I just got back from Sioux Falls, doing ice storm cleanup. I didn't even know there were any trees in the Dakotas, but there are lots of them... they just are all broken. I got to use a telescoping power pruner (Stihl HT-something) for the first time and man is that thing handy. WANT!! So I started looking to buy one of my own, and what brand/model to get? Stihl HT101 or HT131, or Echo PT266, or a Husqvarna or Shindiawa... and I've about decided a
Jameson manual pole saw will do 90% of what I want, and will cut cleaner and reach higher. It's just not as fast for big jobs. For that last 10% that I can't do with a manual saw, I'm sure someone around here rents Stihl pole saws. Is that a reasonable analysis?
How high can a Jameson pole reach, and is that the right brand to be looking at? I need to prune a too tall apple tree, help some neighbors with high broken limbs, and some day I want to cut down the big silver maple in my back yard and the only way to safely do that myself is to start at the top -- as high as I can get. Maybe 30' to 35'.
ETA: Here's another one I found: http://polesawdirect.com/27polesaw.html
STIHL sells their telescoping powered, pole saw. The big advantages of that model is that: it is one piece; and that you can adjust it to any length in between. The disadvantage is that it is a little bit long when fully collapsed, so it does not fit into smaller vehicles.
The STIHL 'Kombi' system offers similar motors, but uses fixed length pole sections. You can combine poles to essentially the same length, but only in fixed length increments. So it is possible that one section will be 'too shor't and two sections will be 'too long' (
Goldilocks does tree work) to get 'just the right length'.
Price for each (with extensions) is in the same ball park. The Kombi motors can also be used with a variety of other trimmers, edgers, etc., if that is of value to you.
For manual pole saws the stiffness of the poles is important for control. I have a 14 foot, telescoping Corona pruner for stuff around the house. I have used Jameson sectional fiberglass poles up to 20 feet total length - they reach, but are quite unwieldy at this length. Choose a high quality saw blade so that you minimize the time spent cutting. I like the pole saw blades with a hook on the tip, which reduces the chance of the blade being pulled too far out of the cut.
Philbert
Silky pole saw
I bought myself a 21 foot silky pole saw a couple weeks ago. I should have bought it years ago. The thing cuts really well. They are not cheap but then again it seems like you usually get what ya pay for. The pole does flex some when extended to the max, but I'd rather deal with a lil bit of flex than have one so massive I couldn't lift it..
I've just about decided on one of these . . . Not sure whether to get it with the lopping pruner or without.
Snap pruners are very handy for smaller branches.
I have their 'ergonomic handle' on one of my snow shovels - a little hard to get it tight enough to hold without slipping. I had to fabricate an additional washer to get it tight enough, but a turn or two of hockey tape around the pole where the handle grips it might do the trick too.
Philbert
STIHL sells their telescoping powered, pole saw. The big advantages of that model is that: it is one piece; and that you can adjust it to any length in between. The disadvantage is that it is a little bit long when fully collapsed, so it does not fit into smaller vehicles.
The STIHL 'Kombi' system offers similar motors, but uses fixed length pole sections. You can combine poles to essentially the same length, but only in fixed length increments. So it is possible that one section will be 'too shor't and two sections will be 'too long' (Goldilocks does tree work) to get 'just the right length'.
Price for each (with extensions) is in the same ball park. The Kombi motors can also be used with a variety of other trimmers, edgers, etc., if that is of value to you.
For manual pole saws the stiffness of the poles is important for control. I have a 14 foot, telescoping Corona pruner for stuff around the house. I have used Jameson sectional fiberglass poles up to 20 feet total length - they reach, but are quite unwieldy at this length. Choose a high quality saw blade so that you minimize the time spent cutting. I like the pole saw blades with a hook on the tip, which reduces the chance of the blade being pulled too far out of the cut.
Philbert
Stihl only recommends you use One extention pole on the Kombi system.
Stihl only recommends you use One extention pole on the Kombi system.
What is the total length of a Kombi motor, the pruning saw, and an extension (this is what I meant by 'two sections', one being the pole pruner, and one being the extension pole), compared to the telescoping saw fully extended? .
US website lists 'shaft length' 7'6" to 11'6" on the telescoping pruners, and 3 feet for the Kombi extension, but no info on the motor or pole pruner sections.
I don't have my notes any more, but I think that when I tested the patience of my STIHL dealer a year or two ago, playing with all his stuff in the showroom, that the total, assembled lengths from motor end to tip of the guide bar were 'pretty close'. Anybody got the numbers?
Philbert
What is the total length of a Kombi motor, the pruning saw, and an extension (this is what I meant by 'two sections', one being the pole pruner, and one being the extension pole), compared to the telescoping saw fully extended? .
US website lists 'shaft length' 7'6" to 11'6" on the telescoping pruners, and 3 feet for the Kombi extension, but no info on the motor or pole pruner sections.
I don't have my notes any more, but I think that when I tested the patience of my STIHL dealer a year or two ago, playing with all his stuff in the showroom, that the total, assembled lengths from motor end to tip of the guide bar were 'pretty close'. Anybody got the numbers?
Philbert
Kombi engine unit would be in the region of 36", extention as you say 36" plus the pole for the chain head say 36"ish and the saw head itself.
I did run two extentions some years ago:redface: and the power head did not like it one bit, plus the extentions were steel tube in those days making for a very heavy pole with a surprising amount of flex which the power head disliked intensely:redface::redface:, I see they are alloy tubes now.
One other point is do not drop the power head out of a tree, gravity always makes the engine land first :redface::redface::redface:
I agree, and when the engine contacts mother Earth all parts want to flatten out :redface:, and the Stihl dealer :hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange: and says thank you for your trade call again soon:hmm3grin2orange:
My HT 131 have had some dents - lost some of its plastic cover - but
stihl runs great - although it has aquired a bit of a strange "extra met-
allic sound" sometimes - insallah ... .
Do I understand it correctly that you have attached a second pole to
such a saw???? I have realized that one can "rest" the saw on high
stems (tree off springs (or whatever they are called in English)) - but
besides from such applications it seems to my imagination that a sec-
ond attached pole would make saw unmanagable ... .
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