It's not taking a lot of time to clean it. I initially took it apart, but got stopped by the handwheel not freeing up. I didn't want to start cleaning it until I got all the pieces loose. Much happened and much time went by before I was finally able to get the wheel loose. And more time will go by until it's warm enough for me to do the cleaning outside. I have taken many photos so hopefully I'll be able to put humpty dumpty back together again.