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Thread: Pole Pruners

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Los Angeles, California
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    961

    Pole Pruners

    I feel silly posting this question here, but I've been to a couple suppliers and tried joining a Firefighter's Forum and can't because I'm not a firefighter. So here it goes:

    We have a summer place up in the mountains surrounded by old growth pine trees, many of which are 200'+ tall, others in the 30-75 foot range. Per the US Forest Service and our Insurer, we have to remove all branches under about 12 feet from the ground. Apparently those little branches, suckers sort of, catch fire easily, while the large main trunks are more fire resistant. We had a forest fire up there last week, a bad one, and had a couple hundred firefighters up there, using pole pruners by Stihl, a chain saw on a stick. They were too busy for me to ask, but it seems I need one of these (and one of their McLeoud rakes), and wanted to see if any homeowners have these and if so what brands.

    Stihl makes three basic professional brands, a 12' and two 18' extension type pole saws, and a fourth 9' homeowner variety which does not telescope. The homeowner type seems enough for me. Other manufacturers have battery operated versions. This isn't anything I will be using all day long, perhaps a couple hours at a time, a few times a year. So either the small homeowner Stihl or perhaps a battery operated one might be good enough. The branches I will be sawing are no larger than 4" in diameter and most are an inch or two.

    Does anyone here have a pole pruner, a chainsaw on a stick? If so, what brand and what do you like or dislike about it?

    Thanks in advance, guys.
    Regards,

    Tom

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Lebanon, TN
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    1,719
    I have the Stihl pole pruner. Haven't used it a lot, but it works fine going through 3"- 4" branches.

    Mine is an attachment and probably the short one.

    I've had it for 10+ years.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
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    I have seen ones at barn sales which are the old curved saw blade on a stick. The stick is maybe 10-20 feet long. I believe some one used to make a chainsaw version in town. you might ask a farm supply store in an area with orchards. Harbor freight use d to sell one with a two piece fiberglass pole. The blade was not good.
    For you use I would think a manual would be good enough. I am not impressed with the chainsaw chain on a rope type. My Fiskars pole pruner has an a option to attach a sawblade for larger limbs.
    Bil lD.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_3nfG6HvEE

    https://www.americantreeservicesuppl...574/category=0

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Dickinson, Texas
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    I have one of these and it doe what I want.

    https://www.homedepot.com/s/ryobi%25...2520saw?NCNI-5

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    NW Indiana
    Posts
    3,078
    I have the Stihl with my Kombi setup and it works great. The Kombi is a motor with several different attachments such as the pruner, string trimmer, cultivator, etc.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    I have the telescopic Stihl pole saw. It's really heavy to hold up in the air for long. For what you're talking about, a good pole saw, not powered, is what I'd use. They are so sharp that they take small suckers off in one stroke. Even larger limbs are cut pretty easily.

    Don't get the homeowner kind with telescopic poles. I have the pro poles, that you put together, end to end, for a long of a pole as you need. If you have much to do, it ends up being less work to use this. I have 4- 6' poles, so we can cut a limb pretty high off the ground.

    I have one very strong helper. He's 6'6", 320, and lifts weights. He's good all day with the manual pole saw, and only good for about 15 minutes with the Stihl.

    I'll try to find a link.

    Here's the type I was talking about. A number of different companies make them. For homeowner use, you don't need the high end stuff, like Silky. This seems like a reasonably priced set. I have both the saw, and a lopper, but the lopper head very rarely gets used. You can buy replacement saw blades, which run about 20 bucks off Amazon. The blade that comes with it will do what you need, without worrying about dulling it quickly.

    I would recommend to buy something like this, and not a powered one.
    https://www.treestuff.com/notch-prun...ck-change-set/
    Last edited by Tom M King; 08-13-2020 at 8:02 AM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Doylestown, PA
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    7,551
    We have the plug-in electric Harbor Freight pole saw. It works fine for us but power cord (or generator) required.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    NE Iowa
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    1,217
    As others have said, if you're going after pine branches cut cleanly at the trunk, and up to 12' or so, I wouldn't wrestle with a pole chain saw. They are heavy and tiring. A very sharp traditional pole saw pruner is a much better choice.

    Or, get yourself a 12' orchard ladder. If the trees are on reasonably accessible ground, given that it's a one time job, the utility of the orchard ladder for other things could be just the ticket. If you've never used an orchard ladder - they are absolutely amazing to have for yard maintenance and the like. The tripod base makes them easy to set up on unevent ground, and incredibly stable compared to any other kind of step ladder for outdoor work.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
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    My dad bought an orchard ladder and had problems with the third leg sinking in. It was a open tube at the bottom. He had to pound a dowel in it to fix that.
    Bil lD

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Kansas City
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    2,652
    I can tell you waving that saw on a stick around gets really tiring, just after a few minutes. I have had a couple of the <$100 Remington plug in pole saws, and works fine for me in the suburbs. But next time, I'll try the cordless. Not sure I want a live gas saw on the end of a long swinging pole, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Stihl based on experience with their regular chainsaws.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Longmont, CO
    Posts
    810
    i have and use an echo pas attachment system for string trimmer, blower, pole saw and plan on adding to that. i like the echo better than the stihl. it has never failed to start or had any issue like my stihl chainsaw. pole saws do get heavy after a while, and the reach is less than you imagine, because standing directly under a branch to reach it has exactly the consequences you imagine it has. ha. you do have to be careful to keep it from pinching the bar, i make a notch on the bottom of the branch and then go for the top. we have several fruit trees that i am battling fire blight on, and about 20 large pines and other trees around our property. i also use it for cleaning up a trunk before bucking, as its super easy to run down a tree without bending over or being in a weird position with the pole saw.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Moscow, ID
    Posts
    428
    I have a friend who just bought the Dewalt 20V pole pruner, which has a 15' length and a 12" chainsaw-type blade. If you have any other Dewalt tools that use the 20V batteries, you can get the bare tool for under $200. My friend says she loves it and that it works great. I may get one myself, but I will likely get the chainsaw first, as I need to trim a lot of branches that I can reach from the ground.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Los Angeles, California
    Posts
    961
    Interesting comment about the length of the pole. Of course, now it seems obvious, for a 10 foot branch one needs to stand back at an angle, necessitating a reach of more than 12 feet. I may have to consider getting a taller reach pole saw.
    Regards,

    Tom

  14. #14
    I've had a "Worx" corded one for several years now and it works great for my needs.

    https://www.worx.com/8-inch-electric...saw-wg310.html

    Being able to remove the head and use it as a mini chainsaw is really nice.

    Erik
    Ex-SCM and Felder rep

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    A single 6' pole will let you saw a 10' high limb pretty easily. Adding another one lets you choke up on it, and still get out of the range of the falling sawdust. You will not likely see a tree pro using any type of poles but these.

    The lopper is for cutting ends that are too whippy for the saw, like one too close to a building. The saw is the easiest to use near the trunk. The weight of the saw, and poles rests on the limb while you're cutting with it. It's not hard at all.

    I have at least four types of pole pruners, and none of the telescopic ones have been used since I bought the pro setup.

    The easiest way is with a rental lift, and a battery powered chainsaw. I did that for a couple of acres of Oak trees that we wanted a better view under, but I had rented the lift for another job. It's more trouble to move the towable lift, than to use the polesaw, for small limbs, but we had some Oak limbs up to 8". The cordless chainsaw is much easier to start, up a tree, or in a bucket.

    My sawhead is a Jameson. I found one on Amazon. I could very easily do without the lopper.
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0077S1ASO...le%20saw%20saw

    I think this is the set I bought about 25 years ago: https://www.amazon.com/Jameson-FG-6P...YRFG30XJ9NQ21G

    I could have done just fine with the cheaper set, without the multi-purchase loppers. It's listed in there somewhere.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 08-13-2020 at 5:40 PM.

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