Pole saws

SwampDonkey · September 12, 2022, 03:50:05 PM

I prune fir limbs on smaller trees on the woodlot to encourage clear wood. Last fall was the first time I had it to use for that and winter was on the way. I usually have some time for that when I have my firewood cut for the next season. But some falls up here winter comes fast. :D A curved saw is definitely what I prefer. Even manual ones I use are curved saws, Fiskers. I've read that others also prefer a curved saw for the same reason I gave. I've cut saplings off at the base with mine to thin a little bit where I prune, fir or ash, no trouble cutting it.

Ljohnsaw · September 12, 2022, 04:10:08 PM

I like YH review!

A few years back I got a Black Friday special on Amazon. A weed wacker and blower that was supposed to have one 5ahr and fast charger. They gave me two of each and at $160, quite the bargain! I love the blower and really like the wacker. I have issues with the line on any weed wacker.

About 3 months ago, I bought an Amazon return off BidRL. It was the tool only pole saw AND a hedge trimmer head that I got for about $120. I agree, though, that middle extension is ONLY good if you are vertical with either the saw of trimmer. Way to heavy to do much work horizontally. The hedge trimmer head can go 90° one direction (to trim the top of a TALL hedge) and about 45° the other (to trim along the ground?). The hedge trimmer is REALLY sharp. Pulling off the blade guard, I cut myself on the non-moving part of the blade. It saws through about 1" limbs!

Tom King · September 12, 2022, 09:19:21 PM

The straight ones are okay until you try cutting one higher than you should with the whole thing straight up. You'd better be able to move fast. The angled end lets you stand out of the drop zone.

21incher · September 12, 2022, 09:41:47 PM

I find the straight actually steers the branch to swing away from you if you cut from the right side. Cut from the wrong side and it will pinch.

SwampDonkey · September 13, 2022, 03:55:49 AM

I undercut branches of any significant size, then finish from the top. And like mentioned a curved saw gets you away from the drop zone. I prune 12 feet high. Also with more weight on the saw end it cut's faster, the saw power is very strong to handle it. I could see if it were under powered, how that would not work well. But I do not like a light saw end that will vibrate or bounce out of the cut when it's 9 feet or even 12 feet over my head. After awhile with something like that you get careless and start chewing into the trunk because you get tired of having to control where it bounces to, out further on the limb or into the trunk. I want the saw to do most of the work after it is up there.

Magicman · September 13, 2022, 07:08:38 AM

I have both straight and angled. The straight stays parked.

Walnut Beast · September 13, 2022, 07:29:33 AM

If you cut any amount of branches you are going to do what SwampDonkey says. I'm with 21 incher on what he said. I could see the angled unit getting a little leverage and out of the drop zone. I did a whole fence line of branches hanging over a bean field cutting branches big and small 8' to 20+ With the straight unit and my boss that seemed to always be around underneath and me never got hit but he had to lay in the creek and I had a soaked t shirt last week

Tom King · September 13, 2022, 08:06:20 AM

I thought I would not like the angled head of the Ryobi when I first got it. I mainly got it because it comes apart easily, and fits in the toolbox on the truck. I had used the straight telescopic Stihl since I bought it in 1999.

After I started using the Ryobi with the angled head, the Stihl has not been used, or even started.

I cut a good size Oak limb once with the Stihl that was near the reach limit. I thought I was pretty protected being on the opposite side of the trunk from the way the limb would pivot being cut by the straight head. I didn't account for the outer end of the limb hitting the ground, pushing the but of the several inch limb back at me. Fortunately, my reflexes and jumping ability saved me.

If it had been cut with the angled head, it would have pivoted straight down, and the butt of that heavy limb would have slid down closer to the tree.

I would still use the Stihl if I had a big limb to cut, but would put more thought into how high I would cut one with it. Beyond that now I'd use the manual pole saw, if I didn't want to climb the tree.

Walnut Beast · September 13, 2022, 09:30:28 AM

Sounds like the angled one is definitely pretty nice. Seems like the Ryobi has constantly gotten better over the years and is pretty decent stuff

Tom King · September 13, 2022, 11:40:55 AM

Another good thing about the Ryobi: You don't have to use all three pieces. You can just use the motor end, and the saw end, and leave the middle section out, which makes it really easy to handle.

That's the way I use mine most of the time, and it still reaches plenty high enough to cut stuff that would rub against the truck, or hit the rollbar of the mower.

jb616 · September 13, 2022, 11:58:02 AM

I just purchased the Milwaukee as I used a manual saw in the past with a collapsing pole. It came with the 8.0 amp hour battery with a weed whacker attachment as well. It has 3 different sections with the middle being an extension. I can use it with or without the extension. It is extremely sharp and cuts well but a bit heavy if using all 3 sections and you need to extend your arms. I only add a small amount of oil each time as most have reported that it will leak the oil out if stored full (this was the case for most electric pole saws). Overall I can say that I like it better than the manual saw that I had.

beenthere · September 13, 2022, 02:59:26 PM

Found a boring video of using the Stihl cordless pruning spruce and pine planted 24 years ago. Not sure why it plays back at a faster speed, but like the electric bike video, I don't move that fast. Recorded the pruning op so the kids may someday know what I did with some of my time around here. ;D
TSI tree field

The length is 8' and easy to reach up 12+ feet to prune high. Battery always has lasted longer than I do.

Wlmedley · September 13, 2022, 04:41:43 PM

Nice video.I bet you had a big brush pile.

21incher · September 13, 2022, 10:26:45 PM

Quote from: beenthere on September 13, 2022, 02:59:26 PM
Found a boring video of using the Stihl cordless pruning spruce and pine planted 24 years ago. Not sure why it plays back at a faster speed, but like the electric bike video, I don't move that fast. Recorded the pruning op so the kids may someday know what I did with some of my time around here. ;D
TSI tree field

The length is 8' and easy to reach up 12+ feet to prune high. Battery always has lasted longer than I do.

Click the settings button to change the playback speed if it looks fast. Hard to believe how long the batteries last. One bar on my 8ah battery requires a 2 hour nap for me to fully recover.

Walnut Beast · September 13, 2022, 10:56:23 PM

The quietness of the electric saws is pretty cool . But you won't have that mystical gas smell 😂

SwampDonkey · September 14, 2022, 04:53:02 AM

Your experience may vary from mine. But, I don't recommend pruning white or Norway spruce, limb diameter is large and take a long time to heal. Fir limbs are small and heal up fast. We found a lot of rot in pruned white spruce. And I prune just fir with healthy bark with pitch bubbles and 12" plus whorl internodes. Any fir with short leaders is avoided, they tend to be old, bark dried up (no bubbles) and a lot of rot in the trunk.

thecfarm · September 14, 2022, 07:09:37 AM

beenthere,it's good to record for the future to see.
I've done a lot here and I am just starting to record for the future.

YellowHammer · September 14, 2022, 07:29:49 AM

I think the true metric of a pole saw is how much it gets used, not how much it can cut. I have a top of the line Stihl poler saw and never use it although it will cut large limbs forever on a tank of gas. It just sits there, and I never use it.

On the other hand I've owned my little bitty Dewalt pole saw for only a few months and I've cut more limbs with it than my gas powered Stihl, simply because of ease of use and it's always ready. I can whack a few offending limbs and lean it back up against the wall and walk off.

SawyerTed · September 14, 2022, 08:38:25 AM

I have a Husqvarna gas pole saw. It is an effective tool but I absolutely hate using it. I'm not sure if it's the saw or that I hate pruning trees or both. :D

I don't hate it enough to replace it with a battery power one, yet. :D

thecfarm · September 14, 2022, 08:51:22 AM

My stepson, in his 40's. bought a Sthil kombi? Motor that fits a bunch of stuff.
He put the tree limber on and used it for hours. And I mean hours!!!
He felt it for weeks!!!!
Those things use muscles that don't normally get used. Battery or gas one.

SwampDonkey · September 14, 2022, 09:04:46 AM

As mother would put it, 'I found muscles I didn't know I had'. :D :D

SawyerTed · September 14, 2022, 09:51:52 AM

That's because the "new ones" hurt!

realzed · September 14, 2022, 11:10:56 AM

Quote from: thecfarm on September 14, 2022, 08:51:22 AM
My stepson, in his 40's. bought a Sthil kombi? Motor that fits a bunch of stuff.
He put the tree limber on and used it for hours. And I mean hours!!!
He felt it for weeks!!!!
Those things use muscles that don't normally get used. Battery or gas one.

This Spring I bought a Stihl Kombi KM56 unit and a bunch of accessories including the pruning or pole saw attachment for it.
It cuts branches off like mad to my pleasant surprise and it's quite manageable for me at 74 years young except when I add on the extra extension and then it becomes fairly unwieldy - but we're talking close to 13-14' up..
I've found what makes the hardest part to deal with is mainly just reaching out past your waist level and trying to cut with it only supported by outstretched arms - that will kill any enthusiasm pretty quickly - but it will chew through a 6" dia. branch or stem easily!
Once you get the blade up on a limb it supports itself pretty well and the weight actually assists with the cutting action as well..
Love mine and the articulating pruning attachment is great as well - but again adding the extension it make it a bear after a while!
Watched a group of young yard care guys do a neighbour's tall cedar hedge using a couple of battery versions a month back - and my impression was that a gas type would have done the job a lot faster from what I observed - both with using the articulating hedger attachment, as well as the pole saw for bigger branches!

Tom King · September 14, 2022, 01:02:51 PM

This area is close to an acre. It was the only place here that I had to put the rollbar down on the mower. I decided to fix it so I didn't have to fool with the rollbar, and just leave it up all the time.

I forgot to take real before and after pictures. These two pictures are soon after starting dragging, and about halfway through.

I put the Stihl polesaw in the back of the truck, but started with the 18V Ryobi without the middle extension. A little over an hour later, I was finished dropping limbs, and the Stihl never came out of the truck. I did have to change batteries once, and sharpened the little chain when I walked back to the truck to swap batteries.

Dragging them took longer than dropping them. Fortunately, I had somewhere to put them just a hundred yards away. I pushed them rather than make more trips. It still took a number of trips, but fewer than if I'd loaded them into anything.

Wlmedley · September 14, 2022, 08:24:46 PM

Tried out the Ryobi today.I got the tree limbs and multi alum bushes I was wanting to cut finished about the time the battery was getting low.I could handle it pretty good without the middle extension.With the extension it was all I wanted.Can see how pole could get bent pretty easily.Hard to hold when it breaks through limb.Wouldn't want one any heavier.Was to tired to drag off brush.Think I'll hook up brush hog tomorrow and just grind it up with it being I need to cut road off anyway.