Aspen & enviromentally friendly oils

dipper.meath16

Hi Folks..

Dedicated thread to Aspen and Enviromentally frendily oils.. Iv been using aspen since i first seen it at the plowing championships (I was one of the crazy fecks running up the pole for fun and cant wait to do it again this year)

Since iv been using it, the difference i can now see is unbelievable, ie how i feel after work and the sound of the saw (when you use it, you wont think im mad). Iv attached some links to show the benifits of it.

I know some of you might think its a little expensive, however if more of demand is created ican only imagine it will go down in price. Also for the part time chainsaw user, its perfect. The shelf life is much greater than petrol, therefore if there is half a tank left in your saw it does not corrode the inside of your saw, or degrade the plastics..

Iv seen people on this and heard personally of people using burnt engine oil as there bar oil.. what are you thinking?? That stuff is as pisionus as smokin 100 fags a day! Its lethal! I use 9 times out of 10, sunflower oil!! Perfectly enviromentally friendly, dosnt matter about spillages and its pure! The gloop that is for sale in gallon drums has so many chemicles!

Sorry for the long post, want to hear your opinions, iv been thinking about this for a while!!

http://prolandscapermagazine.com/?p=2072

http://husqvarnaireland.blogspot.com/2012/05/do-you-know-what-using-normal-petrol-in.html

http://www.aspen.se/Aspen_%28eng%29/Consumer/Products/Learn_more_about_Aspen_alkylate_petrol

Jack_regan

dipper.meath16 wrote: »

Iv seen people on this and heard personally of people using burnt engine oil as there bar oil.. what are you thinking?? That stuff is as pisionus as smokin 100 fags a day! Its lethal! I use 9 times out of 10, sunflower oil!! Perfectly enviromentally friendly, dosnt matter about spillages and its pure! The gloop that is for sale in gallon drums has so many chemicles!

I just use the ordinary chainsaw oil on mine @€;15 for 5 litres. Does the sunflower oil work well? I would of thought that it was not sticky enough and that it would be too thin an oil to use for lubricating the bar and chain.

Do you go through a lot of it compared to ordinary chainsaw oil? I presume your using the sunflower oil new out of the bottle and not taking it out of the deep fat fryer after you've fried your chips?:D

It might be worth considering it, if it does the job and you go through it at the same rate as the ordinary chainsaw oil. I'd say it would be a lot more friendly to the environment anyway. I think its around €1 a litre for sunflower oil so it would be a big financial saving if it works. Anybody else using it?

Oldtree

At the risk of repeating myself the Aspen is fab, I just cant believe the lack of smokey fumes coming out the exhaust of the saw, and the slight increase in cost, after tax, is more than worth it.

These people seem to deliver any amount of Aspen for €6.50:

http://www.mower-power.com/shannonside/product.asp?numRecordPosition=3&P_ID=776&strPageHistory=&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=206

I have used this bio chain oil for years and no problems at all, supplier delivered to back door:

http://www.maxolubes.ie/lubricants-products/cat_view/26-lubricants-products/117-forestry/125-maxol-bio-degradable-chain-oil.html?limit=20&limitstart=0&order=date&dir=ASC

Heard about, but have no use for except when the logsplitter oil needs changing, bio hydraulic oils a few years back from here:

http://www.gannonoils.co.uk/Bio_Hydraulic_Oils.html

And Irish suppliers of similar biodegradable lubricants here:

http://www.gannonoils.co.uk/Bio_Hydraulic_Oils.html

dipper.meath16

Jack_regan wrote: »

I just use the ordinary chainsaw oil on mine @€;15 for 5 litres. Does the sunflower oil work well? I would of thought that it was not sticky enough and that it would be too thin an oil to use for lubricating the bar and chain.

Do you go through a lot of it compared to ordinary chainsaw oil? I presume your using the sunflower oil new out of the bottle and not taking it out of the deep fat fryer after you've fried your chips?:D

It might be worth considering it, if it does the job and you go through it at the same rate as the ordinary chainsaw oil. I'd say it would be a lot more friendly to the environment anyway. I think its around €1 a litre for sunflower oil so it would be a big financial saving if it works. Anybody else using it?

Hi Jack,

No its actually quite surprising, its nearly 1 for 1, i mean fuel fill and oil fill, it runs the same time, however its all about bar lenght! Very rarely use anything over a 20inch and its perfect!
Yep strait out of the bottle, i find it a hell of a lot cheaper, however by lunch time you find yourself wanting chips!! haha!

Finnt

I've seen aspen for sale lately for €5 a litre,
It expensive for what it is I've used in in the hedgetrimmer where the fumes get caught in the hedge, it is cleaner but in a saw I don't think it's worth it, I find it hard to recommend it's just too expensive, that's my 2 cents!

Oldtree

Was just cutting up a load of logs the other day and the lack of the smokey fumes even in an open area made a big difference to my breathing (in that it was much less congested) and the usual taste of burnt 2 stroke oil in the throat (there wasnt any) at the end of the day. If you put a value onto your health then the few cents an hour difference in the cost is a realy minor issue. I am a recent convert to aspen (long time convert to biodegradable chain lube oil) and would not go back, in fact I gave away the last few liters of petrol mix as the thoughts of using it again horrify me. I cant wait to use aspen with the hedge trimmer and the environment up a tree has been vastly improved, hopefully it will be the same inside the dreaded leylandii.

Older thread on this:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056526324

Oldtree

Ordered 4x5l aspen yesterday by phone used lazer (before their 2.30 shipping time) and delivered today at 12.30. Also ordered their 5l aspen 4t to try in the mower. €6.50 for the lot to be delivered (under 30kg), can't beat that.

yo ho ho away i go.....

http://www.mower-power.com/shannonside/product.asp?numRecordPosition=3&P_ID=776&strPageHistory=&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=206

Tora Bora

Oldtree wrote: »

Ordered 4x5l aspen yesterday by phone used lazer (before their 2.30 shipping time) and delivered today at 12.30. Also ordered their 5l aspen 4t to try in the mower. €6.50 for the lot to be delivered (under 30kg), can't beat that.

yo ho ho away i go.....

http://www.mower-power.com/shannonside/product.asp?numRecordPosition=3&P_ID=776&strPageHistory=&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=206

This Aspen malarkey, reminds me of a fancy resturaunt. Thumbnail of meat in the middle of a big plate, with a smidgen of veggies, all cut in fancy ways, layed out in artistic format, covered in fukin Bisto but called some fancy french "jus" White table cloth. Bullsh1t waiter. That will be €100 a head sir:P
Across the road, you can get a feed of the same ingredients, lashed up in front of you with no bull attached, for a quarter of the fancy place.

Them Aspen people, could run a fancy resturaunt no bother to them:D

Oldtree

Tora Bora wrote: »

This Aspen malarkey, reminds me of a fancy resturaunt. Thumbnail of meat in the middle of a big plate, with a smidgen of veggies, all cut in fancy ways, layed out in artistic format, covered in fukin Bisto but called some fancy french "jus" White table cloth. Bullsh1t waiter. That will be €100 a head sir:P
Across the road, you can get a feed of the same ingredients, lashed up in front of you with no bull attached, for a quarter of the fancy place.

Them Aspen people, could run a fancy resturaunt no bother to them:D

have you tried it? I dare you to spend a few bob and do your own testing, prove me wrong, go on... :D;):P

If it dosnt live up to my expectations then you can always go back :eek:

Atilathehun

Oldtree wrote: »

have you tried it? I dare you to spend a few bob and do your own testing, prove me wrong, go on... :D;):P

If it dosnt live up to my expectations then you can always go back :eek:

I'm afraid I would agree with the fancy resturaunt analogy!
This is nothing more than "marketing" hogwash, to pick the last few cents out of our arse pockets:cool: Get youself a can of petrol and a dash of two stroke, and fire it up. Keep the money spared for a few pints in the evening to wash down the carcinogens;)

Oldtree

dare I say you might be better off without the pint too! :D:D

So that would be 2 that havnt tried it, won't try it and know all about it then

No point in trying to convince you to try bio chain lube oil then either (purely for your own health reasons)??

O.A.P

You can make that three Oldtree, it's too expensive. I burnt 10 liters of normal mix in one day last year with a 395 xp (10 hours in big cypress timber). I had to drive 30 miles to the job first so diesel costs were also a part of my expenses. I earned every cent that day and more, if I had used the aspen fuel I would have been working for almost free.
That said next time I'm in the shop I might get some it would be handy to have in the shed for the times I want to do a small job but have put all the leftover petrol in the car. It lasts forever apparentley.

Oldtree

10 liters of aspen would be €44, write off tax etc say 50% (41%tax + prsi, usc) = €22 (ignoring the vat and dont have to buy 2 stroke) take away cost of petrol @ €1.60/liter = €16 - tax,etc €8 = €8

€22-€8 is €14

I dont think that you worked 10 hours for €14.

Basically at your usage rates its €1.40 extra cost per hour for what I consider to be a much healthier working enviroment for your lungs and has to be worth that. My own feeling on this is that I was making an enemy of my future so I do what I can to improve my future cause I sure am not going to change what I do cause I love it.

I have no doubt that you are a hard working person and more than earn what you are paid, but all I can do is ask you to ask yourself if there is something else that you can do without to cover this small extra hourly cost to improve your current and future health, chocolate, paper, fags.

As I live rurally I too have to drive a min of 25 miles to every job. I use the fact of my use of bio chain lube oil and aspen as a green selling point which both I and my customers (when fully informed) feel that it adds value to my work, by less pollution from the aspen and I'm not spreading a can of 3in1 around their garden/field by using bio lube.

O.A.P

If I want to split hairs petrol cost around 130 a litre then, but apart from that I can't argue with your figures.
That job sticks in my mind I was there a week but that was the only full day with the big saw. The customer was an old workmate and I foolishly gave him mates rates. When I got paid I knew he had done very well out of me. Thats why its the example I used to show that every cent counts.
The saws are parked now for another month or more and if I want to do something in the meantime that will only use a tank full of fuel the aspen would be handy to have because I mix 5 liters at a time usually.

Oldtree

I usually leave the wood ringed up in easy to axe slices as well as any reasonably sized bits of wood that could go into a stove rather then chip them. The customer could then sell on some, beyond their own needs. I usually ask if I could have a few rings to take home (for the father in laws annual shedfull supply you understand!) and nobody has ever refused. With the price of fire wood going up and up its worth doing and the customer is usually happy to see some of the pile go. You could even sell some to cover the extra cost of the aspen

Oldtree

Got the aspen 4t to try in the 10 year old mower.
The missus does the lawn mowing and her comment after using was:
"theres no smoke from the mower...!"