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.

 

[timbatrader]

Hydraulic chainsaws are common here for pruning fruit trees from hydra ladders which are three wheeled machines which the operator

is up in a bucket as the machine is hydraulic adding hydraulic outlets in the bucket is easy being tethered isn't an issue if you are already lashed into a bucket

 

[old and tired]

Out of forestry school, one of my first job interview was with a tree company in Baton Rouge, LA. Brand new bucket truck and the guy asked, "Can you take down that tree?" 65 foot oak tree in a park, nothing under it to worry about.

Was my first (and only) time running a hydraulic chain saw... it was freaking awesome... power and ability was amazing, I just kept my finger on the trigger and it would build up pressure (so fast) and rip though everything...

Took the whole tree down in 5 to 10 minutes. Had a great time. Got the job offer but declined it. I had 2 other offers that were better and they want me to head up the "lawncare" side of the business. (yuk)

Would be pretty cool if you can work out the details, if you could make it work with long 1/4" lines...

 

[Jstpssng]

If you ever find yourself fitted with a pacemaker and can no longer run a conventional saw, this might make a lot of sense.

 

[walnutman]

I have the RTV900 with the rear remotes. Don't think I'll ever use them.
We moved to East Texas in 2020 from the Philadelphia area.
Now live in ranch country with literally thousands of acres all around us.
They call them buggies down here.
We found a used one on FB MP.
2013 with only 300 hrs on it. $10k. Was a steal. Title and all. One owner.
Picked it up with a standard height enclosed car trailer. It was so tall we had to let air out of the tires and get people to stand on it to get it in the trailer LOL.
Absolutely love this thing.

 

[Sportsman762]

Others have outlined many of the pitfalls and advantages of a hydraulic saw. One pitfall to add is that you will most likely have to have the tractor in the danger zone if felling trees. A large oak would wreck havoc on your L6060.

I am going to use Stanly hydraulic saw specs as they are the most common I have seen.
Saws need 4-9 gpm depending on the model. However the working pressure should be 1000-2000 PSI, the L6060 pressure is set at 2630 psi. You could do some workarounds, resulting in a ungainly connector with a pressure regulator, and lots of hoses to plug into the traction.
Below are the specs for the saws and L6060.

CS_25_28

CS 25 28

www.intermtnsales.com

CS05

CS05

www.intermtnsales.com

DS12

DS12

www.intermtnsales.com

https://www.kubotausa.com/docs/default-source/spec-sheets/l60_specs.pdf?sfvrsn=499309ad_2

All in all this is not a very viable idea. I had explored doing something like this for a redneck skidsteer boom saw, but did not see how it would be very durable due to the pressure issues.

 

[mikester]

I'd like a hydraulic saw to make a pole saw attachment for my backhoe.

I don't like dragging and fighting hoses for my pressure washer so using a hydraulic saw as something to replace a gas chainsaw isn't that appealing. A battery operated saw is lightweight and a good comprise for me...perfect for de-limbing and wading through branches. You won't be doing that dragging hydraulic hose behind you.

 

[dfkrug]

I'd like a hydraulic saw to make a pole saw attachment for my backhoe.

It has now been over a dozen years since I set this Reliable brand hydraulic polesaw up for a guy to operate from the seat of his tractor. He could drive around his property and trim trees without leaving his seat. I did have to add the 2000 psi cross-port RV to it, as I did with my Fairmont saw.

Since then, battery-powered polesaws have gotten better and better. So good, in fact, that I don't see any reason to go hydraulic unless you are a tree company with hydraulic power already plumbed to your manlift bucket.

 

[mikester]

It has now been over a dozen years since I set this Reliable brand hydraulic polesaw up for a guy to operate from the seat of his tractor. He could drive around his property and trim trees without leaving his seat. I did have to add the 2000 psi cross-port RV to it, as I did with my Fairmont saw.

Since then, battery-powered polesaws have gotten better and better. So good, in fact, that I don't see any reason to go hydraulic unless you are a tree company with hydraulic power already plumbed to your manlift bucket.

I have remote hydraulics at my BH bucket, no electrical. I was thinking of making a telescopic 4-8' pole that connects with my QA and had a hydraulic saw on the end. I'd like to be able to trim branches around my fields as high as possible using the BH.

 

[dfkrug]

I have remote hydraulics at my BH bucket, no electrical. I was thinking of making a telescopic 4-8' pole that connects with my QA and had a hydraulic saw on the end. I'd like to be able to trim branches around my fields as high as possible using the BH.

That makes sense. You will need RV protection for it, and you will probably want to idle down when cutting, so you don't overdo the flow rate.

Also, long 1/4" hoses are fine for intermittent flow of 5GPM or so, but heat up the oil noticeably.

If you do this, start a thread. Sometimes you can find hydraulic chainsaws pretty cheap locally since they have a very limited market.

 

[Gordon Gould]

SmokeyDog built a hydraulic Limb saw - you might find it interesting

Hydraulic limb saw project.

Been wanting to build something like this for sometime. Now there are several brands available. Probably cost and time more efficient to buy a quality and time tested one like LimbSaw. What’s the fun in that? Plus some other features I would like to explore. Just getting started so haven’t got...

www.tractorbynet.com

gg