On Jun 2, 8:13*pm, "David Hare-Scott" wrote:
Tone70 wrote:
Hello there,
A group of friends and I have been gradually chopping down some
Cypress trees in my garden under instruction from my insurance
company as they're causing subsidence in my house. We've been
battling away with bow saws and even a hack saw and progress seems
slow. From the start I was looking to get them down extremely cheaply
and not involve expensive tree fellers costing me hundreds of pounds
which I can ill afford. Chainsaws were mentioned but i'm looking for
a more manual angle. The bow saws we have seem to take forever to
slice through the bark, could anyone recommend something that could
get the job done quicker, bearing in mind nothing electrical! Someone
at work mentioned a 'tree saw' which is tougher than a bow saw, but I
can't seem to find this tool. Would an axe do the trick? Diesel in
the bark (drastic last resort if bow saw's the only option!)? Any
tool that can slice through the bark quicker than a bow saw and get
the job done in half the time would be exceedingly handy. Any ideas?
Cheers for your help!

I am concerned that you seem to have little or no idea about this project
and that you may do harm to your house or yourself. *How tall are these
trees? *How many of them? *How thick is the heaviest trunk?

Felling large trees near a house is NOT something to take on if you know so
little that you would use a hacksaw.

No kidding. During my undergrad days I worked summers for the US
Forest Service. This is simple stuff to learn, but difficult to put
into practice. I also don't know what size trees we're talking about,
but even a little one can kill you if it lands on your head. And even
using an axe, if the tree is rotten inside it can split right up the
middle- seen it happen. If you're lucky, half the trunk won't pop off
your cut and bash your brains out.

Another happy thought- he should be checking the upper stories of the
trees for widow-makers...loose or dead branches that can be dislodged
by the vibrations of ax or saw on the trunk. They fall down right
alongside the trunk, and inevitably on the side where you're standing.
There's a reason people call them that, you know...

No, I would definitely not recommend putting a chainsaw into Tone70's
hands.

Someone already mentioned a two-man saw. Here's one:

http://www.jackscountrystore.co/512foottwo-mansaw.aspx

But that's misleading. You need two people on the saw and one person
as a spotter- you _always_ have a spotter along, doing nothing but
watching the tree, ready to yell when something bad happens. And if
you cut down enough trees, something bad eventually WILL happen.

Chris


A bowsaw about 70cm long with teeth about 9 mm will cut quite large branches
with a person on each end provided it is sharp (buy a new blade if it isn't)
and the two know how to cooperate and how to not jam the blade. *Hiring a
chainsaw would be a cost effective option but you need somebody who knows
how to use it, also you need safety gear but that ought to be supplied with
the saw. *A clumsy tyro can cut off their foot as easily as the tree branch.
I fear an accident in the making.

David