Can you use honey as a substitute bar and chain oil?
Some have said, “Anything is better than nothing?”
Does this apply to honey?
NO!
Don’t use honey.
Other substitute bar oils are better suited for this task. For example, canola oil, motor oil, or hydraulic fluid are all better options than honey!
Using honey as a chainsaw oil is a joke! 😂
Honey is not as viscous or lubricating as real bar oil and will only make your saw a mess. The residue and build-up will be extremely sticky.
Canola oil or motor oil is fine in some circumstances. We have an entire article with the pros and cons of using motor oil as a bar oil, both used and fresh.
Most guys use genuine chain oil, but some find the alternatives work better!
In a thread on our Facebook page, Wolter said:
Would you pick up half a gallon of mineral oil and spill it somewhere in your back garden every day an smile while doing that?
35 years ago I changed over to 100% canola oil as bar oil. The only thing that I changed was turning the oil pump open a little bit more.
I can do an easy four or five chains to a bar with minimal visible wear on the underside of the chains tie straps and drive links.
There’s one downside on using Canola oil. If you don’t use your saw regularly the bar and chain wil stick together in three months.
There is an easy fix to that. Just release the tension of the chain, pull the chain out of the groove, loosly tension it again and power up the saw and give it a few revs. After that you make sure the tie straps of the chain touch the underside of the bar lightly again.
Would I spill half a gallon of Canola oil in my backyard every day?
No I wouldn’t. But if I did I would know this spill is gone in two months and wouldn’t be an environmental ‘catastrophe’.
Just try it, what have you got to loose?
But before you do, get all the mineral oil out of the bar oil tank of your chainsaws. The two don’t mix together very well.
And, in another thread, Rod had an interesting point:
Just letting the uneducated know, bar oil is a waste product, oil blended because it doesn’t meet standards where required.
For those who say motor oil isn’t suitable, I have 13 year old bar that says otherwise.
It cuts 5, 6, or 7 tonnes of wood every year. Not soft wood either.
However, the moral of the story here is don’t use honey.
You might attract bees!
