Mini pruning chainsaws, are they safe?

[gahrajmahal]

Mrs. Gahrajmahal is an avid Gardener and since retiring has gone to several professional level, day-long workshops. At one of those workshops someone she befriended said she must get a mini, battery powered chain saw for pruning. I admit she sometimes feels held hostage with her pruning projects and having to ask me to cut this or that branch. One that is too large for hand pruners or long handled lopers. She notes that sometimes I get out the chain saw to make quick work of a branch, now probably more so since buying a battery powered Ryobi 14” chain saw.

So, do any of you have a mini pruning chain saw? Is it safe for tool averse users?

Thanks for your input!

 

[RTM]

MY neighbor has one his wife uses it all the time. No injuries after almost a year, but only using it 3-4 days total

 

[fourjeepin]

Sawzall with a pruning blade is very effective if you want something without a chain.

 

[LopezBart]

A carbide tipped Diablo pruning blade in an M18 Sawzall is really a game changer when it comes to pruning and taking out heavy brush. I used to hate having to deal with my 20" Stihl and Ocean Spray - the Sawzall makes it easy, and lots safer. The blade lasts far longer than a steel chain, and it's only a few $. I used one to cut through a roof complete w/ tab roofing on roll roofing on (rotten) plywood. One blade easily cut through about 20 feet, and it still let me cut all the wood off my equipment trailer.

 

[TnClimber]

I'm a trained climbing arborist. I wonder why the mini pruning saws have a safety guard on top? Kickback, hand slipping...IDK. What's the tendency to grab the branch with your free hand? A good arborist handsaw will cut a small branch fast. They are extremely sharp and will cost more than one of these. They will cut you quickly too! Whichever one you choose; I suggest you get her cut resistant gloves and learn all the safety precautions. My 2 cents.

 

[TnClimber]

Sawzall with a pruning blade is very effective if you want something without a chain.

Yes. They have one handed mini ones now.

 

[flying eyeball]

I like my M18 Hackzall for pruning.

A cheap corded Recip saw with some long blades are great for giant roots as well.

 

[gahrajmahal]

Thanks all, I like the m18 hackzall with the carbide blade idea. Tnclimber, we have several good hand pruner saws. The Mrs finds them to be exhausting to use on a 3” dead branch so she prefers to ask me to do it.

 

[mike93lx]

Are 3" branches common? If it's a lot of smaller stuff, these m12 pruners might be nice. Then bigger guns just for the bigger stuff.

M12™ Brushless Pruning Shears | Milwaukee Tool

www.milwaukeetool.com

 

[seber]

My wife loves the hackzall with pruning blade. Safe and it keeps me in the garage.

 

[Firebrick43]

Buddy down the road has a Stihl mini pruner and I have a fuel hacksaw and pruner blades.

He is 80 now so the kids and I help with his spring clean up and trimming all the trees so I can walk under them without ducking. We have both going all day once a year plus a little battery 14” stihl as well.

I personally think the chainsaw pruner is easier to use.

I won’t buy one because I have 5 trees (3 to many) on 10 acres. But if I had hundreds of trees like he does I would.

 

[theoldwizard1]

A mini chaindaw is no more dangerous than a regular chainsaw. However, it will likely be in the hands of a person who has no understanding of how dangerous a chainsaw is and proper safety procedures.

Sawzall with a pruning blade is very effective if you want something without a chain.

Absolutely !

 

[gahrajmahal]

Great feedback folks, thanks! Remember, this inquiry comes from her attending professional level garden talks. She can return the ball when the discussion is Latin names, what grows here in Cincinnati and other plant details. I’m not sure if she will like a power tool or not. I have chainsawing experience since I was a teen, a long time, so binding, kick backs, loose chain etc. I’m familiar with. The Mrs on the other hand is strictly an analog gal.

 

[Lassen Forge]

I have 2 - both Ryobi Electrics - one is a battery minisaw with an 8" bar which isn't bad, just slow, and you have to manually oil the chain while you use it (stupidest-idea-ever - who ever heard of a non-oiling chainsaw??) .... the other is a polesaw, plug in, with a 12" bar (and a normal oiler).... also not the fastest beast on the planet but it does seem to cut.

But they work great. I *almost* bought the Stihl, I think it's the 110 pruning saw... small little thing, very light, and a real slayer of small branches.

Like all chainsaws, you need to get familiar and practice with them, but for me, it was a no brainer, a REAL saver of time and labor. Go back? Not on your life!!!

 

[Renegade1LI]

It's still a chainsaw, but easier to control with one hand. I have the dewalt and use it alot, keep it on the mower, great to have. My wife has used it a few times when she helps, she would never pickup a regular chainsaw.

 

[gfd_703]

Bought my wife the Ryobi chain saw because she saw how much I used my Stihl and Milwaukee. What a mistake, it wont cut worth a flip. Sharpening chain and replacing it made no difference. Just to slow on chain speed. Might be ok for those not use to a real chainsaw but worthless to us. She really likes her resip saw with pruning blade and also the new Ryobi extended pruner.

 

[nh_yota]

I prefer a sawzall with a pruning blade because you can also use it to cut stumps and roots in the ground which you're not supposed to do with a chainsaw.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Bought my wife the Ryobi chain saw because she saw how much I used my Stihl and Milwaukee. What a mistake, it wont cut worth a flip. Sharpening chain and replacing it made no difference. Just to slow on chain speed. Might be ok for those not use to a real chainsaw but worthless to us. She really likes her resip saw with pruning blade and also the new Ryobi extended pruner.

That 8" battery ryobi speed wise is not quite, but just about, worthless... I keep ours in the back of the car in case I need to cut something... I also use ours for pruning around the orchard when my battery clippers can't handle something... or for trimming ivy. And at that it's almost at its limit. As to that much it's great, but don't expect to attack something 2-3" in diameter unless you got a while...

I have futzed with the chain, and almost have it where it will cut, but it's been a work in progress (lowering the depth gauges on the chain helps, along with a more radical cutting angle on the cutters themselves )... the best part about it is (once you tape the safety thumb interlock, it's own little bit of PITA engineering) you can one hand it all day... its ONLY saving grace is it weighs nothing, takes up no space in the back of the car, but it's chain speed is SOOOOOO slow, it's gentle on our 800 year old stone walls.

The plug in one is fine. This thing is too small and too slow. I guess it's safer... I know it's also kinda frustrating.

 

[Pinemarten]

Small chainsaws with their short bars are WAY more prone to kickback, than saws with longer bars. What powers the chain doesn't change the equation.
I let the GF use lopers, pruning shears, and cordless sawzall. I step up for the chain saw work.

 

[Aaron_W]

Bought my wife the Ryobi chain saw because she saw how much I used my Stihl and Milwaukee. What a mistake, it wont cut worth a flip. Sharpening chain and replacing it made no difference. Just to slow on chain speed. Might be ok for those not use to a real chainsaw but worthless to us. She really likes her resip saw with pruning blade and also the new Ryobi extended pruner.

Ryobi makes several chainsaws. I have one with a 12 or 14" bar and it works well enough for small jobs. My gas saws will run circles around it, but just to cut up a large downed branch or small tree I can have it done with the Ryobi in the time it would take just to get one of the gas saws fueled up and ready to go.

 

[u2slow]

Any pruning the woman does is with a hand clipper, loppers, manual pole saw, or the basic orange bow saw. The saws tackle even 2" thick branches briskly.

 

[woody 73]

Nothing is safe and I mean nothing, years ago I loaned my uncle a very small electric chainsaw and he went to the hospital for a shitload of stiches.

I almost lost my finger to a handheld pruner; thank you lord the hospital was nearby.

Enough said.

 

[jives]

One more for cordless recip saw with carbide pruning blade. Cut down hundreds of small buckthorn before swapping a blade. A small hackzall would be great. My Fiskars curved pruning saw is phenomenally sharp, is years old, cuts most any 3" branch with one or two pull strokes.

 

[Kaizen]

Are 3" branches common? If it's a lot of smaller stuff, these m12 pruners might be nice. Then bigger guns just for the bigger stuff.

M12™ Brushless Pruning Shears | Milwaukee Tool

www.milwaukeetool.com

On this note......i injured my shoulder so i could not use long handle pruners as i usually do to trim my bamboo.......yes i have it on purpose.
So i took a chance on these things. They are scary powerful. Went through 1 to 2 inch bamboo like butter. I did 2 truck loads and still no sign of battery drain. Had to actually slow down and watch my fingers were not near them. Never realized before but i have a habit of grabbing and cutting very close. I'll bet she hangs up her manual pruners after trying this thing.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09P6CQLZP/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I've also seen saws that kind of clamshell over the branch and blade/chain so not exposed although never used one.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I’m not sure if she will like a power tool or not.

Buy a genuine (made in Japan) folding Japanese pull saw. Make sure it has coarse teeth. These things are amazing !

 

[LOW1]

If Snapon had any sense it would paint their trucks green and go around selling overpriced snobbish gardening tools to old ladies with lots of discretionary income.

 

[mike93lx]

If Snapon had any sense it would paint their trucks green and go around selling overpriced snobbish gardening tools to old ladies with lots of discretionary income.

Super relevant. Thanks for sharing

 

[Glacial_Speed]

A carbide tipped Diablo pruning blade in an M18 Sawzall is really a game changer when it comes to pruning and taking out heavy brush. I used to hate having to deal with my 20" Stihl and Ocean Spray - the Sawzall makes it easy, and lots safer. The blade lasts far longer than a steel chain, and it's only a few $. I used one to cut through a roof complete w/ tab roofing on roll roofing on (rotten) plywood. One blade easily cut through about 20 feet, and it still let me cut all the wood off my equipment trailer.

I need a better pruning blade for my little Sawzall (sub compact 18V Makita XRJO7) . I got a pruning blade a few years back that looked like a classic bow saw blade for cutting a Christmas tree and found it was terrible. I thought for a second and realized that the stroke length of a bow saw is usually well over 12 inches, while the stroke length for a reciprocating saw is usually around 1.25 inches or less. It looks like the current pruning blades figured that out and have carbide teeth that work only on the pull stroke. Still, I think I would look for a slightly higher teeth per inch, maybe 5 or 8 TPI instead of 3 TPI.

 

[Al Borland]

Moderately safe, IF the operator uses it correctly and has reasonable situational awareness.
Cordless Recip with a brush blade is about as fast and doesn't kick back.
One Handed use seems to encourage inattention/stupid behavior.

 

[Komet]

I did some pretty serious pruning around the property this year with my hackzall and AX blade and it did great. I think I'd prefer using that combo to a small chainsaw simply because there's less moving parts and no maintenance.

 

[mike93lx]

I need a better pruning blade for my little Sawzall (sub compact 18V Makita XRJO7) . I got a pruning blade a few years back that looked like a classic bow saw blade for cutting a Christmas tree and found it was terrible. I thought for a second and realized that the stroke length of a bow saw is usually well over 12 inches, while the stroke length for a reciprocating saw is usually around 1.25 inches or less. It looks like the current pruning blades figured that out and have carbide teeth that work only on the pull stroke. Still, I think I would look for a slightly higher teeth per inch, maybe 5 or 8 TPI instead of 3 TPI.

Carbide Diablo is the cats ***. I mostly use 9" blades on a reciprocating saw for pruning.

 

[jumbojak]

I haven't used the Diablo pruning blades but have quite a bit of time on the Milwaukee pruning blades. I would recommend those. The Milwaukee blades don't pull the saw into the cut. You can cut with the tip of the blade or anywhere along the blade's length. They aren't carbide but they last a long time and the saw not pulling itself into the shoe is very handy.

 

[TnClimber]

Thanks all, I like the m18 hackzall with the carbide blade idea. Tnclimber, we have several good hand pruner saws. The Mrs finds them to be exhausting to use on a 3” dead branch so she prefers to ask me to do it.

Got ya but, I was suggesting a Silky or Samurai. I think the recepicating saw is a good idea. High end battery saws are taking off. I have a cheaper one I use around the house too when the Mrs says hey cut this. Let us know how you decide.

 

[gahrajmahal]

Got ya but, I was suggesting a Silky or Samurai. I think the recepicating saw is a good idea. High end battery saws are taking off. I have a cheaper one I use around the house too when the Mrs says hey cut this. Let us know how you decide.

I will let everyone know what I /we do. I hope the carbide blades are not whippy. The other week my grandson was helping me cut something with my corded sawzall and a long 11” blade. He floored the trigger and the blade made a crazy wobble from side to side. The Mrs. Would have a steep learning curve if the tool we got emphasized mistakes.

Do any of the battery powered hatchet tools have a quick stop when you let off the trigger? My corded sawzall coasts to a stop as most corded tools do.

 

[Shocker]

I use a Milwaukee M12 electric hatchet. Awesome little pruner IMHO.

I use it all the time for up to 4" branches. It does pretty much stop asap when you let go of the trigger.

 

[GrayFlattop]

I use a Milwaukee M12 electric hatchet. Awesome little pruner IMHO.

I use it all the time for up to 4" branches. It does pretty much stop asap when you let go of the trigger.

I love mine! Before I got the m18 chainsaw, I really pushed the m12 saw far beyond what it was designed for. Removed an old yew with a 10” trunk- little by little, letting the saw do the work. The m12 never skipped a beat, never overheated and worked better than it should have.

But safe? It’s a chainsaw and one lapse of attention or failure to position yourself properly could get ugly.

 

[Spta97]

A mini chaindaw is no more dangerous than a regular chainsaw. However, it will likely be in the hands of a person who has no understanding of how dangerous a chainsaw is and proper safety procedures.


Absolutely !

I have a 16" gas saw, a M18 pole saw, and the M18 hatchet.

I will admit, I had way more respect (i.e., fear) for the gas unit. Due to the small size of the hatchet I didn't give it the respect it deserves.

Luckily no incidents, but there were a few times when I could have put a gash in my leg.

I learned my lesson and treat it as if it wants to kill me like the chain saw

 

[Toxictom]

I got one for Xmas last year and I love it.

 

[f121]

My wife has a gta26 pruning saw, I think it’s fairly safe because it has a hard folding cover on top of the bar which stops you accidentally using the kickback zone, and if it does kick back, the cover would protect your face from the bar. You could still cut your fingers off or stick it in your leg thou.


Next to my 261 for scale:

 

[RTM]

I got a pruning blade a few years back that looked like a classic bow saw blade for cutting a Christmas tree and found it was terrible. I thought for a second and realized that the stroke length of a bow saw is usually well over 12 inches, while the stroke length for a reciprocating saw is usually around 1.25 inches or less..

if you slowly stroke the Sawzall back and forth, you can clear the sawdust out of the blade gullets, and it works much better. The regular demo blades clog quickly, but the pruners take a few seconds to clog. Makes life much easier for me to use mine that way vs a chainsaw.