FredAt writes:

John McGaw;945925 Wrote:
On 12/28/2011 11:06 PM, FredAt wrote:-
Hello All,

I need to cut four small hazelnut trees growing on an embankment near
my
house. From what I can judge they are around 2-3m in height and the
thickest branches are around 30-40mm in diameter.

I have never done this kind of thing before and had even contemplated
the risky idea of climbing on to the embankment to cut them! Then I
saw
a pole saw in my local hardware store by accident and that set me on
the
right track.

However, I still remain a novice here. The choice of pole saws
appears
bewildering. There are manual ones with blades that look absolutely
deadly, corded and corded electric versions as well as petrol driven
ones (which I would not want to use). The cheapest manual saws are
quite cheap (the right side of £50) and the cheapest electric ones are
not that much more expensive.

What are the dos and donts that I need to be aware of here? Do manual
saws really work or is it worth spending a bit more to avoid the grunt
work and danger and get an electric one instead? If so, what are the
features to look for?

As you can see - a novice. Any help would be much appreciated.



-
It is not clear whether your intent is to cut down the trees in question

entirely or simply to prune them. Either way, if these trees are the
sole
reason for buying the saw then I'd skip the purchase entirely and pay
someone to whack them. Surely there is someone in your vicinity with the

requisite skills (minimal) and the desire for a quick fifty quid (great)

willing to put in the hour's work.

Of course if your saw need is driven by other trimming jobs and these
are
not numerous and the trees are not large then a high-quality manual pole

saw will probably suffice. I've been using a Fiskars extendible
saw/pruner
for more than ten years now with good results. The one I have is like
this

'12 ft. Tree Pruner / Yard and Garden / Products | Fiskars'
(http://tinyurl.com/cjltfyn)

but it appears that it may not be sold in the UK (safety regulations?)
or
maybe I'm simply misreading their website. The blade is wicked sharp and

the lopper works well up to its capacity. In any case something similar

from another maker would probably serve as well.

Thank you for the tip. I live in Luxembourg so the chances of getting
someone to do the job for me for 50 quid are next to negligible.
Multiply that by 5 and maybe... . That apart the trees are doing a
great job of stablizing the embankment so I want to leave them and just
prune them down. I had the job done 3 years ago when I had the house
built so I guess I need to repeat it on a 3 year cycle which is why I
thought of buying my own.

I have found Fiskars pole saws in my local DIY stores. Is it really
feasible to hold and manipulate a pole that is 2+m long?

It's not easy. Far from it.
For trimming trees there's nothing as easy to use as a lopper:

http://tinyurl.com/c4u5tkk

I've seen tree guys use one of these:

http://tinyurl.com/bpnht96

The one pictured has a 12ft reach (3.6 meters).

Good idea to leave the tree. Pruning will make it stronger.

--
Dan Espen