Stick with a handsaw or go for a pole saw for those tall live oaks?

I split my crews between two jobs last month in Savannah, GA. One team used a Silky Zubat handsaw for a 40 foot live oak cleanup, the other used a Stihl pole saw for the same kind of work on a different property. The handsaw crew got cleaner cuts but took twice as long, and the pole saw team got it done quick but left some jagged edges near the trunk. Which do you guys lean on for big canopy work when reach is an issue?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker18314d ago

Ngl, I gotta push back on that. A handsaw on a 40 foot oak sounds like a nightmare for anyone who's not part mountain goat. I'd rather take a slightly rough cut from a pole saw than risk someone's balance or messing up the tree from a bad hand cut at that height.

casey68214d ago

Got a buddy who used to manage a tree crew down in Brunswick, and he swore by the handsaw for anything under 50 feet. Told me a story about a big limb that snapped back on a pole saw guy and knocked him clean off the ladder. Broke his ankle in three places. He never touched a pole saw again after that, just went straight to climbing with a Zubat. But then he also had this one job where a customer stood there timing him with a stopwatch, literally tapping his foot, because he was taking too long on a persimmon tree. Some folks just want it done fast no matter what the cut looks like.