# Pitch On Milling Chain



## 820wards (Nov 17, 2010)

After milling for two days on pine trees that were cut down only seven days earlier, I was concerned that my chain would tend to load up with pitch. So I'm wondering if anyone who has milled fresh pine has experienced pitch buildup on their milling chains.

Now for bar oil I use on my mill/saws. In the reservoir for my manual oil pump at the operators end of the mill I use the STIHL BioPlus. In the nose oiler I use a 50/50 mixture of the STIHL BioPlus and reclaimed refrigerant oil. With this combination my chain has stayed pitch free. The use of the refrigerant oil is because it a synthetic oil and really keeps the inside of a compressor clean.

Am I blowing smoke with this oil combination or should I see or not see much pitch when milling fresh pine trees.

jerry-

Here is a picture of my chain after two days of milling.


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## BobL (Nov 17, 2010)

Looks good to me.

I've only ever cut up one (small pine) and can't remember how bad the pitch was at the time.


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## Johndirt82 (Nov 17, 2010)

Hey there Jerry,
I use pure lye and dip my chains in it then rinse off and lube up. Gets them like new again .


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## 820wards (Nov 17, 2010)

Johndirt82 said:


> Hey there Jerry,
> I use pure lye and dip my chains in it then rinse off and lube up. Gets them like new again .




Hey John,

You would have loved it up there at West Point this past weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect. 

So where do I buy some lye up there? Should I go see Al over at the ACE HW in West Point? 

Hey just a note...
Some goat rancher up there off I think Bummerville Rd. had six goats killed by a Mt. Lion. It was even on the Sac. TV news stations.

jerry-


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## Johndirt82 (Nov 18, 2010)

I get it from a chemical distribution company down here. I doubt Ace up there would have it. Drano is mostly lye as well I have use it but now quite as good. 
That sucks about that guy gettin his goats mulched. I had my pet goat SOcket eatn by one when I was a kid.


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## 820wards (Nov 18, 2010)

Johndirt82 said:


> I get it from a chemical distribution company down here. I doubt Ace up there would have it. Drano is mostly lye as well I have use it but now quite as good.
> 
> 
> I'm sure I can find some here where I live.
> ...




There has been quite a bit of black bear activity around the area from what I've heard as well.

Going hunting for a week.

jerry-


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## BlueRider (Nov 18, 2010)

Last time I made olives I found out that Red Devil Lye is no longer being made. Lye is still available at the box stores and is located with all the other drain openers. Around here Roebic brand drain opener is sodium hydroxide- or lye.


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## BobL (Nov 18, 2010)

BlueRider said:


> Last time I made olives I found out that Red Devil Lye is no longer being made. Lye is still available at the box stores and is located with all the other drain openers. Around here Roebic brand drain opener is sodium hydroxide- or lye.



Our drain cleaner is 100% NaOH and is called "Drano", also the name of a garage band my son was in. It's very aggressive stuff, be careful with it - it burns skin just like acid.


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## davidbrac (Nov 19, 2010)

I have been milling a yew tree for the last two days and have found that the chain has clogged up. 

Can l use caustic soda to clean a chains as l think its the same as lye?


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## 820wards (Nov 23, 2010)

BobL said:


> Our drain cleaner is 100% NaOH and is called "Drano", also the name of a garage band my son was in. It's very aggressive stuff, be careful with it - it burns skin just like acid.





Drano makes sense. I used it for taking the paint off of engine firewalls when I was restoring cars. As the advertisement always said. Cleans like a white tornado!

Thanks Bob

jerry-


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## mtngun (Nov 23, 2010)

davidbrac said:


> Can l use caustic soda to clean a chains as l think its the same as lye?


You are correct, just a different name for the same thing. Caustic soda aka lye aka sodium hydroxide.

Somehow I've managed to go through life without cleaning chains. opcorn:


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## DRB (Nov 23, 2010)

mtngun said:


> Somehow I've managed to go through life without cleaning chains. opcorn:



+1 
May be its a softwood thing?


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## Karl Robbers (Nov 24, 2010)

Just a caution on caustic soda, (lye), don't put anything aluminium near it as it will eat it. As BobL said it is dangerous stuff so take all precautions, eyes, skin and nose.


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## Hillbilly3995 (Nov 24, 2010)

Us hill folk used to make lye with hardwood ash and let water trickle through it..

I too don't have much trouble with pitch except in really rich heart pine
and 90% of what I cut is pine (longleaf yellow)

(and then I just use a lil PB blaster to get it off)

I use 30 weight motor oil milling and standard bar oil cross cutting.


HTH - Hillbilly


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## stonykill (Nov 24, 2010)

I've milled a decent amount of fresh cut pine and don't recall ever having any amount of pitch to be concerned with. As for bar oil, I use the cheapest stuff available. And I have never once cleaned a chain.....


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## 820wards (Nov 24, 2010)

stonykill said:


> I've milled a decent amount of fresh cut pine and don't recall ever having any amount of pitch to be concerned with. As for bar oil, I use the cheapest stuff available. And I have never once cleaned a chain.....




My chain was clean, I was wondering if anyone else did have a pitch problem with pine.

A friend of mine had a big eucalyptus tree cut down and boy did his chain load up with pitch from the tree. He wanted me to use my big saw to cut the tree into rounds and after I saw his chain I told him, not happening...

jerry-


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## BobL (Nov 25, 2010)

820wards said:


> My chain was clean, I was wondering if anyone else did have a pitch problem with pine.
> 
> A friend of mine had a big eucalyptus tree cut down and boy did his chain load up with pitch from the tree. He wanted me to use my big saw to cut the tree into rounds and after I saw his chain I told him, not happening...



Some eucalypts like Jarrah are fine and leave the chain nice and clean. In fact my dad used to clean his chains by running them in a Jarrah log, but others like Tuart lay down a black ceramic like glaze that needs a soak in con caustic to get it of and even then it congeals on the chain in a sticky like jelly that either needs several soaks or a scrub.


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## 820wards (Nov 25, 2010)

BobL said:


> Some eucalypts like Jarrah are fine and leave the chain nice and clean. In fact my dad used to clean his chains by running them in a Jarrah log, but others like Tuart lay down a black ceramic like glaze that needs a soak in con caustic to get it of and even then it congeals on the chain in a sticky like jelly that either needs several soaks or a scrub.




Bob,

Don't know what species this tree was, but I think the reason why it had so much pitch is because it lived in a pretty moist area, and it was about Feb when we were getting exceptional rain in that area. So the pitch level must have been higher.

jerry-


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## Calisdad (Jul 7, 2015)

Guys you don't have to use lye to clean your chains. A seasoned wood worker showed me Simple Green cleaned table saw blades so I've used it for years. I used it on a terribly gummed up mill chain the other day and was amazed how quickly and cleanly the chain came out. Just put the chain in a bowl and pour in enough Simple Green to cover the chain. Let is soak and rinse with water, no scrubbing required and it's not caustic. I put a paper towel in a funnel and filter it so I can use it again. Of course the chain needs a good oiling afterwards but it's probably cheaper than lye too.


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## muddstopper (Jul 9, 2015)

Rubbing alcohol will remove pine pitch. Pour some in a bucket and soak the chains overnite. I have never had to clean my chains, but alcohol should do the trick for pine pitch.


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## Boon (Jul 10, 2015)

DRB said:


> +1
> May be its a softwood thing?


+2 I've milled out big old radiata with sap pockets leaching out of the slabs and no need for cleaning, think so long as there is oil on the chain before starting it is less likely to stick


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## BobL (Jul 10, 2015)

Calisdad said:


> Guys you don't have to use lye to clean your chains. A seasoned wood worker showed me Simple Green cleaned table saw blades so I've used it for years. I used it on a terribly gummed up mill chain the other day and was amazed how quickly and cleanly the chain came out. . . . ..



I used Simple Green as a chain cleaner for a number of years and I agree it works well on resin, except Tuart resin. 
The problem with Tuart resin is that it is a very hard wood and the resin rapidly builds up and bakes hard on a chain while it is cutting.
The amount of resin can seriously choke a chain and that increases friction so it bakes on even harder.

I've since found out a trick from an old Tuart tree feller, that is useful for all milling and that is a squirt bottle with diesel in it - a few squirts on a running chain at the end of a cut and by the time the next cut is started the baked on resin comes off in the cut. An even better alternative tthathis reduces the build up while cutting is a mix of diesel and bar oil in the auxiliary oil tank. I've since found out that bandsaw millers use this and deliver the mix using a windscreen cleaner pump they can manually trigger every now and then, or cleverer still, use the intermittent wiper mode electronics from a car..


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