Mini chainsaw

[Nimrod103]

I have a modest amount of experience with chainsaws, petrol, electric, and battery (ie cordless).
I have recently purchased a Parkside 20volt, 40Mwh, mini chainsaw and have used it a few times as a lopper and it seems really useful. It can cut wood up to about 6 inches diameter. I have since seen ones in Lidl (and in online adverts) with smaller batteries and a bar which can only cut up to 4 inches, but that seems rather useless to me.

I have a cheap McCulloch electric chainsaw, which is useful for bigger stuff, but it is limited by the cable. I have used several petrol chainsaws, and have worked alongside people who use them a lot. The are powerful, but in may cases the 2 stroke engines are a bit temperamental. Stihl are by far the best, but very expensive. The good battery large chainsaws are just as good, start first time, but are about twice the price.

The two critical things with all chainsaws are having a sharp blade, and making sure what you cut is firmly fixed or anchored and won't fly all over the place. If you are going to use a chainsaw, it is a good idea to learn how to sharpen it and keep it sharp. Never let it cut into the earth. The large chainsaws have reservoirs to be filled with special chainsaw lubricating oil, but with the mini ones you have to smear a little oil on the blade from a little bottle quite frequently.

[88V8]

For pruning, get a Silky Zubat, the samurai sword of pruning saws. I use it every week in my conservation work, and use it up to 6" trees. Scabbard so useful.

Never heard of them, thanks.
I have a couple of pull saws, quite a revelation when one has previously done tree work with a push saw or worse still loppers that often bruise the bark.
Think I'll treat myself...

Now what I really want is a replacement for Medo... my pot from over ten years ago 'vanished' somewhere in the garden earlier this year and buying a new pot I find it contains a nebulous grey glop. The only resemblance to Medo is the name...

I still have the B&D 16" electric chain saw I bought in 1984. I only use it for logging. One feature I like is the absence of the
second switch or chain brake or indeed any safety features whatsoever. Refreshing, in some obscure way....

V8

[bungeejumper]

Many people therefore do not know how to use say irony or whatever in face to face discussion when it is used. I agree.

In the immortal words of private Baldrick, irony is like goldy and bronzy, only it's made out of iron.

It's also one of our outstanding qualities as a nation. But problems can happen when one encounters a tin ear.

BJ

[Howard]

I'm tempted to get a mini electric chainsaw for taking down a large shrub, branch by branch. They are available at around £80. I have an ordinary wood saw but it's such hard work.

I've never used one before and I'm slightly afraid of the idea of one. Are they easy and safe to use? My fear is it might jerk up for some unknown reason and take my hand off or something! Thanks.

I bought a mini chainsaw from Amazon in January for £55 and it is lightweight and has been brilliant for cutting branches up to about three inches thick. I've used it so much that the first chain has needed sharpening. Haven't used the second chain yet. Used sensibly, it is an excellent tool. I always use a face screen as it does produce dust and might just throw off a chip. The saw needs a light touch and gentle approach and so is not good for thin whippy branches.

As a diy person, I also own a full size electric chainsaw and a pole chainsaw. These have been owned for 20 + years so am used to using them safely.

I used a reciprocating saw this week to cut oak rails but it is not ideal because it's heavy and the blade tip vibrates wildly unless one uses some pressure both downwards and into the wood which makes it unsuitable for anything other than firmly fixed wood sawing. I've never found it suitable for gardening.

regards

Howard

[Dod101]

In the Sunday Times yesterday Matthew Syed had an article commenting basically on how difficult it is for a reader to pick up nuances and figures of speech from the written word only (as in say social forums) Many people therefore do not know how to use say irony or whatever in face to face discussion when it is used. I agree.

Apologies Dod - it was a complimentary joke that I hoped my use of the word 'sensible' and the accompanying smiley might have helped to highlight, so sorry if that hasn't been the case.

The OP's initial question has clearly rung a few bells with some fellow 'boy's toys' enthusiasts on this thread, who's contributions to be fair have perhaps been pursued with a slightly wider beneficial remit to the specific one mentioned in the opening post, but you've explained quite sensibly how the focussed bush-pruning task might be adequately tackled using much cheaper and more basic tools.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Thanks. I am being too sensitive especially having just read the article by Matthew Syed. I lived in HK for a long while as I have mentioned before and quickly realised that I could not use figures of speech. When I was transferred back to London I took stuff literally. So puzzled for ages about the expression ‘That’s knocked that on the head’ and to the expression ‘ See you later’ I remember thinking ‘O that will be nice’.

Dod

[Nimrod103]

A lot depends on the size and accessibility of what one needs to cut. In my experience, tackling close and intertwined branches with a bow saw is not easy. Long handled loppers usually give a clean cut of stuff up to about an inch diameter.

This afternoon I returned from holiday to find a 12 ft by 6 inch branch from a neighbour's oak tree has fallen onto the roof of my summerhouse and damaged it. Tomorrow I will get a ladder and cut it up. For that job a hand held mini chainsaw would seem to be the ideal piece of equipment.

[bungeejumper]

I used a reciprocating saw this week to cut oak rails but it is not ideal because it's heavy and the blade tip vibrates wildly unless one uses some pressure both downwards and into the wood which makes it unsuitable for anything other than firmly fixed wood sawing. I've never found it suitable for gardening.

Oak, you say? I don't think I'd use any electric saw to cut that! Too hard, and the thin blade on the reciprocating saw would have lost its edge pretty quickly. Lean on it a bit too much, or let it hit a stone or even just the earth, and the blade will bend a little, and then the wobbles will start. You can straighten a bent blade pretty easily, but since they're only about 50p each you probably wouldn't bother. (You can also buy fine-toothed sabre blades for metal or plastic.)

But it's a case of horses for courses. Reciprocating saws are designed for ripping stuff up, not for precision carpentry. Mine paid for itself in a single morning, demolishing thirty feet of timber partition walling in a couple of hours. It was only recently that I tried it on a couple of five-inch willow stumps, which it despatched in a couple of minutes. I was highly impressed. Will definitely use it in the garden again.

Counter-intuitively, on the occasion when we wanted some massive supporting oak timbers fitted to an outbuilding, it was the petrol chainsaw that turned out to be best suited. The carpenters created several perfect mortice and tenon joints with their chainsaw, with millimetre precision, and the whole thing slotted together at the first attempt. Which was handy since the beams weighed 300 kg each.

But hey, that's what real experts can do if you give them the frightening toys to work with. For us mere mortals, safety is a factor, and I'd say that the reciprocating saw gets the balance about right. Just not on oak!

BJ

[servodude]

Reciprocating saws are designed for ripping stuff up, not for precision carpentry.

Bingo!
They're demolition tools - really handy for plaster board or removing awkward bits of architrave but you're not going to get a decent finish
- ok on pruning soft wood though

I've got a 18v battery chainsaw that I picked up cheap when a 15' tree came down and I couldn't be bothered chopping it..
...and it's really good fun
- feels like Fisher Price in weight, looks and plastic feel but works really well if your chain is sharp
I find it easier to use than a two stroke - not just because it "just starts" but when it does it accelerates more smoothly. Which means you can basically have it against the wood before it is moving with less kickback

[Howard]

I used a reciprocating saw this week to cut oak rails but it is not ideal because it's heavy and the blade tip vibrates wildly unless one uses some pressure both downwards and into the wood which makes it unsuitable for anything other than firmly fixed wood sawing. I've never found it suitable for gardening.

Oak, you say? I don't think I'd use any electric saw to cut that! Too hard, and the thin blade on the reciprocating saw would have lost its edge pretty quickly. Lean on it a bit too much, or let it hit a stone or even just the earth, and the blade will bend a little, and then the wobbles will start. You can straighten a bent blade pretty easily, but since they're only about 50p each you probably wouldn't bother. (You can also buy fine-toothed sabre blades for metal or plastic.)

But it's a case of horses for courses. Reciprocating saws are designed for ripping stuff up, not for precision carpentry. Mine paid for itself in a single morning, demolishing thirty feet of timber partition walling in a couple of hours. It was only recently that I tried it on a couple of five-inch willow stumps, which it despatched in a couple of minutes. I was highly impressed. Will definitely use it in the garden again.

Counter-intuitively, on the occasion when we wanted some massive supporting oak timbers fitted to an outbuilding, it was the petrol chainsaw that turned out to be best suited. The carpenters created several perfect mortice and tenon joints with their chainsaw, with millimetre precision, and the whole thing slotted together at the first attempt. Which was handy since the beams weighed 300 kg each.

But hey, that's what real experts can do if you give them the frightening toys to work with. For us mere mortals, safety is a factor, and I'd say that the reciprocating saw gets the balance about right. Just not on oak!

BJ

These were approx ten foot oak rails on a roughly 30 year old paddock style fence which a neighbour was replacing and scrapping (mad eh!). I halved them in length with the reciprocating saw to get them in the car. Once I got them home, I used a hand saw to trim them to size which was much better than the reciprocating saw and now have a beautiful big extra compost heap framed in lichen-covered weathered oak!

I agree the reciprocating saw is good for old roots etc where it doesn't matter if one hits a stone or two as the blades are not expensive. But mine is useless on branches where there is movement and the saw vibrates, especially cutting horizontally.

I was answering the OP's gardening question. For cutting unsupported branches up to three inches thick, the mini chain saw is a delight. It's very light, fast, only needs one hand to operate (so one can hold the branch with the other hand) and easy to get into small spaces.

regards

Howard

[Urbandreamer]

Not really relevant to the OP, but you may note the number of posts commenting upon the importance of sharp tools.

Can I recommend an investment in a file designed to sharpen your chainsaw or other saw and a bit of practice on a old saw.
You are at far less risk from a tool that cuts well.

Possibly not worth it with a bow saw or pruning saw though as replacement is cheap. Just check and consider replacing over time.

[bungeejumper]

These were approx ten foot oak rails on a roughly 30 year old paddock style fence which a neighbour was replacing and scrapping (mad eh!). I halved them in length with the reciprocating saw to get them in the car. Once I got them home, I used a hand saw to trim them to size which was much better than the reciprocating saw and now have a beautiful big extra compost heap framed in lichen-covered weathered oak!

I think we're in broad agreement there. Yes, I'd always use a handsaw on hard woods if it was practicable. A chainsaw might be OK if one had the skill and experience, but I don't. A reciprocating saw is well out of its comfort zone with oak or ironwood or mahogany. Don't even get me thinking about the time I tried using a plunge saw on a plank of hardwood. It skipped and misbehaved, and I abandoned the enterprise while I still had a matching pair of hands.

Might be worth mentioning, just for the record, that green oak is softer and more manageable than weathered oak, which isn't either of those things! Our carpenters followed the heritage-building tradition of installing the mighty timbers in green oak, which a skilled chippy can handle (fairly) well with a chainsaw, although it's colossally heavy of course. Once it's gone weathered and grey, however, the wood is hard enough to bend any nail, and it's difficult enough even to drill it. Don't ask me how I know.

Green oak weathers and dries at about an inch of thickness per year. It also develops long cracks and splits, which they tell me make the timbers stronger! Life is full of surprises.

BJ

[kempiejon]

Not really relevant to the OP, but you may note the number of posts commenting upon the importance of sharp tools.

Can I recommend an investment in a file designed to sharpen your chainsaw or other saw and a bit of practice on a old saw.
You are at far less risk from a tool that cuts well.

Possibly not worth it with a bow saw or pruning saw though as replacement is cheap. Just check and consider replacing over time.

Particularly with bow saws offsetting the teeth is useful. Having alternate teeth biased left and right gives wide kerf when cutting stops it gripping in wet green wood. When I was a boy scout we were taught to store our bow saws with the blade loose, I wonder if that was to stop the offset straightening out?
I have a tooth setting tool but it's not quite big anough for a bow saw, sometimes I find a punch and little hammer does the job.
I read recently that modern saw blades can't necessarily be sharpened with a file as the baldes have been tempered to be hard - one can tell because of the bluingon the metal. I have not tested this hypothesis. Chain saws definately need keeping sharp. I know a woodsperson who had ahand jig for her file to put an edge back on thier chains.

[MrFoolish]

Well I'm now the proud owner of a battery powered reciprocating saw and I'm very pleased with it. It is doing the job as intended. The first of the two wood blades it came with have now dulled, but I expected this from the comments on amazon. I'll be buying some better blades.

I do have a couple of questions about sawing technique:

1. Occasionally the branch I'm cutting will start to judder. Any way of avoiding this?

2. What's the best way of holding and cutting up branches that are already detached? E.g. would you press the branch flat to the lawn or hold it down to a table and let it overhang?

I was never good at woodwork! Thanks.

[swill453]

2. What's the best way of holding and cutting up branches that are already detached? E.g. would you press the branch flat to the lawn or hold it down to a table and let it overhang?

I use a wooden block (actually a bit of sawn tree trunk) about 6 or 8 inches high. Pin the branch to it with your foot (wearing suitably tough footwear) and cut the overhanging bit.

I got a 5 pack of Bosch S1531L blades, they cut very well. About 15 quid at Screwfix, a bit less at Amazon or eBay.

Scott.

[MrFoolish]

2. What's the best way of holding and cutting up branches that are already detached? E.g. would you press the branch flat to the lawn or hold it down to a table and let it overhang?

I use a wooden block (actually a bit of sawn tree trunk) about 6 or 8 inches high. Pin the branch to it with your foot (wearing suitably tough footwear) and cut the overhanging bit.

I got a 5 pack of Bosch S1531L blades, they cut very well. About 15 quid at Screwfix, a bit less at Amazon or eBay.

Scott.

Thanks. Do you know if all blades fit all saws?

[swill453]

Thanks. Do you know if all blades fit all saws?

I think they're pretty much universal fit. Though funnily enough they were too thick for the cheapo, ancient saw my dad handed down to me. This led me to replace it with a (mains) Erbauer one from Screwfix, which they fit fine.

Scott.

[GrahamPlatt]

Deleted.. see next post instead.

[GrahamPlatt]

Not really relevant to the OP, but you may note the number of posts commenting upon the importance of sharp tools.

Can I recommend an investment in a file designed to sharpen your chainsaw or other saw and a bit of practice on a old saw.
You are at far less risk from a tool that cuts well.

Possibly not worth it with a bow saw or pruning saw though as replacement is cheap. Just check and consider replacing over time.

Particularly with bow saws offsetting the teeth is useful. Having alternate teeth biased left and right gives wide kerf when cutting stops it gripping in wet green wood. When I was a boy scout we were taught to store our bow saws with the blade loose, I wonder if that was to stop the offset straightening out?
I have a tooth setting tool but it's not quite big anough for a bow saw, sometimes I find a punch and little hammer does the job.
I read recently that modern saw blades can't necessarily be sharpened with a file as the baldes have been tempered to be hard - one can tell because of the bluingon the metal. I have not tested this hypothesis. Chain saws definately need keeping sharp. I know a woodsperson who had ahand jig for her file to put an edge back on thier chains.

Lidl…

https://yt.artemislena.eu/watch?v=b5giVGyddrM

[johnstevens77]

I have used a battery mini chain saw for the last 12 years without any problems. Just be careful. I did buy chainsaw trousers but gave up wearing them after a couple of years, too much faff for a single branch e.g. If working above head height, I do wear a visor.

john