Benefit of a 20' pole saw?

[flushcut]

Cutting from ladders is a big Sure fire way to end up on youtube.

 

[Limbrat]

 

[MasterBlaster]

They have their place - I've cut from ladders BUT...

I was tied in, so was the ladder and I was cutting small stuff.

 

[rfwoody]

Glad you got to try it finally.

Sharpness...this shouldn't really be a problem, those Silky blades are sharp as buggery...sometimes when the poles are fully extended and you are cutting up high, there isn't quite enough weight up at the head bearing down to cut deeply on each stroke, and there is only so much pressure you can add from the bottom by levering. Yes, sometimes it takes a while.

Defective...all the parts are removable, if you are game, try taking the button assembly out and checking it and the corresponding holes. If not, take it back where you bought it and ask for a replacement?

$300...only you can decide if you got value for money.

Thanks Bermy.
So you say my description of the sharpness/dullness doesn't seem to indicate a problem with the saw?

 

[rfwoody]

Thanks everyone for your comments about cutting from a stepladder in the bed of my truck.

Does it matter that I didn't go higher than the 2nd step?

 

[rfwoody]

... not trying to argue or be a smart a** .... just trying to determine boundaries of safe practices. Thanks!

 

[MasterBlaster]

It's all good, brother.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

See that : you yank a 20' lever, over head, often with the arms fully extended, eventually fighting a pinch or the wood coming loose. For that, you stand on a 4" wide area with nothing valuable to catch or step on if you loose your balance.
Sure the second step is less dangerous than the last one, just because the device has a better stability itself low loaded. But still, you don't have anything to save you if you have to make an unexpected move. Putting back and low one foot may not suffice to recover your balance (if you can) and you are likely to trip against the bed's sides, then fall (backward) on the ground or on some surrounding thing, plastic, wood or steel.
Oh, and then comes down the falling limb which seems to like sliding along the pole in this situation.
Bad day...

For the sharpness of the blade, even brand new, you can put a lot of time in a cut as Bermy said.
If the pole is horizontal, the limb too and you cut perpendicularly in an area where the fibers are straight, then the blade cuts as fast as possible. A 6" limb begins to become a serious one though.
If the pole is vertical or worse subvertical, the only pressure on the blade to sink in the wood is from your arms, which is nearly nothing with the 20' lever and the pole's wobble. And that's really nothing if your are at max reach. Add to that a pretty upward limb and you have to cut the fibers with a very acute angle, the teeth aren't designed for that. Lastly, if the access is tricky, the collar and its funny fibers can be the onliest point of the limb to cut in. Then good luck !
It's no more five minutes but more like half of an hour, or more. You want to cry, call Mommy and go home.

 

[squisher]

Thanks everyone for your comments about cutting from a stepladder in the bed of my truck.

Does it matter that I didn't go higher than the 2nd step?

No. It is a maneuver you just shouldn't do. Most well equipped tree companies will have a orchard ladder or two and occasionally use them from the ground. Stepladder is not a tool for treework.

 

[pantheraba]

I HEARD an ankle break once when a girl took an 8 inch fall...eight inches.

You got away with it this time...that's how I see it. You got some experienced folks to share their take on it...learn from other's mistakes or from your own. It hurts less to learn from the other guy's mistakes.

 

[SkwerI]

I've spent my entire career poking fun at the 'Ladder High Tree Service' guys and using them as an example of how not to do things. But it is simply lack of knowledge and experience. People who don't know any better will think using a stepladder and a polesaw is a mighty fine way to cut a high limb. The point is that they don't know better.

I honestly hope you find a better way to make a few extra dollars and keep yourself busy in your retirement years. The direction you're going will likely result in a very short career.

 

[SeanKroll]

Thanks everyone for your comments about cutting from a stepladder in the bed of my truck.

Does it matter that I didn't go higher than the 2nd step?

Only if you care about having a catheter bag.

 

[pantheraba]

A big point here, Robert, is that when doing anything that has danger involved you have to be able to learn to "see" the what-if's of possible scenarios...then decide if you have the means to deal with the what-if's.

Most important is awareness...being aware of the possible dangers gives you the option to plan for that problem.

Then, do you have the physical fitness, agility, skill, etc. to employ what is necessary to mitigate the dangers. Treework requires agility, dexterity and mobility...on both a physical level and mental level.

I hope you sensed (at the time you did it) how precarious being on a ladder handling a 20' pole saw is. If it did not seem dangerous to you then, you need to seriously re-think how involved you want to be working "at height" (up in the trees) versus working them from the ground (dirt...not a ladder). I have had unexpected situations develop in a tree...situations I did not foresee...I am sure all of us have.

Hindsight was a shamer...if I had taken more time to think it out I might have done something differently. Hurrying is often the enemy...it takes discipline to slow down and study, not just rush in. If something niggles at your mind as "hmmm, something may not be just right..." you need to figure out what the little voice sees that you are ignoring/not seeing. If that little voice is not always talking to you (or you have not learned to hear it yet) it's time to get in touch with the little one.

Most of us are not as adept physically as in our 30's and 40's. Be careful out there.

 

[pantheraba]

Then, do you have the physical fitness, agility, skill, etc. to employ what is necessary to mitigate the dangers. Treework requires agility, dexterity and mobility...on both a physical level and mental level.

Watch videos of August and RegC and try to notice how often they make a cut and then subtly adjust their position to accommodate where the gravity and rigging made the cut piece go. They pre-plan their moves and do a dance in the trees sometimes to stay out of danger. It has to some degree for them probably become instinctive...but it is PLANNED on some level.

Masters of movement at work...cool to see.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Great expression of a very, very important to oneself concept.

Edit - replying to post #92

 

[CurSedVoyce]

My daughter broke her arm falling off the second step on a small ladder. Just stepped off wrong. And not on the bed of a truck.
There are proper ways to use ladders in tree work. Burnham has some great pics of ladders strapped to a single stem. I use orchard ladders when pruning small trees. I have also suffered more ankle injuries from said ladder, just stepping off wrong or a collapsing gopher hole.
I have used extension ladders, tied off, for access in trees that have been topped and have no proper tie in.
But I can truly say I prefer a good tie in and rope. Safer practice.
I would not use a tractor loader bucket either, just some advise.
There is a brutal video on you tube about a guy that accesses a tree with a ladder, ties off a limb and cuts from a crotch, only to have the limb swing in, butt first and crush his leg.
So many things can bite you in the ass doing trees. Adding things like ladders, truck beds, lack of ppe, can accelerate the curve towards a disaster that can cause you great harm. Hard to put food on the table when you're confined to a bed with broken shat.
We only speak to you out of concern as would a parent would to a fledgling. A lot of years experience here has a lot of good things offered to intellectually consider.

 

[pantheraba]

Well put, Stephen.

I broke an ankle once stepping off a cross tie...onto an asphalt parking lot at the kids' school. Didn't realize there was a pot hole with a rock in it...the six inch step to that rock and the roll of my ankle when it hit the rock was brutal. I heard a "pop"....was unconscious from the pain before I hit the ground. I woke up on the ground by by truck. Drove myself home to drop the kids off then drove to the hospital.

Broken shat sucks.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Try a crushing injury! You'll be begging for some broken bones!

So to speak...

 

[rfwoody]

wow. embarrassed, but that is why I come here for the real medicine.

Thanks All for taking the time to reply and share your knowledge and experience.

still, on the pole saw sharpness, some of the cuts were only 10 or 12 feet pole saw length at 45 degree angle or so and still seemed like it took too much time/strokes -- and that is with applying some pressure downward for part of the time. ... so does it still sound within reason for sharpness of the saw?

 

[SeanKroll]

Some down pressure for part of the time?

Silkies are mad sharp.


Why did you not climb into the tree and do some work?




Did the truck bed-ladder situation not raise any alarm bells? Did the truck not move around?


Perhaps you had such a hard time cutting because you were doing it youtube-disaster style.

 

[SkwerI]

Different types of wood cut differently. Elm and other similar hardwoods will be hard to cut no matter what, and can make a brand new blade seem dull.

 

[rfwoody]

Some down pressure for part of the time?

Silkies are mad sharp.


Why did you not climb into the tree and do some work?




Did the truck bed-ladder situation not raise any alarm bells? Did the truck not move around?


Perhaps you had such a hard time cutting because you were doing it youtube-disaster style.

Different types of wood cut differently. Elm and other similar hardwoods will be hard to cut no matter what, and can make a brand new blade seem dull.

Sean,

Thanks for the great feedback!

Actually the truck bed didn't move (perceptively) - it's pretty solid (or else broken suspension).

No, standing on the 2nd rung in the truck bed did not raise any alarm bells....
....but when I thought about going to the 3rd rung that did raise alarm bells and I did not do it.
.... except one time, which I describe in the thread I just created to document this removal.

HOWEVER... your point is still well taken!!

As for climbing..... I am planning on ordering the climbing kit sometime during Treestuff's 17% off sale.

I can see how the harness, ropes, and spurs would have made this a lot better, even if I never got more than 10 feet off the ground in the tree.

Brian, Thanks!

This tree was a Silver Maple, which seems to be weird sort of wood.
Not the hardest of woods by any means, but maybe the grain is irregular to inhibit the cutting some(?)... I don't know.

 

[rfwoody]

... because you were doing it youtube-disaster style.

ouch. thanks for the vivid word picture!

 

[Tree09]

With a dead dried out tree, yeah, everything cuts slower. A pole saw is used to trim the very tips of branches where you can't/too slow to climb out there, or to drop a hanger or something like that a couple times a year. We told you that standing in a truck bed isn't an acceptable way to do this work, so you ignored us and then went even further by adding a step ladder to it. You charged money from someone without having a clue of how to do the work, risked injury to yourself on someone else's property, and you ignored the advice of renting a lift to at least attempt to look the part. While you may think that your impending injury or worse only affects you, you could not be further from the truth. Your family and friends will suffer, as would the homeowner who you were working for, even the little kid across the street that watched it happen. You will become a statistic, which is then used to compile insurance rates, so everyone here would indirectly pay for it as well. I don't know what you did in the city for a profession, but in this industry thinking outside the box and doing shit the wrong way WILL kill you, not if it's when. I strongly urge you use this forum as a guide to learn this trade, on your own time and dime, and then if you want down the road, go do the work for hire. If you aren't willing to do that, please just stick to firewood or something. I wish you the best, but ignoring people who are trying to help you and keep you alive and safe is not going to get you ahead in this game, it will ruin everything you have worked a lifetime for in an instant.

 

[Bermy]

See that : you yank a 20' lever, over head, often with the arms fully extended, eventually fighting a pinch or the wood coming loose. For that, you stand on a 4" wide area with nothing valuable to catch or step on if you loose your balance.
Sure the second step is less dangerous than the last one, just because the device has a better stability itself low loaded. But still, you don't have anything to save you if you have to make an unexpected move. Putting back and low one foot may not suffice to recover your balance (if you can) and you are likely to trip against the bed's sides, then fall (backward) on the ground or on some surrounding thing, plastic, wood or steel.
Oh, and then comes down the falling limb which seems to like sliding along the pole in this situation.
Bad day...

For the sharpness of the blade, even brand new, you can put a lot of time in a cut as Bermy said.
If the pole is horizontal, the limb too and you cut perpendicularly in an area where the fibers are straight, then the blade cuts as fast as possible. A 6" limb begins to become a serious one though.
If the pole is vertical or worse subvertical, the only pressure on the blade to sink in the wood is from your arms, which is nearly nothing with the 20' lever and the pole's wobble. And that's really nothing if your are at max reach. Add to that a pretty upward limb and you have to cut the fibers with a very acute angle, the teeth aren't designed for that. Lastly, if the access is tricky, the collar and its funny fibers can be the onliest point of the limb to cut in. Then good luck !
It's no more five minutes but more like half of an hour, or more. You want to cry, call Mommy and go home.

^^^Everything Marc said, especially the last line ROFL!!

I think Woody is taking in all of our comments!
As for the Silky, yes some trees will gum up the teeth more than others, and that all important angle is, well, important! Some cuts will go faster than others. If that blade is brand new and a Silky...it's not the blade's fault