oil recycler as he sells it cheaper than I can buy bulk canola. It's just cleaned engine oil with tackifier added to my specification. This guy generates 10,000 litres of this oil every few months. I've see a half dozen 1000L tanks of this oil leaving his yard on a truck for sawmills down south.

    This is very true. I noticed at a big hardware store they were selling 5 litre containers of a good quality engine oil dirt cheap. A few minutes later I was in the chainsaw shop and was shocked at how expensive the bar oil was. I asked the Stihl bloke if the bar oil was biodegradable or mineral and he said mineral. Went back to the hardware store and bought 10 litres for less than 5 of the chainsaw stuff.

  12. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by artful bodger View Post
    This is very true. I noticed at a big hardware store they were selling 5 litre containers of a good quality engine oil dirt cheap. A few minutes later I was in the chainsaw shop and was shocked at how expensive the bar oil was. I asked the Stihl bloke if the bar oil was biodegradable or mineral and he said mineral. Went back to the hardware store and bought 10 litres for less than 5 of the chainsaw stuff.
    Proper chainsaw bar oil is superior to engine oil especially in HD applications like chainsaw milling as it contains viscosity additives and tackifiers added to it that helps it stick to the chain as it whips around the nose. Good bar and chain oil produces stretchy oil strings between forefinger and thumb if they are used to pinch the oil and then moved apart.

    If tackifiers are not used most of the oil is flung off at the nose before it even gets to the cutting side of the bar and greater bar and chain wear and tear may be experienced. Tackifiers can be added to engine oil but they can be expensive although a lot is not needed to make a difference. STP engine oil treatment can be used as a basic viscosity modifier but like most oil additives it tends to be over priced and possibly overhyped. The bloke I buy the recycled off from adds plenty of tackifier which is how I like it.

  13. #12
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    Thanks All,

    So far it appears my options are either to use the oil as:
    1. Bar lube
    2. Quenching oil for foundry work
    3. Possibly log sealer (although I am not sure on this)
    4. Give it away

    Any other suggestions?

  14. #13
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    Cava

    Most of the foregoing comments are pertinent. Certainly your first question regarding substituting 4 stroke for 2 stroke is a big no no. As to using your surplus 4 stroke for bar oil I don't believe there are actual restrictions for this although it may well be frowned upon.

    I know a logging contractor who used to tell me the story that the rangers would come around and see him doing an oil change on his bulldozer. They would caution him that he was to dispose of it in the correct manner. He would assure them he carefully saved every drop, then put it in his chainsaw and sprayed it all around the bush! (he liked baiting them). He did in fact use the sump oil in his chainsaw. Being diesel oil it was high detergent and would not gum up the bar. BUT diesel sump oil is black and filthy. I did try it for a while but could not really come to terms with the mess it made so I went back to buying bar oil in bulk.

    I don't think anybody so far has mentioned that bar oil is quite sticky (viscous I think is the term) whereas engine oils are not like that and may not lubricate the chain and bar the same way. They will tend to throw off too quickly.

    I would save your surplus engine oil for lubrication in the workshop or heat treating steel the same way Bob does.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

  15. #14
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    Used engine oil is pretty horrible stuff. Its full of carcinogens and metal dust so not real good to spray all over the place. My tree faller dad used to use it and I used to carry the Castrol can and sometimes fill the saws. Maybe explains a thing or two about my health conditions?

  16. #15
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    I would not use used engine oil for bar lube either.
    Interestingly enough when I did a tree felling certificate course years ago the fellow who ran it was of the opinion that new engine oil was quite acceptable compared to bar oil.
    Mind you, it had nothing to do with alaskan milling.
    Most of my chainsaw work these days is cutting up big logs that get dumped in the yard for firewood in 13 ton loads.
    There is always dirt and debris in these logs and I find that the chains get worn out by sharpening more than they get stretched by oil fling off.
    Not arguing with Bob here though, hell no.

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