Need some equipment advice for my pruning job.

[Dopey]

the wife and I just bought a house last year. It was built in the 90s and has quite a few medium to large sized fruit trees. I’m not exactly sure what type of trees they all are yet. The neighbor says cherries, pears, apples, and plums but he’s not certain. I have been working slowly on them these last two weeks. Just been getting rid of sucker branches and dead/broken branches. I’m getting to the point where I’m needing to start climbing. At the moment all I have is, a foldable hand saw, hand lopper and 30in looper, and a 201 tcm. I’m not sure if it would be smart for me to bring my saw up in the tall trees with me. I was thinking along the lines of either getting a Bucket truck or getting a pole saw. Is there any climbing gear set ups that might make this safer in the tree? What would you guys bring to this job? Also of course, please give any tips you might have for me. I do have pruning and chainsaw experience but not much in-tree. Especially not for any fruit trees like this. Thank you for taking your time to read and respond!

Edit: I do not want any money saving advice. I want to do this the safest way possible please 😆

 

[Mellow]

I want to do this the safest way possible please

Hire someone who knows what they're doing and already has the proper equipment.

 

[Kaveman]

the wife and I just bought a house last year. It was built in the 90s and has quite a few medium to large sized fruit trees. I’m not exactly sure what type of trees they all are yet. The neighbor says cherries, pears, apples, and plums but he’s not certain. I have been working slowly on them these last two weeks. Just been getting rid of sucker branches and dead/broken branches. I’m getting to the point where I’m needing to start climbing. At the moment all I have is, a foldable hand saw, hand lopper and 30in looper, and a 201 tcm. I’m not sure if it would be smart for me to bring my saw up in the tall trees with me. I was thinking along the lines of either getting a Bucket truck or getting a pole saw. Is there any climbing gear set ups that might make this safer in the tree? What would you guys bring to this job? Also of course, please give any tips you might have for me. I do have pruning and chainsaw experience but not much in-tree. Especially not for any fruit trees like this. Thank you for taking your time to read and respond!

Edit: I do not want any money saving advice. I want to do this the safest way possible please 😆

What @Mellow said. The best investment is hiring experience. And specifically in fruit trees, to be perfectly honest.

Near 20 years climbing for money, I've dealt with three (3) fruit trees, all full removals. I climb conifers primarily. Don't be fooled by the less honorable versions of me.

 

[SeanKroll]

Check out the pnw400 publication from OR cooperative extension service regarding home orchards.

Electric hand pruners/ shears/ secateurs (I have a $125 Craftsman), a tiny electric chainsaw ( Stihl gta26), 2-handed loppers/ shears, a fine and/ or medium tooth Silky handsaw (sugoi and Gomtaro) and orchard ladders.

I use my Echo top-handle 2511t or 2500t...I have 193ts and a 200t...too big.

 

[Dopey]

Hire someone who knows what they're doing and already has the proper equipment.

I am leaning towards only trimming my smaller trees and leaving the big three for a professional. I do very much prefer to do my own upkeep. I am only 32 and don’t mind a challenge. I also can afford tools and equipment no problem. However, If the general consensus is hire a pro I likely will.

 

[lxskllr]

If you think you'd enjoy climbing, maybe climb? The default safe advice is to pay someone to do it for you. If climbing is something you think you'd like, you can get a lot done with a low climb and a polesaw/pruner. As you gain confidence and experience, you can take more on. You know the old saying. It goes something like 'One who is self taught has a fool for a teacher'. *I'm self taught, and the previous statement's probably true, but I can get some stuff done. None of this should be taken as encouragement to do something that's inherently dangerous. If you pay people to come out and do your trees, but you watch them the whole time wishing it were you, maybe it's something you'd want to take on.

*I'm not exactly sure what "self taught" really means. I didn't go out and reinvent the wheel. I read lots of books, forum posts, and catalogs. I also watched some videos when pictures and text weren't clear enough for me. So, was I self taught, or remotely taught? Remotely taught seems more accurate, but that implies a structured remote learning program, and I don't think arboriculture lends itself to that.

 

[SkwerI]

Check out WesSpur. They are an arborist supply company and they have a 'starter kit' with saddle, rope, helmet and everything you need to get started. www.wesspur.com

 

[SkwerI]

Also, I am personally tired of seeing every single member here discourage every single person who asks about starting climbing. Every single one of us also got told not to do it and we did anyway. Telling somebody to hire a pro isn't helping. Just my personal opinion, carry on.

 

[Kaveman]

Also, I am personally tired of seeing every single member here discourage every single person who asks about starting climbing. Every single one of us also got told not to do it and we did anyway. Telling somebody to hire a pro isn't helping. Just my personal opinion, carry on.

While I agree with you, my default is to err on the side of caution. But I've lost while gambling with gravity, so my opinions are biased.

 

[SeanKroll]

You can hire some professionals to prune and teach you, doing the cleanup yourself or having them do it.

I have someone wanting to learn to prune fruit trees as part of overall making their land food-producing for a community kitchen.

Works for me.



I have done this before for customers charging a low-production pruning/ consulting rate (basically my production rate) by the hour. We were both happy with the time and money spent.

 

[Burnham]

One consideration with hiring the work is that you can watch, see the equipment in use, maybe even ask questions if that's not a burden on the pro. You could learn a lot, likely take on doing it yourself next year. It's not like it's a one and done task.

 

[Bermy]

I echo Burnham. Hire someone this time, watch, ask questions take notes and pictures.
Then you can buy gear with knowledge, and give it a go yourself next time.
The trees will have been pruned to a form you can then copy.