Cleaning pitch & Sap From Saw Chains?

[PV Hiker]

I used the hand cleaner left over from the covid crisis to take fresh sap and some hardened off a car.

For years have been using Purell hand cleaner and the like for sap on clothing and body. I'm sure it would work on chains with sap also.

 

[GrizG]

Rubbing alcohol (70, or 91% ) will soften / dissolve tree sap . It’s cheap ,and relatively harmless as far as solvents go .

I did some testing one day using every solvent in my shop... I used Simple Green, mineral spirits, rubbing alcohol, lacquer thinner, acetone, carb cleaner, brake cleaner, gasoline, WD-40, Marvel Mystery Oil, Goo Gone, K2R, Coleman Fuel, and denatured alcohol. By far the denatured alcohol did the best job on tree sap.

I buy denatured alcohol at home improvement/hardware stores by the gallon for use with shellac and for cleaning surfaces in my shop. You can also get it as stove fuel in boating and outdoors stores--read the labels as white gas/Coleman Fuel are sold as stove fuel also!

It doesn't damage paint on automobiles. I get to do that chore Friday now that the weather has turned. This as there is a large white pine next to my lady friend's driveway that leaves big globs on the cars. I found that the sap remover from the auto parts stores is a lot more expensive and doesn't work nearly as well...

I use it to get sap off myself and clothing too... It does dry your skin out but before I retired that was better than having black spots all over my hands for a week!

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

That's interesting. Since gasoline didn't dissolve the sap I didn't think that petroleum products like diesel would either. However it may be related to contact time. I may try this next time. Previously I have had issues with hickory and maple sap.

Well if soaking in diesel does not work for you- try kerosene.

 

[HansFranz]

Pecan is just a variety of hickory. Never had too much trouble, seems like the bar oil prevented too much crap from sticking, but if I ever needed to clean it, I'd use kerosene, maybe mixed with some drain oil and Dawn dish detergent (so that it makes a chocolate-milk emulsion)...might add a little Gojo/waterless hand cleaner to that mess, depending on my mood and sobriety level...

For circular saw blades, I clean off the pitch/sap with oven cleaner (sodium hydroxide/lye) although you need to be careful not to leave it on too long, lest it damage the brazing where the carbide teeth are brazed on...you also need to be careful with lye/oven cleaner around aluminum/magnesium chainsaws because it eats that stuff...

 

[J D]

I have a tub of kerosine based cleaner I just drop em in... they seam to come up pretty clean after the next use. Had to clean a large belt on a sanding machine that was badly gummed up recently & by far the most effective product was sodium hydroxide/ oven cleaner

 

[PV Hiker]

I use Kerosene for a solvent while using Cross Cut Saws. Keeps the saw moving and singing in the kerf. Use it on sap on chainsaws when I remember.

 

[Evan]

What covid crisis?

 

[SteveSr]

Well if soaking in diesel does not work for you- try kerosene.

Aren't they pretty much the same thing? In my state kerosene is dyed indicating that it has not had highway use taxes paid/applied.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Aren't they pretty much the same thing? In my state kerosene is dyed indicating that it has not had highway use taxes paid/applied.

Pretty much the same- as they come from crude oil- but then so does gasoline and that is not interchangeable with either.
Diesel is more refined, comes from a different hydrocarbon chain and is more "controlled" during manufacture- Kerosene is a bit different but can be added to diesel, especially for more efficient combustion during cold Winters.
But you don't want to burn it- you want to use the cleaning properties of either and if one does not work, the other might work better- because they are not the exact same.

 

[PV Hiker]

When I was young I remembered a older chap owning a nice shinning big car. He would wipe it down with a rag with kerosene.

 

[Captain Bruce]

A small pan of denatured alcohol and a brass brush works really well. The Simple Green will remove pretty much all the other grime from the saw, bar and chain. When I clean a chain like that I put it in a pan of bar oil and then hang it up to drip into the pan... that way I don't have a dry chain running on the saw.

Outstanding! I have no trust in 30-day fuel, so every unit that comes in, gets drained...into a gal. pickle jar. Heavy pine pitch on saws is easy to remove. On the chains, I drop them in the jar for a couple of days. Out comes a fresh chain, ready for pre-oiling, and install

 

[GrizG]

When I was young I remembered a older chap owning a nice shinning big car. He would wipe it down with a rag with kerosene.

That was an old school detailers trick... no water spots or dust and it looked shiny.

 

[GrizG]

Pretty much the same- as they come from crude oil- but then so does gasoline and that is not interchangeable with either.
Diesel is more refined, comes from a different hydrocarbon chain and is more "controlled" during manufacture- Kerosene is a bit different but can be added to diesel, especially for more efficient combustion during cold Winters.
But you don't want to burn it- you want to use the cleaning properties of either and if one does not work, the other might work better- because they are not the exact same.

As I recall from truck guys in my youth, the kerosene doesn't have the wax thickening problem of diesel in cold weather so it was added to the tank. Tank heaters is another way the wax thickening problem was avoided.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

As I recall from truck guys in my youth, the kerosene doesn't have the wax thickening problem of diesel in cold weather so it was added to the tank. Tank heaters is another way the wax thickening problem was avoided.

Yep, you have not lived unless you have had to clear the diesel wax from Summer grade diesel out of the fuel system of a 6 cylinder tractor in sub zero temperatures!
But we digress- Kerosene cleans up gunk real good.

 

[thenne1713]

Hello,

Yesterday, I went to our local charity firewood cutting group and found some nice green pecan to cut up. Boy, is that stuff hard! While I managed to get out without hitting any rocks and a still fairly sharp chain the tie straps and sides of the cutters are pretty well coated with baked on tree sap.

Do any of you have any good remedies (and or elixirs) for removing this stuff?

In the past I have degreased the chain with old pre-mix or straight gas. and then soaked in a caustic based cleaner like simple green. But in order for it to be effective I had to heat the simple green on the kitchen stove and didn't appreciate the fumes.

While this worked good it is a lot of extra work. Anyone have any simpler but effective approaches?

Thanks,
Steve

SIMPLE GREEN has always worked very well for me? Simple soak overnight?

 

[huskihl]

It looks like your oil pump might not be working or maybe it’s turned down too low. Or the oil hole in the bar is plugged. If you were to get the proper amount of oil on that chain, 10-20 seconds worth of cutting would clean it right up

 

[huskihl]

The dirtiness is due to heat from either low oil output or a dull chain

 

[HansFranz]

Be aware that Simple Green contains a base (like oven cleaner) and like oven cleaner, will eat aluminum...just not as fast...

 

[Farmer_Nate]

I have never had that problem. Unless it hurts performance or chain life somehow, I'd just sharpen it, then use it for a while in some other drier wood to clean it. Maybe that would damage something...not sure.

I agree also, check the bar hole and clean the bar groove. More oil = less sticky.

It is probably the used 15W-40 from my 7.3 that keeps my chains clean. Flame away.

 

[SteveSr]

It looks like your oil pump might not be working or maybe it’s turned down too low. Or the oil hole in the bar is plugged. If you were to get the proper amount of oil on that chain, 10-20 seconds worth of cutting would clean it right up

The photos are misleading as the chain had already been de-greased in prep for the Simple Green dunk.