Engine/transmission exterior cleaning

So I've got the engine/trans on the cherry picker, hosing it down with degreaser and scrubbing/wiping the heck out of the exterior of this whole thing. Kind of making my way around the transmission right now and getting all the gunk off the oil pan. I'll eventually make it to the engine itself but it seems as if the majority of this sludge stuff is on the transmission.

Is there any trick to breaking this garbage up or getting it off other than just elbow grease? I'm making a little progress but after a couple hours my back is already killing me.