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DougG 
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Joined: 20 Sep 2009
Location: Mo
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 Topic: Pole saws??
Posted: 25 Nov 2023 at 9:39am |
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Anyone have pole saw experience ? Thinking of getting one, any opinions on them ? Could be battery or gas
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plummerscarin
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Joined: 22 Jun 2015
Location: ia
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Posted: 25 Nov 2023 at 9:57am |
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We have a Greenworks 40v that has performed well for us since 2019. After Derecho 2020 it got one hell of a workout and still going strong. Original chain still cuts good. Add a couple extensions with it.
Edited by plummerscarin - 25 Nov 2023 at 9:57am
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exSW
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Joined: 21 Jul 2017
Location: Pennsylvania
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Posted: 25 Nov 2023 at 10:12am |
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Efco makes a great one. 40cc, pivoting head,five year noncommercial warranty. But after five years you're screwed. Parts aren't cheap and they mske cross referenceing a b i t c h!
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DMiller
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Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Location: Hermann, Mo
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Posted: 25 Nov 2023 at 12:10pm |
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Still plodding along with a MANUAL Pole Saw, extends out to 18' curved blade sharp enough to draw blood looking at it. Takes awhile but does the same, just at 20 years young and NO need of Repair parts beyond new ropes.
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SteveM C/IL
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Shelbyville IL
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Posted: 25 Nov 2023 at 1:40pm |
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Gas powered Sthil will wear you out with pole extended. Not for sissys.
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DiyDave
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Gambrills, MD
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Posted: 25 Nov 2023 at 4:25pm |
Stihl also makes one for their Kombi system, a weedeater engine, and half-shaft, that you attach various implements of landscape destruction to. The pole saw is the bee's knees! also, you can get a 3' extension, that I think makes it reach up about 11'. Like others have said, it will plumb wear you out iffn you use it more than about an hour! I generally use mine till I feel weary, then chop up what I cut down, and throw the limbs back into the woods... 
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DonBC
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Courtenay, BC,
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Posted: 25 Nov 2023 at 5:20pm |
I have one for years. It is 120v electric saw at the end of a telescopic pole. The saw is easily removed from the pole for other work. This biggest problem that have had is that everyone wants to borrow it. 
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klinemar
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Posted: 25 Nov 2023 at 6:30pm |
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I have a Poulan gas powered pole saw. I have ran it for a few years with very few problems. Battery powered would be nice, but expensive.
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Coke-in-MN
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Posted: 25 Nov 2023 at 7:20pm |
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I bought a Harbor Freight unit 110 V - problem is should have generator to run it as everything I now want to cut requires long extension cords /
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Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something.
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KJCHRIS
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Location: WC Iowa
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Posted: 25 Nov 2023 at 10:34pm |
Gas if using more than 1 hour @ a time, Battery if low usage. Stihl or ECHO if gas. We had them at work on all sign maintenance trucks to trim branches for sight distance on signs. The other brands we had never lasted a year. It will have similar running issues as a string trimmer. I've a 20V battery powered one at farm, my evergreens & fruit tree are all under 25', so it does everything I need it to do. I've a spare chain as I keep finding rocks, concrete & metal. |
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IBWD MIke
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Posted: 26 Nov 2023 at 5:05am |
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I have the kombi unit like DiyDave mentions. Have one extension, thought about another in the early days. I'm not a big enough boy to run it with two extensions! The thing I figured out about this thing is if you run it until you can't hold it up anymore, you're going to be cleaning up brush for a long time!
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WF owner
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Posted: 26 Nov 2023 at 7:02am |
I, also, have the Harbor Freight 110 volt extendable saw. It's definitely a "homeowner" saw, but that's all I need. I'm lucky if it gets used a couple hours every year. It was either buy a pole saw or rent (or borrow) one.
What I like is I don't have to worry about it starting. I run it from my Honda EU2000i (suitcase style) generator. It works for what I want to do.
I've read that no one can find the correct replacement chain, but I will probably never wear out the original chain.
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IBWD MIke
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Posted: 26 Nov 2023 at 8:04am |
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I wouldn't worry about the chain too much. I've never even sharpened mine! It's cut a bunch of trees too. Maybe the fact that they are not in the dirt helps that much?
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Dave H
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Posted: 26 Nov 2023 at 9:19am |
I bought the electric HF one on sale. Power it with my tailgator genny. Initially served well for my purpose. Now in semi retirement in the loft.
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Brian S(NY)
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Posted: 26 Nov 2023 at 10:50am |
 Coke-in-MN wrote:
I bought a Harbor Freight unit 110 V - problem is should have generator to run it as everything I now want to cut requires long extension cords / |
Same here, :) My Harbor freight saw works great but I find myself with either ALL my lead cords stretched out or my smaller generator on the cart behind the 616 :) I guess I need to either buy a battery powered pole saw OR rig up the AC generator intended to mount on AC garden tractors :)
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God made man.Sam colt made man equal.
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Dirt Farmer
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Posted: 26 Nov 2023 at 8:42pm |
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I have a gas powered stihl pole saw and yes they separate the boys from the men. Also found several times that it's nice to have a neighbor with 1 as well so when mine gets pinched and left hanging in the tree I can borrow theirs to retrieve mine. I actually prefer to use the excavator, saves the back and gets a bit higher, then push brush into the hedge row or pile and burn
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DaveKamp
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Posted: 26 Nov 2023 at 11:33pm |
I've used a bunch of different types, and my conclusion is that ANY pole saw is better than NO pole saw...
I've used the Stihl Combi type, and yes, they're heavy. I used some generic asian import type that a friend bought, it had a 55cc engine... and while it was strong, I'm certain that if it was a Stihl, Echo, or Husky, it would have been TWICE as strong... meaning, at 55cc, it had a big-engine sound, but a 40cc Stihl was more powerful... so the asian generic was just not up to the performance-per-cc of name brands.
I've used electric pole saws on extension cords, and my favorite way to handle it, is with an extension cord on wind-up reel, on a small trailer with generator (and rack for tools) towed behind my zero-turn or garden tractor (IH Cub Cadet or Kubota)... by doing this, I don't need a whole lotta cord. Typically, I'll have an electric chainsaw on a scabbard, too, for cutting up what falls.
Now, as suggested, yes, pole-saw chains tend to last longer than a usual chainsaw chain, and the reason is simple- dirt is very abrasive, dulls chain saw blades instantly. Trees accumulate dirt in each layer of bark... but MOST OF IT will be within 10-12 feet of the ground, simply because blowing dirt is usually not much higher than that (yeah, I know, dust storms, but in general...)...
So the pro's tip, will be that when cutting up a felled tree, use your little saw, with sharp blade, and start up at the top, and at the ends of the limbs, and work your way in, and down. Eventually, when you get to trunk areas within 15ft of soil, you'll start wearing chains out faster, simply from the grit which has become encapsulated into the rings of the trunk.
One really handy thing about the pole saw, is that you can use it to knock lots of low foliage, particularly heavy stuff like vines and saplings, in areas that you'd otherwise have to crawl in on hands-and-knees to lop off. With a pole saw, you can look in, poke it in there, and slice off a 4" sapling that's grown through the frame of an implement where you otherwise just couldn't reach.
Another thing you CAN do with a trimming saw, is make a 'comb' attachment where you can pass the chain bar through an area with lots of smaller things to cut... like... sculpting a runaway lilac hedge... without needing a ladder or long reach.
But a pole saw is not a replacement for having a general trimming-up saw, or a climber's limbing saw, or an arborist's pruning saw, or a timberman's big felling saw.
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AC7060IL
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Posted: 27 Nov 2023 at 7:49am |
Looked at several brands. Visited with several knowledgeable people before I purchased an Echo gas extendable pole saw. That was 10 yrs ago. I have used it more than I thought I would & it's still running strong ~ good saw. CAUTION:In a few minutes, it can deliver more cut tree limbs than I care to pick up/cleanup that day!! So my evolved thinking is; "when picking up the pole saw, immediately think cleanup, not trimming."
DaveKamp is correct about less dirt higher up tree. I have never sharpened or replaced a chain. Chain is self oiling. Yes, you will need to adjust chain occasionally.
Some other advice ~ always try to do a brief undercut on limb. That way as you cut limb from top downward, the limb will cut "clean" as saw moves to base of cut. Another words, undercut limbs (especially heavier ones) are less likely to "rip" a slab of trailing wood/bark downward from cut, possibly ruining the uncut limb's xylem/pholem in the ripped bark areas. What is a heavier limb? 4-8" diameter at cut. This also minimizes most blade pinching.
Edited by AC7060IL - 27 Nov 2023 at 7:50am
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