Gear Oil As Chain Lube

[cci]

In a different thread I asked about uses for leftover bottles of gear oil. I have a ridiculous quantity of partial containers of gear oil, every flavor imaginable.

Somebody said they use it for lubing motorcycle chains. Seems reasonable, anyone here tried it?

 

[delirious]

I will be trying it when I finish the dupont Teflon chain saver. CBR calls for gear oil anyway and won't be as expensive.

 

[Shannow]

Add a decent tackifier and (IMO) you are good to go.

(I can't recommend one, as don't know enough about that bit)

 

[tc1446]

Probably would would work as chain saw blade oil.........

 

[LotI]

It’s what I use in my Scottoiler, since 2004.

 

[john_pifer]

That's what is recommended as drive chain oil in many motorcycle owner's manuals. Only thing is, it slings off like crazy.

Most people go with a spray-on chain wax, like the Maxima brand.

 

[dlundblad]

Just mix them all together and put them in a differential.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Add a decent tackifier and (IMO) you are good to go.

(I can't recommend one, as don't know enough about that bit)


I have sometimes added vegetable oil to whatever mineral oil I'm using (mostly hydraulic because I have a lot, but gear oil is probably better).

It does seem to make it stickier. OTOH, it also makes it harder to clean off, especially if you leave it a long time.

Enclosed chain help, but they are soooo unfashionable.

 

[JLawrence08648]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Add a decent tackifier and (IMO) you are good to go.

(I can't recommend one, as don't know enough about that bit)


Differential oil stinks aka smells, do you really want that slinging around?

The way I would use it, and I wouldn't, add a tackifier. Chain lube is sticky because of that.

 

[eddy21]

Originally Posted By: john_pifer
That's what is recommended as drive chain oil in many motorcycle owner's manuals. Only thing is, it slings off like crazy.

Most people go with a spray-on chain wax, like the Maxima brand.


This ^^^ It makes a mess even if you wipe off the excess .

 

[maverickfhs]

I am going to try it.

I have been using DuPont Teflon chain saver and so far pleased with it. But will try, once it's finished.

 

[Superflan]

I use 85w-140 EP gear oil on my motorcycle chains

been doing it for years, and converting oring chains to standard heavy duty chains when used up.

 

[Blaze]

My John Deere pto driven rototiller is an enclosed chain drive and uses the recommended 75w-90 gear lube.

 

[Shannow]

This thread has me chuckling for personal reasons.

Back in the late 90s I commissioned an MDF plant (fibreboard), and there's gazillions of little chain drives on th mat forming station.

Each has a little oiler, and gear oil is specced, but the are becomes a horrid mess. So I switched them to chain and bar (with recommendation from Caltex, who then added it to their list of tricks for other places).

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
This thread has me chuckling for personal reasons.

Back in the late 90s I commissioned an MDF plant (fibreboard), and there's gazillions of little chain drives on th mat forming station.

Each has a little oiler, and gear oil is specced, but the are becomes a horrid mess. So I switched them to chain and bar (with recommendation from Caltex, who then added it to their list of tricks for other places).



Makes sense, but would be hard (though probably not impossible) to find here, plus chain oil and rust inhibitor are my "disposal" uses for otherwise unusable oils, like the few gallons of Azola hydraulic I don't have any other use for.

Have considered it as a 2-stroke motorcycle gearbox oil, but decided not to risk it.

 

[Silk]

I don't use O ring chains, so remove, clean in a solvent bath, then soak in gear oil for a few days, hang to dry another couple of days and fit. If it's a bike that gets used a lot, I used 2 chains, pull the old one off with the lubed chain.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: john_pifer
That's what is recommended as drive chain oil in many motorcycle owner's manuals. Only thing is, it slings off like crazy.

Most people go with a spray-on chain wax, like the Maxima brand.


Yep, gear oil will be pretty messy. I've used Maxima Chain Wax for many years and it works very well. Lasts around 400 miles before the chain rollers start looking dry.

 

[02SE]

Yep, gear oil is messy. I think I've tried every chain lube available at some point over the years. This is what I've liked best for awhile now:

 

[weasley]

My bike's manual asks for a SAE 30 - 50 motor oil; that's a KV100 of 9.3 - 23.9 cSt (so not very specific!). Equivalent gear oil would be anything from a thick 80W to a 110 grade (I would tend to go for the thickest if I were to go this route). I use a Scottoiler with Scott oil in it; chain lasts forever - a bit of fling, particularly in the front sprocket cover. This appears to have some tackifier in it (I judge this from its appearance, no knowledge of the formulation).

High molecular weight PIBs are common tackifiers.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: weasley
High molecular weight PIBs are common tackifiers.


Do you know of any off the shelf products that have HMW PIB ?

Enquiring minds would like to know.

Or can we dissolve a pencil eraser in oil...and how ?