Other uses for vegetable oil - Diesel Forum

copano · 03-17-2005, 10:42 AM

I sometimes do chainsaw lumber milling and I think I once heard about using veg oil as a bar and chain oil.
The obvious benefit is the low enviromental impact as veg oil is biodegradeable since it gets flung on the ground if used as a bar oil.

My question is does veg oil have enough lubricity to be acceptable as a bar oil?

Glenstr · 03-17-2005, 12:59 PM

We used it where I work and it worked fine, but was very expensive (at that time anyway)

Personally I think that they go way to overboard with this stuff though! I'd be willing to bet that what tiny bit of chain oil does manage to get on the ground (if your oiler is adjusted properly) does little, more than likely nothing to the environment. People seem to forget that the ground is where these oils come from in the first place!

I used to work in the logging industry in the "bad old days" when we changed oil by just dropping the plug and letting it spill in the ground, I regularly go back to these places hunting and I can assure you that the vegetation is growing as lush, if not more so in places where oil was spilled as it is where it was not. And that's used motor oil!, not a clean oil like chain oil.

Diesel however, is a different story, it will kill whatever it lands on and also leaves the ground sterile for some time.

IMHO unless the veggie chain oil is on par $$ wise I'd stick to dino chain oil...

ToddT · 03-17-2005, 01:40 PM

Just as a side-note regarding biodegradability... I was raised in the oil patch of So. Ark and Louisiana. In the '60s and '70s we had wide creek bottoms that were devoid of vegetation. Drilling (and dumping) from the 1920's had left many areas looking like the landscape of the moon. But, they stopped the oil and sal****er spills at some point. Guess what? Now, those same areas are lush with vegetation! They have been for about a decade.

I talked with some oil patch buddies who told me that crude oil naturally degrades in about 25 years, 50 years if it is really thick (as in 2" or so). On the otherhand, gasoline from a leaking underground storage tank still smells like gasoline even after 50 years.

The more we refine something, the longer it takes to biodegrade. Therefore, our waste veggie is great, biodiesel comes in second, diesel is next in line with gasoline being the worst for biodegradability.

So, don't be swayed by advertising about products being 'biodegradable.' Just about everything is biodegradable. The question is: how much and how long. There is still no single definition of biodegradability when it comes to chemicals. Some say 64% in 30 days, 75% in 90 days... whatever. You can say something is made from all natural products. As compared to what? Ingredients from outer space?

And, a guy with the EPA in San Francisco said something at a conference years ago. "A dead horse is biodegradable, but I don't want one in my backyard."

That's why I'm even working on ways to purify my oily water coming from my water/oil separation with the veggie.

Todd T

PS... I don't hug trees. I ride past them at a high rate of speed on a dirt bike. Then my friends cut them down and make paper. But, they plant new trees before they're done.

copano · 03-17-2005, 02:13 PM

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We used it where I work and it worked fine, but was very expensive (at that time anyway)

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For most of us vegetable oil is free, and petrolium oil is expensive from my point of view, besides I NEED to find other uses for veg oil as my supply more than meets my usage.

I use a lot of bar oil when I mill a big old log into boards, the last one I milled I used up close to a gallon of bar oil and I didn't exactly get a warm fuzzy feeling looking at it puddled on the ground.

Glenstr · 03-17-2005, 03:10 PM

I'm talking especially made veggie chain oil, no reason you cant run regular veggie oil in it though, but keep in mind that chain oil is especially made to be super viscous, so that it sticks to the guides well and keeps heat/friction at a minimum. By all means try the veggie but keep close tabs on your bar for overheating (it'll start to turn blue around the edges) and keep the end sprocket well greased! This especially applies to power saw milling, where bar and chain overheating are more likley.

I'd also recommend fine tuning the oiler adjustment in any case, if you are leaving a puddle on the ground then you are using way more chain oil than nessecary.

copano · 03-17-2005, 09:18 PM

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I'd also recommend fine tuning the oiler adjustment in any case, if you are leaving a puddle on the ground then you are using way more chain oil than nessecary.

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My last milling job was some Mesquite logs with a 32" bar, I had to crank up the oil just to get oil to the tip.
Now that I have an auxiliary oiler on the bar tip I should be able to back off the flow rate.

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By all means try the veggie but keep close tabs on your bar for overheating (it'll start to turn blue around the edges) and keep the end sprocket well greased!

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I came across this Thread today that talks about veg oil for bar lube and towards the end they talk about a "tack" additive made for veg oil based on natural rubber that one of them is about to test.

Anyway I'm up for trying it, I have a few logs in the back yard I need to mill when I get time.