Rope, pole saw/high limb

[Fuddy1952]

I value opinions here from real experience.
Yesterday I cut some oak tree limbs I'm guessing 20 ft. up or more. I used tractor FEL bucket to get me at least 10' up, then a.c. electric pole saw. This is a Harbor Freight $69 special...works but they don't last, I might get 20-30 hours use before they quit.
I have a good (Fiskars I think) hand pole saw.
So two things I'm interested in. One is a rope saw, you toss (a sandbag?) over limb and it has a chainsaw like blade. Then manually saw. The other would be ac, battery or gas powered (Stihl?) longest pole saw.
Thanks any advice/brand.

 

[HCJtractor]

When I go that high, I use a commercial grade telescopic manual saw. Mine is the Silky Hayate. It’s pretty slick, but expensive. But I’ve also used the Stihl version also. But over 20 feet gets tough. The really long gas versions are heavy and I doubt you can even get up to 20 feet. I love my Stihl Kombi. I can easily reach 10’ with it all day long. So what I use is a Kombi for lower limbs and my Hayate for higher ones. If it’s over 20 or 25 feet, I don’t cut it from the ground.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I use an Oregon 18 volt pole saw from a makeshift two story basket that goes on the forks.

Problem is, the higher the limb is, the more likely it is to jam up your saw. Then what? It would be nice if one could angle the bar so you can come straight down.

 

[Maxify55]

Here's my set up:

Pallets forks on my LS Tractor SSQA

Then this:


Then whatever you feel comfortable with using in the basket for severing your limbs.

My particular FEL lift height is: 7'6" at the base of the platorm {Give or take and inch or so}

I've used a 2 cycle genny with an electric B&D chainsaw on the end of 15' extention.
My partner prefers an Echo extendable.
While I control the ground unit.

I've just gotten too old and ricketty to be going up in the lift.

Now for the legal part.
I in, no way, condone, nor suggest, that you do as I have done or may, supposedly, have accomplish on my land with my own equipment.
I merely state what I may have done or have by sheer accident not kill or injured anyone whilst, allegedly, performing such activity.

There!!
For all you Safety Sally's out there.
:talktothehand:

 

[Diggin It]

I do things a little different sometimes. Got one of these Trimmer Plus pruner add-on for trimmers with shafts that will take extra tools. It comes with the straight black shaft shown plus one extension boom. I gutted the curved shaft from a now-defunct trimmer head and fit it into the pole saw head. It's a quick screw or three to go back to the straight shaft as needed. Still limited to around 10-15' based on how high you can lift the whole thing once assembled, and it does got a little difficult to manage. Better than the blade/rope type pole saws for lower branches, but doesn't have their reach for higher ones.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Last night I got this one from Lowes, 10% off because it was a display so $90. A.C. which I like, you can adjust angle or disconnect as a chainsaw. 10" blade, 11ft.

Now I need one of those rope manual ones you toss over a limb.

https://m.lowes.com/pd/Remington-10...LaaePMLAXDhOoQXAKDdZ7LOGgTVE_vIBoCjaEQAvD_BwE

 

[Wakey]

for severing your limbs.

^^

The sandbag and string cutter seems problematic assuming you will be under the limb.

I have the Black and Decker pole saw and it's great for touch up work. For the bulk of my pruning I rented the Stihl and it worked great but it is heavy. I actually took Ibuprofen that weekend :laughing:

Mostly I used a 10' A-Frame ladder if needed and a few times, an extension ladder. It's dangerous, many times I stood on the ground going over my options to be sure I knew how it would play out.

I use an Oregon 18 volt pole saw from a makeshift two story basket that goes on the forks.

Problem is, the higher the limb is, the more likely it is to jam up your saw. Then what? It would be nice if one could angle the bar so you can come straight down.

Did you cut a wedge on the bottom of the limbs before cutting from the top? This worked pretty good for me but that is why I needed the Ibuprofen. It's easy to rest the bar on the top of the limb, not so easy pushing up from the bottom.

8 years ago on a different property I took a bunch of trees up to 20' with ladders and a chainsaw. Not recommended..

 

[Wakey]

Also, something I found using my battery pole saw is to rotate my wrist, side to side. It makes the cut a bit wider and seems to make things go smoother.

 

[Industrial Toys]

How can you cut a wedge with the tip of the saw? I love that saw and even like using it just to walk around cutting stuff at ground level, but it does not have a lot of power and will stall easily if you don't have control over the agressiveness.

 

[ededic]

Save a life, use your chain saw and rent a man lift. You can rent them by the day on a trailer cheaper than a pole saw.