Chopping down trees...

Author
Discussion

Bill

52,758 posts

255 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
If it's just two of the little ones I'd get a bow saw and save £200+

That said, I bought a petrol chainsaw and have only used it three times hehe

CDP

7,459 posts

254 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
northwest monkey said:
CDP said:
I gather dynamite is one of the traditional ways of removing stubben stumps.
Not exactly widely available though is itlaugh
Pity. There are recipes available on the web but I wouldn't recommend it.

theboyfold

Original Poster:

10,921 posts

226 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Bill said:
If it's just two of the little ones I'd get a bow saw and save £200+

That said, I bought a petrol chainsaw and have only used it three times hehe
This is my logic! I own a sledgehammer, pickaxe and other such tools that I've only used once. I feel it's the right point in my life to add a chainsaw to that list of things in my garage gathering dust.

williredale

2,866 posts

152 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Bill said:
If it's just two of the little ones I'd get a bow saw and save £200+
I'd do the same (have done). With a bow saw you end up thinking about what you're doing and take a more methodical approach. Chainsaws in inexperienced hands tend to be used as er, blunt instruments. Which is of course lots of fun but can have expensive consequences...

CDP

7,459 posts

254 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Bill said:
If it's just two of the little ones I'd get a bow saw and save £200+

That said, I bought a petrol chainsaw and have only used it three times hehe
Definitely. I get weeds that big and normally just saw them, green wood like that will cut easily.

My (electric) chainsaw is reserved for bigger jobs.

theboyfold

Original Poster:

10,921 posts

226 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
williredale said:
Bill said:
If it's just two of the little ones I'd get a bow saw and save £200+
I'd do the same (have done). With a bow saw you end up thinking about what you're doing and take a more methodical approach. Chainsaws in inexperienced hands tend to be used as er, blunt instruments. Which is of course lots of fun but can have expensive consequences...
You might have a point, I don't own a bow saw yet either...

toasty

7,472 posts

220 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
FFS what's wrong with a nice sharp axe?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLPNTXX2TKc&fea...

theboyfold

Original Poster:

10,921 posts

226 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
IF you are getting the pro's in for the ones out the back - they would add the ones at the front to the bill for very little I am sure.

Thus, you can buy your chainsaw for your Garage, and not even have to use it biggrin

Win Win
No, they want £480 for the two at the back and another £250 for the ones at the front.

CDP

7,459 posts

254 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
IF you are getting the pro's in for the ones out the back - they would add the ones at the front to the bill for very little I am sure.

Thus, you can buy your chainsaw for your Garage, and not even have to use it biggrin

Win Win
He's got a good point here. They'll hardly notice the little ones.

Bill

52,758 posts

255 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
theboyfold said:
No, they want £480 for the two at the back and another £250 for the ones at the front.
Is now a good time to say I'd get a chainsaw and do the lot? Save £500 and get a free saw*



* This may be man mathsbiggrin

theboyfold

Original Poster:

10,921 posts

226 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Bill said:
theboyfold said:
No, they want £480 for the two at the back and another £250 for the ones at the front.
Is now a good time to say I'd get a chainsaw and do the lot? Save £500 and get a free saw*



* This may be man mathsbiggrin
That's my thinking on the ones at the front. The ones at the back I'm happy to pay for as it's too big for me to handle. Although I might have to be around in case they need stuff feeding through the chipper once it all starts to come down...

Rosscow

8,768 posts

163 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Cutting down is the easy bit really - it's getting rid of it all that's the pain in the arse!

spikeyhead

17,319 posts

197 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
i took around 50 trees out of my parents garden when i was 16 with an electric chainsaw. I've no idea how I didn't lose body parts.

theboyfold

Original Poster:

10,921 posts

226 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
There is already a skip just out of shot and a shredder ready and waiting for the smaller bits. The larger pieces I will chop up and use as fire wood when I need to burn, umm, stuff...

Paul Drawmer

4,878 posts

267 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
How far is it to your nearest A&E?

theboyfold

Original Poster:

10,921 posts

226 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Paul Drawmer said:
How far is it to your nearest A&E?
17 minutes. At least that's how far it was when I got to hospital with my wife as she was about to give birth. I forgot her notes and had to go back home and pick them up!

si barone

57 posts

169 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Have a read through this and the links & videos on it http://forestry.about.com/od/forestryhelp/ss/byw_saw.htm

Best advice I can give is to buy the PPE to go with the chainsaw as it will save your life if you make a mistake, which is all to easy.

Buy some of this http://chainsawspecialists.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000002.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2echainsawspecialists%2eco%2euk%2f&WD=celox&PN=Safety_products%2ehtml%23a1_21CSS144#a1_21CSS144 as if you do cut yourself a sticky plaster won't help wink

Also don't work alone, have someone to hand in case you do have an accident who can call for help.

All sounds a bit doom and gloom but they are incredibly dangerous machines, which adds to their excitement and appeal. Used carefully with a bit of common sense you should be ok.

voicey

2,453 posts

187 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
I bought a cheap electric chainsaw from Argos to take down a dead tree at the bottom of my garden. I was a little scared of firing it up at first but after a couple of cuts it felt reasonably safe - as soon as I took my finger off the on button the chain was braked to a stop. I'd like to think that if I had dropped it then the chain would not be moving if it hit me.

I wasn't foolish enough to climb the tree/ladder with it (I took a hand saw for the upper branches) but I did do the work on my own with just ear defenders and goggles (and my mobile in my back pocket).

Kneetrembler

2,069 posts

202 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
enioldjoe said:
This ^^^.

Consider checking out the local council's planning regs or contact the local tree officer.

I know it's a pain but you need to be careful, especially if you are considering removal of the large birch in the second photo.

Do you know if you are in a conservation area? If you have a tree hugger in the neighbourhood and you chop *anything* down, and they find out you could end up being for the chop!
The worst that they can do is give you a fine,once they are down that's it.

I never ask about TPO'S ohtherwise you are already guilty, cut first ask questions afte

I have a huge OAK in my garden, if I had asked the L.A. then before you could say jack, there would be a TPO on it, so I asked the Tree Surgeon who advises the L.A. about it and he advised me to just cut it down before asking the L.A. if I really wanted it out of the way.
I cut some huge Maples down,Firs of various descriptions,and other trees as described on this thread, in total 15 trees came down and were logged, in the end I didn't need to touch the OAK but had I needed to then it would have been felled as it is also blocking the growth of 2 other OAKS just behind it.

The only reason I didn't fell the Oak was because of water consumption and drying ratio because of my neighbout house 30 mtrs away, no other reason.

CDP

7,459 posts

254 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Surely silver birch aren't subject to TPOs? They grow like weeds, the big one in the picture is probably only about 20 years old. First tree to colonise an area after a fire and not endangered in any way. A decent sized oak tree is a different matter entirely.