Pole saws... worth it?

[Richard]

I've been thinking on getting a pole saw. Turns out, my wifes cousin next door has one (NOT a Stihl if that matters). I was talking to him about getting one and his words as best I recall were:

"I've got one and it doesn't work"



To which I responded, does it not work (dead engine) or does it not work (cuts poorly)

He said it cut poorly and kept getting stuck so he's basically abaondoned it in the depths of his garage.

I'm going to get access to it in a couple weeks to play with it. I'm venturing to guess the blade is probably dull and I wonder if he's got the fuel/air mixture screws set. He's been known to use something akin to a butter knife to cut his trees up (his chains are soooooooo dull). He even cut once and you could see enough sag in the chain you could probably place your thumb between the bottom of the bar and the sagging chain.

To his defense, he's not very mechanically inclined. Not that I'm Mr. Engineer (not by a long shot) however, I am more hands on than he is.

So all of that long winded to simply ask.... is a properly working pole saw really worth it?

I would think a hard hat would be in order as well.


Ultimately, this is a moot point as they sold the timber on the farm and the very pine trees I'm wanting to hack back from the fence line will soon be totally gone.

Guess I just saved myself the expense of a pole saw!


Perhaps this will get me the 'most useless post of the day' award

 

[phiferpharm]

I use my pole saw perhaps 3 to 1 over my regular chain saw. I always keep two or three chains sharpened for it just due to heavy usage. If you have one with expandable shafts, it is even better.

 

[clemsonfor]

I deal with loggers every day. About half of them use them to trim trucks the other half use chain saws onehanded as high as they can reach with a 20" bar. Pole saws make you crige less and are easier to use. That said the huge commercial ones made by stihl will jump sideways in your hand from the torque. And i have watched them trim 6" logs with them in just about twice the time a smaller chainsaw would take.

I have used my brother in laws new husky smaller model and it cut extremly well, i trimmed about 5 pecan branches off my boat shed while on a latter extended the saw above my head to cut. It was easy and took just seconds to trim each branch of 2-3 "s in diameter.

I know poulan makes them as well as other lower quality brands so there is prolly a range of quality and performace that goes along with engine size. Poulan is a desent cutting saw for the size engine it has and if you keep it sharp. My problem with them is getting them started and keeping them running.

 

[om21braz]

A very handy tool. I also use it more than regular chainsaws - now that I have one.

 

[Chuck52]

I guess I don't trim as many trees as some, but when I recently bought a new, good quality manual pole saw, I was happy to find it did the job quite a bit better than the el-cheapo I had before. A good quality manual with one of the double cut blades, which look like my Silky saw blade, cuts darn fast and starts every time. It's a bit lighter than a chainsaw, too.

Chuck

 

[ustmd]

I have one and use it more than the regular chainsaw.

Aside from keeping me off of the ladder, I worry less about cutting off an appendage with a pole saw vs a chain saw.

 

[EE_Bota]

I have an electric one, with a pole that extends. It is handy not only for things it will reach, but when I remove the pole from the saw, the saw is good to trim things. I am glad to have it in my bag of tricks.

Seeing as how you might not need one now, perhaps you might find this handy. I have one of these and I like it:
Black & Decker Tools | Alligator Lopper LP1000

I use the above device to shorten overly long sticks of wood so that they will fit my new woodstove. It is called an alligator lopper. Note that the upper jaw is spring loaded, so it pushes away when cutting larger pieces.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a cut and paste of a post I made a couple years ago here regarding proper cutting technique and pinching the blade, which is easy to do with a pole saw....



We have a Poulan Pro that we bought as a combo pack. It had the pole saw and weed eater attachments bundled together. It works fine. It is heavy. As others have mentioned, with any pole saw, it is easy to pinch a blade. I use the three cut method for trimming all branches with my pole saw and chain saw, too, for that matter.

Here's a picture that explains it. Not only does it eliminate most pinches, it keeps the branches from pulling down bark and skinning up the tree. Check it out. Try it a few times. It works great.

In a nut shell, you cut through 1/3 of the branch from the underside of the branch about a foot out from the trunk. Then you cut outwards of the first cut about 2" all the way through. It snaps the branch at the first cut and there is no bark or strip of wood that pulls down the underside of the branch. That's usually what hangs a branch. Finally, you make a final cut near the trunk, but not into the collar. That 1 foot piece drops right off. Leaving the collar in tack lets the tree heal much faster and cleaner.

 

[milkman]

Glad you posted that Moss, tools work a lot better when you know how to use them properly.

 

[robs660]

My Stihl gets a workout a few times a year. You do have to think out your cuts more then you would with a chainsaw but the work you can do and the time it takes to do it is worth it. I use it a lot to trim the bottom of large pine trees so that the vines can't grow up them and I can get the mower under them. It was well worth the money and the blades seem to stay sharp for a good amount of time.
I generally follow the same 3 cut method and try to keep the saw as parallel to the ground as possible. If I have to have the blade vertical, I will cut from both sides of the branch as well to reduce the risk of binding.