Chainsaw advice...

[christianbeccy]

I'd like to buy a chainsaw, any advice on what to go for? It's for DIY garden maintenance and felling a few trees that are within my capability. I have some trees that are already down that need chopping up.

I'd consider new or second hand, I just want the best I can get for a reasonable budget.

 

[Stivino]

How many trees do you have to fell, what kind of trees are they, what size are they and what do you intend on doing with the end product?

 

[christianbeccy]

How many trees do you have to fell, what kind of trees are they, what size are they and what do you intend on doing with the end product?

I have a lot of branches that have been removed from the trees over the years and just piled up, probably up to about 40-50mm thick in places. Some dead branches that I'd like to remove from existing trees of similar sizes. Other than that it's clearing saplings and other small stuff that's possible to do with a handsaw, just a lot more onerous.

There are a couple of larger trunks laying around maybe 150-200mm diameter that I'd like to turn into more management pieces.

My idea is that what I would take me a day with a handsaw could be done in a couple of hours with something mechanised, even if it can't do everything I might need. A specialist will have to come in here sooner or later as I have a 100+ft ivy-engulfed Pine that needs to be contemplated.

 

[Stivino]

Leave the Pine tree for the specialist and get yourself a decent bow saw for £15.
You'll do it in a couple of hours, have a saw that you'll be able to use again and save £100.

 

[StephenOak]

I have a large garden (by urban standards) with plenty of mature trees, quite a lot of which are self propagated laurel & holly. So I have a chainsaw, but I only use it for the larger items. If I am cutting through a branch / trunk that is c. 4" (100mm) or less I would use a handsaw.

BTW, 40-50mm is in lopper territory rather than saw, Did you mean that?

If you are only going to use it a few times a chainsaw seems a poor investment. It will cost at least the £100 that @Stivino mentioned (I paid more than that), plus to use a chainsaw safely you need to spend a lot on PPE; gloves, mask, ear-defenders, boots, trousers.

Where I would disagree with @Stivino is that I think you need to spend more than £15 and that a bow saw may well not be the best option. I have (the older version of) this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GHDMV4M/
plus handles of various lengths (sold separately) and it is better than any bow saw I have ever used.

Other people have talked about Silky saws in similar terms. I have never used one so I can't comment.

 

[Burnerman]

Does anyone think a demolition reciprocating electric saw could be more suitable for Christian here?
If not, welcome to the most dangerous and unforgiving tool in the world
John

 

[EddieM]

You should be more concerned about the PPE required for chainsaw use, that will be significantly more expensive than the saw. Add to that the chainsaw usage course you should attend.

 

[Stivino]

Does anyone think a demolition reciprocating electric saw could be more suitable for Christian here?
If not, welcome to the most dangerous and unforgiving tool in the world
John

As I see it, there's nothing in the garden that warrants the purchase of a chainsaw and accessories. It would only be used for an hour or two then it would go in the cupboard under the stairs beside the foot spa and the breadmaker.

 

[StephenOak]

Does anyone think a demolition reciprocating electric saw could be more suitable for Christian here?

Yes indeed. I have one and have used it on trees when I could not get my chainsaw to work. For thin things, especially on a sawhorse, it will be fine. I found it a bit awkward and slow when cutting down trees that were c. 6" thick.

However for things the size that the OP is referring to I would probably use a hand saw. It all depends what a lot of branches means. I would do 20 by hand but for 200 I would use a power tool.

BTW, I got my chainsaw to work with help from someone who uses the sobriquet Burnerman!

As I see it, there's nothing in the garden that warrants the purchase of a chainsaw and accessories.

In your garden maybe, not all gardens are the same.

The last tree I cut down is oval and roughly 8" by 6". A few years ago a dead oak fell which was 24-18" thick and 30' long and I had to cut that up. I would not want to tackle either of them with hand tools.

 

[Stivino]

In HIS garden, he decribed what he has to do.

 

[cdbe]

I have an electric chainsaw, it's an £65 Aldi special (Florabest?? with an Oregon bar/chain), but it's the only tool I've ever bought from Aldi that has lasted more than a few weeks/months - I've had it 10 years and it's been used regularly by the family for small trees and log cutting and felling the odd proper tree (18").
Having said that, if I can't be bothered dragging it out for smaller stuff I will use the recip saw or even the jigsaw with a 100mm rough cut blade.

 

[christianbeccy]

Thanks everyone. I'll abandon the chainsaw idea, I'm glad I asked here before making the jump. I have a fairly aggressive 'Roughneck' Bow Saw that I managed to fairly easily remove a circa 100mm branch from a Mulberry yesterday.

I'm just being a bit lazy. I have an area of my newly acquired garden that probably measures about 1/3 acre, maybe 1/2 acre that is woodland and has been used to abandon branches removed and fallen from trees over the years. There is a hefty pile of branches that need processing and getting rid of. I have a set of small 'ish loppers that I've been using to remove the smaller branches from stuff, up to about 20mm, I might invest in a better set. I think my plan will be to lop what can be lopped, handsaw where possible, then put the other stuff through my circular saw to make it 'incinerator size'

Laborious yes, but I do have some time on my hands!

I'm struggling with when and how to burn stuff too. I don't really have a safe clear area big enough for a bonfire (what isn't woodland is beautifully landscaped), so am working with two 50-gallon drum incinerators. Then I have to balance when I can light them so as not to annoy the neighbours, but also conscious of smoking the roosting birds out of the trees. The woes of a big garden!!

 

[blup]

The Makita electric chainsaw range is good, comes with a low kickback chain, but potentially dangerous tool.

I have just taken down 8" limbs of an overgrown cherry tree with the Makita cordless reciprocating saw. Much safer but can kick back if pinched in the cut

Blup

 

[lostinthelight]

May not be the right time given the current situation but if firewood size , someone may be glad of if advertised Foc.

 

[StephenOak]

There is a hefty pile of branches that need processing and getting rid of

A few thoughts:

1. Burnable wood you may well be able to simply give away. Ask your neighbours or try posting on a local reuse group, the biggest UK one is Freegle, https://www.ilovefreegle.org/

You may well find someone willing and able to take a load (multiple loads) of the wood as is, i.e. w/o you cutting it.

AFAIUI all the reuse group are suspended at the moment but will accept offer messages and release them when the lock-down is over.

2. Really rotten wood may be usable as soil conditioning. I have c. 1/3 acre with mature trees & shrubs and I have given loads of leaves to people who want to dig them into clay soil. I found them (actually I responded to their want messages) on my local reuse group.

3. My council (and I believe most others) has a green waste part at the tip and accepts wood. Wood too rotten for 1 but not rotten enough for 2.

You may need to do some cutting to make the lengths manageable, but, say, cutting an 8' piece into two 4' pieces is much easier than cutting it into 1' lengths.