Anyone building a homestead will either need a chainsaw – it is a basic tool and is indispensable. However, it does have issues. One is maintenance. If you do not take care of your chainsaw you will have to replace it or will come to hate it. Chainsaws need a constant supply of oil on the chain to keep it lubricated, oil constantly drips from an oil reservoir onto the bar where it is sprayed out all over the environment.

The constant spray of oil coming out of a chainsaw isn’t good for the user or the environment. To mitigate some of this I decided to try a natural chain saw bar oil instead of using store bought petrochemicals.

The oil I use is simple cooking oil. I use generic brand canola and it works well, is easy to clean, biodegradable, and much better for the environment than the oil sold for chain saw bars.

Now, as a disclaimer, it does not hold AS well as the commercial stuff, so there is a little more wear on the bar, but it is not really noticeable unless you are looking for it. I also find that after using it for a couple years it does gun up a little more that the petroleum based product - so you will need to clean you chainsaw more.

I feel that an extra bar over the life of the saw is worth the benefits of using canola oil, but your mileage may vary.

If you are really worried about being green but still want to use a chainsaw, here is a list of the best electric chainsaws reviews. Add a solar set up and you can have the benefits of a chainsaw and be less polluting.