Do You Use A Handsaw?

[treesandsurf]

I use the Gomtaro from Silky. I like the straight blade for those small branches, and fine pruning work.

jp

 

[No_Bivy]

silky by my side....do we live or do we die......

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[pantheraba]

Silky sugoi on my saddle, scabbard hasn't been a problem except when I tried it on my leg. Handsaw always goes up in the tree with me, even when treehuggers are getting all fonky.

Also have a Zubat with chest sling for bamboo.

 

[Paul B]

Zubat 330 on my hip most days. I bought a pocketboy a few years back, used it twice, called the canadian distributor and insisted he sell to me at wholesale prices cuz I was going to take them store to store at the garden centers and such and sell them. I have worked with him at trade shows and such and I sell a few here and there online, the weak american buck has made it not as attractive to send them south though.

Silky is good stuff, pricey but I think its good value.

 

[Wagnaw]

Last time I left my handsaw on the ground, I got my saw stuck. Needless to say, I felt pretty dumb. Generally, I never climb without it, and I like the Ibuki and it's straight scabbard. It lets you put it in with the handle either way, which is nice if your in a unusual position.

 

[NickfromWI]

Paul, I bought a small-toothed pocket boy and I LOVE it! I use it when pruning small trees on the ground (which is a lot). Even the sexy zubat has a tendency to tear the bark on small (< 1/2" ) limbs if you aren't vewy, vewy caweful.

I like it so much, I'm considering getting a larger fine toothed saw for use up in the tree.

Jamin- one good thing about the straight Ibuki scabbard is that you can put the saw in forward or backward. I've found myself in some precarious positions where it wasn't convenient to even turn the saw around just to re-scabbard it. But yes- overall the scabbard is a little more bulky than it needs to be.

love
nick

 

[High Scale]

I use the Gomtaro from Silky. I like the straight blade for those small branches, and fine pruning work.

jp

I use a Gomtaro also, saves on my weak right elbow, cut and hold on some awkward cuts without a hysterical reaction form the two hand on saw brigade.

 

[TC3]

Paul, I bought a small-toothed pocket boy and I LOVE it! I use it when pruning small trees on the ground (which is a lot). Even the sexy zubat has a tendency to tear the bark on small (< 1/2" ) limbs if you aren't vewy, vewy caweful.

I like it so much, I'm considering getting a larger fine toothed saw for use up in the tree.

Tell me more about the 'pocket boy', Nick ? Is that a Silky product ? I swear by the Zubat, but I have to be very careful on the follow-thru when doing ornamental pruning (90% of my work is on the ground). It's too easy to scratch the lead behind the one I'm pruning out... happens more than I'd like to admit. The Zubat is Zoopa Sharp ! Even when I slow the end of my cut down to near-nil, the saw wants to keep going.

 

[treetx]

I love my zubat and other silky product but "always".....no.

You can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee on pruning/crown cleaning with a hand saw.

A lot of times they are just not needed on removals.

I only take what I need.

I have pruning this week as a side job. That should be humbling. I am always fast in my mind when I haven't done it in several months.

 

[Burnham]

Ibuki here, too. I'm no arborist, but even in my kinda weird "natural resource management" type of tree work I can't imagine being without one.

 

[Paul B]

Theresa, Pocketboy is a smaller saw from Silky, it is a folding saw and comes with a hard plastic scabbard that has a 'lid' that clicks closed.

 

[jamie]

I voted no, i have one and do use it but rarely aloft, we do so little prunning that i rarely feel the need for it to come up. If i did a lot of delicate pruning i'd take it.

Jamie

 

[Bounce]

Ibuki here. I think the question should have been "how many of you sometimes go up a tree with a handsaw instead of a chainsaw." Whereas pretty much everybody agrees that a handsaw is an indespensable tool, I'm starting to realize I use it a lot more than my chainsaw these days. Whenever I get a job dead-wooding and thinning a fir (no cuts usually much over 4"), I don't even bother to take my chainsaw. Not only is it a lot lighter, but Wheaties are less expensive than gas.

 

[Tom_Scheller]

The Zubat's great, it is a permanent fixture on my saddle. I do wish the scabbard had a little tensioning screw though.

TS

 

[MasterBlaster]

I don't use the stock scabbard, I replace it with a belting one.

 

[top hopper]

Today my Zubot scabbard came apart and my saw fell to the ground.
Even though I was doing a removal, I still felt naked without it. I must of reached for it 5 times in about an hours time, only to remember I dropped it. And it was a hassle to start the chainsaw for every little sprout / sucker in my way.

Id be lost without mine.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Same here.

 

[Paul B]

BTW, hows your blade holding up MB?

 

[MasterBlaster]

I've already replaced the one you sent me, I dulled it prematurely.

 

[NeTree]

Zubat rawks... and having a handsaw in a tree is virtually a must!

 

[The Branch Doctor]

Sugoi man here and use it a lot.

 

[Old Monkey]

I knew a climber that climbed with a machete. I just use the cheepo coronas at the hardware store. I've used Fanno, Sugoi, Zubat and a few others. I liked them all. I use whatever is available.

 

[Koa Man]

I take a handsaw up on all jobs. I much prefer Kanzawa saws. My Zubat just sits on the shelf. The blades get dull too fast.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Gotta link, Wesley?

 

[hmm]

This gal uses a Silky - Super Accel 21

it was a gift (thanks) and it works for the little bit of pruning i might do on a climb.

BUT then i would not know a good saw from a bad one - unless it did not cut.