Why do Mini Chainsaws Need Oil?
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So lets get it out there from the start!
ALL chainsaws, including mini chainsaws , electrical corded and battery powered chainsaws, need oil. It just depends where you need to apply it and when!
Conventional gas powered chainsaws are usually powered by high revving 2-stroke engines. These run on a gas/oil mixture and require specific 2-cycle engine oil in the tank.
This is NOT THE SAME oil as you should use on your chainsaw’s bar and chain!
But mini chainsaws are powered by battery driven electric motors and so they don’t need oil for their motor.
However, they DO need oil to lubricate the bar and chain – as do gas powered chainsaws.
Reasons Why They Need Oil
If you are pruning, consider using a plant safe Bar & Chain lubricant
Many mini chainsaws with higher specs now include an inbuilt oil dispensing mechanism.
They would not do that unless the oil was an integral requirement for the efficient operation of the saw!
Sadly, many mini saw sellers claim that their saws don’t need oil to operate. But that’s only because their offerings don’t incorporate any sort of self oiling option!
Some however don’t go that route as it is detrimental to the function and longevity of the saw.
A good example of such a mini chainsaw would be the very popular Saker 4 inch chainsaw that has NO inbuilt oil reservoir.
But they acknowledge the need for oil by including a small oil bottle (but no oil!) in the package of goodies that comes with the chainsaw.
So why do mini chainsaws need oil if they use battery powered electrical motors to drive the chain?
There is one very valid reason!
Reduced Friction
When the chain runs around the bar, its basically chain metal running over bar metal. Its metal on metal at speed.
When the chain is cutting through wood, there is pressure on the chain from the wood which in turn is transmitted to the interface between chain and bar.
All of this generates friction and heat! And that translates into:
- The chain moving more slowly and reducing the cutting potential of the saw
- Increased wear and tear on the chain and bar
- More strain placed on the motor
- Battery drains faster
The oil helps reduce (but wont entirely eliminate) the friction and thus plays a significant role in the efficiency and longevity of your mini chainsaw.
Now, without oil being applied, the chain components, bar and motor will deteriorate much faster. Unfortunately however, most of these effects will not be immediately apparent but will emerge over time.
This is perhaps why some mini chainsaw sellers who sell mini saws without inbuilt oilers trot out the line that their offering doesn’t need to be oiled.
Yes it does! But the associated side effects are just not immediately obvious!
Perhaps the best way to look at this is to regard oiling the bar and chain as essential mini chainsaw maintenance 🙂
How Often Does a Chainsaw Need Bar Oil?
If you have a mini chainsaw with an automatic oiler, then this question answers itself. All you need do is simply keep an eye on the oil reservoir and top it up with bar oil when it runs low.
Having said that, when you first start out using the chainsaw, you will need to keep a close and frequent eye on the oil level. That’s because it will probably go down faster than you would anticipate.
There are 2 reasons for this.
Firstly, most of these automatic oilers are quite generous with the amount of oil they push out.
Secondly, these inbuilt oil reservoirs are not particularly big and so do not hold big volumes of oil.
However, once you have used the saw a few times, you will get a good idea of how long you can cut for before you need to stop and top up.
Now onto chainsaws with manual inbuilt oilers or mini chainsaws without any sort of inbuilt oiler.
There is no standard answer for this question but lets remember WHY we oil the bar and chain,
The main reason is – To Decrease Friction!
To achieve that, you really don’t want the interface between bar and chain to be dry due to insufficient oil. This is why automatic oilers seem to pump out oil at a great rate.
So the safe option is to rather administer too much bar oil rather than too little!
A safe rule of thumb then would be to apply bar oil every 2 to 3 minutes of actual saw working time.
It might be a bit of a pain, but it will protect your investment! 🙂
What Kind of Oil Do You Use for a (Mini) Chainsaw?
Many chainsaw manufacturers also produce specifically designed and marketed bar and chain oil as pictured left.
Mini Chainsaw oil requires exactly the same properties and so you should use this type of oil for your mini chainsaw bar and chain.
These petroleum based oils were designed to:
- Help reduce chain and bar wear and tear by decreasing friction and supplying a protective coat at the metal on metal contact area.
- Reduce resin build up on the chain and thus promote efficient cutting capabilities
- Reduce environmental pollution by reducing oil throw off from the lubricated chain and bar.
This latter point has gained more attention as environmental issues (in general) have increasingly been recognized and remedial action instituted.
Alternatives to Traditional Bar & Chain Oil
So whatever oil you choose or have available to use needs to be able to lubricate the bar and chain as well as stick to those parts so that it doesn’t overly contaminate the environment.
That’s a tall order.
However, if we put motor oil (new or used), hydraulic fluid and the like aside (wrong viscosity, environmentally yuck) then vegetable oils are a suitable substitute.
But not always!
The advantage of vegetable derived oils (including Canola oil which is seed derived) is that they are environmentally friendly and wont harm the plants being cut.
Their disadvantage however is that their viscosity is influenced by environmental temperature.
So that might become an issue if the weather gets very hot or very cold wherever you use your mini saw.
However, there are commercially available alternatives (like the one pictured here) that are specifically designed with the needs of a chainsaw in mind.
Unfortunately they are a bit more expensive, but that is a given nowadays.
How do you Oil a Mini Chainsaw?
Small Oil Bottle
There are basically 3 different ways that you can ensure that your mini chainsaw bar and chain are oiled.
In part, this will depend on what type of mini chainsaw you own.
- a mini chainsaw with automatic oiler or
- mini chainsaw with oiler that you activate manually or
- one without any type of self oiling mechanism
Irrespective of which type you have, owning a small chainsaw bar oil dispenser (say 100ml) will help you get the oil where it needs to go.
In the case of the mini chainsaw that has an inbuilt automatic oiler, all you need to do is to ensure that the oil tank has oil in it and that the tank does not run out of oil while you are working with the saw.
Self oiling mini chainsaws are not that common, particularly in the very small bar sizes such as chainsaws with a 4″ or 6″ bar.
Somewhat more common are mini chainsaws with an inbuilt oiling mechanism that you have to operate manually. In other words it will have an inbuilt oil tank that you need to put oil in on a regular basis.
In both cases above, a small oil dispensing bottle helps you get the oil into the inbuilt tank easily and without spillage!
Two words of caution if your mini chainsaw has an oil reservoir!
– Do not store your mini saw with oil in the tank.
– Don’t fill the tank to the brim with oil when working with it.
In both cases the oil is likely to leak out and leave you with a bit of a mess.
Many mini chainsaws do not have any sort of inbuilt oiling mechanism.
When this is the case then you need to apply oil to the bar and chain at regular intervals yourself. The small oil bottle or grease gun then becomes an indispensable piece of equipment!!
Step by step way to oil a mini chainsaw without a built in oiler.
So how do you oil a mini chainsaw that doesn’t have an oil reservoir?
– before you start working with your mini chainsaw, ensure the battery is removed so that you can’t accidently lop a finger off during this process!
– use a small brush to clean out any sawdust/foliage/wood chips from the chain and chain/bar interface.
– make sure you have your bottle of oil or grease gun close at hand and that it is full.
– with one hand hold the saw so that the bar is parallel to the ground (or place it on a flat surface in the same orientation)
– tilt the bar either towards or away from you (creating a slope) and run some oil along where the chain and bar intersect on the bottom side of the bar. The slope and gravity will ensure that the oil runs into the area where the bar and chain interact.
– repeat this action for the top part of the bar and on the other side. I.e. turn the bar over and repeat the procedure on that side as well.
– Use a cloth to wipe away any excess oil.
– Attach the battery to the tool, give the trigger a few squeezes so that the chain runs round the bar and distributes the oil over all the chain/bar interfaces.
And you need to keep doing this at frequent intervals while working with the saw. This ensures that the contact surface between the metal chain and bar remains lubricated which decreases the friction between the 2 parts.
Conclusion
Do battery powered chainsaws need oil?
The answer is a resounding YES! A battery driven chainsaw of any size needs oil on the chain and bar to ensure it operates efficiently and to increase longevity of both the chain and the bar!
So now all you need to do is practice how to oil a mini chainsaw!