Author Topic: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...  (Read 7790 times)

LEE

  • "Shut Up Jens" - Legs.
Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #25 on: 16 July, 2014, 03:00:20 pm »
Call these guys in.

Impressive stuff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tTs4MA0uXM
Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #26 on: 16 July, 2014, 03:07:55 pm »
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.

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #27 on: 16 July, 2014, 03:10:11 pm »
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.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

caerau

  • SR x 3 - PBP fail but 1090 km - hey - not too bad
Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #28 on: 16 July, 2014, 03:40:29 pm »
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.
It's a reverse Elvis thing.

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #29 on: 16 July, 2014, 09:57:35 pm »
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.

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #30 on: 17 July, 2014, 06:50:01 am »
Palm trees can be worth money!  Someone might do the job for nowt!!
Move Faster and Bake Things

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #31 on: 17 July, 2014, 08:30:24 am »
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.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #32 on: 17 July, 2014, 11:57:39 am »
Palm trees can be worth money!  Someone might do the job for nowt!!

In That London?

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #33 on: 17 July, 2014, 12:21:57 pm »
Palm trees can be worth money!  Someone might do the job for nowt!!

In That London?

London, England? 
Move Faster and Bake Things

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #34 on: 17 July, 2014, 12:29:20 pm »
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.

Zipperhead

  • The cyclist formerly known as Big Helga
Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #35 on: 17 July, 2014, 02:28:19 pm »
Chainsaw? Why mess around with toys. What you want is one of these...

http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns

a tree nommer
Won't somebody think of the hamsters!

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #36 on: 17 July, 2014, 03:00:48 pm »
iW00t!

And I bet Peter Stormare does too.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

caerau

  • SR x 3 - PBP fail but 1090 km - hey - not too bad
Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #37 on: 17 July, 2014, 03:45:41 pm »
Chainsaw? Why mess around with toys. What you want is one of these...

http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns

a tree nommer


I think they're on offer at Lidl next week
It's a reverse Elvis thing.

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #38 on: 17 July, 2014, 03:53:44 pm »
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?
Move Faster and Bake Things

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #39 on: 17 July, 2014, 04:01:50 pm »
Chainsaw? Why mess around with toys. What you want is one of these...

http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns

a tree nommer


Imagine using that on a line-up of Ukip MEPs!
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #40 on: 17 July, 2014, 04:05:11 pm »
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.

contango

  • NB have not grown beard since photo was taken
  • The Fat And The Furious
Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #41 on: 17 July, 2014, 08:55:25 pm »
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.
Always carry a small flask of whisky in case of snakebite. And, furthermore, always carry a small snake.

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #42 on: 17 July, 2014, 09:13:38 pm »
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 ;)

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #43 on: 19 July, 2014, 01:08:11 pm »
Chainsaw? Why mess around with toys. What you want is one of these...

http://youtu.be/LYKg0gbRFns

a tree nommer

Like Dremel, then.
Only bigger.

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #44 on: 19 July, 2014, 03:41:20 pm »
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...

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #45 on: 28 July, 2014, 04:27:51 pm »
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!

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #46 on: 28 July, 2014, 04:35:31 pm »
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...

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #47 on: 25 September, 2020, 08:16:01 pm »
Hmmmm. Hopefully the chain brake was working on this one:



Video:

https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1309287499194404866?s=20


Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #48 on: 25 September, 2020, 08:19:32 pm »
Hmmmm. Hopefully the chain brake was working on this one:



Video:

https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1309287499194404866?s=20
Also, see the 'Never in a million years'  thread in the other pics file. :)

Re: To chainsaw , or not to chainsaw, that is the question...
« Reply #49 on: 28 September, 2020, 12:10:41 pm »
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!

often lost.