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I quit clearing a 60 foot silver maple with a chainsaw last Saturday and finished it with a handsaw, and I still can't decide if that was smart
So last Saturday I'm up in this silver maple in a backyard off Franklin Ave, about 60 feet up, and my saw keeps bogging every time I hit this one crotch where the wood turned punky. I figure it's a dull chain so I swap to a fresh one, same thing, then I start thinking the carb is acting up. After maybe 20 minutes of fighting it I just unclipped the saw and hung it, grabbed my Silky, and cut the rest of that limb by hand. Took me almost double the time but it was cleaner and I never once felt like the saw was going to kick on me. What got me is I spent like $90 on a service and two new chains over the last month chasing this same bogging issue on different jobs, and it turned out the saw was just done with that tree, not broken. I still don't know if I was being smart or just cheap and stubborn. Does anyone else keep a handsaw as a real fallback up in the canopy or am I the only one doing that?
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jamesf411mo ago
Man, yes! I do the same thing and I've stopped feeling weird about it. My little Silky Sugoi lives on my saddle now and there's been plenty of times the saw just wasn't worth the fight, punky wood, wet wood, whatever, and the hand saw went through it cleaner and quieter in the same time it would've taken me to keep messing with a carb. That bogging you chased for a month is the worst part, you start second guessing your gear and your tuning when really some trees just eat a chain alive. Nothing dumb about hanging the saw and finishing by hand, you got down safe and the cut was clean, that's the whole job right there. I'd rather be the guy with a sharp hand saw than the guy forcing a screaming powerhead through rotten wood 60 feet up.
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