Watched my buddy do the same thing on his stick burner last month and he swore the bark was way better too. He did say he went through a whole extra bag of splits though, so that trade off is real.

Did he ever try heating the bolts with a torch first? That diesel and oil mix works even better when the metal is warm, it pulls right into the threads instead of just sitting on top. I keep a squirt bottle of the same stuff in my garage and it has saved me more times than I can count on old farm equipment.

Man, this is the same thing I see with cars and furniture, everything old had actual personality and now it's all sleek gray boxes. I mean half the fun was hunting down some weird skin made by a guy named Sk8erBoi in 2003. Maybe it's just me but that whole era of the internet felt like people made stuff for fun instead of for clicks.