[Closed] Cheeky trail maintenance. Clearing fallen trees.

*cough* as I understand it, they're very handy things for just what you describe. Make sure whatever you're cutting isn't under tension and going to smack you in the face, though. Also, the arms wide apart pulling motion will almost certainly use muscles you didn't know about. Start off doing a tree or two per trip.

Sadly Ash Dieback means there's a new tree down on my local loop pretty much every time I go out now. 🙁

You can do a 12 inch with a decent hand saw, I do a cut underneath then try and line up one on top then do eitherside trying to line them up. Sometimes need to cut slices out if the weight of the tree closes the cut gap. Careful if you cut the branches its resting theres theres loads of pressure on them. And once cut the tree can spring back up from the rootball if thats how they’ve fell ( not just snappped).
Not tried a hand chainsaw, bought a cheap bow saw and its a bit shit.

This is the boy.

Second the Fiskars saw recommended above; have one and take it out on dog walks.

Whilst I acknowledge I've never seen or used one I do wonder just how easy it might be to use a chainsaw blade to cut a tree - by hand. The Fiskars cuts on both push and pull strokes, unlike a chainsaw blade.

Whilst I acknowledge I’ve never seen or used one I do wonder just how easy it might be to use a chainsaw blade to cut a tree – by hand.

That hand chainsaw up there ^ looks like the links are designed to work in both directions so I don't think it would be that much of a problem.

Have used a hand saw to good effect on some obstructed trails in the last month. There were a couple of bigger trees that needed a chainsaw - luckily local lad had one of those, so between us the blocked trail is now opened up again.

Said hand saw has also been used to open up another trail, you could skirt the tree but it was a pain. Was easier with two folk - push/pull. I know that's basically a big bow saw but the beauty is its dead small to pack up again.

+1 for the Fiskars for just doing a decent job quickly if the diameter isn't too big.

Hand chainsaws are surprisingly/delightfully aggressive. I’m well chuffed with mine. You just have to be aware of the thing that you’re cutting Through moving as you get near the end of the cut as it’ll trap the chain. I thought I was going to have to abandon mine once. As mentioned above, a good workout too.

I've had a couple of hand chainsaws, always been really impressed while they last but either they need a bunch of TLC that I don't know about or they're just shortlived. One excellent side effect is that passers by, if you have any, will want a go. OTOH I've cut stuff with them that wouldn't be easy with anything else covert. (I have a massive bowsaw for Big Jobs but it's about as stealthy as a luminous trumpet)

These are astonishingly good considering:

EBAY.CO.UK "https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silverline-868611-Pruning-Saw-with-Sheath-275mm-Blade-/372933695009"

Pardon our interruption...

Cheap and nasty, the handle tends to come loose but the blade is just the right shape and size imo, I do like a pull saw. I've got a couple of bahcos and we have silkys at the trailfairies sessions but I like my silverline just as much. I'm quite weedy though so maybe this is a "suits my tiny arms" thing.

I have one of those chain ones in my back pack, works quite well and even better if there are 2 using it, one on each handle. I also have one of the cheap Aldi folding ones which is good for the smaller stuff

I've got one too and even managed to use it on a substantial log last time I got out! They cope better than I thought 🙂

...sounds like I'll have to give one a go!

I use a bow saw and hand axe. Nice and quiet, surprising how good they are with a raker tooth blade for cutting green wood.

Edit: And sometimes a jab saw for cutting roots in the ground. All cheap as chips and easy to use!

A couple of us in our group have hand chainsaws, and they're very effective if there's two of you to operate them, but the wrap-around needed to apply enough cutting pressure if you're on your own will cause it to jam frequently. I've also got a Silky Zubat, and a 2ft bowsaw, both very effective, but still a bit too large for carrying on the bike, and my favourite, an Asda/Tesco £5.99 fold-up pruning saw which works brilliantly(and without even having the "for the price" proviso either).

Well I never. Not seen a hand chainsaw before... 😊

*wanders off to eBay...

I had been looking for an excuse to add one of these to my Makita arsenal.

funnily enough, i have just re-sharpened an old chainsaw chain, broken a link out, and attached a couple of long ropes. This is to allow cutting of high branches off a neighbours tree (in the dead of night) which overhang my property. Dont want to climb the tree with my chainsaw as its a bit obvous im cutting bits off it. The neighbour was a bit of a di$% about this tree or 50ft hedge and when i asked him to cut it back a bit.

i was avoiding buying the Dewalt unit, Kayak. A lot of money for 3 trees.

Following on from your positive comments, ive ordered one. I figured they would either be "ok", or a complete waste of time, so fingers crossed!

I saw a youtube video of someone using a wire saw, and he suggested that to stop it snapping you dont use it as a pull pull, but rather find a piece of timber the correct size and make a "bow"

I dont see why you couldn't do that with a hand-chain-saw. you would just need a bigger bit of timber. I did a bit of archery as a teenager, so think i could get a fair bit of tension on the correct 1.5m long bit of wood.

Im also sure i could persuade a riding buddy to get on the other end if it was a two ride.
bit of paracord/strap to keep us 2m apart.

Ill let you know how we get on!
I could timelapse video it....

Silky Fox Gomtaro (or which ever flavour your prefer) a pull type blade that slice though in one surgical cut, replaced my Fiskars unit (as above). You cut logs larger that the blade by going from different sides/angles, as per Scruff comment. Had mine 9 years and wouldn't replace it with any else, sits in my back pack 95% of all rides. I personally won't ride past a blockage, without clearing it, that will stop me on my next ride through.

I've used a cheap chinese ebay hand chainsaw in the past and it has been brilliant for fresh branches, it was hard work on older stuff that had seasoned. Better with 2 people.

We have the Ryobi battery chain saw but not taken it far on the bike, not sure how secure/safe it would be if I fell off the bike

A tree 1ft in diameter is quite a lump, you'd need to be careful it's not under tension when you cut it.

I wonder how big a trunk the biggest folding Silky would cut? I really rate my little Silky, and it's an amazingly robust little thing. I'd definitely get a bigger one if I have a good excuse to get one

I do actually have a home made bow saw I made, that would work with a tree of that size but I'd need to have space both sides as it doesn't have 1ft of space within it to cut a tree of that size. The nice thing is that it comes apart so would easily fit in a rucksack

I would try with the saw as it comes before making up an impromptu bow for it. One of the reasons I like it is that it wraps round a log into a U-shape and effectively cuts on three sides at once.

YMMV, but I'd at least try it first.

Such a timely thread. I've just bought myself a 56cm Fiskars! Will take it out and carve up the annoying Birch trees that seem to be littering my local trails...

I wonder how big a trunk the biggest folding Silky would cut?

Well my knacker fiskars chopped this.. and it really quite rubbish compared to the silky
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and the biggest folding silky blade is 1m...

I've got a 90cm hand chainsaw that hasn't been used in the wild yet, but I did a couple of logs at home to test it. 6-8 inch thick takes 1-2 minutes. If you are cutting a section out of a fallen tree you need to plan which cut to do first to minimise the chance of the bit where you want to cut next being flat against the ground.

The hand chainsaws are a good workout, best to take a couple of deep breaths and resolve to keep going until it is done.

Otherwise I've got my trusty 30 year old Swiss Army Knife with its little saw blade. That still goes through anything up to about wrist thickness.

Well my knacker fiskars chopped this.. and it really quite rubbish compared to the silky

I assume there's many different quality of silky saws, as the one I had was nowhere near as good as the Fiskars SW75 is?.

I have to admit the SW75 look much better now it's using a pull only blade (my original fiskars is a pull/push) and though I got great service from them when I enquired about a new blade (they sent me a complete new unit free), the Silky range is a professional tool range*, not something you buy from B&Q, so I'd say question the fact you think it's better than any of their range. But I have the one I like (Gomtaro) and don't spend lots of time checking out the cheaper range, so maybe the SW75 is better than some of it

*though even the likes myself, can still buy them and make use good use of them...

TBH maximum thickness is largely about the operator and how much they can be arsed doing little strokes and rotating around and cutting at awkward angles (and obviously a bit on the tree, whether you can actually get around it). I remember one of our trailfairies sectioning a log that was basically millimetres thinner than the bahco we had, right down to the ground, just with patience and tons of power behind his vinegar strokes but personally, I wouldn't have even started, just looked too much like hard work.

A bow saw would do that. Cut a couple of wedges out and hammer in something like a hand axe blade to open up your cut. It’s easy to take the blade out and carry too. I’ve just invested in a decent felling axe and it’s brilliant. Small enough to be carried in a large backpack with the handle sticking out and it fells a tree like that in minutes. I’ve done up to trees I can’t get my arms around with a big more work.

Best thing I ever take to the woods is a x17 it's not a bus but one of Fiskars best for weight. If your name is Eugune be careful though especially your shins

Along with the fiskars SW75, one of these, there's not many things will stop you clearing out trails. 🙂

For general clearing work I have one of these...

... and a Fiskars sliding saw. The blade on that has got a bit bent now so have just ordered a hand chain saw to give that a try.

Finally got my "ice Berk" amazon chainsaw out this afternoon. Massive thumbs up.

We went to clear a fallen log,and clear it we did. Probably 25cm diameter, and we took 2.5 mins per cut. Wish I had filmed it tbh. We ended up doing a couple, and also cut down some small pieces to make an ugly but functional drop out of a larger more awkward one.

Then we found one of those toppled conifers, where the root plate had dislodged, leaving a tree fallen over the trail, and the "replacement" path going through a filthy muddy pit under maybe 10ft of now vertical root plate.

Cut the 35cm dia trunk in a way that would clear the old path again,and WHUMP, the root plate sat down and took 7ft of remaining trunk with it. Very satisfying.

Bit sketchy,but we thought it through, worked out our escape lines and had a think about the centre of gravity etc.

So, total of...7 significant cuts on this afternoon's ride. Great little thing to keep in your trail pack!

Where can I host some photos to show you?

What's best for cutting back nettles and brambles, I'm looking at the Fiskars XA3 is this the right tool for the job? Edit: Having looked it's 505mm long might be a bit big to carry in a pack something under 400mm maybe even 350mm would be more portable.