A friend of mine turned me on to the Silky saw a while back and I was very impressed. It’s basically a gigantic folding knife that has a saw blade instead of a knife blade. But it cuts wood like a beaver on meth and takes up a minimum of space in a back.
When it comes to saws, or any other hand tool, really, there’s all sortsa options. I mean, just in saws you’ve got chain saws, pole saws, bow saws, etc, etc. Fold in other wood cutting things like axes and hatchets and you can easily wind up getting overloaded with inpuit from ‘experts’, boffins, and nerds. (And theres nothing wrong with being a subject-matter nerd. Just understand that you are still, in fact, a nerd nonetheless.)
My intended use is for trimming branches around the Beta Site…especially around the overgrown ‘road’ that goes into the place. My friend brought one of these along on one of my first trips up there and I was immediately hit with a case of the “I Gotta Have That”. Sp, I trundled off to Amazon and picked one up.
Expensive? Holy Drokk, yes. But in the limited use I’ve had with it, I’ve been quite pleased with its performance. It’s compactness and aggressive cutting are also pretty sweet.
The road that goes into the Beta Site has been neglected for, oh, decades I’d imagine. There are more than a few small saplings growing up in the middle of it, and in some places the branches from the trees along the side of the road reach right into the middle of it. This guy, along with a pair of loppers, do a nice job of getting things tidied up a little.
And before you say it, yes, a chainsaw is on The List Of Things To Buy. But until I get to that part of the list, this handsaw is going to get plenty of use on all the downed limbs that are littering the place. There’s a goodly amount of fallen lodgepole pines, including some that have fallen across the wire fence that separates my dirt from the BLM dirt. And since good fences build good free fire zones neighbors, getting the treese off the fence is a bit of a priority.
12” electric chainsaw is great for this type of work – lightweight and not very expensive
Picking up a 16″ Milwaukee M18 later this week.
Battery operated Sawzall of some sort works the best. Milwaukee, DeWalt, Craftsman. Whatever.
Besides all the other blade options ….Get the “pruning” blades. The more the merrier. They bend, they hit long forgotten nails. They dig into the dirt. They get dull.
Happy Cutting!
I use my DeWalt chain saw regularly, to the point of having a spare chain so I can replace and sharpen at leisure. It is quite handy. Since my property got clear-cut around 20 years ago, there are no trees greater than 8 inches in diameter, so the electric chain saw is all that I need.
Maintenance is also simpler, along with no worries about fuel. I standardized on DeWalt tools because they are ubiquitous and make a very wide variety. Some folks use Milwaukee or Makita and that’s fine too. Just don’t be like my cousin who has 4 different brands of power tools and proprietary batteries cluttering his garage.
I work for a company that gets me Milwaukee at cost, so I’ve been loading up on Milwaukee stuff. Chainsaw this week.
Milwaukee is Master Race.
Hand tools though, are nice and quiet. And good exercise.
Oh, trust me, there’s hand tools aplenty on the list.
Amen! I used a gas powered Stihl for 50 years, we heat with wood, so it does the hard work, but this weekend I picked up the DeWalt electric, it was so nice to just push the 2 buttons, and go to work, without any of the extra bs, and clean up some dead branches on the fruit trees. Highly recommend!
We use Corona handsaws quite a lot. Same as that Silky brand. Stays sharps, cuts thru branches quick as a wink. Folds up to fit in the box of stuff on the quads.
+ 1 on Corona. Good tools and replacement blades can be usually found nearby on shelf. Easy to buy – store a couple of more fresh blades.
Every now and then, those folding Silky saws call to me but so far, haven’t purchased one yet. Good reputation !
Most hardware stores and lumber yards with outdoor areas carry a similar saw MUCH cheaper. I’ve got a couple of folders like this – very handy. No way would I pay that much for one – heck mine were like $20 and hardly worth sharpening. Amazon has a bunch of them – Fiskars might be good choice – $17. Search for folding tree saw.
I sure haven’t tried every brand, but IMHE the Silky cuts a lot faster than the other I have tried. Whether it’s worth the extra cost depends on how much you use it, and on how thick of stuff you are cutting. A 1 inch branch, who cares, but if I’m handsawing an 8 inch tree to get out, the Silky is worth it.
(Most of our road maintenance branch trimming is done with one of the mini-chainsaw-on-a-stick thingys, a Dewalt in our case. Keeping a few miles of road open takes a lot of work 🙁 … more than I wanna do with a hand saw, and the reach helps with the branches that start high and droop down to your windshield))
I will admit to having a 5 ft antique cross-cut one-man saw that works where the little folding landscape saw is to small. I’ve used it on 24″ logs when needed (yes, i have a saw-set and know use it.) And a couple of gas and electric saws – I thought we were talking about random trimming while wandering the property.
Try the katana big silky. Wood runs in terror
I cut a lot of utility poles up with one similar to this, now I keep one as a back up to the Milwaukee.
https://www.amazon.com/30-Inch-Western-Log-Saw-Professional/
Swedish clearing axe nice for cleaning up brush. Good for cutting close to the ground if you are worried about mixing your silky with stones and dirt.
You can get new saw blades for them also. Didn’t get rid of the handle if it gets dull
Personally……..
I would first buy a Sawzall. Milwaukee is good, Craftsman or Dewalt. Whatever… Spare batteries and chargers are next. Two is one and one is none…..get it?
Buy some “pruning” blades….which are not the “standard” wood or “all purpose” blades. Pruning blades are way easier to deal with than a “Chainsaw” configuration. For 3″ diameter or under, and they work just fine. If you want a real chainsaw, my preference is Sthil (Pronounced Steel). Not Husky. Certainly, not brand X from Menards or whatever. Less finicky. Watch your fuel mixture. Have plenty of spare spark plugs and don’t store the crappy gas/oil mixture for a long time.
Just MHO.
Ben
My opinion….
I’m just not ready to embrace electric chain saws yet.
I think the idea has merit and there are certain circumstances where they can truly shine; I once worked for an indoor landscaping company and a battery powered chainsaw would have been useful in small atriums with overly sensitive smoke detectors.
However, I’m just not ready to take a pass on gas yet.
If I’m using a chainsaw to clear up storm damage, I’m going to presume the electricity is still out (hence the trees being down) and if the power is still out, re-charging my saw may prove to be a challenge.
I freely admit I have not played with an electric saw yet. I’d love to take some 18-inch or 24-inch hardwoods and go side-by-side with a gas saw and an electric saw. My feeling, and its just a feeling with no experience to back it up, is that I can do more cutting and do it faster with one tank of gas than I can with a battery in a saw.
NurseDaddy
FOr some reason, people seem to see this as an ‘either/or’ issue. FOr me, it seems sensible to have both. If theres a 4″ or 6″ lodgepole dropped across the road or fence, it can be handled fine with no muss or fuss with the electric. And if theres something larger or a bigger project, it can be handles with the gas saw. No reason to not have both, for me.
They are a great addition to gas saws brother and when you are running up and down hills they are great to have because of weight and not having to cart fuel with you…I have all three that Milwaukee makes and have found them very useful…The run time on a 12 amp hour Forge battery is amazing…
My DeWalt 20v electric chainsaw only has a 12″ bar, so would not be suited for trunks of that size. If 18 to 24 inch hardwoods are what you are cutting, stick with the gas saw. The largest electric chainsaw that I have seen only had a 20″ bar, and that was a 60v system.
I just have little stuff, so the electric does fine for me.
As far as power and storm damage go, you’d be surprised how far a 5 AH battery will go. I have a charger that runs off of car power, which means it also runs on my 12v 100W portable solar panel if there is direct sunlight available.
Finally, batteries are much easier to deal with than gas and oil. No mixing 2 stroke fuel, no dealing with flammables or bad gas, no rebuilding the carburetor because your brother borrowed the chainsaw and didn’t bother with draining it. Again.
Your point about not being able to recharge if the power is out is valid, unless you have solar panels.
I still have and use a Husky gas saw, but I really like my Stihl electric.
I can get a lot of cutting done on a single charge. Im in my 60s and in reasonably good shape. By the time the battery runs out of juice I’m pretty well out of juice as well.
luckily the F150 came with a 400W inverter, good enough to charge the small and medium sized batteries but not big enough to charge the 8Ah M18, thanks Ford.
I have that little outlet on the dash in my 150 and the is a darn handy thing!
I’m wondering if there is suck a thing on the ZeroMobile (the SxS), or it it should be retrofitted on.
THe DoomBuggy has a 12v outlet but I’m not sure what its rated at. However, teh EU2000 Honda fits in the bed of the thing nicely if I need real power somewhere.
I keep rescue ropes in a duffle bag that has shoulder straps – for ease of transport to the site they’re needed.
I also keep a GI machete, and a folding pruning saw in the bag. To allow trimming vegetation around the anchor site. Not a silkie saw, some $5 pos from HF….in case it’s lost.
But it is effective.
I have had a collection of small bow saws, and a couple of gas chain saws – Husqi and Stihl, that I used for years, but I now find that when I go out to cut wood, I usually have a 12 inch electric Ryobi chain saw in my hand. I never intended to convert to electric. That’s just how it worked out.
Bahco Laplander or a simple bow saw. Both are light and cheap.
Amongst all of the other suggested options: Get an electric pole saw. They usually have a 7″ or 8″ blade which is adequate for small to medium sized limbs and you don’t have to get all scratched up getting in to limb trees or cut up deadfall. Then, one of the small Honda generators to recharge all of your batteries. They are small, efficient, and quiet. I went electric because gasoline powered implements are way too noisy. Someone would be able to hear a gasoline powered chain saw a couple of miles away at your Beta site.
“gasoline powered implements are way too noisy”
The generator runs on gasoline…
Robert a small Honda generator is VERY QUIET compared to the snarl and roar of a gasoline powered Chainsaw.
They use them at Fairs and such to power Food Trucks and again very quiet.
If your so inclined you can place ANY Gas powered Generator into a pit or as I’ve done straw bales stacked to surround the generator and GREATLY MUFFLE the gensets roar.
DO keep enough space between the bales and the generator as not to have a hot muffler on the bales or more importantly allow free air flow around the genset for cooling.
Kind of hard to stack Strawbales around your running Chainsaw.
I believe ‘da Zero has mentioned in the past that he has one of those gas sipping Honda generators (or two) and that they are indeed much quieter than some of its larger brethren.
Also small enough to fit in the right sized Harding box with fuel and spares and cached on site.