Tree trimming experts.

[WriteON]

I bought a Dewalt cordless 15' trimmer as the person I called never showed up. What is the art of using a chainsaw/trimmer without getting kick back. The Dewalt cordless is a neat unit. 8"chain. I'm trimming a young thin branches off of a palm tree. New construction. The knuckleheads the planted them did so right next to the house. Branches are in the gutters.

 

[wolf creek knives]

My best advice is hire a professional BUT...if none can be found the thing I make sure I do when using a pole pruner is to do a lot of under and back cutting. Best thing to do is get the branches to fall away from you. I have a gas powered pole pruner (Echo) and it works great once you figure out how to use it. I've seen Palm tree frowns removed before and they always seem to swing into the cutter on the ground. So my advice is to make your initial cut on one side, then move to that side and finish your cut. That way, hopefully, the frowns will fall the opposite direction from you. Also, just advice, wear gloves, a hard hat that has a face shield. My saw came with a shoulder strap and I suggest if your's did to you use it. Pole pruners can tear your shoulders up just trying to hold them up. Mine goes 18' in the air and it gets mighty heavy after a bit of time using it. As a lost resort you can always throw a rope over the frowns and have someone pull them away from you. Good luck.

 

[WriteON]

Tear your shoulders up. Had shoulder surgery end of Jan. Might back off. Trimming maybe 3 or 4 frowns. About 2-3 inches thick. Is the trimmer brutal from the start or after while. Going up only a far as the trimmer will reach. Intend to wear a Trend Air Pro. Thanks for your reply

 

[montmill]

I don't know what a palm frond looks like but you said young, thin branches and that caught my eye. I don't do large branches with my Greenworks battery operated saw, only up to four inches. With those you lay the saw on the branch making sure the saw is fully on the branch, then let the saw do the work. Don't pull on it at all. Little branches are harder. I think the chain is course and seems to bite into the smaller branch and since the branch isn't that strong it flexes causing the weight of the saw to bounce around. That's been my experience, or my thinking of whats going on, but I know what your talking about. Same thing on elm, walnut, and other hardwoods up here. It would be nice to have someone else do it if you don't have too many. I have a lot money invested in equipment but have five acres of woodlot to manage. Sometimes I use a Marvin manual pole saw which works slick but is a killer on the shoulders.

One benefit is some of the branches make neat biscuits, natural edge mushrooms etc.

 

[wolf creek knives]

Tear your shoulders up. Had shoulder surgery end of Jan. Might back off. Trimming maybe 3 or 4 frowns. About 2-3 inches thick. Is the trimmer brutal from the start or after while. Going up only a far as the trimmer will reach. Intend to wear a Trend Air Pro. Thanks for your reply

My saw starts out okay but after a bit of time it starts to get heavy. If you had shoulder surgery in January you might want to rethink your project or just do it in small intervals. I'm not sure how much your saw weighs but would guess mine to be around 20lbs without fuel, bar, chain and bar oil. It's got a 12" bar and I use it for removing "ladder fuel" (small lower limbs) when we're logging an area on my property for fire mitigation. We're working with the USDA and they have some very strict rules about ladder fuel and crown spacing, so the saw does come in handy.

 

[WriteON]

DEWALT 20V MAX XR Pole Saw, 15-Foot Reach, Tool Only (DCPS620B)

The branches are thin.. would say less than 4". Will start with one and decoded to proceed or quit. OR stop before I start and return the tool while it's new.

 

[WriteON]

Used it today after I felt comfortable going for it. I trimmed pretty thin branches. Would say it was like a bulldozer pushing a toothpick. It took more time to set up and add bar oil than to trim 5 branches. I loved it. Rather than kill my shoulders and arms it saved them as opposed to manual trimming. Like a steak knife cutting through a butter cube. Thanks for all replies. Definitely helped...I cannot afford to damage my shoulders...