Chainsaw Cleaning WD-40 Specialist Degreaser

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Hi :)

I have just seen that WD-40 offer a water based citrus degreaser! Has anyone tried using it to clean their chainsaws of bar oil and wood gunk?!

Instructions say to spray on and wipe off with a cloth (or compressed air I’d imagine). Seems like a quick and efficient solution. At $5.00 Australian dollars a can, it’s cheap too!

Warm regards, Tom
 

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Hi Tom,
Welcome to the Chainsaw forum, im sure you will get lots of good help and advice.

I only use compressed air to clean the saw after use, for saws that have had no care or attention, I will scrape off the layers of crud with a screwdriver being careful not to scratch it up. Blow with air to remove the next layers, and then use old fuel mix and brush to help get rid of the stubborn crud, and hit with air again. Might then wipe with a cloth for final wipe down and good to go.
If taking apart a saw for surgery, then yeah, hit it with your degreaser of choice and blast off with hot water, then dry and take apart saw with no issues of debrits getting in the way.

For those reading, have a look at Spoon Carving With Tom on youtube, some good vids he has done there.

Cheers
T
 
Thanks again for your input Trains!! I will only
use the saw once to twice a year for a few hours each time as I collect wood for carving and thus would like to get it pretty clean for storage :) as you say, probably not necessary but it makes me feel good

What’s strange is....

I brought my chainsaw using my head. A saw that will cut green cherry 4-12 inch in dia and will be used once or twice a year. I don’t need a powerhouse and the ms 180 has performed beautifully, it’s light and I carry it around the orchards effortlessly. However....


Why the hell do I want to buy another saw?! I have this stupid urge to get a bigger one totally unnecessarily that I have no use for and no need for, that will be overkill and yet I still want another?!

I want my logical brain back!

At least you guys who have these saws have decent firewood to cut and can do so and use your saws regularly! I don’t even have a fireplace!
 
Thanks again for your input Trains!! I will only
use the saw once to twice a year for a few hours each time as I collect wood for carving and thus would like to get it pretty clean for storage :) as you say, probably not necessary but it makes me feel good

What’s strange is....

I brought my chainsaw using my head. A saw that will cut green cherry 4-12 inch in dia and will be used once or twice a year. I don’t need a powerhouse and the ms 180 has performed beautifully, it’s light and I carry it around the orchards effortlessly. However....


Why the hell do I want to buy another saw?! I have this stupid urge to get a bigger one totally unnecessarily that I have no use for and no need for, that will be overkill and yet I still want another?!

I want my logical brain back!

At least you guys who have these saws have decent firewood to cut and can do so and use your saws regularly! I don’t even have a fireplace!
You are in the beginning stages of CAD (chainsaw acquisition disorder). Since it's still early, best thing is to remove all traces of anything related to chainsaws. You can start by sending the 180 to me and I will dispose of it properly and respectfully.
OR just accept that it's a good, (morally) clean way to have fun and enjoy the outdoors. :D:D:D
 
Ah, what you are describing is the early onset of CAD

We all suffer from it, and want saws we dont "need".

I have a few 180s, they are a great saw for their size.I got mine second hand, and needing some work, but they are good now, and if you spend a day cutting with them, you dont feel worn out like you do if you have been using a 660 all day on larger trees.

Keep your chains sharp, filters clean, and keep the cylinder fins clear of bits, and remove the clutch cover and give that a good dust off, thats daily stuff.
Depending on use, I take the recoil starter covers off, and give the flywheel, and coil area a good clean. And take the inner covers off the clutch area and clean that area out too.

If you do blast it with water, make sure you run it and warm it up ensure its all dry.

Trouble is, you cut with the 180, then one day, your cutting something larger, and think, if I had a larger saw, I would cut thru this size piece much quicker, would be easier on the saw etc etc etc.
Then you get a larger saw, and start tackling larger timber you would pass by before, then you think, If I had larger saw, I could cut thru this size piece much quicker and it would give the saw an easier time and I could cut up that larger tree over there that I currently pass by.
Then you start getting longer bars, and after a while, you think to yourself, I could cut faster with a larger saw, and then your cutting timber you cant lift or move, and think, if I had a tractor, I could move this timber, and then you need a larger trailer, or truck to move larger pieces, and I forgot to mention earlier that you start cutting sized bits you cant split anymore by hand, so you get a hydraulic splitter, and lifting table, and conveyor etc etc etc.

Its a slippery slope, get out now before its too late.

:)
 
Is that what CAD means here!?

I saw Trains (member) little tag thing that posts automatically at the bottom of each post:

“Bravely Fighting CAD” and I thought (being qualified in the fitness and medical profession) he had Coronary Artery Disease and was fighting back! I’m not kidding either. Again new here and to the terminology!

It was funny, when I first walked into the Stihl dealer I saw the Ms 180, I thought to myself, well I can get the 211 for just a bit more, then I saw the 250 and thought well it’s only just a touch more I might as well get that one instead! This eventually took me all the way up to the ms 362 C-M until I realised how crazy the jump in price became


Chainsaws themselves aren’t half as dangerous as the ease at which you can spend big $$$ quickly!!!
 
Again I repeat, I have no use for another saw I have no land, no fire, no wood storage and just once or twice a year I go to a fruit orchard to collect a few hundred kg’s of wood... but come to think of it, i’d have a blast using the ms 462 c-m. Not to mention that on the rare occasion I actually get to use the chainsaw I may as well have a heck of a good time doing so to make up for the rarity of the occasion! Hmm that ms 880, it’s only a touch more expensive, I could probably stretch....
 
Again I repeat, I have no use for another saw I have no land, no fire, no wood storage and just once or twice a year I go to a fruit orchard to collect a few hundred kg’s of wood... but come to think of it, i’d have a blast using the ms 462 c-m. Not to mention that on the rare occasion I actually get to use the chainsaw I may as well have a heck of a good time doing so to make up for the rarity of the occasion! Hmm that ms 880, it’s only a touch more expensive, I could probably stretch....

Next time your heading past SA come and help :)

There now you have a reason.

woodstack17.jpg
 
I use Brake Clean for cleaning my old barn find saws. It goes on sale here , buy one, get one free, so comes to about $2.50 a can. For a new, in use saw, I just use the compressor to blow them out. The Brake Clean is pretty aggressive, and will cut the paint off some old saws. But, it will clean the old greasy oil soaked saw dust out of the fins on an engine quick. It doesn't hurt the plastic on Stihls. I grew up in the tree removal business, have been out of it for 35 years and still buy a saw every other week or so. Much cheaper than old cars!
 
Good to hear! Yes, not looking for anything too aggressive especially as they won’t get used and as caked as others who use saws more often would!! Haha this is very true, old cars cost more to maintain too!

I’d consider myself a competent and able saw user having used them on an off for many years and being taught by a friend who is a professional tree surgeon, however i’m sure my money would be better spent on a felling / chainsaw maintenance course !
 
You stick around long enough, you'll have a Tiger Cat feller sitting in the back yard next to the wood processor. And to think when I first came on here I only owned two saws that didn't run.

Steve Sidwell
Nice meeting you all, I’m leaving out the door now before the (hobby?) takes a firm hold aha
 
Bahahaha, I wouldn’t even get a response, i’d get the “you better be joking” look or the eye they give you that makes your mind quickly think of excuses for getting one like how “cheap” said item purchased was and how “useful” it will be!

Best thing I have found when I get something new is to either say nothing to her at all or tell her it was 10x cheaper than it was...! Sometimes she shocks me and tells me that 10x cheaper price is still expensive! “Ahh yeah... if only you knew dear”

I have found throwing m&m chocolates at her from a distance helps too..
 

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Why do women have more than one necklace, several dozen finger rings and 500+ pairs of earrings and a man can only have one saw? ;)
Jewellery is an expression of femininity - power saws are and expression of masculinity. :clap:

Tom, you probably need something in the 60-70cc bracket and a small Alaskan Mill, for turning small fruit wood logs into planks for carving. A top handle saw might be nice for collecting branch wood from tree trimmings- you can hold the blank you want to keep in your left hand, cut it with the right hand and toss it on the back of the ute all in one motion, never having to put the 180 down, pick the blanks off the ground and then dump them on the ute tray (plus a well sorted MS 201T or 200T will eat the MS 180 for breakfast! Just a bit riskier to use until you get used to one handed operating.)

If you think hard enough, you can always find a reason to justify another power saw......... :rock:
 
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