Saw chain oil

There is friction between the saw chain and the bar, which is reduced by oil.

Refilling the tank for saw chain oil

Saw chain oil, saw chain adhesive oil or chain oil is used to reduce the friction between the saw chain and the bar of power chainsaws and thus to keep wear , especially on the bar, low.

The oil is fed to the chain from a separate tank in the chainsaw by an oil pump. The oil pump is driven together with the saw chain so that no oil is supplied when the machine is idling. Power chainsaws in the professional sector have an adjustable oil pump, so that the amount of lubricant can be adapted to the rail length used, the type of wood and the viscosity of the oil used.

According to a study by the Kuratorium für Waldarbeit und Forsttechnik on the “runtime structure of chainsaws in manual wood harvesting”, chainsaws consume around 0.3 to 0.4 liters of saw chain oil per hour of operation.

Saw chain oil can be produced on the basis of mineral oil or on the basis of vegetable oils. By additives (additives) in the chain oil the flowability and adhesion of the oil can be influenced. Saw chain oil should be usable all year round in both high and low outside temperatures. Good adhesion reduces the "waste" of the oil on the forest floor and thus the oil consumption.

Modern saw chain oils are usually made on the basis of environmentally friendly, easily biodegradable and non-water polluting vegetable oils. These oils are marketed as "organic chain oil". Skin contact with these oils is also harmless to health. In 2003, 80% of the saw chain adhesive oils and saw gate oils available were of biogenic origin and thus form the only area of lubricants in which biogenic lubricants clearly outweigh mineral oil-based lubricants. The total amount of biogenic saw chain oil used in Germany was around 6,200 tons. The market price of biogenic saw chain oil is around 15 to 50 percent higher than comparable products based on mineral oil.

Few professional chain saw users use simple vegetable oil available in the supermarket. Since the adhesive force and viscosity of edible oils are lower than those of chain saw oils, there are concerns that on machines with long rails, too little of the oil may get to the bottom of the rail.

The Bavarian Technology and Promotion Center in the Competence Center for Renewable Raw Materials (TFZ) has tested the use of cold-pressed, non-additive rapeseed oil with good results and ascribes it to better wear properties than conventional mineral oil.

By using non-resinous oils such as rapeseed and sunflower oil , you avoid the formation of residues and sluggishness in the saw chain, which can occur with sticky organic saw chain oil. Rapeseed and sunflower oils are more heat-resistant than other vegetable oils. Hot-pressed, refined oils are also more heat-resistant than cold-pressed oils.

composition

A typical modern "organic chain oil" usually consists of the following components:

approx. 97% rapeseed oil,
approx. 2% oil-dissolved rubber (mainly as an adhesion promoter),
approx. 1% acrylic copolymer (to increase the viscosity, i.e. to thicken) and
small amounts of petroleum distillates to reduce the biological self-decomposition before the oil is applied.

Vegetable saw chain oils of poor quality can harden after a few months, which can cause tough residues to form in the chain. Seldom used chainsaws by rescue organizations are therefore often still operated with saw chain oil based on mineral oil.

swell

↑ Study by the Board of Trustees for Forest Work and Forest Technology on the “Runtime structure of chainsaws in manual wood harvesting” (PDF; 221 kB).
↑ Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e. V. (Ed.): Data and facts on renewable raw materials. Gülzow 2006; Page 57 ( PDF download ).
↑ Industrial material use of renewable raw materials. Topic 4: Menrad, Klaus et al .: "Products made from renewable raw materials - market, macroeconomic effects and consumer acceptance." Expert report on behalf of the German Bundestag, presented to the Office for Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB), 2006, p. 31 (PDF).
↑ ^a ^b Saw chain oil - the right lubricant makes the difference . ( motorsaegenkaufen.de [accessed on February 18, 2018]).
↑ Competence Center for Renewable Raw Materials (TFZ) in the Bavarian State Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forests (StMELF): Rapeseed oil as chain saw oil - project "Technical suitability of natural, non-additive rapeseed oil for use as chain saw oil, technology and funding center", period: 1994, accessed March 9, 2015.

[1] Study by the Board of Trustees for Forest Work and Forest Technology on the “Runtime structure of chainsaws in manual wood harvesting” (PDF; 221 kB).

[2] Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e. V. (Ed.): Data and facts on renewable raw materials. Gülzow 2006; Page 57 ( PDF download ).

[TAB-3] Industrial material use of renewable raw materials. Topic 4: Menrad, Klaus et al .: "Products made from renewable raw materials - market, macroeconomic effects and consumer acceptance." Expert report on behalf of the German Bundestag, presented to the Office for Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB), 2006, p. 31 (PDF).

[Pflanz-4] Saw chain oil - the right lubricant makes the difference . ( motorsaegenkaufen.de [accessed on February 18, 2018]).

[5] Competence Center for Renewable Raw Materials (TFZ) in the Bavarian State Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forests (StMELF): Rapeseed oil as chain saw oil - project "Technical suitability of natural, non-additive rapeseed oil for use as chain saw oil, technology and funding center", period: 1994, accessed March 9, 2015.