Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => OT Knowledge => Topic started by: Manotea on 15 July, 2014, 10:27:48 pm
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Ive just ruined a pair of 'lopers taking out the lower ranches of a laurel hedge row.
I've now go to do the upper branches, some of which are 1-2 inches in diameter. Should I:
a) buy another pair of 'lopers and stand on a ladder, cost about 25 quid
b) buy one of those telescopic tree pruner things with the string you pull to work the blade, cost about 25 quid,
c) BUY A LONG REACH PETROL CHAINSAW ON EBAY FOR 75 QUID!!!
Yeah, I know STHIL kit costs x00s but its gotta be worth a punt, donchathink?
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and then...
d. Buy a lot of insurance.
Buy it, think of the sculptures you could create.
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Yes, youve spotted the flaw in the plan. The last time I used heavy equipment with a blade I nearly sliced my thumb off, and not at the fingernail end...
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Yebbut, you could do that with a kitchen knife which you can't use to sculpt tree trunks.
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Buy the chainsaw. You van have hours of fun thinking up creative uses for it which the manufacturer hasn't thought of. Playing the blues, for starters.
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You should really buy two if you're going to be doing proper chainsaw juggling.
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There has been plenty of publicity about counterfeit, very dangerous Stihl and other brand chhainsaws in recent times.
Personally I'd get somebody in who knows how to wield his/her own chainsaw to do the job properly.
I am renowned for being risk averse btw. :)
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Do not get a petrol chainsaw, especially not a cheap one, as they have 2 stroke engines, which are the work of STAN.
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Buy a folding pruning saw and use the ladders. Wickes do a good one. A cheap chainsaw would work once and never start again and I wouldn't use one up a ladder in any case.
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Pruning saw, a good one.
bahco laplander will do the job, quicker and lighter than a chainsaw for 2" branches.
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Looks like a bargain to me. (http://www.buyaparcel.com/p/bahco-sandvik-396-lap-laplander-folding-pruning-saw-knife-xt-blade-pruning-214256/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwxZieBRDegZuj9rzLt_ABEiQASqRd-ozrwDLk-Lq-_NynaIylBlTo4Zgkl-cW7Xo6RtrFKl8aAoBy8P8HAQ)
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The danger with a pole saw is stuff dropping on your head, exacerbated by the need to raise your head to see what you are doing. The next problem is getting it stuck when you fail to understand where the compression is in the wood you are cutting. Which won't be a problem with small laurel. Pole saws are heavy and put a big strain on the back.
Most chainsaw accidents I've had have been when I sharpen them. That won't be a problem for a casual user, they're unlikely to be able to sharpen the small chains accurately.
Using a handsaw up a ladder is a recipe for disaster, as you need one hand to hold the saw and the other the branch.
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Pruning saw, a good one.
bahco laplander will do the job, quicker and lighter than a chainsaw for 2" branches.
+1
They are amazingly sharp are bahco blades.
If you buy a chainsaw for working in awkward places you'll want kevlar trousers. In the case of chainsaws if you don't observe h&s rules you may not have a leg to stand on if anything goes wrong. I got a proper tree-surgeon to do my trees; he says you'll never see an old tree surgeon.
And yes, 2-stroke chainsaws are a pig.
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Pruning saw, a good one.
bahco laplander will do the job, quicker and lighter than a chainsaw for 2" branches.
+1
They are amazingly sharp are bahco blades.
If you buy a chainsaw for working in awkward places you'll want kevlar trousers. In the case of chainsaws if you don't observe h&s rules you may not have a leg to stand on if anything goes wrong. I got a proper tree-surgeon to do my trees; he says you'll never see an old tree surgeon.
And yes, 2-stroke chainsaws are a pig.
I go to the pub most Fridays with an active tree surgeon in his sixties. I have given up the beer myself but Eric is great company nonetheless! :thumbsup:
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You won't need leg protection with a pole saw, the guide bar is on a stick at least 6 feet long, making it impossible to cut your own leg, even for the purposes of a weak pun.
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I'd steer clear of a chainsaw. Lopping saw or even a bow saw will be good enough for the job. I've taken trees down that were taller than my house with a bowsaw, and I have access to both a normal chainsaw and a pole one.
If using a ladder, I tie it in to the tree when I work, and at height I use a climbing harness. If I don't feel safe, I get someone with more experience to do it.
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Precisely, keep it simple. And a lot safer
PH
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Pruning saw, a good one.
bahco laplander will do the job, quicker and lighter than a chainsaw for 2" branches.
+1
They are amazingly sharp are bahco blades.
If you buy a chainsaw for working in awkward places you'll want kevlar trousers. In the case of chainsaws if you don't observe h&s rules you may not have a leg to stand on if anything goes wrong. I got a proper tree-surgeon to do my trees; he says you'll never see an old tree surgeon.
And yes, 2-stroke chainsaws are a pig.
I go to the pub most Fridays with an active tree surgeon in his sixties. I have given up the beer myself but Eric is great company nonetheless! :thumbsup:
Ah but is a proper tree surgeon who swings through the trees (with the greatest of ease?) a couple of chainsaws hanging from his belt? If so, he is phenomenal!
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I've done laurel before with a combination of a sharp pruning saw and decent loppers. Personally, I think a chainsaw is too much of a liability - not that I really contemplated getting one.
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Much as I'd love a chainsaw, there's a lot of good sense talked on this thread about them. Unless you really know what you're doing (like you've been on professional training courses) even well made, properly maintained ones are hideously dangerous things. Add in the whole working-at-height thing and it's a recipe for disaster.
I have a Laplander saw for green woodworking and it's an astonishingly fast way to saw through branches as thick as your ankle.
Which is more or less the the thing that worries me about chainsaws :-\
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Manual saws (and mains-powered chainsaws, which is what I have) are not much cop against zombies ;)
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Pruning saw, a good one.
bahco laplander will do the job, quicker and lighter than a chainsaw for 2" branches.
+1
They are amazingly sharp are bahco blades.
If you buy a chainsaw for working in awkward places you'll want kevlar trousers. In the case of chainsaws if you don't observe h&s rules you may not have a leg to stand on if anything goes wrong. I got a proper tree-surgeon to do my trees; he says you'll never see an old tree surgeon.
And yes, 2-stroke chainsaws are a pig.
I go to the pub most Fridays with an active tree surgeon in his sixties. I have given up the beer myself but Eric is great company nonetheless! :thumbsup:
Ah but is a proper tree surgeon who swings through the trees (with the greatest of ease?) a couple of chainsaws hanging from his belt? If so, he is phenomenal!
He does indeed. I watched him working on a truly massive willow recently. Scared me just watching.
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I just got a notice through about a chainsaw refresher course from FISA. I've been booked on that since March. There's a bit of a turf war between them and LANTRA, as to who gets to accredit people. You're supposed to have refresher every 5 years, my last was 23 years ago, at which stage I was still accredited as an instructor.
I'm pleased to see people stepping away from using a chainsaw. They are dangerous, and I have to spend money jumping through hoops to keep up with the paperwork, so don't even think of touching one without the right tickets.
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Chainsaws strike me as possibly one of the most fun and satisfying tools on the planet..but with the potential to make you think "I wish I hadn't done that" more than most other tools.
I've cut my finger on a handsaw blade countless times but I've yet to figure out how to completely chop my leg off with one.
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Chainsaws strike me as possibly one of the most fun and satisfying tools on the planet..but with the potential to make you think "I wish I hadn't done that" more than most other tools.
While screaming in amputation agony yes.
PH
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Call these guys in.
Impressive stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tTs4MA0uXM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tTs4MA0uXM)
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You do get injuries from chainsaws, but most fatalities are caused by the trees and branches.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/treework/resources/casestudies.htm
A major contributory factor is poor chain sharpening. Unless the chain is sharpened well and symmetrically, it's impossible to get the cuts to meet up in the correct place to produce a safe hinge.
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Chainsaws strike me as possibly one of the most fun and satisfying tools on the planet..but with the potential to make you think "I wish I hadn't done that" more than most other tools.
I've cut my finger on a handsaw blade countless times but I've yet to figure out how to completely chop my leg off with one.
They are incredibly noisy, vibrate hard enough to cause nerve damage and when you make a mistake it is not good. A bit like motorbikes, I guess. I've met someone who got a chainsaw embedded in his skull (his fault). It was sobering.
Really sharp pruning saws also need caution. They can sever a tendon in one swipe. However they don't jump out of wood and try to decapitate you by themselves, unlike a chainsaw.
For a really fun tool, give me an axe or an adze any day.
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Hmm, I took down three laurels that my nice tenant had left to grow without pruning for 3 years using a chainsaw I bought from Aldi/Lidl for £40.
I definitely wouldn't have fancied that job with anything else.
Agreed, they are potential maiming/deadly dangerous but it's not *that* hard to use them sensibly if you've got a brain.
Ours eventually got nicked by thieving tea leafs from our greenhouse. I've always rather hoped they tried something stupid with it but I expect they just fenced it.
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While I took down half a dozen 25 foot sycamores with a Wickes bow saw, and wouldn't have seen a need for anything else.
Got a palm in the corner of the garden that really ought to come down as it's only a couple of feet from the neighbour's house, and I'm not convinced hand tools are wrong for that even though the trunk's about 18 inches across - but I'm not convinced I'm the right person to do it.
Like Charlotte, I'd really fancy a chainsaw - but I know damn well it would be for shits and giggles rather than anything else, and I'd start with a decent course.
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Palm trees can be worth money! Someone might do the job for nowt!!
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I have a number of hilarious anecdotes about my late father and his chain saw. I am reasonably sure that I have recounted at least one of them on these pages.
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Palm trees can be worth money! Someone might do the job for nowt!!
In That London?
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Palm trees can be worth money! Someone might do the job for nowt!!
In That London?
London, England?
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Palm trees can be worth money! Someone might do the job for nowt!!
In That London?
London, England?
London, England, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Europe, The World.
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Chainsaw? Why mess around with toys. What you want is one of these...
http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns (http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns)
a tree nommer
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iW00t!
And I bet Peter Stormare does too.
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Chainsaw? Why mess around with toys. What you want is one of these...
http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns (http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns)
a tree nommer
I think they're on offer at Lidl next week
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Palm trees can be worth money! Someone might do the job for nowt!!
In That London?
London, England?
London, England, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Europe, The World.
The World, The Solar System? Or the one in my parallel universe where the sky is a much nicer colour?
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Chainsaw? Why mess around with toys. What you want is one of these...
http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns (http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns)
a tree nommer
Imagine using that on a line-up of Ukip MEPs!
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Palm trees can be worth money! Someone might do the job for nowt!!
In That London?
London, England?
London, England, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Europe, The World.
The World, The Solar System? Or the one in my parallel universe where the sky is a much nicer colour?
I'll go for your universe, as long as the sky's a *really* nice colour.
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Ive just ruined a pair of 'lopers taking out the lower ranches of a laurel hedge row.
I've now go to do the upper branches, some of which are 1-2 inches in diameter. Should I:
a) buy another pair of 'lopers and stand on a ladder, cost about 25 quid
b) buy one of those telescopic tree pruner things with the string you pull to work the blade, cost about 25 quid,
c) BUY A LONG REACH PETROL CHAINSAW ON EBAY FOR 75 QUID!!!
Yeah, I know STHIL kit costs x00s but its gotta be worth a punt, donchathink?
I took out a couple of fir trees using secateurs for the thinner branches and a wolfsaw for the larger ones. For the higher branches I used the wolfsaw with an extension bar that meant I could cut branches up to about 10-12 feet off the ground.
I'd recommend wearing eye protection, even if only to protect yourself from falling sawdust. As someone already said you have to be looking upwards to see what you're doing. Also be aware of just how big the branch you're cutting is. I nearly took out my shed when a branch turned out to be much bigger than I realised and, just to make life interesting, swung in a way totally unlike what I expected.
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depends how long the hedge is as to whether you need motorised gear or not, most loppers, pruners you'd pck up in B&Q,garden centre place have a maximum diameter cut of 1.5 to 2 inches, if I was doing it I'd probable use my general purpose saw from B&Q chip as chips and comes complete with vicious teeth, it's what I use to do most of my tree pruning with, long handled loppers are ok but not for long periods of use they do bugger your back up, chainsaw and ladders are a big no no, don't even go there talking from a nptc point of view. long reach multi purpose gadgets are ok and nout wrong with 2 stoke, all my kit apart from the mowers and rotavator are 2 stoke no problems, I'm about to do a hedge nearly 400 metres long I will be using my 2 stroke hedge cutter and a scaffold tower should take about 12 hours including clearing up, nice little earner ;)
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Chainsaw? Why mess around with toys. What you want is one of these...
http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns (http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns)
a tree nommer
Like Dremel, then.
Only bigger.
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Pruning saw, a good one.
bahco laplander will do the job, quicker and lighter than a chainsaw for 2" branches.
+1
They are amazingly sharp are bahco blades.
If you buy a chainsaw for working in awkward places you'll want kevlar trousers. In the case of chainsaws if you don't observe h&s rules you may not have a leg to stand on if anything goes wrong. I got a proper tree-surgeon to do my trees; he says you'll never see an old tree surgeon.
And yes, 2-stroke chainsaws are a pig.
I've just got a Bahco Laplander and it's one of one bits of kit that's so useful you wonder how you've managed all these years without one.
I disagree about 2 stroke chainsaws being yeah work of stan. As long as you know how to look after them they're the most reliable and simple power tools going, although they do need some investment in training. Having said that I've just got one of the new auto tune Husqvarnas. It performs amazingly and uses about half the fuel my old 357xp got through, but I wouldn't have a clue how to fix the carburetion if it went wrong...
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I was about to buy a chainsaw. A friend gave me a "how to use a chainsaw" dvd
In the early part it says "always work with someone so they can call for help/ambulance"
I shelved the idea of buying a chainsaw!
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I was about to buy a chainsaw. A friend gave me a "how to use a chainsaw" dvd
I wonder if Klaus the forklift truck driver feels like branching out...
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Hmmmm. Hopefully the chain brake was working on this one:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1309251125539934212/pu/img/DHkhpCagjdEhOPH7?format=jpg&name=900x900)
Video:
https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1309287499194404866?s=20
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Hmmmm. Hopefully the chain brake was working on this one:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1309251125539934212/pu/img/DHkhpCagjdEhOPH7?format=jpg&name=900x900)
Video:
https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1309287499194404866?s=20
Also, see the 'Never in a million years' thread in the other pics file. :)
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There has been amazing progress with electric chainsaws in the last couple of years.
A mate who has done some work for us (he's a tree surgeon) has a couple and loves them.
Most importantly for us is that they are so quiet!