What size bowsaw?

elsien

Being a 5ft nothing 7stone weakling who doesn't want to go down the chainsaw route, I'm looking for a bow saw, initially to chop up a load of branches kindly donated by next door for my fire, then to do battle with an elder and lilac that need cutting down/back.
I'm looking at this one at the moment, because it's very cheap, but also seems to be suitable for what I'm looking for.
The elder and lilac are fairly accessible so the size shouldn't be too much of a problem.

(I know I'll need different blades for dry and wet wood.)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bahco-10-30-51-Bowsaw-30In/dp/B0001IX7TM/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Any comments or alternative suggestions? Needs to be from Amazon as I have vouchers I need to use up.

wallbash

(I know I'll need different blades for dry and wet wood.)

No you don't , your choice is excellent .

I took a twenty foot elder down last week ......... had to hurry before the berries grew. My advice , get a thin rope , attach to branch , get someone to put a strain on it . Stops saw cut closing up .

Easy to get down , now need to get rid of the large mound of green stuff.

Davesnave

To be honest, although I own a bow saw and a chain saw, I use an ordinary 20" rough cut saw for a lot of my hedging work. They cost about £6 and last for a winter.

I find I can go through wood up to about 4"-5" without many problems. It's a lot safer than using the chain saw and it gets into spaces where the bow saw won't fit.

just a thought...:)

Blackjack_Davy

elsien wrote: »

Being a 5ft nothing 7stone weakling who doesn't want to go down the chainsaw route, I'm looking for a bow saw, initially to chop up a load of branches kindly donated by next door for my fire, then to do battle with an elder and lilac that need cutting down/back.
I'm looking at this one at the moment, because it's very cheap, but also seems to be suitable for what I'm looking for.
The elder and lilac are fairly accessible so the size shouldn't be too much of a problem.

(I know I'll need different blades for dry and wet wood.)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bahco-10-30-51-Bowsaw-30In/dp/B0001IX7TM/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Any comments or alternative suggestions? Needs to be from Amazon as I have vouchers I need to use up.

That should be fine, I don't recommend the shorter ones. Just make sure you have a spare blade trying to saw with a blunt saw is not fun.

They'll happily saw through branches up to about 4" thick, anything more than that and it becomes increasingly hard work.

I usually use them for piles of branches and keep the chainsaw for the big stuff i.e. treetrunks and logs. :cool:

malmesbury_2

Davesnave wrote: »

To be honest, although I own a bow saw and a chain saw, I use an ordinary 20" rough cut saw for a lot of my hedging work. They cost about £6 and last for a winter.

I find I can go through wood up to about 4"-5" without many problems. It's a lot safer than using the chain saw and it gets into spaces where the bow saw won't fit.

just a thought...:)

I tend to do the same and find a rough cut saw more accessible when chopping branches down

wallbash

If you are using a saw for chopping !

Suggest you refer to the instruction manual

Davesnave

wallbash wrote: »

If you are using a saw for chopping !

Suggest you refer to the instruction manual

I use a billhook for chopping, but when laying a hedge, or just reducing its density, a bow saw is too unwieldy to get among the branches easily and in the right places.

Ectophile

At the risk of contradicting Blackjack Davy, I would recommend using the shortest bow saw that will do the job. For cutting up branches, that would be a 21" saw for thin branches (no more that 4"), or a 24" for the bigger stuff (perhaps 6").

The longer the blade is, the more flexible it will be. A long, floppy blade tends to bend as you saw, giving a curved cut. The more you saw, the more it curves, and the more the sides of the blade rub against the wood. As a result, it gets harder and harder to push the saw through the wood.

Elsewhere

Davesnave wrote: »

To be honest, although I own a bow saw and a chain saw, I use an ordinary 20" rough cut saw for a lot of my hedging work. They cost about £6 and last for a winter.

I find I can go through wood up to about 4"-5" without many problems. It's a lot safer than using the chain saw and it gets into spaces where the bow saw won't fit.

just a thought...:)

Surely if you sharpen your saw it should last longer than one winter.

closed

if the branches aren't too thick, loppers are the easy no sweat way

thicker branches can be done in two or three goes

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-50678-Heavy-Duty-Telescopic-Loppers/dp/B00023T90C/ref=sr_1_8?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1375575661&sr=1-8&keywords=telescopic+pruner

Davesnave

Elsewhere wrote: »

Surely if you sharpen your saw it should last longer than one winter.

Surely, if I knew how to do it and had the time + files etc I would still end up tearing my hair out trying to do this?

As I understand it, modern hard point saws can't be sharpened successfully. They are intended to be disposable.