Tuturo chain oil alternative?

[Newoldbiker 45]

I have a Tuturo chain oiler which I am very pleased with.  I've just come to the end of a 500ml bottle and it's £9 for a 500ml bottle.   I think I've read or heard somewhere that chainsaw oil is a fine replacement.  Screwfix sell a 1 litre bottle for £4 - does anyone know if this is true?  Have you used it?

 

Thanks as ever 

[Guest bonekicker]

Paul £9 for a 500 ml bottle is rather expensive--all the oils will have to have the same viscosity--I would have thought to work--so once you have found a cheaper alternative --you've cracked it --let us know how you get on.  

[Mister Paul 838]

26 minutes ago, Newoldbiker said:

I have a Tuturo chain oiler which I am very pleased with.  I've just come to the end of a 500ml bottle and it's £9 for a 500ml bottle.   I think I've read or heard somewhere that chainsaw oil is a fine replacement.  Screwfix sell a 1 litre bottle for £4 - does anyone know if this is true?  Have you used it?

 

Thanks as ever 

Do you have the twin-feed? How are you getting on with it? I've never been able to get mine to balance properly, and recently the ends are blocking quite easily. When it works it's great, but at the moment it's a bit temperamental.

[Newoldbiker 45]

Twin feed yes and I upgraded to the automatic one.  I also invested in the bracket that locks the feed in place.  Mine works great.  I got 22K miles out of the OE chain.  Bought a DID replacement that I'm hoping will last longer.  If the ends block just give it a wipe with a rag or if you want to get fancy an old toothbrush works great.

Gonna try the chain oil I think.  At £2 for 500ml it's not too much of an outlay and if it's no good I'll just have to raid my kids college fund.  LOL!

[MikeBike 5,006]

How many miles has it taken you to use your 500ml? I reckoned up and it was more than 10000 miles, so less than £1 per 1000miles for doing almost all my chain maintenance.... so I don't think you'll need to deprive your kids of their education.... and is it really worth trying to find an alernative?  If it flings everywhere you're defeating the object and will be cleaning the bike instead of the chain..

 

 

[Grumpy old man 4,682]

Chainsaw oil becomes stringy  and thick when cold, don't forget the oil tank on the a chainsaw is sandwiched between a high revving two stroke engine and it's exhaust so very quickly becomes warm

 Also a chainsaw chain does not have o-rings so I'm not sure how o-ring  friendly the oil is.

If anyone can advise on a oil suitable for my  loobeman in cold weather that would be nice.😊

Edited November 29, 2016 by Grumpy old man

[Derek_Mac 1,404]

 Chain saw oil probably has a vastly different viscosity and no additives like Molydenum Disulphide (?) to improve lubrication of the chain links.

 You need to check how it'll flow when it's cold, I know what it looks like when I try pouring it into a chain saw on a cold morning.

 

[Slowboy 20,538]

I have used blue Scottoil in my tutorro automatic since new for over 25,000 miles and it has worked fine, just need to open up the flow a bit for the lower winter temperatures as it thickens up a bit. Totally compatible with oring chains and easy to get hold of.

[Tonyj 6,907]

Ky jelly is a good lube  boney , and it's pretty cheap , depends on how fast you go for the fling to be a problem :0)

[MikeBike 5,006]

Read what Tutor have to say on alternatives (gear oil)
 

Quote

 

In brief..........If you have the TUTORO Auto you can use the standard TUTORO Chain oil all year round where the ambient temps are around 25°C in the summer.

BUT  if the temperature starts hitting 29° or more then you should think about using TUTORO Plus 25 Chain oil or a gear oil such as a Hypoid EP80/90 for the duration of such a hot spell. 

 If however you have a TUTORO Manual then you can use a Gear Oil EP80/90 all year round or the Standard TUTORO chain oil in the winter and a gear oil in the summer.

If you live somewhere where the ambient temperature is 25°C or above then you can use TUTORO Plus 25 Chain oil or a Hypoid EP80/90 Gearbox Oil in either the TUTORO Auto or the TUTORO Manual chain oilers

 

https://www.tutorochainoiler.com/blogs/news/62905925-what-oil-should-i-use

Quote

Lastly if you do go out to buy oil for your chain and can't get or dont want a bespoke chain oil, get some Gearbox oil, something like EP70/90 is fine if the ambient temp is warm enough! BUT....its no use using thick Gearbox oil where the ambient temperature is under 25°C, its just too thick and will only flow very slowly, for that reason we really dont recommend using 80/90 gear oil in the UK- here's hoping we have a summer that makes that possible!

Gearbox oil has got the sort of additives you need for a chain drive and it doesnt turn to a "water like" viscosity in hot weather (if you can't remember what "Hot weather" is do a Google seach on May 24th 2012 for the UK or southern Spain at almost any other date)

BUT please NEVER, EVER USE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID in your oiler!, some variants have all sorts of nasty toxins in and can destroy plastics, some even corrode brass!

 

[moses 130]

10/40 in my looberman, no probs at all.

 

Mo.

[embee 7,288]

I believe the bio degradable chain saw oils can disagree with the nitrile NBR rubber used in the O-rings, though I don't recall where I read that. Just sayin' .................

 

Engine oil is safe.

[Newoldbiker 45]

All good points especially the one about cost per miles of the Tuturo oil.  Oh, so many decisions!!

[Guest chickenflaps]

I got 34k from my first chain, only ever used bog standard 20/50 engine oil in the tutoro

[temp 359]

Chainsaw oil is designed for chainsaws; motorcycle chain oil is designed for motorcycles. And everything else inbetween.

In the end it is pennies between it all.

[Spindizzy 7,109]

Loobman plus any engine oil you can get your hands on, works perfect.

 

When its really cold (Usually I wuss out but if the impulse takes me outside) I add in some thin aeroshell 3 to thin it a bit so it flows.

 

People can quote all sorts of standards and compare like for like but in the end, provided it doesn't react with  your O rings and its a lubricant,game on.

The thin film of oil acts as an anti-corrosive plus when it flings it carries the dirt away with it.

 

Ultimately its really only about what viscosity your oiler of choice likes to work with.  I won't use chain oil as its gummy, harder to wipe off and attracts dust which becomes a nice grinding paste. Thinner is better imho. Plain ordinary mineral oil.

[bluemak 215]

Chainsaw oil?  Don't you run the risk of being cut up on trunk roads?

[michael 324]

80/90 gear lube also works although is more prone to flow variation along with temperature changes.  Scott Oil (which is more readily available in my area) is also a handy alternative.