Advice on top handle saws

[spudulike]

Pole saw - great idea, the sharp end is a long way away - keep you away from Greek hospitals:thumbup:

[goodoldboy]

here in my part Spain there are quit a lot of olive & almond trees and also lots of accidents with local falling out of trees with chainsaws! if you really need to prune with a chainsaw use a small back handled chainsaw but not a stepladder use a short extension, tie it on to the tree & use a harness - work from the ladder & be very careful. I must add that without training or experience this is very risky - try it with hand tools if you can ,buy a decent pole saw (silky for example) loppers ect.

[lorenz]

Thanks for these comments.

I've thought of a pole saw but none of the locals use them & I've spoken to ex pats who live there & they have never seen them in use (the grove is in Messinia in the Pelopponese).

In general the branches I'd be pruning wouldn't be thicker than 6 inches & would usually be closer to 2 but as one post says; olive wood is very hard. At the moment we're generally using hand saws but on the last harvest we had help from a mate who brought his TH saw & it made life a lot easier.

PS. The only way we managed to afford the grove was by making savings in avery other part of our life!

[JSFGreig]

start a trend and get a pole saw i know stihl and tanaka(probably others) make them with interchangeable heads i.e chainsaw, hedge trimmer, strimmer all of which could be handy if youv'e got a big grove to look after?

[Rupe]

Top handled saws are only extremely dangerous in the UK. They are fine anywhere else in the world! Nothing is dangerous in greece apart from sunstroke! Last time I was there some Albanians were cutting conifer trees out of the groves below our villa, and generall makign a lot of noise while I was trying to sleep by the pool. No ppe, just shorts and flip flops, no worries! They worked hard all day and couldn't believe it when I offered them water and a beer at the end of the day!

 

People who shouldn't be using machinery are dangerous.

[Rupe]

Pole saw would be a good idea though!

[Old Mill Tree Care]

Don't buy any top handled chainsaw, you'll shred your left forearm. Step ladders are also dangerous, you'll break your ankle a mile from the house.

Buy a petrol pole saw and don't buy it here as you can't take petrol powered tools on aircraft, even if they are still in the manufacturers box.

Buy a good brand in Greece from a local dealer as he'll stock spares and can deal with repairs.

DON'T go cheap. Even with occasional use it will fall apart, be overly heavy, un-ergonomical to use and have terrible vibration.

Please use ear and eye protection.

[Mike Hill]

Don't buy any top handled chainsaw, you'll shred your left forearm. Step ladders are also dangerous, you'll break your ankle a mile from the house.

Buy a petrol pole saw and don't buy it here as you can't take petrol powered tools on aircraft, even if they are still in the manufacturers box.

Buy a good brand in Greece from a local dealer as he'll stock spares and can deal with repairs.

DON'T go cheap. Even with occasional use it will fall apart, be overly heavy, un-ergonomical to use and have terrible vibration.

Please use ear and eye protection.

 

I've never had a problem with taking Saws on Aircraft,Done it a few times from the UK now.Only once was the Saw new,as long as the Tanks are empty and clean they never had a problem with it.

[Roni Macdonald]

Polesaws are not particularly good for proper pruning due to the angle and a sharp chain is far more important than power. If a good handsaw is not enough then an Echo 2600 or a Zenoah 2500, properly maintained are great light saws for small diameter pruning.

[lorenz]

I'm still looking and apppreciate all the advice. Does anybody have an opinion on the Stihl 009. I've read reviews that say it's great & others that say it has no power.

For the record, we have approximately 75 trees which are up to 5 metres tall. The majority of the pruning work is on the inner branches - ie to open the tree into a "wineglass" shape. I have a saw for cutting firewood so this is only for the pruning work.