How to remove major pitch accumulation

[Burnham]

My poor 200T .

In the course of taking down a few western white pines, it got really badly gunked up with a mixture of pitch and saw chips and dust. The bar is unbelievable, I can't even see how it fit through it's own kerf by the end of the project.

Throttle trigger is caked in crud, the front of the body is horribly coated. Every nook and cranny is fouled.

Any bright ideas for cleaning the worst of it off? I don't need it to look pristine, but this is ridiculous. I've never seen a saw so pitched up in 30 years of tree work.

Edit: sorry for the typo in the thread title, guess you can't edit that?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Yep.

Wipe it down with some gas? Blast it at a carwash?

 

[Burnham]

Thanks for the title fix, Butch.

I don't think water and soap will do much, might help a bit. Gas doesn't thrill me...maybe a heavy duty degreaser will cut it. Or hand cleaner left on overnight, then the pressure washer.

 

[sawinredneck]

I've heard kerosene can break it down. Also brake clean.Don't leave either on long.
Simple Green has some good properties and I am fond of "Purple Power" cleaner. Jst have to watch the purple power it will tint paint on certain things if left too long.

 

[Al Smith]

WD-40 will remove about anything. Also creme type hand cleaner like D and L or Goop will work .

 

[mryb]

I tell you guys time & time again. The dishwasher & Simple Green & not when the old lady is around. Send her shopping or something. Pitch buildup on the chain itself I use a wire wheel on the bench grinder before I sharpen it...

 

[SkwerI]

GoJo creme hand cleaner. The plain white, not the citrus. It should be a staple in the toolbox of every treeman that works on pine trees. Grab you a handful and start wiping down the saw with it. Use both hands and lightly rub on the sappy areas. In 5 minutes it will be ready for a rinse and good to go.

 

[Burnham]

I'm all over the hand cleaner, Brian...though I prefer Goop, like Al says. Guess I'll give it a try. I've just never had this much accummulation before, it's nasty.

Oh, and I don't have a dish washer...though there is no way in hell I'd put a whole 200T in one, that can't be something the saw would like.

 

[Al Smith]

While on the subject ,creme type hand cleaners are some of the best stain removers for clothing ever invented .

In addition to grimy greasy blue jeans ,Carharts etc it works on other materials and stains . In one instance I salvaged the jacket of a white linen suit I had twice sent to the dry cleaners with no avail .I wasn't about to give up on it because I ponied up nearly 400 bucks for that thing over twenty years ago .

 

[Burnham]

In regular usage at our house in the laundry, Al. You are so right.

 

[Gord]

A parts washer with varsol or something like it is easiest, with a stiff brush.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Ethanol or acetone? I find that carb cleaner works better than brake cleaner to remove pitch.

 

[Che]

have you tried plain vegetable oil?

 

[MasterBlaster]

We're TreeHousers! We don't use anything plain!

 

[Bodean]

A solvent tank with a stiff brush?

after a puddy knife.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Butter will take pitch off hands, but it might make the saw a lil slick

 

[wiley_p]

Like Brian said. Goop, Gojo. Amyl Nitrate, oh wait wrong problem.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Ha!

 

[Old Monkey]

I used to clean saws with gas and solvent tanks, then came simple green and my life expectancy increased.

 

[Al Smith]

Another hand cleaner trick 101 .

This stuff makes very good lubricant for mounting tires also among it's other ten tousand uses besides cleaning hands .

When cutting sheet metal with an air chisel or electric double cuts a little hand cleaner brushed on the cut line makes it go much easier .

 

[Che]

We're TreeHousers! We don't use anything plain!

Oh, damn....I forgot where I was.

I know that skin-so-soft takes away pine tar, then found out that peanut butter does too. I'm thinking oil did....thought that would be less likely to be razzed than peanut butter.

I was wrong.




Is pine tar - pine sap - pine pitch all the same?

I would definitely stay away from the dishwasher idea, but I do know a SS .357 can go through just fine.

Edit: rethink....you could put the BAR in the dishwasher....depending on what size you were using, my 20" would fit just fine (I just measured.)

 

[Stumper]

We're TreeHousers! We don't use anything plain!

Palin on the other hand might engender a different level of enthusiasm.

 

[stehansen]

In a bikini?

 

[Koa Man]

Have you tried oven cleaner? It works very well.

 

[sotc]

That sounds brutal on the plastic