Is It Ok To Hose Down A Chainsaw?

You should always make a point of cleaning your chainsaw. Sawdust gathers, plant sap and resin stick to the chain, and if you don't keep on top of it, you'll inevitably need to re-sharpen your chainsaw's teeth. If you leave it too long, those build-ups will compromise your tool's efficiency. They could even make it dangerous. Now, as for how you should do it — and specifically, whether or not you should use your hose — the short answer is no.

Why? Well, regardless of whether you use a gas or electric chainsaw, these tools are complicated machines. The chains are usually oiled, which means that if you try to hose it down, it's unlikely to do much to the sticky mess of sawdust that's collected over the course of your last sawing session. Not only that, but metal parts — including the chain, as well as the hidden, internal parts of the motor — can rust if exposed to moisture. And if that water gets into a gas chainsaw engine? Well, that's a whole other problem entirely!

Instead, if you have a chainsaw and you're hoping to maximize your tool's lifetime, most people recommend avoiding the hose altogether. Over on Reddit, a number of users recommend using an air compressor instead, which is often enough to get rid of sawdust and other debris. That recommendation is also echoed by premium power tool brand Stihl. Even if you need to do more of a deep clean, it's usually best to forget the hose.

As we've mentioned, using too much water on mechanical equipment like a chainsaw is one of the biggest mistakes people make when cleaning their tools. With that being said, different chainsaws from different brands will naturally come with slightly different cleaning and maintenance instructions. If you have the instructions handy, then it's definitely best to follow them. 

As a general rule, it's often easy enough to clean your chainsaw with little more than a paintbrush (or air compressor), a cloth, and a round file. Start by giving the whole unit a good dusting down with a large paintbrush to remove any excess debris. With that done, remove the sprocket cover from the main body of the tool, then take off the chain and bar. Brush down the internal walls of the cover, along with any internal components of the chainsaw body that are exposed without the cover. 

Next, remove the chain from the guide bar, either brushing or blowing both to work as much debris loose as you can. Run your file through the chain grooves on the guide bar, along with the oil inlet hole, to ensure it's free of grease and grime. The final step is to apply your chosen chain cleaner, wipe it down, and re-oil it to ensure that it doesn't rust.