h a l f b a k e r yRenovating the wheel
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I'm quite experienced with chainsaws. Chainsaws are loud and fuel-thirsty, and dangerous in untrained hands. They are not ideal when all a person wants is to cut back a few branches in their garden. I also think the way they cut is inefficient, since a slot at least as wide as the chain has to be turned
to swarf.
Loppers, on the other hand, cut branches efficiently and with no swarf. But they struggle with anything thicker than an inch or so.
Giant Loppers take things to the next level, and bear a strong similarity to the hydraulic scissors used by rescue teams ("Jaws of Life"). A hydraulic piston drives the giant blades very slowly and gracefully through branches up to six inches thick. Simply clamp the Giant Loppers onto the branch, unreel the hose, and sedately work the foot pump until the tree gives up.
Giant Loppers Pro has an electric motor.
A modest alternative
http://www.homedepo...b1dfe63f06a9_65.jpg
I have a set of loppers with built-in gearing, like this image shows. It multiplies the lopping force by 3 times, according to the advertising I saw when I bought it. I have used it to lop tree sections that were 2 inches thick. [Vernon, Jul 19 2015]
[link]
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// Chainsaws are loud and fuel-thirsty, and dangerous in untrained hands. // |
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... and they smell of 2-stroke oil and unburnt gasoline. What's not to like? |
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// They are not ideal when all a person wants is to cut back a few branches in their garden. // |
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We totally and entirety disagree. |
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// I also think the way they cut is inefficient, since a slot at least as wide as the chain has to be turned to swarf. // |
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Think of it as "pre-shredding" ... |
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// very slowly and gracefully through branches up to six inches thick. // |
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Not slowly. Never slowly. Or gracefully. |
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// work the foot pump until the tree gives up. ...Giant Loppers Pro has an electric motor. // |
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Bun withheld pending description of the primary power source as utilizing internal combustion. Extra bun theoretically available for describing use of det cord for "difficult" branches ( ... trees, copses, woods, entire forests ...) |
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I remember when I first picked up a chainsaw, I had a kind of flashback of my entire life up until that point. Every time I had ever cut anything by hand, all that effort!, and here was something that zoomed through entire trees like butter. The screaming little two-stroke with its blue smoke and the spray of chips from a well-sharpened saw. I proceeded to rampage through a nearby woodland laughing manically as decades-old trees tumbled at my fingertips. |
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But after a few years the novelty did start to wear off. Just a little. And with this invention, I mainly had in mind all the people who are too afraid to pick up a chainsaw, and end up calling me to do it for them. |
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There are a few snags to be ironed out. First, you
have to get up the tree to clamp the thing around it.
Second, the thing slices through the branch. Third,
the branch falls down. Then fourth, the lopper falls
down. |
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Like we said, det cord ... |
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// people who are too afraid to pick up a chainsaw // ... don't qualify as "people". |
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// rampage through a nearby woodland laughing manically as decades-old trees tumbled at my fingertips. // |
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"AHA!!! AHAHAHAHAHAH !! COME ON YOU BIG WOODY BASTARDS, LET'S SEE WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF !!! HAHAHAHAHA !!!", and then kindly people in white coats led you out of the arboretum to a nice, quiet room where you could have a little lie down, are we right ? |
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There's nothing wrong with having a little lie down every now and then. |
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This is a fine idea. Jaws of Life, forestry edition. + |
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Post Hurricane Isabel in Richmond, VA, I had a bow saw,
several neighbors had chainsaws. |
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I made a lot more progress with mine than they did
between trying to get their saws started and a broken
chain. |
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As far as the loppers, just get a set with a 15 foot handle.
Or develop a ratcheting set with a greater mechanical
advantage (I can find some with 7x or so, but still only a
2" throat). |
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[MechE], yup. A friend of mine once said:
"Any log thinner than my leg, I'm through it faster with my bow saw than some-one using a chainsaw". (He was in to 4WD-ing, and kept a bow saw in the back for track clearing, etc.) |
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