Couple of small trees blocking my route.What pack friendly saws do you use?

I’ve got a Fiskar one, pick the appropriate size for your tree;

http://www.fiskars.ca/Products/Yard-and-Garden/Pruning-Saws-and-Tools

It is mostly best to try and go round trees, though, could you not just trim a few branches?

It is mostly best to try and go round trees, though, not just trim Could You A Few branches?

wwaswas is Yoda and I claim my £5 🙂

my bahco laplander is extremely effective.

recommended by Ray Mears dontcha know.

I’ve got a foldy bahco of some sort, a laplander maybe, which is good for portability but you wouldn’t want to cut anything big. And a cheap silverline fixed one, which still just about fits in my camelbak and is much better for decent sized branches/fallen trees (I got it because it was dirt cheap, but it’s been surprisingly good- not silky good, but still worthwhile and about 1/10th the price!)

Oh and a humungous bahco bow saw which isn’t at all bike portable but makes short work of bigger stuff.

Another vote for Bahco Laplander. It will cut surprisingly big branches.

Fiskars are reasonable, but expensive for what they are.

Ime, a cheap 9.99 saw will generally last a year of moderate use, and a fiskars will last for two if it doesn’t snap. I had a folding stihl too, which also snapped, but tbf I was asking it to cut stuff bigger than it was designed for.

I have designs on a silky Gomtaro, which is probably more in keeping with the work I do, but I’ve not got round to getting it yet.

Bahco are pretty good

The best pocket saw I have is the Silky Pocket Boy. Popular with the bushcrafters (hence why I have one)

Another vote for Bahco laplander. Have gone through some 12″ dia trunks with it although it is a bit of a struggle. 6″-8″ limbs are no bother at all to it.

I bought my boss one of these for Christmas and was very impressed with it. So much so I did a large pruning job with it instead of using my small Stihl chainsaw.

http://www.niwaki.com/store/bakuma-hunter/

There is only Silky. Awesome saws…

Couple of small trees blocking my route.

I assume they are your trees?

I have done over 20 trees in the last few weeks with a £2.99 florabest saw from Lidl. I really can’t fault it. Up to 12″ diameter, maybe more. I’d post pics but FB links don’t seem to work anymore.

Yet another vote for Bahco Laplander. Cleared some trees blocking a track and also used it when felling a 10ft pear tree in my garden.

Bahco used to be Sandvik yes? Awesome saws they were

Yet another thing I now want to buy from this bl00dy forum

vague redirection,what is the crowds opinion of:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-pruning-saw/1795d

I was looking at a Fiskars XA3 brush hook (as I mainly have to deal with nettles, brambles, small 2-3″ branches, only ever had 2 large trees in years), A knife means you get stung/barbed and a saw is useless for nettles/brambles – so ……

What would the cops say if you were carrying Towzers ^^^ saw?

I’m going to need a scythe this year I reckon. Head high nettles that meet from either side of the trail are my usual nemesis in high summer on the trail straight out of the door and this year they seem to have a head start on previous years growth. Either that or strap one of those compressor weed killers to my back over the next week or two and leave a deadly mist behind me to inhibit growth.

For brambles and nettles I carry a chain dog lead.

I use a cheap £2.99 jobbie that I got from Aldi, itlives in my bag “just in case”

Silky fox Gomtaro for the win, lives in my pack all year round & have cleared some silly big logs (2/3’s again the size of the blade), accept no substitutes. Used to have a fiska slide out saw, was pretty good but the blade tended to bend if forced, that said fiska’s warranty is brilliant. Contacted them about a spare blade, as I’d snapped mine (bending).. They just sent me a new unit

£2.99 special for me. just snapped an inch of the blade on one after 18 months living in my pack. will pick another up soon when I get a chance.

For undergrowth I like my brush hook- a fiskars one but it was really pretty crap at fibrous weeds so I put an edge on it you could shave with, now it’s pretty damn good. Can be used for light wood cutting too (though, I don’t generally, just because it blunts it) Still does thrash and move plants aroudn though so it’s pretty easy to get stung or jagged.

richmars – Member
I assume they are your trees?

There’s always one. Seriously, Mr Right from Wrong, go be a pointless square somewhere else. Bikers do and will always clear stuff that gets in the way on trails, regardless of who owns the fallen trees.

For dead wood I like the Bahco Laplander, so that’s what I take bushcrafting because I’m mostly looking for firewood.

For chopping and pruning of live wood, I much prefer my Silky F180:

Both are loads better than the various bow saws I’ve used over the years.

I have a fiskars brash hook too. I thought it was pretty good until I bought a Gerber machete, which is way better for brash. It’s reverse edge has a saw that’s pretty rubbish for for wood, but pretty good for taking precise slices of earth when reprofiling the edge of trails for things like run off.

Ah, that’s interesting, cheers- I’ve tried to use one of those on wood as as you say, rubbish but I do like shaping ground with a blade.

When I was at uni we used to have a girl come in on a practical day with her own bill hook strapped to her bag. On the bus from a rough ass bit of notts.

I’ll just casually chuck a Felco 600 into the mix – lives in my bag and has cut through chunky things quite quickly.

Bahco Laplander cuts on push and pull (well it does with my blade)

My Silky Pocket Boy is pull only, which I find better. It’s also better made and the handle is able to lock open in two position

The Laplander locks closed, but have not found the Silky to open by accident

I use one of these…amazing saws!
http://www.worldofpower.co.uk/stihl-super-turbocut-pruning-saw.html

£2.99 Lidl saw chops quicker than my expensive bow saw.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/r5z5nS]DSC_0003_2[/url] by devilnomad, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/rK7UCp]DSC_0005_2[/url] by devilnomad, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/s2zvzM]DSC_0019_1[/url] by devilnomad, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/r5zfcb]DSC_0020_1[/url] by devilnomad, on Flickr

I like whipping out my silky bigboy at every opportunity TBH…
Not the the most pocketable but a mighty fine tool..

Have got a silky bigboy saw too.
God that looks wrong as a sentence.
Seriously though the saw is amazing. Have cut through some big fallen trees with it. Pull only as someone said but really good to use

As far as a recommendation goes I’d go with Silky, massive range of folding and fixed blade, not the cheapest but also not the most expensive and excellent. I got 3 different ones but this is on the basis that I have Camelback one and then two for (official) tail building. You can buy replacement blades readily (although complete saws aren’t significantly more than a plain blade)

For occasional use and keeping in a Camelback I’d say just go for a cheap folding one and see how you get on.

I use a felco 600, fits in my pocket. For bigger stuff I use a 7tpi normal saw, find them easier to use than a bow saw and straps to the outside of my pack more easily.

pirate trailbuilder responds…

I don’t use fold-out saws anymore after one broke in my hand. I either use a wide spaced tooth carpentry saw or, tools like this:

I use a Stihl MSA160 battery powered chainsaw (makes no noise) for cutting fallen logs on the local trails round here.

Fiskars bush hook – works quite well, and scares the crap out of people.

Anyone know if there are any good trailbuilder forums?

Anyone know if there are any good trailbuilder forums?

Have you looked at http://forums.mtbr.com/trail-building-advocacy/?

Got a Laplander as recommended on here.Finally found a tree I the way. Had to do two cuts to remove a central section of the obstacle and was mighty impressed.