Hydraulic limb saw project.

[Smokeydog]

Spoke too soon. Totally my fault. Blindly swinging at a 1.5” maple limb up high, line of site blocked by the canopy, on a side slope. Should have set the brake, undone the seatbelt, stood up and to the side to see to position the saw? Some branches hard to get to and the manual 21’ Hayuachi polesaw the best choice.

 

[Raul-02]

Main boom made 3” square tube, 0.25” wall. 8’ long.

I gotta think that a moment arm like that will demand a lot of finesse in use.

 

[Smokeydog]

I had good luck on hundreds small and some big limbs. Getting too cocky. Need that line of sight. With loader, grapple, boom, saw arm and blade it will test your depth perception. So will age and trifocals.

Lesson learned and part of the cost of this type of work. Hate to see how much tree trimmers would charge now.

 

[D2Cat]

Smokeydog, you have the skills and shop to flatten that out and tack it back for another round!!

 

[airbiscuit]

Are you still thinking about putting a camera up there

 

[Smokeydog]

Are you still thinking about putting a camera up there

Keeping things simple has it merit. With the saw mounted on the right side of the grapple and saw blade mounted on the left side of the saw arm have a pretty good visual most of the time. Highest FEL and straight up the hardest to see. Taking time and patience the secret to success. I was on a steep side slope, with the FEL raised to the highest trying to cut a branch at the highest reach when I bent the bar. Had managed to cut about half way on a on a earlier attempt. The reason for the bent bar was operator error. Part of my education. Still learning the basics.

Would a camera been useful?, I would think so sometimes. Figuring out how to mount to minimize camera damage while providing a good image the biggest hurdle. Motor guard already shows battle scars and is the most likely place to house a camera. Inside the bungee cord tower another option. Might be something experimenting with.

Less than 5% of limbs so far are in the blind spot at extreme height. My saw and attachment gives a couple feet more reach over what you can buy. More reach gives more lever arm and more overhead blind spot. Would not recommend using without a operator canopy. Sure do like the reach out front when trimming down the roads. Even with a manual pole saw you don’t try to cut straight up.

Right now storing the grapple with saw attached in the hay barn. Saw folded upright.

That bar was $42. Can get a Oregon bar and chain for $37. Like any tool with consumables the operator has a lot of influence of lifespan. This year going to focus on the many limbs I can easily do while visualizing potential improvements.

The bungee cords to reduce the saw bar weight helps with limbs over 8”. Smooths the cutting action and less stalling. If the saw stalls a quick reverse button then forward on the third function resumes cutting again. Interesting and functional ability of a hydraulic saw.

 

[2manyrocks]

Car dash cameras aren't that expensive. The issue would be that they use wide angle lenses so you'd need to mount the camera somewhat close to the saw blade if you want a good view of what's happening. You could potentially mount it in a protective cover where the lens is open, but covered by a standard protective lens filter. The filter would be replaceable if it gets scratched up, but won't stop a hard blow from wrecking the camera lens. You could fab a protective cover with a lens opening.

There are a variety of clamps specifically made for cameras to be mounted to various surfaces. This would make it easy for you to clamp the camera to different mounting points until you figure out which suits you best. This one is typically used for clamping to things like hand rails. You might want something that clamps to a wider surface. Impact Super Clamp with 5/8" Snap-In Pin

Or tack weld a 1/4 bolt somewhere where you want the camera and use a mini ball head to aim the camera where you want it. Oben BD-02 Mini Ball Head

edit: another possibility is to mount an outdoor security camera. Some of them have telephoto zoom options. So you could potentially mount the camera further away from the cutting bar, but still zoom into see what you want to see. Since they are made for outdoor use, they might be a better option.

 

[Xfaxman]

Car dash cameras aren't that expensive. The issue would be that they use wide angle lenses so you'd need to mount the camera somewhat close to the saw blade if you want a good view of what's happening.

There are narrow angle lens cameras available as posted earlier in the thread: Hydraulic limb saw project.

 

[2manyrocks]

I'd go for a budget option because falling tree limbs can take out the entire camera.

Another option would be to pick up a used camcorder from a pawnshop for $100 that's going to have a powerzoom and a viewscreen. It could be mounted on the loader arm and easily adjusted to see whatever needs to be seen. The viewscreen is going to be a bit small, but the OP should be able to zoom in pretty well on the cutting saw. Battery life is probably going to be about 45 minutes unless the OP adds a higher capacity battery, runs it off a cell phone battery charger or finds a 12v adapter.

The issue with the viewscreen is going to having it washed out by sunlight. You could potentially output live view video from the camera over HDMI cable into an external monitor mounted under the tractor canopy where it would be most shaded. That would give a larger viewscreen. Some of the monitors will also output power to the camera for additional runtime. But you have to make sure the camera will output live video over HDMI and that the camera voltage requirements match up to the voltage supplied via the external monitor. FeelWorld F5 Pro 5.5" V2 4K HDMI IPS Touchscreen Monitor

 

[Smokeydog]

Good suggestions. When I can learn to juggle more balls at a time I could try a camera. Lot of areas to watch. Know I will generate many piles of limbs while learning.

Unique tool will be handy. Some will be folks will be copasetically compatible and some will fight it and not have a good outcome. It does build or polish new skills.

 

[jthibodeau89]

Smokey, I noticed that your construction utilizes square tubing telescoping into square tubing. I'm curious how you deal with the weld seam inside the tubes.

Npalen- Google "seams impossible tool". It is a bearing sled for a 3/4" carbide burr that is shimmed to the tube ID and seam location. Works great, though it takes time to make the shims that locate it in the tube.

 

[Smokeydog]

Before.

After trimming about 30, 0.5-3.5” limbs in 10 minutes. 1-2” limbs cut fast like being clipped at idle. Improving technique with experience.

Other jobs include trimming oak horizontal limbs 40’ long and larger than 20” diameter at trunk. Small Brush and grape vines cut use fwd/rev and loader control while running saw. Hard to get a meaningful photo.

Been low maintenance and rugged. Had yet to get bar stuck in kerf. Chain stall yes. Quick reverse then forward continues cut.

Generates a tremendous amount of limbs to move quickly. Can cut much faster than grapple and carry off. Cut most of time at idle with auto throttle on for moving.

 

[2manyrocks]

Would be nice if the cut limbs would fall straight into the hopper of a chipper and get mulched without any more work.

 

[D2Cat]

How have you adjusted your bar lube since you started using the saw? How much have you added to your tractor?

 

[Smokeydog]

How have you adjusted your bar lube since you started using the saw? How much have you added to your tractor?

I adjusted the chain oiler down but seemed to be dry on thick oak so adjusted back. It doesn’t use much oil. Time needed to run the saw is low because it cuts so fast. Added about 1.5qt some time ago to bring slightly above top line full. Still hanging around full after hundreds of cuts. All with original chain and 2nd bar.

 

[Vigo327]

Would be nice if the cut limbs would fall straight into the hopper of a chipper and get mulched without any more work.

A guy can dream!

 

[jsjsteven]

I built one a few years ago and love it. Used a hydraulic motor and chainsaw bar.

 

[Smokeydog]

I built one a few years ago and love it. Used a hydraulic motor and chainsaw bar.

That’s good work. Nice adaptation to your pallet forks. The saw has been a valuable tool for trimming trees on our farm. Wasn’t real sure how well such a tool would work on our hillside farm or be useful. It’s dance card is going to be full for many years.

Attaching the chain drive spur to the hydraulic motor one of the biggest problems to solve. I was buying chainsaw drive spur, shim adapter sleeve and key way broaches to make my own. Then simply bought a drive gear from LimbSaw.

I was worried about using the hydraulic oil to lubricate the saw chain. Takes so little because the saw cuts so fast. Something to be aware of but doesn’t require much attention or maintenance.

 

[Smokeydog]

Wanting to build or modify a ssqa trailer hitch plate for the polesaw. Kinda like the center open type to see the hitch? What kind/brand trailer mover works best for you?

Will weld a vertical receiver or two for the polesaw.

The 6’ grapple add on receiver works good for reaching high in trees. Grapple can get in the way when cutting lower limbs more horizontal on the wooded trails. Plus it’s lots on additional weight to have up high on a slope.

Scrapyard just got a big truck load of new, in -the -box trailer hitches. $0.30/#. People are buying pickup truck loads. Handy material to have around.

 

[Smokeydog]

Mounted the polesaw on the B26. 7gpm vs the M59 16gpm. Didn’t cut the big stuff (16”) like before but could not really tell the speed was reduced by much. 3” limbs cut in a second. While the smaller tractor is nimble it can’t reach as high or as stable on a side slope. Even a small tractor can run a polesaw. Motor Parker MGG20025 from surpluscenter.com

Cut lots of cab/face slappers 1-3” lateral limbs on the woods roads and clearings. Beech trees are the worst with sharp buds. Sometimes cutting down and sometimes vertically going backwards. Going backwards the saw can swing on the hinge to keep from damage. Cut a 10” horizontal maple limb growing into a field. Then cut into 15’ sections to haul away. Cutting down trees or limbs tricky. Sometimes cut partially to break or fold up with grapple to haul away.