Pruner on a pole or electric chain saw on a pole?

Dick2

Well-known Member
I have one tree that puts out a lot of branches that need to be trimmed 2-3 times a year. New growth branches are easy to cut off.

Neighbor uses a pruner on a pole, just pull the rope and it cuts the branch. It's the
Friskar $32 el cheapo but it works for him - extends to 12 ft. Expensive pruners on a pole are $80 at HD - electric chain saws are $100, but only extend to 9 ft. and may be too heavy for me to handle (8.5 to 10 lbs.)

For what little I would use it, I'm tempted to buy the light weight el cheapo and hope it will do the job for me.

Anyone have experience with different pole saws?
 
Yes. I have the pole saw with a rope. I would not call it a cheap tool even though it may be in the $20-50 range and the head parts can be replaced. It is light but when extended will still require you to work. Depending on the tree species, pulling the rope can be easy or near impossible. Saw works really well for the thicker stuff and is easy to use.

I also have a Stihl gas powered pole saw. Bit heavier and definitely not cheap. I have a lot of big trees and need this to keep things tidied up. It's outstanding for quick cuts of heavier or dead limbs.
 
I have the Remington electric polesaw that extends. Make sure you get the one that has the octagon pole so it can't turn or twist like the older round pole did. I use them as well as regular electric chain saws with my bucket truck in tree trimming. I also have a small Honda 2000 watt generator along so am not limited for power. One thing is you can hold it against the tree trunk as you lift it up to where you want it then turn it on. I suspect with a bad shoulder you might have trouble depending on which shoulder and if you are right or left handed. You can cheat by pushing against the trunk going up but when you cut through the branch you will get the full weight of the saw on your arms. I have seen them on sale for 88.00 on line or at Menards or Home Depot. Sawing by hand will require shoulder muscles too.
 
I haven't used a chain saw on a pole, but I've done a lot of pruning with a rope pull pruner on an extendable pole and also with a pruning saw on a pole. Neither one is best at everything. The rope pull pruner is best for small branches that may be too light to offer enough resistance to saw easily, and it's quick. It's not good for high vertical branches, or any vertical branches where access is limited. A size of branch that would cut easily at zero pole extension might cause the pole to flex alarmingly at the maximum extension. The worst situation is to get the blade stuck in a branch that won't cut when the pole is at maximum extension. You release the rope but the blade doesn't retract. I've never had to leave a pole pruner in the tree and buy another one, or go up the tree to get it to release, but it happens regularly and it always feels like this could be that time.

A good pruning saw on a pole (I made my own pole out of two lengths of 1/2" steel electrical conduit with a smaller pipe inside at the joint that they both bolt to---so it can be either 10' or 20' long) is better for larger branches and for those at the extreme height for the pruner. The pruning saw can be harder to start since it lacks the hook of a pole pruner to secure the individual limb you want to cut, and your arms and shoulders take a beating from the effort of cutting where you have to exert so much leverage because of the distance.

I think an electric chain saw pole pruner would be great, but I think I might find it limited. I wouldn't want to use it on a pole longer than about 10', and I would want both feet firmly on the ground, so I wouldn't be able to get any extra height by using it from a ladder.

Stan
 
I have the HF rope pruner and it works well
Also have the HF pole saw and yes it gets a little heavy when fully extended. I use it on a ladder for high branches
 
I got one with the rope,one with a blade,and one that runs on gas.All 3 got there place

The local rental gets $35.00 a day for a power pruner.Rent one and in 2 hours time you'll do 2 days worth of trimming.

Good Luck.
 
I have so much to prune, I mounted a 33 inch snapper mower deck vertically powered by a 6.5 hp briggs. The rig is attached to forks that go on front loader. I can cut anything up to one inch and 10 ft off the ground. What this thing can prune in an hour would take you all day. I call it MAD MAX THE MULCHING MACHINE. BIL calls it BRUSH BUSTER.

I use it in the spring after the asian honeysuckle is done blooming. I have many days of work pruning too. I also do all my trees. No branch is going to smack me when I'm on my IH C mowing.
 
I recently got an electric pole saw trimmer doo hickey. Under cutting a three or four inch limb can be a strain but when you slap the saw on top and let it do its thing it is good to go. Wear goggles and button your collar unless you really love saw dust. TDF
 
I have a Remington electric pole saw ($80) like Ron. It works well on larger branches but has a shorter reach than a manual pole saw. It's pretty easy to modify a 21 inch Black and Decker Hedge Hog hedge trimmer ($40) to fit on the end of the pole in place of the small chain saw. It's not a heavy duty unit, but it works for trimming the top portions of a long 10 foot high Amur Maple hedge. It will cut through a swath of branches up to 1/2 inch thick much faster than you can work the rope on a pole pruner.

Stihl and others make gas powered pole trimmers with extended reach and interchangeable ends (chain saw, hedge trimmer, etc.). The engine is at the bottom so they balance better than an electric pole trimmer.

If you use a manual pole saw, make sure you have sharp blades on it. I sharpen the pruner blade and substitute a "Razor Saw" for the long blade.
 
I have rows of hybrid screen willows that have to be trimmed 2-3 times a year at least.
Bought one of those $99 electric pole chainsaws....very impressed with it.
I don't extend the pole all the way because of the leverage thing.(and it's cheaply built), 3/4 extended and stepping up just a rung or 2 on a step ladder works pretty good.
Like the other poster mentioned, that leverage thing helps you too. A branch way up there, just get the saw over it, relax your lift/grip, hit the trigger, and the weight of the saw on the pole cuts thru the branch quickly.
They are pretty tough too. I've let it basically fall after cutting a high branch until another branch catches it. no damage.
 

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