Hydraulic chain saw

[Black Dog 2]

I live in an Oak Forest and looking for an easier way to cut down trees and cut wood. I have a Kubota L6060 with rear hydraulic connectors. Has anyone had a chance to use a hydraulic chain saw connected to a tractor. Any pro's and con's would be appreciated.

 

[JeepHead]

I can't see how this would be beneficial in any way.

 

[MossRoad]

I live in an Oak Forest and looking for an easier way to cut down trees and cut wood. I have a Kubota L6060 with rear hydraulic connectors. Has anyone had a chance to use a hydraulic chain saw connected to a tractor. Any pro's and con's would be appreciated.

The pros would be you'd never need to buy gas for the chainsaw.... that's the end of my pros list. Oh, also, it's quieter.

Some cons would be:
Expensive saw
Tethered to the tractor by limited hose length
Storing hose between uses/moves
Not as maneuverable as a stand alone saw
Unknown Gallons Per Minute/PSI requirements of saw and output of tractor hydraulics.

Tree trimmers in bucket trucks use them fairly often. But they are limited in the reach from the bucket, so stand alone is not important, and, the hoses add a measure of drop protection as well. Down on the ground, they use gas powered saws.

I'd rather have the tractor free to move firewood/logs around and not have to stow the saw every time I had to move the tractor, or move the tractor every time I had to move the saw.

One neat thing, though, is that they work underwater.

I thought I read somewhere that they use a bit of the hydraulic fluid to oil the chain, so if you cut a lot, you'd have to keep an eye on your tractor hydraulic fluid level. Some days I'll go through a couple quarts of bar oil.

So just some things I've noticed over the years.

 

[bigtiller]

I hired a guy with a bucket truck to trim some trees. They had a hydraulic chain saw up in the bucket. The operator was constantly fiddling with the hoses. They were either to short or in the way. And their stiffness added to the effort it took to position the saw.

 

[JeepHead]

The pros would be you'd never need to buy gas for the chainsaw.... that's the end of my pros list. Oh, also, it's quieter.

Some cons would be:
Expensive saw
Tethered to the tractor by limited hose length
Storing hose between uses/moves
Not as maneuverable as a stand alone saw
Unknown Gallons Per Minute/PSI requirements of saw and output of tractor hydraulics.

Tree trimmers in bucket trucks use them fairly often. But they are limited in the reach from the bucket, so stand alone is not important, and, the hoses add a measure of drop protection as well. Down on the ground, they use gas powered saws.

I'd rather have the tractor free to move firewood/logs around and not have to stow the saw every time I had to move the tractor, or move the tractor every time I had to move the saw.

One neat thing, though, is that they work underwater.

I thought I read somewhere that they use a bit of the hydraulic fluid to oil the chain, so if you cut a lot, you'd have to keep an eye on your tractor hydraulic fluid level. Some days I'll go through a couple quarts of bar oil.

So just some things I've noticed over the years.

You're paying more for the diesel to operate the tractor, to operate the saw though. Wouldn't classify that as a pro. And having the tractor nearby a felling tree isn't what I would want either.

 

[oldnslo]

I suspect the weight of a hydraulic driven saw with 20 -24” bar capability would be significantly higher than equivalent gas machine along with not fighting the hoses like others have mentioned.

How would you start and stop the hydraulic flow while cutting?

 

[dfkrug]

You guys should use the TBN search function.....

powering a hydraulic chainsaw off your tractor's hydraulic system

....or..."Hydraulic Chainsaws for Fun and Profit" A long time ago, I fantasized about building a boom-mounted chainsaw to connect to my loader. This would allow me to trim branches off trees from the seat of my tractor. The loader can already reach more than 8 feet high, and the boom I...

www.tractorbynet.com

Note that the commonly-available hydraulic saws don't have the power to pull longer bars.

Dunno about the pneumatic chainsaws out there.

 

[MossRoad]

I suspect the weight of a hydraulic driven saw with 20 -24” bar capability would be significantly higher than equivalent gas machine along with not fighting the hoses like others have mentioned.

How would you start and stop the hydraulic flow while cutting?

Apparently they are lighter than equivalent gas chainsaw, as all it has is a little hydraulic motor.

It has an on-off trigger and the hydraulic flow just returns to tank when the trigger is off.

 

[MossRoad]

Interesting video of army surplus saw. Made by Stanley. You can still buy them new for about $1500. This guy said he traded some car parts and $10 for this saw. Good, honest video.

 

[dfkrug]

Interesting video of army surplus saw. Made by Stanley.

One thing he did not talk about: his Stanley saw is rated at 2500psi. That may be less than what his skidsteer is putting out on the AUX circuit, unless it is really old. And he is probably exceeding the flow rating, too.

My Stanley (Ackley) was even older and only rated 2000psi, and probably something like 5GPM.

None of these units (I have had 3 or 4) have their own RV, so the power supply RV is your protection.