On 03/08/2019 07:41, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Fri, 02 Aug 2019 16:36:21 -0300, chris wrote:

On Sun, 24 Feb 2019 09:00:04 +0000, Jeff Layman
wrote:

Anyone got any experience with these? There are lots available on Amazon
but there are some very poor reviews, mainly of those which really are
made of wire. There are better reviews of those made like chainsaws.

I have an old Cornus I have to dig up, and have limited access. I've cut
it down so there are only half-a-dozen trunks left; they are about 7 or
8 cm in diameter and 30 cm long (left purposely that length to help with
leverage). The main problem is that some of the roots go under a tarmac
drive. Previous experience removing a ceanothus suggests a lot of hard
work in on the way. I wondered about using a wire saw to cut through the
roots, as it should be possible to use a small trowel to dig a channel
under the roots wide enough to pass the wire saw through.


You might find the similar type of saw, made from a single-width of
chainsaw-blade-chain attached to two handles better at the sawing than
a wire saw.

This wasn't posted by me. We have an impostor here.

Even so I think they possibly make a valid point.

My instinct is that a wire saw will tend to snap the first time it snags
on a knot or stone whereas something a bit more robust will survive.

I tend to use a scaffold pole and brute force for getting roots out once
I have broken up the soil with a fork to two spade depths. Cutting roots
as a last resort with my heavy pruning sheers or if I have to with a
standard pruning saw after digging space round the root to make the cut.

Give me a lever and a fulcrum and I will move the Earth - Archimedes.
(don't get your fingers in the nip)

--
Regards,
Martin Brown