imagineero
Addicted to ArboristSite
My Situation
I run a small time tree business, and I don't really want it to grow any bigger. I get one or two jobs a week that are decent sized, and a few trim jobs. I also sub out to other tree companies, sometimes as a driver, sometimes as a groundie, sometimes as a climber. In busy times I might work 6 or even 7 days a week, but I guess I average 3 or 4 over the year. Because of this I can't hire a full time groundie, but on most of my removals I need 2 or 3 guys.
Nearly all of my work is technical removals, in the city. The 'yards' that these trees grow in are sometimes only as big as a shipping container. Sometimes the houses are only as big as a shipping container! Access is severely limited, and the trees can get pretty big. If you're lucky you get a 3 foot wide access path along the side of the house. I can't remember the last time I had enough yard space to drop a tree straight on the ground. I do removals sometimes with no access, and we take the tree out through the house. Landing zone is minor or non existant with pot plants, roof tops, fences and delicate paving. A lot of it is lowered, or pieced out and dropped onto a pile of brush.
The Problem
Taking the tree out to the chipper in the street is very labour intensive, especially if its far up the back and the path is narrow. That's a lot of trips. Because I can't get regular ground crew I'm often stuck with guys who can't run a saw. I try to make all my cuts up in the tree so it hits the ground ready to come out in segments that can be easily dragged and chipped, but you can't always do it exactly how you want to. You can trust most guys to hold a rope, but not to run a saw.
I used to try giving them a handsaw, but some guys even hurt themselves with that. I'll confess to slicing myself up a few times in the first few weeks that I got my first silky. After a guy wrecked a nice sugoi by running it in the dirt and over some rocks I felt hesitant to even do this. But I need a way for guys to make the odd cut now and then.... not on every drop, I can do 90% of it up in the tree, but they might need to slice it up a little.
The Solution
Cordless reciprocating saw. Before you laugh, have a think about it for a minute. No electricity, no fuel, and due to the shape of the tool you need to keep both hands on it so it's difficult to cut yourself. No 'run on' of the blade when you let go of the trigger. The blades only cost a few bucks. It's so quiet that they can hear me scream "no, don't cut it there... thats small enough!"
I use a dewalt DC385, but only because I happen to have one. If i had to buy it, I dont think I would. The cheaper cordless saws arent going to do anything, and you dont want to go corded. If you already have a top shelf cordless system of tools with batteries and chargers, then adding a recip saw will likely cost you less than a C note, and you'll find lots of uses for it. If you have to buy from scratch you might want to think about it, unless you were looking for an excuse to get yourself a really good cordless drill or impact driver to make stripping down your chipper easy. I have 3 batteries, but I've never used more than 1 in a day. Bear in mind that I'm doing most of the cutting up in the tree still though, and bigger stuff all gets done by chainsaw.
The Reality
I've done this on the last few jobs I've run. It went surprisingly well. The recip saw goes through stuff up to 6" pretty easy. Beyond that, you really need a chainsaw. On small stuff (under 2") you want a 6TPI blade. Anything over that go with 3TPI for speed. Use the wood only blades, avoid the combination ones made for wood with nails; they just aren't aggressive enough.
Besides the obvious safety benefits, I find the recip saw is a really good way to sus out guys who say they know what they are doing with a saw. All the same principles of tension and compression apply as when using a chainsaw, and location of cut etc. Guys who know what they are doing show it real fast - they dont get the saw bound up, dont snap the blade or bury it in the dirt, make cuts in the right places, let the saw do the work instead if forcing it etc. In the same sense, a recip saw is almost good training wheels for someone hoping to use a chainsaw in future (at least for limbing work) and gives them a good understanding of how wood will react to being cut.
I'm going to keep trialling this and see how it goes but it looks pretty good so far. Will keep you all updated.
Shaun
I run a small time tree business, and I don't really want it to grow any bigger. I get one or two jobs a week that are decent sized, and a few trim jobs. I also sub out to other tree companies, sometimes as a driver, sometimes as a groundie, sometimes as a climber. In busy times I might work 6 or even 7 days a week, but I guess I average 3 or 4 over the year. Because of this I can't hire a full time groundie, but on most of my removals I need 2 or 3 guys.
Nearly all of my work is technical removals, in the city. The 'yards' that these trees grow in are sometimes only as big as a shipping container. Sometimes the houses are only as big as a shipping container! Access is severely limited, and the trees can get pretty big. If you're lucky you get a 3 foot wide access path along the side of the house. I can't remember the last time I had enough yard space to drop a tree straight on the ground. I do removals sometimes with no access, and we take the tree out through the house. Landing zone is minor or non existant with pot plants, roof tops, fences and delicate paving. A lot of it is lowered, or pieced out and dropped onto a pile of brush.
The Problem
Taking the tree out to the chipper in the street is very labour intensive, especially if its far up the back and the path is narrow. That's a lot of trips. Because I can't get regular ground crew I'm often stuck with guys who can't run a saw. I try to make all my cuts up in the tree so it hits the ground ready to come out in segments that can be easily dragged and chipped, but you can't always do it exactly how you want to. You can trust most guys to hold a rope, but not to run a saw.
I used to try giving them a handsaw, but some guys even hurt themselves with that. I'll confess to slicing myself up a few times in the first few weeks that I got my first silky. After a guy wrecked a nice sugoi by running it in the dirt and over some rocks I felt hesitant to even do this. But I need a way for guys to make the odd cut now and then.... not on every drop, I can do 90% of it up in the tree, but they might need to slice it up a little.
The Solution
Cordless reciprocating saw. Before you laugh, have a think about it for a minute. No electricity, no fuel, and due to the shape of the tool you need to keep both hands on it so it's difficult to cut yourself. No 'run on' of the blade when you let go of the trigger. The blades only cost a few bucks. It's so quiet that they can hear me scream "no, don't cut it there... thats small enough!"
I use a dewalt DC385, but only because I happen to have one. If i had to buy it, I dont think I would. The cheaper cordless saws arent going to do anything, and you dont want to go corded. If you already have a top shelf cordless system of tools with batteries and chargers, then adding a recip saw will likely cost you less than a C note, and you'll find lots of uses for it. If you have to buy from scratch you might want to think about it, unless you were looking for an excuse to get yourself a really good cordless drill or impact driver to make stripping down your chipper easy. I have 3 batteries, but I've never used more than 1 in a day. Bear in mind that I'm doing most of the cutting up in the tree still though, and bigger stuff all gets done by chainsaw.
The Reality
I've done this on the last few jobs I've run. It went surprisingly well. The recip saw goes through stuff up to 6" pretty easy. Beyond that, you really need a chainsaw. On small stuff (under 2") you want a 6TPI blade. Anything over that go with 3TPI for speed. Use the wood only blades, avoid the combination ones made for wood with nails; they just aren't aggressive enough.
Besides the obvious safety benefits, I find the recip saw is a really good way to sus out guys who say they know what they are doing with a saw. All the same principles of tension and compression apply as when using a chainsaw, and location of cut etc. Guys who know what they are doing show it real fast - they dont get the saw bound up, dont snap the blade or bury it in the dirt, make cuts in the right places, let the saw do the work instead if forcing it etc. In the same sense, a recip saw is almost good training wheels for someone hoping to use a chainsaw in future (at least for limbing work) and gives them a good understanding of how wood will react to being cut.
I'm going to keep trialling this and see how it goes but it looks pretty good so far. Will keep you all updated.
Shaun
