Pine Pitch troubles

[rtsims]

Yep, another thread on pitch.

So we took down 3 large pines on Friday. Half way into the first one our 5/8's stable braid, cmi block and ports wrap were so gummed up we could hardly lower anything. Made topping them out dangerouse it was so bad. So over the weekend I read all the threads on how to clean it up. Lots of mixed reviews so here is my test.
Rigging rope is in a large garbage can with water and pine sol. Whoopie sling is in a citrus based "organic style" cleaner. The block is in gas and the ports wrap I'm going to take a soft wire wheel to. I started soaking everything at 11 AM today. I will take them out tomorrow morning and snap some pics. Then rinse and possible lightly power wash, nothing crazy as to not force more **** into the ropes. I did agitate the ropes for a few minutes with a Jameson stick. We shall see how it all comes out.

 

[Hoowasat]

 

[The Herring]

Interesting... I've got a job lined up to take down a whole bunch of pitch pines... Nothing to rig down thankfully, plenty of room to let the work drop. I'd rather not buy a new flip line setup, which was my plan... I'm curious to know how you make out...

 

[Magnum783]

Please do post results! When I lived in North Carolina I got so sick of all my ropes and climb gear getting absolutely full is pitch. It really got expensive flip lines by far received the most abuse.

 

[Matt J Leppek]

I've only done a handful of pines, but that's enough to make me want to dedicate gear to them. The pine sol didn't work very well for me from the last pine I did. Let it soak for about 6 hours and there wasn't any sap floating around. I used my thumbnail to scratch some off, but said the hell with it. It should rub off after a couple climbs.

I found using a rope grab in place of a friction hitch on my lanyard helps a lot. Doesn't jam as fast as a prusik loop, and you can clean it off with acetone/gas.

 

[rtsims]

Gas Has worked great on the block. Took off all pitch without even pressure washing. WD worked great on the porta wrap. Pine sol and other "citrus based" cleaner did a decent job of breaking up the pitch on the rope, lanyard, and whoopie. Had to spend about 30 minutes pressure washing to get the rest out. All in all it did better than expected. So everything soaked for 24 hrs and the 30 min to pressure wash. Cheaper than buying a new rigging rope.

Now for the saws!!

 

[Pelorus]

Was it necessary to re-lube the bushing on the block after gassing it?

 

[The Herring]

Seems like an awful lot of work... Any issues with Pine Sol degrading synthetic fiber rope?

 

[rtsims]

Seems like an awful lot of work... Any issues with Pine Sol degrading synthetic fiber rope?

No. There's nothing harsh in it, that's why you can wash clothes with it. In another thread from years back someone contacted Yale I believe and they recommended it.

I didn't find it to be much work. Might have had a total of 45 minutes into it. Saved a flip line, whoopie sling, 150 feet of 5/8's stable braid and a block. Well worth it in my book. Now the saws are going to be a task. I would say a good beer drinking task but it's only Monday.

 

[rtsims]

Pelorus-

I honestly haven't got that far yet. I set everything out to dry and went on about my business. Monday's are bid day. I'll check in tomorrow and let ya know.

 

[The Herring]

No. There's nothing harsh in it, that's why you can wash clothes with it. In another thread from years back someone contacted Yale I believe and they recommended it.

I didn't find it to be much work. Might have had a total of 45 minutes into it. Saved a flip line, whoopie sling, 150 feet of 5/8's stable braid and a block. Well worth it in my book. Now the saws are going to be a task. I would say a good beer drinking task but it's only Monday.

Definitely not too much work for all of that gear, but too much hassle for just a flip line. A piece of 5/8" Three Strand eye spliced to a snap hook could just simply be tossed for under $1/ft when it gets all sapped up.

 

[capetrees]

Everything metal or plastic can be cleaned with WD. I don't know how well it would work on ropes though. It also works great on getting the sap off your hands. Original GOJO works too.

 

[mbrick]

I have found IPA / rubbing alcohol works well too. You can use it on the saws because it's less aggressive than gasoline or kerosene.

But then again, that pitch looks THICK.

 

[KenJax Tree]

The best stuff i've ever used was WD40

 

[pdqdl]

Maybe your pine pitch is different than mine. I hate working in it, but have no problems cleaning it off.

Ropes & soft stuff goes into the washing machine with normal detergent. They come out clean and new looking, albeit rather knotted up. I recommend putting them into a laundry bag to wash them; it cuts down on the knotting.

Anything hard gets un-stickied with gasoline. Lots of other solvents will do the job, but not any better and certainly not cheaper. Grease rags dipped in gas, then just wipe it all away. Rinse rag as often as needed in an open pan. Make sure you do this outside, away from all sparks or other sources of ignition.

 

[Philbert]

Paint thinner is less flammable than gasoline. I never had that much pitch on stuff, and never tried it on rope or fabric.

Philbert

 

[pdqdl]

Yep. Paint thinner is pretty good, and much safer.

More expensive, and a bit more trouble to buy. Since it is less volatile, it also has a greater tendency to leave a film on everything you touch with it. Granted, it will all evaporate eventually.