I need to get to some long-postponed chainsaw work. It seems that I'm nearly out of bar lube oil. While I was in a hardware store today, I passed on some store brand bar oil at $10 a qt. The brand name lubes were far more money. Although I have a couple of vehicles that use it, I somehow have far more auto gear oil than I will ever use. Everything from 75w90, 80w90 to 75w140.
Would auto gear oil be a passable substitute for chainsaw bar lube? I believe most bar oils are rated 30 weight but I've heard that the engine and gear oil weight ratings are not directly comparable. Perhaps cut it a bit with some ATF that I have no use for? I'm guessing that it will fling off more than the correct lube. Or should I just break out of my cheapskate suit and buy Supertech for $7 a qt.?
Would auto gear oil be a passable substitute for chainsaw bar lube? I believe most bar oils are rated 30 weight but I've heard that the engine and gear oil weight ratings are not directly comparable. Perhaps cut it a bit with some ATF that I have no use for? I'm guessing that it will fling off more than the correct lube. Or should I just break out of my cheapskate suit and buy Supertech for $7 a qt.?