"Limbing" Saws?

[Nailsbeats]

I never heard of a limbing saw until AS myself. I tend to size the saw to the tree, planning on processing the whole thing with it. Kind of the "it ain't out of gas, why put it down" mentality.

 

[litefoot]

Interesting thread. I'm a firewood cutter, and until lately, all my cutting was done on downed trees. The 260 was for cutting up the small stuff and limbing, and the 044 was for the larger parts of the trunk. I've never thought about using the 044 for everything. So far my cutting is done close to the truck (I like to be close to the truck and trailer since I load manually), so the extra saw is always close. I have access to some standing dead Oaks that I'll be falling this weekend (if they're still there), and I'll try doing the whole tree with the 044. Don't know why I haven't tried before.

I will say, that on a HOT and humid day here in the south, using the 260 can be a nice change...but I find if I'm to the point where the 044 is starting to feel 'heavy' and I am starting to get 'sloppy', the heat is getting to me and it's time to shut'er down cause using ANY saw is dangerous.

Kevin

Good post! I use the 440 for both felling and limbing if I'm by myself. If I have my sons with me, I fell with the 440 and they limb with the 026. Then I come behind them and buck it after their done. If I'm by myself (probably not recommended) and I start to get tired, I fell a few trees with the 440, swap over to the 026 and limb it all. Nothing's set in stone. Just whatever I feel like.

 

[rwoods]

Gary - understand that I am just a firewood cutter, so a tree like the first one shown gets cut up right down to the kindling. My wife expecially likes to have a lot of the little stuff since she frequently forgets to check the fire and needs something to get it going again.

Also keep in mind that I am not trapsing through the woods, if I can't drive up to a tree there's little sense in my cutting it for firewood since I'm not going to be packing it out one piece at at time.

When the occasion calls for it, I can even use the SP125 on some of these projects.

That's not my Wild Thing, homeowner was using that in favor of his Husky 455 Rancher or something like that.

Mark

Gary, until recently I was a one saw firewood cutter ProMac 700 then a 036Pro. In the last few years I have got into felling bigger oaks and I moved up in saws. I still usually use one saw for the entire job (typically some variety of the MAC 82cc - could just as well have been a 441 or 460 but I didn't want to pony up the coins) but I always take another one cocked, locked and loaded. When cutting up trees like Mark has pictured those high cuts wear me out pretty quick so as I get tired I move down in saws. However, when I go into the woods where I've got to walk I take the old 036 as it is lighter and will get the job done even if it takes longer. At my stage in life, taking and using multiple saws is about fun and backup not production and economics. Case in point, I just bought a SP125C for more fun. If I could go back 30 years, I would still have been a one saw man but I would have had a bigger saw and AV - and then again I might have started a collection of the best of the best having all that hindsight available to me. Ron

 

[dancan]

Limbing is what your second sawyer does.

When I'm clearing house lots full of East Coast pecker poles my felling saw is my limbing saw but it sure would be nice to hand the " limbing" saw to a second sawyer because I end doing lots of limbing .I usually switch saws when I'm out of fuel till I run out of fueled up saws or when it's time to drop the odd larger trees but I'll finish with the saw in hand .
Walking back and forth to pick the ideal saw doesn't work for me because I'm losing time chasing saws and not getting trees cut .

 

[jmarheine]

My felling saw is my limbing saw, unless I'm climbing a tree with my 338.

Just my $.02 worth...

 

[indiansprings]

For our firewood business we normally get by with three basic size saws on the truck. We take a 660 which is the saw that is used the least. Use it only falling or bucking up stuff 30" plus (oak/hickory).
Most of the cutting is done with a 361/044 sized saw with an 18" bar.

We do find it essential to have a "limb saw", we use the 346 xpne most of the time for anything 6" and down with a 16" bar. Prior to the 346 we used a 028 Stihl most of the time for the smaller stuff. We rarely every climb or get in a tree, we usually use an old 009 for a "in the tractor bucket saw", if it gets dropped or crushed we haven't lost much.lol

We prolly could get by with one sized saw for most situations, but it makes it alot easier using the little 346 for limbing.

 

[StihlyinEly]

For me it's the size and type of the trees. Many a tree I've taken down and cut up with either a 50cc or a 60cc saw. Trees 3 feet thick or more it'll be probably 2 different saws for the tree, one for felling/bucking and the little guy for limbing.

And let's think in terms of an 80-foot spruce that's over 100 years old. Gonna need decent saw size and bar length to fell and buck it, but damn if I wanna be slinging around the 460 or 660 to limb all 5,038 branches.

 

[Anthony_Va.]

I think a "fencing" saw is a better term, as I use a small saw for clearing fence rows out.

Some of the fence rows I have to clear require a bigger saw.

When it's nothing but big 30"+ trees, I usually go for the 660. Alot of people say there's not much use for that saw around here, but I will cut 25-50 trees in a day that are 30" or bigger, then usually have to buck them in at least three places in order to be piled up. If the logs are good, we buck them out too. We cut alot of big Oak, Maple, and Poplar today.(not this picture) Few big Hickorys too. Got a good deal of nice logs from them.
There is different types of cutting around here than out in the PNW. Those trees are mostly straight and tall with rows of small limbs and guys will just walk down the trunk knicking them off. These big Oaks and Maples around here usually don't even make it all the way to the ground from landing on thier mess of limbs. It takes a smaller saw to get in there sometimes.

Me, I usually use the same saw for bucking limbing and felling, but base which saw on the tree's size. But I only make a couple cuts per tree at work. When I'm cutting firewood, I will cut up the trunk with the 660 if it's 25-30" or bigger, then finish up with the 361. My 260 is mostly a brush clearing saw.

 

[woodyman]

I have used 2 saws most of my firewood cutting life with one being a limber but some times I would use one or the other for both.For the 6 years I cut pulp wood I used one saw and cut firewood with it to.I try to use as much of a tree as I can for firewood and go down to the size of my thumb when doing so.Wish I was 18 again and into the one saw plan.This is my 2 saw plan as of right now.I have limbed with 7900 but it is sooooo much more fun with a ported 346.

 

[Officer's Match]

I have used 2 saws most of my firewood cutting life with one being a limber but some times I would use one or the other for both.For the 6 years I cut pulp wood I used one saw and cut firewood with it to.I try to use as much of a tree as I can for firewood and go down to the size of my thumb when doing so.Wish I was 18 again and into the one saw plan.This is my 2 saw plan as of right now.I have limbed with 7900 but it is sooooo much more fun with a ported 346.

Tough to find much fault with those two.

 

[davec]

I have 3 saws available, mostly: Ryobi 10532 (16"), MS362 (20"), MS660 (32"). In my limited experience, felling and most bucking happen together, but a lot of limbing happens later (with residual bucking after that). I use the saw I fell for bucking, and then go to my teeny Ryobi or the 362 for the later-on limbing exercise, depending on the size of the tree. The Ryobi is very maneuverable and great to run in tight tangles of limbs/brush vs my 362 or the 660 I have on loan. Cutting a tangle of limbs with the 660/32" is not fun at all. Plus I always have at least 2 saws handy as pinches happen unexpectedly...

I have also used the small saw a lot for cutting off saplings for clearing. Anything bigger than 1" or so is a bit much to ask of the brush cutter, but the Ryobi does great on that as I can get it tight to the ground for a very flush cut in small spaces.

Different situation than Gary has, I'm sure, as I am clearing one patch of land down to the earth for house building...

 

[spacemule]

I use a dozer....

I don't enjoy rebuilding fences that don't need rebuilding.

 

[rwoods]

Some of the fence rows I have to clear require a bigger saw.

Pretty country there, but it looks like Grandpa (or Great Grandpa) put off clearing the brush a little too long. I guess he didn't have a limbing saw. Ron

 

[Anthony_Va.]

Pretty country there, but it looks like Grandpa (or Great Grandpa) put off clearing the brush a little too long. I guess he didn't have a limbing saw. Ron

Lol, yup.
We run into this all the time. Alot of the fences are 30-40 years old and are just shreds of wire tacked up to trees. You have to get good at finding the right places to cut without hitting wire/staples.

I guess after a few years they just let te fences go. Alot of times it's mostly cherry. A bird landed on the fence and took a dump 40 years ago and now I've got to clean up his mess.

It would save alot of time if the bossman would buy a dozer, but it would'nt be as fun. Alot of times, we can cut the stumps at the ground and build the fence right overtop of them. There was a job last fall where I cut almost 1000 trees and about a month. You should have seen that woodpile. They hauled load after load out of that place on dumptrucks. It was too far from me to justify hauling any on my pickup.

 

[SawTroll]

Interesting thread. I'm a firewood cutter, and until lately, all my cutting was done on downed trees. The 260 was for cutting up the small stuff and limbing, and the 044 was for the larger parts of the trunk. I've never thought about using the 044 for everything. So far my cutting is done close to the truck (I like to be close to the truck and trailer since I load manually), so the extra saw is always close. I have access to some standing dead Oaks that I'll be falling this weekend (if they're still there), and I'll try doing the whole tree with the 044. Don't know why I haven't tried before.

I will say, that on a HOT and humid day here in the south, using the 260 can be a nice change...but I find if I'm to the point where the 044 is starting to feel 'heavy' and I am starting to get 'sloppy', the heat is getting to me and it's time to shut'er down cause using ANY saw is dangerous.

Kevin

If you are cutting close to truck or car (or in your yard), there is no need to use the same saw for everything.

 

[Marc]

I do everything with a 372xp + 24" b/c. If I get another saw, it will be 80-90cc, not smaller. Maybe my wants will change with my age. Maybe I'll just have the 372 ported...

 

[KD57]

I use the smallest saw needed to get the job done, and stick with it until finished.

 

[redunshee]

Think we may be misconstruing the term "limbing saw". My thought is that its a saw you limb a tree with that's still standing e.g. arborist trimming. You wouldn't use a 50cc or larger saw to do that, esp. if you are in the tree.
Bob

 

[CountryBoy19]

Whats the old saying (I may have it wrong) but it's how dad told me.

"Don't judge a man until you walk a mile in his shoes"


Same goes for here, but think if I was where the trees are tall and straight
and the little limbs are just cut off the trunk, yes I would use one saw.

But in places where trees may have more wood in the limbs than in the trunk.
Yes I would use a smaller limbing saw.

No matter where it's at and was logging and the only job is logs.
It would be silly to us a limbing saw.

This is JIMO, and you know what they say about "O"...they are like............

TT

You nailed it.

The practicality of a small "limbing saw" comes when you're cutting trees with large canopies for firewood. You have to go into the thick mess with a saw and do a lot of cutting. Given the choice of a 30lb monster saw that is 4' long or a 15lb little saw that is 2 feet long which would you choose? The actual power/cut time of the saw isn't going to make much of a difference because most of your time is spent maneuvering and moving brush. I'll take the light saw, I can cut a whole lot longer with a small saw than a large one.

When it come to working on the trunk and large limbs it's big saws all the way though, it just makes sense.

 

[Guido Salvage]

Given the choice of a 30lb monster saw that is 4' long or a 15lb little saw that is 2 feet long which would you choose?

How about a 12 pound saw with a 14" bar?