I see a lot of farmers and casual cutters that have top handles. Unless your climbing and an arborist for living what's the benefit of one instead of a 50cc saw? Obviously I've never used a top handle on my farms or when I cut firewood.
Why a top handle?
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CapitaineHaddoc
European Westcoaster
With 2 Top handle saws you can use one in each hand!
They are compact; they are cute; they take up less space in storage, on the tractor/ATV; easier to pack for trail use; they got a good deal on them; they don't believe in the threat of kick-back; etc.?
Philbert
Philbert
firebrick43
Life is all about big saws
They benefit society by removing individuals of certain mental characteristics from the gene pool?
Philbert did a good job at starting a list.
They start easy
I believe they are easier to push away from the body upon completion of a cut. (post 1 is compared to a 50cc saw)
The ones I have or have used seem to have the chips hit a vertical wall where lots of rear handle the chips hit an angled wall resulting in less chips in the shoes than the rear handle option.
They do require significant bending to cut something on the ground but I get good results sawing straight down until the bottom of the saw hits the ground and then rotating which is less bending and easier observation of the bar tip than doing such with a rear handle.
You are not supposed to use them one handed unless the other hand is hanging onto something far from the cutting attachment. Certainly they are easier to hold with the right hand and move a few twigs once your finger is away from the trigger than a rear handle.
They are superior (sometimes to a pole saw) for crawling under pricker bushes to make enough room to get the chain around the main stem/stems.
They start easy
I believe they are easier to push away from the body upon completion of a cut. (post 1 is compared to a 50cc saw)
The ones I have or have used seem to have the chips hit a vertical wall where lots of rear handle the chips hit an angled wall resulting in less chips in the shoes than the rear handle option.
They do require significant bending to cut something on the ground but I get good results sawing straight down until the bottom of the saw hits the ground and then rotating which is less bending and easier observation of the bar tip than doing such with a rear handle.
You are not supposed to use them one handed unless the other hand is hanging onto something far from the cutting attachment. Certainly they are easier to hold with the right hand and move a few twigs once your finger is away from the trigger than a rear handle.
They are superior (sometimes to a pole saw) for crawling under pricker bushes to make enough room to get the chain around the main stem/stems.
Philip Wheelock
Finis Origine Pendet
The risks far outweigh the benefits of using a top handle saw for anything but in-tree work, IMO.
They slide into a slot on my tractor, they cut out my wedged saws, easy to cut up brush, great for pruning, great pallet cutters, less trouble to take camping, great for 4 wheelers/snow mobiles. Any where you need something small, they're the first ones I grab.
KenJax Tree
Terraphobic
If you can't operate a top handle safely then you probably shouldn't use a rear handle either. Its only as dangerous as the guy holding it,just like any other tool.
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rms61moparman
Addicted to ArboristSite
They are SUPER light, powerful for their size and with their shorter bars, easy to maneuver in thick stuff. (think, limbing a Pin Oak)
I like them because you can cut a branch and move it with your left hand while the saw balances in your right hand. With a conventional saw, the bar drops toward the ground and you have to keep picking it up to take hold of the front bar again. Not so with a top handle. Or you can set the saw down and pick it back up several hundred times in a day's cutting.
I also do those things that the "experts" say you should never do and don't intend to stop.
Funny thing about those experts, as a older gentleman that I used to work for used to say..."An "ex" is a has been, and a "spurt" is a quick drip".
ALL chainsaws can, and will, bite you if you don't keep your head in the game. The top handled saws are no different.
Mike
I like them because you can cut a branch and move it with your left hand while the saw balances in your right hand. With a conventional saw, the bar drops toward the ground and you have to keep picking it up to take hold of the front bar again. Not so with a top handle. Or you can set the saw down and pick it back up several hundred times in a day's cutting.
I also do those things that the "experts" say you should never do and don't intend to stop.
Funny thing about those experts, as a older gentleman that I used to work for used to say..."An "ex" is a has been, and a "spurt" is a quick drip".
ALL chainsaws can, and will, bite you if you don't keep your head in the game. The top handled saws are no different.
Mike
Oliver1655
Addicted to ArboristSite
I don't know about lots of bending over, I have a 25" bar on one of my top handles. (I wouldn't try to one hand it.)
Ignore the Wood Shark, it is my loaner saw.
The main reason I love them is they have a better feel to me. I have used top handle saws almost exclusively & when I use a rear handle close to the ground or in tight quarters the handle gets in my way.
I have heard "you can't get the same leverage as with a rear handle". My response is sharpen your chain/lower the rakers in you have to force your saw into the wood.
Any one know where I can get a 70 cc top handle?
Ignore the Wood Shark, it is my loaner saw.
The main reason I love them is they have a better feel to me. I have used top handle saws almost exclusively & when I use a rear handle close to the ground or in tight quarters the handle gets in my way.
I have heard "you can't get the same leverage as with a rear handle". My response is sharpen your chain/lower the rakers in you have to force your saw into the wood.
Any one know where I can get a 70 cc top handle?
MCW
Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
Top handled saws definitely have a place but as mentioned they do tend to bite people who get a bit too blasé when using them. Left forearm injuries are high on the list when inexperienced people start using these saws.
In saying that though they are very handy but are no faster than a rear handled saw under some circumstances.
Only buy a top handle if you need one. Don't buy one because you think you'll instantly become cooler
In saying that though they are very handy but are no faster than a rear handled saw under some circumstances.
Only buy a top handle if you need one. Don't buy one because you think you'll instantly become cooler
MCW
Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
There is actually some truth to that. In vertical downward cuts I agree, but with horizontal cuts saws don't "self feed" the same so you do have to apply some pressure. You'll never notice pruning a few roses in the garden but try running a top handled saw one handed for a number of horizontal cuts in a row and your right wrist will tell you it isn't as easy as it sounds
They do actually put a fair amount of strain on your wrist in horizontal, larger cuts.I did some falling a while ago in smaller hardwood trees with my 200T and after a dozen trees I realised it wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be and went back to my 241C. The 200T had the grunt but simply not the design.
I know top handles aren't designed for that sort of work but that is one limitation with them that I've found.
F
fuzz1500
Guest
I have one for small brush/clearing....and cutting up the top small limbs to use as kindling . We leave hardly a brush pile behind !
Oliver1655
Addicted to ArboristSite
I like to set the dog in the wood about 2 o'clock then just let the saw pivot up with the bar swinging down until it is just past vertical then whether I have to cut from the top or the bottom the bar is not buried when I finish the cut. I don't have to hold the weight of the saw & it decreases risk of pinching the bar. My wrist feels fine at the end of the day. Now the rest of my body, ----
Not really, and chainsaw injuries are gruesome, and not to be dismissed so easily.
Top-handles tempt people who know much better to one-hand them for no good reason. Matador complex?
Even when you hold them with two hands, your hands are much closer than on a rear-handle, giving the bar-tip a mechanical advantage over you in a kick-back situation. Physics 101. (My first saw was a top-handle Poulan S25DA, and I never one-handed that ferocious little monster. It was one hell of a lot more dangerous than the guy holding it.
If you ever got cocky with it.)
Oliver1655
Addicted to ArboristSite
If you can't control you urge to: drink, gamble, throwing rocks, ... then you can get in trouble with anything.
If you have trouble safely handling a top handle, then they are not a good fit for you. I have been working with them for over 40 years & they work great for me. Do I have the temptation to wave it around like a sword? No. But then I don't enjoy throwing money way gambling either.
Any tool can be dangerous if used incorrectly, when tired, without proper knowledge, .... Blanket statements just don't make sense to me. Comments about proper use of a specific tool is great information & welcome.
If you enjoy hunting & can do so responsibly, should someone else who knows nothing about guns, has no interest in learning/handling one be able to say no one should have guns? Just try to take mine, or for that matter my top handle saws!
End of rant. Thank you for your patience.
If you have trouble safely handling a top handle, then they are not a good fit for you. I have been working with them for over 40 years & they work great for me. Do I have the temptation to wave it around like a sword? No. But then I don't enjoy throwing money way gambling either.
Any tool can be dangerous if used incorrectly, when tired, without proper knowledge, .... Blanket statements just don't make sense to me. Comments about proper use of a specific tool is great information & welcome.
If you enjoy hunting & can do so responsibly, should someone else who knows nothing about guns, has no interest in learning/handling one be able to say no one should have guns? Just try to take mine, or for that matter my top handle saws!
End of rant. Thank you for your patience.
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