High limb rope saw - any good?

Bob - MI · May 17, 2016

Greetings folks,

I have a large tree in my back yard that is positioned such that I can't get a boom truck or other lift positioned properly to work on it. It's a maple and there's a couple of limbs that are over-growing some other trees and basically starving them for sunlight.

I can get an arborist to climb it and do the trimming but I got thinking about one of those high limb rope saws. Simple looking device with a chain saw section in the middle and I wonder if you guys have had any experience with these.

I try to do lots of things myself and buying another tool would be fun as well.

Thanks in advance for your help and opinions.

johndeere720GA · May 17, 2016

they may work but I have never tried one. My comment is since you cant make an undercut at the trunk on that limb you will probably want to make your first cut a couple of feet out from the trunk. You want to do this incase when the limb breaks it will not peal the bark from the trunk. Once you have that cut cleared you can make the actual pruning cut removing the stub from the tree.

jeffcat · May 17, 2016

Two neighbors have them. They are a nice little toy and do work. Both of them are 120 volt plug in. Remember it is NOT a full size saw just a toy and you will be fine. Has 1/4 pitch chain and you must keep filling the oiler. Also keep the chain adjusted! Go for it they are not that expensive.

El Hombre · May 17, 2016

(quoted from post at 17:45:34 05/17/16) Two neighbors have them. They are a nice little toy and do work. Both of them are 120 volt plug in. Remember it is NOT a full size saw just a toy and you will be fine. Has 1/4 pitch chain and you must keep filling the oiler. Also keep the chain adjusted! Go for it they are not that expensive.

The OP is referring to a 3 foot length of saw chain attached to 25 foot lengths of rope. You throw one end over the branch, then grab the other rope and alternately pull each rope a couple of feet until the cut makes the branch break.

It's not a 'pole saw'...

Dr. Walt · May 17, 2016

Bob:

Might be cheaper & safer in the long run to have a professional arborist come and trim the tree. Think of all the possibilities of what could happen if something goes wrong (ie: branch falls somewhere other than where you wanted it to) . How good is your Insurance?

BTDT!

Doc

Gene Davis (Ga.) · May 17, 2016

I have one and used it one time. That was enough for me. The bad thing about using it is that you cannot make an under cut on bottom of the limb you want to cut. You need two people to use it safely. One on each end of the rope and standing away from the limb's path of fall. The thing stayed hung up most of the time. Cutting a limb this way caused the limb to break when it was halfway sawed through and left a real long strip of wood and bark holding the limb till it finally tore off. Left a bad looking mess. I threw it on a shelf and left it there.

High limb rope saw - any good?

Bob - MI

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johndeere720GA

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jeffcat

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El Hombre

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Dr. Walt

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Gene Davis (Ga.)

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