Ed Blough
03-17-2006, 4:13 PM
I have always owned a gas chain saw but lately I haven't been using it, so it is near impossible to start. About 4 years ago I bought the $39 14 inch electric one at Home Depot. I loved and quickly learned you have to have a large extension cord 12 gauge or bigger.
I had a 25 year old Camphor tree in my yard that had to be 25-30 feet tall with a canopy about 50 feet in diameter. The trunk 2 feet above the ground was 71 inches in circumference. About 5 feet above the ground the trunk forked into 4 large branches two were 11 inches in diameter, one was 12 inches and the other 13 inches. This was a big tree. I was going to rent a 18-20 inch gas saw to cut the tree down.
I decided to tie into it with my electric. I'm amazed it cut the tree without a wimper. I used 5 tanks of chain oil and the motor never got hot. I cut the tree into pieces I could load into my truck to take to the dump. So far I have hauled about 2 tons and have about one to two tons left to haul. However it is all cut and ready to be hauled. I did it all myself in about 6 hours with a $39 electric chain saw.
Even cutting the trunk was easy. I cut each of the four forks on at a time and cut everything up as I went. After I hauling all the brush and the wood stacked to go I figured I had done everything I could with my saw. I going to rent a gas saw for the trunk but after doing so well on the rest of the tree I figured why not try it. I knew the piece would be heavy so I cut it at about the level of my tail gate the tree was on a little mound. In 20 minutes I had the trunk rolled of the stump and into my truck. Remember it was 71 inches in circumference and 23 inches across one way and 20 the other. Took it to the dump that one piece weighted 800 lbs.
Don't tell me electric is only for trimming.
The sad thing was that with all the forks and crotch it would have been great for turning but I couldn't get anyone interested, I even made two calls to the local turning club which resulted in no one even looking at it. I guess there is plenty of wood for turning these days.
EdB
I had a 25 year old Camphor tree in my yard that had to be 25-30 feet tall with a canopy about 50 feet in diameter. The trunk 2 feet above the ground was 71 inches in circumference. About 5 feet above the ground the trunk forked into 4 large branches two were 11 inches in diameter, one was 12 inches and the other 13 inches. This was a big tree. I was going to rent a 18-20 inch gas saw to cut the tree down.
I decided to tie into it with my electric. I'm amazed it cut the tree without a wimper. I used 5 tanks of chain oil and the motor never got hot. I cut the tree into pieces I could load into my truck to take to the dump. So far I have hauled about 2 tons and have about one to two tons left to haul. However it is all cut and ready to be hauled. I did it all myself in about 6 hours with a $39 electric chain saw.
Even cutting the trunk was easy. I cut each of the four forks on at a time and cut everything up as I went. After I hauling all the brush and the wood stacked to go I figured I had done everything I could with my saw. I going to rent a gas saw for the trunk but after doing so well on the rest of the tree I figured why not try it. I knew the piece would be heavy so I cut it at about the level of my tail gate the tree was on a little mound. In 20 minutes I had the trunk rolled of the stump and into my truck. Remember it was 71 inches in circumference and 23 inches across one way and 20 the other. Took it to the dump that one piece weighted 800 lbs.
Don't tell me electric is only for trimming.
The sad thing was that with all the forks and crotch it would have been great for turning but I couldn't get anyone interested, I even made two calls to the local turning club which resulted in no one even looking at it. I guess there is plenty of wood for turning these days.
EdB