Top Rated Battery Chainsaw – Easy To Cut Trees

April 15, 2023 by Justin

We all know a top rated battery chainsaw can be a useful tool and sometimes they come in very handy depending on the type of work needed to be done. While the most common use for chainsaws are to cut trees or firewood, they can be used during many other projects.

Often times a construction worker will have a chainsaw in his truck. The battery powered chainsaws are a great tool to remove trees or branches where there is going to be construction.

The Top Rated Battery Chainsaw

One of my favorite battery chainsaws are manufactures by Greenworks. They have a wide range of chainsaws with common battery voltages ranging from 24 volts, 40 volts, and 80 volts.

This top rated battery chainsaw brand has common bar lengths ranging from 12 inches through 18 inches! The 18-inch bar is big enough for almost everything except the stump on large trees!

These chainsaws have safety features to prevent kick back and other accidents from happening.

A battery and charger come with the chainsaws, eliminating the need to purchase them separately. Another feature is tool less chain tensioning, which can be handy to quickly tighten a loose chain!

The Greenworks brand is quite large with a wide range of outdoor battery operated tools and equipment.

Is A Battery Or Gas Chainsaw Better?

This is always a popular question. But ultimately it will matter on how much cutting will be done.

A few of the benefits from the top rated battery chainsaw will be how quietly it runs while cutting. So ear plugs won’t need to be worn while cutting. Nearby neighbors won’t be complaining about noise if cutting is done in the early morning or late evening!

A battery chainsaw is quite simple to start, just press a button or squeeze the throttle! Gone are the days of struggling to start a stubborn saw by yanking on the pull rope until exhausted!

You won’t need to keep a smelly gas can around to refuel or worry about running out of gas! All that is needed is an electric outlet to plug the charger into and there can always be a charged battery waiting.

Cutting smaller branches or logs is an easy job for the battery chainsaw, it can even cut large logs as long as the chainsaw bar is long enough. But on these large logs is where you will probably wish for a bigger gas chainsaw.

If it is occasional cutting of big logs you can survive with a battery saw, but doing it everyday I would recommend something bigger.

Maintenance On A Top Rated Battery Chainsaw

On the battery chainsaws there is very little maintenance. The engine is electric so there is no spark plugs that need changing.

The carburetor on a gas chainsaw can often cause problems if the chainsaw is not used very often. Especially with the ethanol gas which gums up inside the carburetor.

Eventually the chain will become dull and need to be replaced with a sharp one. But that is normal and will happen with the gas chainsaws as well.

Basically all you need to do is keep a charged battery on hand and the top rated battery chainsaw is always ready to begin cutting at the press of a button.

Don’t forget to keep bar and chain oil in the reservoir. That will keep the chain lubricated and from getting hot as it works!

Why The Top Rated Battery Chainsaw Is A Good Fit

This battery chainsaws can be the preferred choice for occasional cutting. Especially if somebody has a driveway through a wooded area. Sometimes during a storm branches will break down and this chainsaw can cut them into pieces so they can be cleared off so the car can drive out the driveway!

Other times a top rated battery chainsaw will come in handy is to remove a few lower limbs from a tree that has branches hanging to low and scraping the lawn mower as it goes under.

Many people like to have occasional campfires in the backyard, I sure do! This saw can easily cut firewood into nice sized pieces for the campfire. Then hot dogs and marshmallows can be roasted!

Is This Chainsaw Better Than STIHL?

The STIHL chainsaws are one of the very best, at the top of the commercial line of chainsaws used by arborists, landscapers, and loggers.

In my Tree Pruning and Removal Business we mostly use the gas STIHL chainsaws. The biggest chainsaw has a 36-inch bar! That is too big for battery so we use the gas engines.

STIHL does have a few battery chainsaws but they are quite expensive. These saws will be of better quality and could have more power than the more common chainsaws.

STIHL chainsaws are sold through certified dealers, so to put your hands on one of these gas or battery chainsaws find your nearest dealer and browse their selection!

Ultimately it comes down to the person shopping for chainsaws. Do you want the commercial grade, more cost but better quality? That depends on how much you plan to use the saw.

Or maybe a top rated battery chainsaw from Amazon or other online store will be the best if occasional cutting will be done.

I would be happy to answer any questions, just leave them in the comment section below. Have a great time cutting wood with a chainsaw!

Your Arborist Friend

How To Use Ear Plugs – Quality Hearing Protection

April 5, 2023April 5, 2023 by Justin

Today I want to explain how to use ear plugs. These little foam plugs that go in each ear are very important when I am operating or near loud equipment! Without wearing any ear protection there would eventually be gradual hearing loss.

An ear plug is a small cylinder shaped object. Usually made from foam or some other soft pliable material that is safe to put in the ear to quite loud sounds.

While there are many different kinds of ear plugs, I prefer the 3M classic E.A.R. earplugs and they are common enough to easily be found!

How To Use Ear Plugs The Right Way

First of all when you look at an ear plug you may think there is no way that it will fit into your ear! I can assure you it should fit if the proper steps are taking while inserting it. I have learned how to use ear plugs years ago and following these steps will help anybody learn quickly!

First of all make sure your hands are clean, we don’t want dirt to get onto the ear plug and pushed into the ear!
Pick up the ear plug packet and take out one ear plug.
Begin rolling it between the thumb and fingers, squashing it into a narrow cylinder.
After it is rolled hold it firmly to keep from expanding and select an ear for the plug.
With the other hand grasp the top of the ear and gently pull the ear up and away from the head to open the ear canal.
Slowly begin putting one end of the ear plug into the ear, wiggling or rolling the ear plug a bit if needed.
As the ear plug goes in the ear I am able to carefully push it in until the outer edge is no longer sticking out past my ear.
I can feel if the ear plug is in correctly because almost immediately I can feel the foam expanding and sound is muffled.
Get the remaining ear plug and go through the same process.
Sometimes it is difficult to get the ear plug into the ear, that may be because it was not rolled tight enough or already started to expand. If that is the case, then don’t try to force it in. Pull it out and roll it again, tighter this time and try again!

Where To Find New Ear Plugs

New ear plugs can be found at hardware stores and other places that sell tools and machines. They are a popular item at stores, but because they are so small they seem to be harder to spot on crowded shelves.

I have also found these ear plugs while shopping online. There you will have many different brands and colors to choose from!

How To Use Ear Plugs More Than Once

Depending on the job I am doing I doing sometimes I will need to use ear plugs more than once a day and it would be wasteful to keep using a new pair

If you are wondering how to use ear plugs more than once, the manufacturer is even helping here. My ear plugs are often in a small cardboard box called a pillow pack. Each of these pillow packs have a pair of ear plugs in it. The pillow packs are all in the one big box. Sometimes instead of a pillow pack the pair of ear plugs will be sealed in a small plastic bag.

Before operating a chainsaw I need to protect my hearing. So I pull the ear plugs out of the pillow pack and put them in my ears. Then I save the pillow pack by putting it into my pocket. When my cutting job is finished I can pull the pillow packet from my pocket and easily put the used ear plugs into it, keeping them clean and safe from getting lost!

At the end of the day I usually bring my used ear plugs home. There they will get washed and dried and then they can be used again at another job!

Sometimes I forget to take the ear plugs out of my pants pocket and they go through the washer! That will clean them but they can also be washed under a facet.

Its important to occasionally wash the ear plugs because ear wax will stick to the ear plug and dust will stick to the ear wax. And eventually that buildup of dirt would get pushed into the ear.

My Favorite Ear Plugs – Trusted For Years

Now that I’ve explained how to use ear plugs, I want to show you my favorite ear plugs which are the 3M classic ear plugs. They are yellow foam cylinder shaped ear plugs.

The main reason I like these ear plugs so much is because the foam is slower to expand than most other brands. That gives me a few more seconds to wiggle the plug into my ear before it expands and needs to be rolled again.

Winter’s cold weather makes the foam stiffer and harder to roll, but that is fine because it will open up slower. That gives me more time to get it in my ear. The summer warmth will make these ear plugs expand faster, but it is still slower than other brands!

Working in the summer you know it will be hot, and with that comes sweat! Eventually the ear plugs will become wet from sweat. That is normal, but will make it slightly harder to keep them clean throughout the day.

How To Use Ear Plugs At Work Instead Of Ear Muffs

Often I see people wearing ear muffs instead of ear plugs. Maybe they don’t know how to use ear plugs or believe ear muffs are easier to use. I have found ear muffs can be bulky and feel kinda heavy on my head!

In construction and other areas where hard hats are worn it would be difficult to wear both ear muffs and a hard hat. Ear plugs come in handy for these workers.

In my Tree Pruning and Removal business we usually use hard hats that have an ear muff system attached to them. But sometimes those don’t press firmly enough against my ears so I like to wear ear plugs underneath, especially when using a chainsaw or chipping branches with the chipper.

Ear plugs have the advantage of being much smaller and still doing as an effective job as the much bigger muffs! Plus they can be put in my pocket and always carried with me so I have them whenever I need them!

I hope you have learned how to use ear plugs! But if you have any questions be sure to ask me about them in the comment section below!

Tree Branch Cutting Tools – The Hand Tools

April 2, 2023April 2, 2023 by Justin

Having a few tree branch cutting tools in the garage is a good idea by anybody that has at least one tree near their house! While nice big shade trees are great to have near my home, they eventually need some work done to them as the branches tend to hang down a bit to low.

If it is a small tree or shrubbery in the flowerbed, then you will need a different set of tree branch cutting tools that are capable of precise pruning. A young tree needs some selective thinning and lower limb removal as it grows. The established shrubs in the flowerbeds beside my house need to be pruned every fall or they will grow way too big!

I want to explain how I use some of my favorite pruning tools while working in my Tree Pruning and Removal business!

Pruning Shears – One Hand Operation

A pruning shears is a small pruner that is operated with one hand. My favorite pruning shears is a Felco pruning shears. It is a commercial grade quality and we have used ours for many years. I like it so much that when we lost the Felco pruner we had, I bought another just like it! With the bright red handles it is easy to find in the toolbox!

It is one of the easiest tools to use, especially on small branches or shrubbery. A lot of times when I am using my pruning shears it will be on shrubbery like a butterfly bush or holly shrub. It also works when pruning fruit trees where there are many small branches that need to be pruned each year.

Most of these tools are about eight inches long and you will use it with either the right or left hand. The cutting jaws open pretty wide, but the thicker branch you select to cut, the harder it will cut. Especially since normally only one hand is used to cut. However, on the thicker branches it does work well to place my second hand over my primary hand to help squeeze harder. These tree branch cutting tools can cut up to roughly a three-quarter inch branch.

Bypass Lopper – 2 Inch Tree Branch Cutting Tools

A bypass loppers is an important member of the tree branch cutting tools. These bypass loppers have a cutting blade that slides past the bottom bar so it makes a clean cut. A clean cut will help the tree heal faster where the branch was removed.

There is a variety of sizes in these loppers. The length usually ranges from 20 inches to 32 inches. Usually the longer the loppers the bigger branch you can cut because of the extra leverage from the longer handles.

With the varying lengths they also have varying branch size each lopper can cut. Normally the cutting size for these tree branch cutting tools ranges from one and a quarter inches to about two inches. Although they will cut smaller twigs just fine!

I’m going to be using the bypass loppers on pruning a white pine tree or something similar to that when the tree needs to be reshaped to a normal pine tree look. Or sometimes on a small tree when doing slight crown reduction and removing the low limbs.

We used to have a Corona Bypass Loppers that I really liked, but eventually it broke from abusing it by trying to cut branches or roots that were to big! We usually take the bypass loppers along when a stump grinding job is scheduled. This loppers works well to cut off any small roots sticking out of the ground after the stump is finished being ground out!

Hand Saw – From The Tree Branch Cutting Tools

The hand saw is pretty much what it sounds like. It is a sharp toothed curved blade attached to a wooden, plastic, or medal handle. Usually this cutting blade’s length is seven to 13 inches long! The blade length is something to consider when deciding how large of branches need to be cut.

But do consider that using this type of hand saw does take some effort. A sharp blade really helps reduce cutting time. Remember all the cutting is done by sawing through the wood. The bigger the branch, the more effort it will take!

There is a certain satisfying emotion that goes with using this saw. Back in the day lumberjacks would cut down massive trees with a hand saw! A much larger version though!

While these tools are great for a few cuts, or sporadic tree maintenance, you probably want to consider a chainsaw if pretty much cutting is needed to be done on average size limbs. I rarely use this tool because it takes quite a bit of effort and we have a selection of chainsaws and other cutting tools in the bucket truck toolbox that cut the branch faster!

Pole Saw / Pruner – Reaching Higher

When I am working from the ground and reaching up into the tree to either remove branches or to prune the sides of small or medium trees the pole saw pruner is a great tool I use.

There are several lengths of these tree branch cutting tools. Some are extendable up to about 16 feet. Others are about 10 to 11 feet long but then they have extra poles to add to the handle! These can be extended as high as I want!

It doesn’t matter if you prefer the extension or extendable pruner, each of them have the same basic design at the cutting end. It is a pruning head attached to the end of the handle. This head has a hooked shaped end on it that gets set over the branch to be cut.

There is a rope attached to the pruner cutting blade, and after the pruner head is set in position on the branch I simply pull on the rope and it will snip the branch! After the cut is made, springs mounted to the pruner head will reopen the blade and I am ready for the next cut! Just watch out for the falling branch you just cut off!

Also, these units normally come with a saw mounted onto it, much like the hand saws. Those are for sawing off the bigger branches. The pruner can cut up to about two inch diameter branches. Anything thicker than that is when the saw blade comes in handy.

The pole saw I use in my tree pruning business is made by A.M. Leonard. It has a strong fiberglass handle and extension pieces can be added to it. I don’t often use the saw for it, but the pruner head with the rope attached gets used! It works great for pruning small branches. I also use this when a tree limb is growing to close to a sidewalk or house. We have several handles to add on for higher projects.

My Tree Branch Cutting Tools

As a professional tree pruner for 15+ years I have quite a bit off experience with different tree branch cutting tools. When using a tool very often I am going to want something that will last a long time! So I usually buy the sturdy and more expansive brand. Felco pruners or Corona loppers are trusted name brands for professional use. A.M. Leonard or Jameson pole saw pruners are excellent quality and can reach high!

While these are the tools I recommend, they might not make sense for the projects you have in mind! Do you have any experience using similar tools or have a question you would like answered? You can simply ask them in the comment section below and I will be happy to discuss!

Your Arborist Friend: Justin

Commercial Wheel Chocks – The Solid Rubber Wheel Chocks

March 7, 2023March 7, 2023 by Justin

The best and safest way to be sure your work truck or trailer will not coast after it is parked is to use commercial wheel chocks. These solid rubber wheel chocks are stronger and can withstand a heavier workload than the cheaper and lesser rated standard wheel chocks.

If you don’t think many people use wheel chocks, you just need to start looking around. Places to look are anywhere a trailer is parked, a recreational vehicle sometimes has wheel chocks at its tires, a vehicle parked on a hill may use them, or often any type of lift or crane will use wheel chocks for extra precaution against unwanted movement.

Why Are Wheel Chocks Required?

Depending on the type of truck it may be required by law to use wheel chocks when parked. Most vehicle have a reliable breaking system for when they are parked, but some older trucks are not as trustworthy. Therefore, it is a good idea to have a set of commercial wheel chocks to put at the rear tires when parked to prevent the truck from rolling.

Trailers that are not equipped with air brakes will not have any braking applied to the wheels when unhooked so it is especially important to use wheel chocks on unhooked trailers. Any of those trailers unhooked on even a small slope will want to roll, or at the very least it will cause extra stress on the trailer jack.

While preforming a pre-trip inspection of the truck the wheels should be chocked because the truck will be running and the driver will be on the outside doing the inspection. With the truck engine running there is a higher risk it could move without wheel chocks being used.

How I Use Our Commercial Wheel Chocks

In our tree pruning business we often use wheel chocks for our boom truck when it is parked at the tree and in operation pruning or removing the tree. When the bucket truck boom is high in the air there can be no chance the truck moves or the wheels roll. Any small movement at the ground is magnified many times when the boom is at full extension. Something as simple as throwing a piece of firewood into the truck box can be felt by the person in the bucket.

To use the commercial wheel chocks is pretty simple and straightforward. Park the truck and lock the brakes. Determine which way the truck could roll if the brakes didn’t hold and put the wheel chocks on that side of the tire. Put a wheel chock on each side of the truck. Preferably the rear tires are chocked but the front tires can easily be chocked as well. Under special circumstances or on a steeper than normal hill all the tires can be chocked.

The Solid Rubber Wheel Chock

The commercial wheel chocks have become my new favorite as the previous kind we had are not solid and after using them they cracked on the sides and aren’t able to hold nearly as much weight. The crack actually got big enough that if the truck would be put into gear and driven forward it would have been able to squash the chock and drive over it.

A solid rubber wheel chock can be a little more expensive than the regular chocks. But the price difference isn’t much and the extra strength, product life, and trustworthiness will be worth the cost.

A solid rubber wheel chock is going to be much stronger than a hollow wheel chock. With a hollow wheel chock the strength is in the edges and the small braces in the center. But with the solid chock the strength is all the way across the chock. That makes it much harder to crush and the solid chock can hold back more weight.

With a standard wheel chock you run the risk of a heavy truck crushing the chock and rolling over it. If you are using light equipment or trailers a standard chock probably is good enough for you, but with heavy trucks and trailers you will be thankful to have a commercial wheel chock you can trust in.

Storage For The Wheel Chock During Driving

All trucks will need a storage area for the chocks while the truck is driving on the road. This storage area needs to be approved by the state department of transportation Basically that means they need to be secured or stored in a safe place so they won’t fall out while driving.

Our boom truck has a special compartment just behind each rear tire that the chock fits snugly into. This commercial wheel chock holder is a V shaped compartment that is sloped inward and keeps the chock secured while driving.

This convenient holder is easy to put the chock into for storage and pull it out of when chocks are needed. And with the holders location behind each rear tire, no extra steps are needed to apply them.

Other places wheel chocks are commonly stored would be in a toolbox or some other compartment on the truck. Those are also great places to store them, but a small downside with a toolbox is the toolbox could be crowded and you need to dig them out.

Commercial wheel chocks are great for your trailer for when it is unhooked. Sometimes a trailer is unhooked at a job site and left there. It would be a good idea to have wheel chocks for then. Most trailers have a small storage area near the front or mounted in between the trailer frame near the hitch. That would be a convenient place to store them while driving, or if there is no toolbox a small compartment can easily be added beneath the trailer deck.

The Best Color For Commercial Wheel Chocks

My favorite color for any commercial wheel chocks is black. That is a pretty standard color, especially with the solid rubber wheel chocks. Black seems to blend in nicely and is less noticeable than some of the other bright colors.

If you get into the steel wheel chocks you could expand the color range quite a bit as they could be painted in pretty much any color.

Your Arborist Friend:

Justin

Best Metal Yard Rake – It Is Strong And Affordable

April 15, 2023December 26, 2020 by Justin

It is that time of the year again, Old Man Winter is fading and giving way to Spring. Along with Spring comes spring cleanup around the outside of your home. Using the best metal yard rake to remove sticks, leaves and other debris that has accumulated in your beautiful lawn over the winter will help get the job done much quicker than struggling with an old, weak and worn out rake!

The reason I consider this the best metal yard rake is because we use them in our family owned tree pruning and removal business! I have tried other metal yard rakes and some plastic yard rakes but this specific metal yard rake is one of the best for multiple uses in our business. I love this rake so much that we usually buy more than 1 at a time and when they wear out from our heavy commercial use I go back to the store and buy more!