Our hedges have gotten to a height where trimming is tough and a thickness (of branch) where lowering them with the usual trimmer just won’t work. I have an 18inch blade electric chainsaw available and am considering it as a good tool for said task; taking the hedges down to say 4 foot. Dumb idea? Better ideas out there? I use electric mowers and trimmers a lot so the power cord is old hat to me but the last time (and only time) I handled a chain saw Carter was still President. So if its a workable idea tips would be appreciated.
It’s safe enough as with the electric trimmers. Keep both hands on the grip. The drawback I have had with using them for bushes is that the 1/4" size branches tend to get caught up in the chain. If your bushes have more actual wood, I think it would be a great idea.
Remember, a trimmer works with a scissor action. It grabs the item. A chainsaw somewhat depends on the branch being stiff enough to stay put as the chain pulls across it. Therein lies the problem with flexible branches.
IME a chainsaw just chews up the twigs. You could use a trimmer to get to the bigger branches, then use a chainsaw for major work, back to the trimmer for final shaping. Possibly you want to cut it really short and shape as it grows. I bought an electric chainsaw this year and it’s lighter to use, and it starts and stops quicker for yard-work type stuff. I still like a gas one for trees and firewood.
a chainsaw works if the wood and the saw stay still and only the chain is moving. holding a chainsaw up high is dangerous. small branches will whip around not cut. dangerous and not productive.
trim what you can with a hedge trimmer. cut larger branches with a long handled ratcheting pruner.
you might be best going inside the bush and cutting large branches far back. so that only leaves and small branches are at the surfaces. this is a multi-year project of cutting back some each year until you have it trained again.
That’s what I do. My real chainsaw is too heavy for something like that. I got the electric just for that purpose. I don’t know what kind of problems the others are running into, but I am not sculpting anything, just pruning and trimming.
My thanks to all for some good thoughts to ponder. I’m going to be about belt level so the reaching high thing shouldn’t be a problem and I’ll keep the regular trimmers handy for patches of thinner stuff - maybe do a serious “trimming the sides” with them first and then going after the height reduction. One thing that wasn’t brought up but I am seriously considering is getting a leather/kevlar apron since I’ll be working the blade mostly “sideways”. Just in case.
helicopter saw - huge “chainsaw” vs trees (loud music warning!)
I don’t think I would try this. Chainsaws, even electric chainsaws, can do a number on you very quickly, and it seems like using one amongst springy branches in the weird positions that you adopt for trimming hedge is just asking for a fast trip to the emergency room. In particular, the motion of the blade on a chain saw can pull stuff towards you or, if the blade snags, move the saw in unexpected ways. A hedge trimmer uses a reciprocal clipping motion that’s unlikely to impart any unexpected motion to the tool.
If you do decide to try this, then make sure that you plan out every single pass of the blade in terms of your stance (how well you’re balanced) and what the possible path of the blade would be if it kicked back or if you lose your balance.
I don’t know how thick your branches are, but a decent hedge trimmer will handle something up to 3/4" and anything else is rare enough that you can handle it with a pruner.
I have been guilty of “it sounded like a good idea at the time” but NEVER NEVER EVER “Hey Bubba - watch this!”
I’m doing what I can to plan this out as much as possible. I figure to cut/trim as I usually would taking the trimmer as far as it will go. Its for that point on I plan to use the chainsaw and then just to take down the height. Basically I’ll just need the blade to go left to right.
My trimmer is usually top-of-the-line Sears; I know there are commercial grades better but I can’t find them locally. I killed one this summer trying to take the top two feet off one side. The blade grabbed a limb/stem, pulled it under, and snapped the blade and bent the rest of it beyond repair. When the blade froze it took the motor pretty much with it. I tried long-handled/high horsepower manual pruning tools (shears and limb cutters) but the time involved would make the entire job basically a week long thing for say 60’.
I haven’t decided for sure if I’m going this route or not but ------- I’m seriously considering it.
Someday when my child asks about the Doppler Effect, that’s the video I’ll show her.
OP, rather then a chainsaw, I’d go to the hardware store and see if I could scout out a hedge trimmer with bigger openings between the teeth. I know they make them for exactly your application.