Chainsaw blade length needed?

Harry Bloomfield

Harry Bloomfield

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I had a small tree come down over the weekend, small as in around 30 foot and spindly at the top, but quite thick at the base, maybe 18" at its narrow dimension but oval. I have managed to cut much of the upper part off, but I know neither of my bow saws will be able to tackle the thick base. Do I need a 18" chain saw to tackle an 18" thick trunk, laid on the ground?
 
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Harry Bloomfield said:
I had a small tree come down over the weekend, small as in around 30 foot and spindly at the top, but quite thick at the base, maybe 18" at its narrow dimension but oval. I have managed to cut much of the upper part off, but I know neither of my bow saws will be able to tackle the thick base. Do I need a 18" chain saw to tackle an 18" thick trunk, laid on the ground?
Click to expand...

No, but it would make it easier, will also be safer to cut off the ground.
 
When a tree is standing, you can cut a tree twice as thick as the usable length of the blade, because you can cut from both sides. That is not an option when the tree is on the ground.

I had a 30' oak tree fall in my garden a few years ago. It was c. 2' thick near the ground and c. 18" near the top. I have a 12" bar on my chainsaw (so c. 10.5" usable) and that was not enough to get easily cut through any of it. I bought a 14" bar which helped and also a log lifter which was excellent for raising this off the ground.

This was on quite soft ground so it was not really possible to jack the tree up and the garden is on a steep slope so when the trunk was moved at all it tended to slide down hill.

Chainsaws are dangerous things. Please be very careful. I spent more money on PPE than I did on the chainsaw.
 
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lostinthelight said:
I hope this is a saw your hiring to ring the tree because if buying, a 20” bar is way too much to handle for day to day use?
Click to expand...

No, I have bought one. I rang few hire places and none hired them. 20" is not a particularly big, rather it is the size suggested for the size of tree trunk I need to carve up. It arrives tomorrow, according the the tracking system. I understand smaller blades can be fitted.
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
No, I have bought one. I rang few hire places and none hired them. 20" is not a particularly big, rather it is the size suggested for the size of tree trunk I need to carve up. It arrives tomorrow, according the the tracking system. I understand smaller blades can be fitted.
Click to expand...

Err... I feel uneasy about this, a 20" blade is quite large, and the chainsaw must be capable of safely driving it. Also as mentioned are you up to it? Have you got PPE?
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
No, I have bought one. I rang few hire places and none hired them. 20" is not a particularly big, rather it is the size suggested for the size of tree trunk I need to carve up. It arrives tomorrow, according the the tracking system. I understand smaller blades can be fitted.
Click to expand...
For home use 20” would be regarded as pretty darn big, the most popular size would be 12 to 15 inch and at a stretch 18. I am guessing the saw youve bought will be Chinese unless your shelling out megga bucks for something well branded so is likely to be fairly heavy?
BTW, I often ring trees with a bar 3” shorter than its diameter but that comes with experience

MOD: Moved to tools and materials, for potential safety issues.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So long as you can buy the bar you can fit it to any saw . However a small saw with a big bar will stall continuously which may have safety implications as you constantly have to tug it free. A short bar in a powerful saw is common enough.
I'm happy to note hire firms don't offer these machines!
John :)
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
20" is not a particularly big, rather it is the size suggested for the size of tree trunk
Click to expand...

Says who? 20" is huge. My chainsaw will only support a 12" or 14" bar. But that is no problem for me as a 14" bar will be okay for trees as thick as I, or you, will be dealing with.

As @EddieM asked, do you have PPE?
 
If it's a DIY-grade chainsaw they usually come with a guidebar far too big for the power of the saw.

You could cut a circa 18" diameter log with a 12" or whatever guidebar, just cut from both sides.
Oh and the actual cutting length is a good few inches shorter than the guidebar size
 
A quick update.....

The chainsaw I ordered turned up last Friday and yes, it was a cheap and cheerful Chinese one. No point investing a large sum, just to deal with a very occasional tree. I'm home alone at the moment, so I have waited to test it, until I could arrange some help -which appeared today.

The saw had a couple of issues - The air filter had been crushed in the fitting and the spark plug cap wasn't making contact with the plug. It was also lacking a means to jam the throttle part open, for starting - it was a matter of opening the throttle and wedging it open with my toe, whilst I yanked the cord to turn it over. The seller is posting out a replacement air filter.

It was all chopped up into easily manageable pieces, in a leisurely 45 minutes. I was a little timid of it at first, until I got the feel of it, I even deliberately tried to provoke a dreaded 'kick-back' and couldn't. The 20" saw I found to be essential at the base, it would have taken much longer with a shorter saw and I had no problem handling it, but all was on the ground.
 
Be safe with it, Harry!
I'm surprised there isn't some means, usually connected with the choke, that can hold the throttle open for starting......absolutely essential!
I get quite a lot of clutch and oil pump failures with these, but happily GHS Ltd comes to my rescue. They are also prone to screws slackening by themselves.
A shorter saw will normally do - providing you can roll the log on the ground!
John :)
 
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