On Thu, 04 Feb 2016 15:46:46 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

On 2/4/2016 3:21 PM, Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney wrote:
I need to trim off some broken limbs 8-10 inches in diameter that broke off
from the wind last week. I can handle the lower ones with my reciprocating
saw. What's the best way to attack the ones 8-10 feet off the ground? I

I had a whole tree like that a couple summers ago. It was still
attached at the ground, but 25 feet of trunk went over my back yard,
about 8 to 9 feet high.

want to stay away from pole saws and chain saws.

Well sure. I only owned a small electric chain saw because one was
for sale at a yard sale, but I've used it a lot. They're now
designed so both hands have to be where they are safe, and if you put
safe holding first, and safe climing the ladder a step or two second,
I don't think you'll have more trouble than I did.

I spent quite some time deciding where to cut first, so when cut one
half of the trunk wouldn't spring up out of my reach, and the other
half wouldn't fall down on my bushes.

I have an aluminum 6' step ladder and only had to go up two steps if I
also held the saw above my head. 4 steps, I could have held the saw
straight out, but the first choice seemed better. If I had someone to
hold the ladder, maybe it woudl have been the second choice. .

I'm thinking about fastening my recip saw to a piece of 2x2 aluminum angle
aluminum. I'm a metal fab guy, and by I mean bolted and supported properly
with metal brackets, not fastened with duct tape.

But I would rather have something specifically made for occasional homeowner
use on limbs.

The saw I happened to buy is one size larger than the one that comes
with a pole attachment. In fact the handles are the same and I could
attach this one to a pole, but I don't own the pole and it would
really be too heavy as Don writes below. I did borrow it once from
the friend of a friend, so that's how I know.

Anyway, any other ideas besides these that you have used for occasional
homeowner trimming?

There are basically three "remote" options:
- manual pole saw (i.e., a regular saw on the end of a long pole)
- a small (typ electric) motorized saw on the end of a long pole
- a remotely driven (motor at the user end of the pole) chain saw

All suffer from the "remoteness" aspect -- you're trying to position
and control a cutting element many feet distant from your "actuators"
(arms).

All also suffer from a typical naivite of operation that typically
leads to "torn" limbs or "collateral damage" (from the saw's continued,
but undesired, action after the limb has been severed).

The "motorized saw on pole" is often unwieldy -- too much mass on too
long of a lever arm. I suspect your sawzall-on-a-pole would suffer
a similar fate. Your arms get REALLY tired, REALLY fast when working
above your head/shoulders.

Not only that, but I woudlnt' be surprised if the blade stops in the
wood and the rest of the saw goes back and forth instead.

Since a chain saw goes only in one direction, pulling the saw away
from you, you just have to hold it back and it cuts.

For small limbs, I like a manual pole saw as I can be much more
precise in the amount of "damage" I do to the living tree in the
process.

Of course his limbs are already broken off.

For large limbs, an OVERLY LONG motorized trimmer (so I can hold the
bulk of the weight down at waist level instead of overhead).