POLE SAW TRIMMER VS WEED WHIP TYPE

[MIKE IN lINO III]

I need to brush out quite a bit of brush and over the week end I broke my Ryobi brush trimmer. It seemed to work fine on brush and small trees with a diameter of three inches. I don't think that I will be able to fix the Ryobi, I sheared the pin that holds the cutting head straight, so I am now contemplating getting a pole saw or another Ryobi.

Does anyone have experience with either and what are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Mike

[minneman]

Hard to know what to recomend w/out seeing what your up against, but anytime I here "Ryobi" Junk comes to mind. My livelyhood relys on tools, I wouldnt own any tool made by Ryobi

[luckyc]

I have one of the Remington pole saws, it's a 10" electric chainsaw on a pole that extends to about 10 feet. It works really good, a little heavy after awhile but she'll cut anything any small chainsaw will. You can remove the saw and use it without the pole too. $99 at Menards

[mechanictim]

If you are cutting a lot of brush and small trees that are over an inch in diameter I think you should get a small chainsaw. Brush trimmer blades can get pinched in any thing over an inch and cause the type of failure you had. Another problem with brush cutters is the chance of kickback, probably more of a hazzard to anyone working nearby than to the operator. Brush cutters should always be kept low to the gound, if you need to trim a tree or brush over knee high up to elbow high use a chainsaw, anything over elbow high use a polesaw. Stihl and Husqvarna make some good saws, and I really like the manual from Stihl. If you haven't done much cutting with a chainsaw or polesaw a good dealer can really give you some important safety and cutting tips.

[MIKE IN lINO III]

Thanks guys,

I was out looking at the Remington pole saw, electric isn't going to work for me. I have about 3+ acres of lake property I want to brush out. I was leaning towards the pole saw because I live in a pine tree plantation and it would be nice to trim up some of those branches also. I think I will jerry rig my brush trimmer and get a gas pole saw.

Thanks for the input.

Mike

[luckyc]

Agreed, that electric Remington wouldn't work for you. Before I got the electric, I had a friend over with his Stihl that extended a good 15 plus feet, what a sweet machine, the motor was at the bottom and chain saw blade on the adjustable pole. He used very little effort to get into my maple to trim. About 5x the price of my electric though.