rope chain saw

[Homer]

Has anyone used a high limb chain saw? What keeps the chain in the cutting position, teeth inside not outside? Are they worth the money? $30.00 to $50.00. Have places the sun don't shine.   :

[Ron Scott]

I have used one. They work ok for the occasional small limb removal jobs, but they are hand work and slow. The chain is kept in the cut by pulling back and forth on the opposite rope ends of the chain. They work better with two people, one on each rope end.

The hardest part is usually getting the rope end and saw chain over the limb and in position for the cut.

[Phorester]

As Ron says they are tricky to work with since they are hard to get over the particular limb you want to cut if there are several of them around that spot on the tree.  But I think they have their place.

I always thought they would be good on forest fires and prescribed burns for cutting off the occasional small dead limb that seems to catch on fire on an otherwise perfectly good, green tree along the fire line.  Hate to have to cut down the entire tree just to remove the fire spotting potential from that one dead limb smoking 20 feet up in the air.

[Mike_Barcaskey]

I wouldn't recommend them except for a last resort. The problem with cutting a branch up high from the ground is that you cannot see where you are cutting. that cut must be made at the branch collar, without injuring the collar.
injure the collar or leave to much of a stub and you reduce the tree's ability to compartmentilize the wound.
plus, how are you going to make your proper 3-cut pruming cut? cut a large branch with one cut straight down and you will rip through the branch collar and down the trunk. this type of wound is difficult for a tree to compartmentilize and sure to degrade future timber value.
It's even trickier if you are removing a co-dom stem since the pruning cut needs to be made in relation to the branch bark ridge.

remember if you remove the branch from a ladder, tie the top of the ladder off before you make your cut, make the first cut as far as you safely can out the branch and have a second person pull the branch away from your ladder with a rope.

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[rebocardo]

Hey, I just met a person at my kid's school yesterday that broke his back falling from a ladder. He was laid up for 4 months. Seems he was cutting a branch with a chain saw from the ladder. You know what got him? The person pulling the limb did not pull it enough, the limb bounced, swung back, and knocked the the ladder from under him at the foot.

If you are going to cut a limb from a ladder, tie the top and bottom of the ladder to the tree, and stake the ladder legs on the side and back so it can not slide away from the tree. Personally, I never cut a limb from a ladder farther then I am willing to fall. Which is five feet.

[maple flats]

They often do long term damage to the trunk. Find another method or get a pro.