how to clean bar and chain

MrDiesel

Hi All,

I was blocking down a couple of stringy barks over the weekend with my 66. On the last cut i hit a pocket of kino which has gone all through the bar and chain. As it has cooled and gummed up the chain and i cant get it back into the bar. Anyone have any tricks on what to use to easily clean this?

Thanks guys

Brodie

Hi MrDiesel, im not sure if this is the best thing for the chain I have had lectures telling me you never do anything to clean a chain but what I do is pour out some two stroke fuel into a container let it soak in a bit and then scrub it with an old tooth brush or something similar. I know it works for pine sap not sure about Euc's.

Good Luck

MrDiesel

Thanks Mate,

I was thinking of doing that. I thought i might also soak the chain in bar oil for a couple of hours after to get the oil in between the drive links.

These stringy barks seem to be a bit of a trap as the oil holes in the bar leading to the dam blocked up real quick. Probably four or five cuts and i had to clean it out.

Eric Frei

It is a bugger, that's whythey call them gum trees.

I've tried acetone, kero and euc oil too .... not much happened from soaking and it was a matter of scraping the crap out.

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stihlman441

Just soak in water,the sap will disolve.

Garry Brockley

i used stihl jet wash liquid soap let it soak for five mins then used a stiff brush to remove the debris, then wash off and soak in oil looked new when i finished.

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Bruce Hopf

I like to clean my saw chains, prior to sharpening with my bench chain grinder. I put them in a plastic tub, with some oven cleaner, for an hour or two.
I place the chain on a board with a nail, to hook the chains one, and I use a brush, used for cleaning vegetables, to scrub them down. with Hot Soapy water.
Once I have them scrubbed down, I swirl them around a tub of hot soapy water, rinse then off in another tub of clean water, and hang them to dry.
Once I have them sharpened, I place the chains in another tub, with bar oil. leave sit for an hour, or two, and hang them up, on a nail, so the excess oil will drip off, into a tub on the floor.
Might help in your situation as well. Bruce.

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woodmiller

be careful trying to remove gum from eucs with mineral based solvents, ie 2-stroke etc.. Most gums from aussie natives (incl wattles) are softened (not dissolved) with the application of boiling water. The aboriginals use to soften the gums this way to make drinks used as a medical remedy. The gum from black wattle was a particular favourite.

resins from the northern hemisphere trees, ie pines, spruces etc, will soften with mineral based solvents, but even better is pure (natural?) turpentine made from pine needles.

food for thought

Brodie

Hey Woodmiller spot on with the boiling water tip just tried it and it works like a treat took a bit of work to un-jam the sprocket on the bar but its all free now and the chains are like new after a scrub with a stiff brush.