got two bottles of unused engine oil in the garage neither of which are suitable for the car we have, can i use either of these as a chainsaw bar oil?
They are 5w20 and 10w30, which would be best?
You can but it's not very good for the chain or the environment. The Husqvarna / Stihl stuff is much thicker and vegetable based so it doesn't fling off the chain as easily or poison your garden!
10w30. Thicker.
Probably.
ah yes forgot about the bidegradable / environmental bit.
Will get some proper stuff this lunchtime.
Now what to do with my engine oil... seems a waste to get rid of it at the tip as its unused!
I'll stick it back on the shelf of 'things to hoard just in case one day i find a use for them, which wont happen until the day after i've thrown the item out'
The 10 30 should be ok. I'm in the process of using 5l of sunflower oil which we no longer use.
Now what to do with my engine oil..
Build a furnace and melt metal?
I think your'll find that most chain oils are still mineral based, unless you specifically buy the bio ones.
All the arb guys I know use veg oil - massively cheaper 😉
In the good old days before H&S and when things lasted longer any old crap was used by many. My uncle with 51 years on the FC plus at least 10 years longer cutting his own wood swears by old engine oil. That's free. Its a bit thin and runs out faster but is cost effective. Just avoid any with shiny bits and you will be ok. It's only a coarse lube.
10 30 is pretty tricky to get hold of (i.e. not usually in Halfords) but it's used by honda 4 stroke bikes and mowers etc.
I used to use it in my saws for years but feeling guilty for the enviro and finding a cheap source of the proper stuff i don't now. I get chain oil bottles re-filled by local tractor/forestry place who have a big drum and sell cheapish or buy litre bottles from this place who have a shop nearby: http://www.in-excess.com/
I also used to use used engine oil mixed with creosote (or creocoat I think the alternative is called now) as a wood preservative on sheds, posts etc - best stuff last years. Not sure I would now. Just take it down the council re-cycling place.