Doing some tree trimming

[nikdfish]

No, not Christmas decorations ...

I finally got around to reducing some of the aggravating bits associated with cutting the fields out at the acreage (20 acres mixed fields & woods we inherited). Low limbs have been interfering with cutting more & more lately so they had to go.

Bought a Stihl HT 102 pole saw. It is about 7' long with a 12" bar running a 1/4" chain. Since the roll over bar on the 3038e is just about 7', this is long enough to reach most anything that would be hitting it.

Some of what was out there:

This is what has been done so far, less than one tank's worth:

Lot's more to do, but at least I've started...

Nick

 

[Paddy]

Nick,

How well does the pole saw cut? Looking good.

 

[nikdfish]

It cuts great! I have to feather/blip the throttle while cutting, no full throttle cuts until break in finished after about 5 tanks of fuel. I think the narrow chain (1/4") reduces "grabbiness" & increases cutting power. So far I haven't used it on anything over about 4".

Nick

 

[thatguy]

i have a need for a pole saw, but not enough work to justify it.. looks good

brian

 

[ovrszd]

Nice report!!!!

P.S. The work isn't done until the trimmings are cleaned up.....

 

[Wagtail]

i have a need for a pole saw, but not enough work to justify it.. looks good

brian

I'm with you, not enough work to justify... so I went 'old school' and bought an expanding pole with a curved limb saw & a mechanical 'lopper'.

Now the real embuggerance is clearing the debris.

 

[newbury]

i have a need for a pole saw, but not enough work to justify it.. looks good

brian

What is your "need" versus your wallet?
I had gotten along for years with a good manual 17 foot telescopic pole saw.
This summer I found myself having to trim numerous large limbs at max extension so I did some research and settled on an Echo PPT 280 thread here which does 17 feet with a 28CC chainsaw with a 12" blade on the end.
Here's my son testing it out using only 13 feet:

When I use the full extension it's a bear to work with but it definitely does the job.

However, if I was trimming limbs of less than 4" in diameter (for example trees brushing up against the chimney 20' up) I'd go with a quality manual pruner. They can be found 33 feet long and maybe longer.

So in summary if you've got a few limbs 10' up a manual pole saw may well do. The main thing is to get a good blade.

 

[Thall303]

The bicycle helmet is a good idea!

 

[LD48750]

Now it's time for my Jinma 3pt chipper.
Make short work of the clean up.

Only problem is... after seeing what a good job it does, I had to find more work for it to do so I could play.

 

[ArlyA]

We've used Echo pole saws (they call them power trimmers) for many years. We have three of them today. Pole saws are an indispensable tool in our book and we one operate them while wearing sawyer helmets. Good luck with the Stihl!