Pole (reciprocating) Saw on a BX bucket !

ve9aa

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The other day I got my VHF antenna that I use for ham radio stuck in my Maple tree that's close to the house (you can just see it in the upper left hand corner of one shot) and so I cobbled together a very flimsy 23' pipe of various 1-1.5" pcs of aluminum and taped a mini Buck Saw to the end of it. It was just barely long enough to reach the branches I needed to hack off and took me an exhausting 1.5hrs to get 90% of the branches removed.

The main issue was.....I am not as young as I used to be - and - the pole was like a pc of spaghetti !

Today I decided to finish the job but they say work smarter, not harder, so I used a 20' x 2" HD aluminum mast and a DeWalt 20V reciprocating saw on a bracket on the far end of the pipe. The pipe was stuck into my 2" receiver on top of my bucket.

Took me about 1.25hrs to "invent" the system to hold the saw and under 10 minutes to hack off the remaining 2 branches. (1 minute per branch and 8minutes repositioning the tractor to get onto the 2nd branch. It's a lot harder than it looks because you just can't see what's going on with all the Maple leaves and I thought I might snap the saw in 1/2 if I drove it into the trunk or large branch...so you need to keep hopping on/off the tractor, go into the house, look out an upstairs window, move the tractor, tip the bucket, pray not to crack the saw in 1/2 (you get the idea.)

Next year I'll do this all in the spring before the leaves pop out !

(The small white rope is tied to the on/off switch on the DeWalt 20V reciprocating saw)
The saw is held onto a small aluminum bracket <muffler clamped to the pipe> with 2 ratchet straps and some eyebolts.
20230703_163800.jpg
 
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ve9aa

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ve9aa

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cthomas

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I am curious on what the VHF antenna was mounted on? The BX, truck, or something I can't think of.
 

ve9aa

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I am curious on what the VHF antenna was mounted on? The BX, truck, or something I can't think of.
The VHF antenna is mounted onto a mast (and rotor) off to the left near the end of the house.
With the base, mast, rotor and stub mast, it's up about 23-24' above ground level.

When my wife planted this maple tree some 15+ years ago it never even dawned on me it would ever get tall enough to interfere with the turning of my antenna, but as it's adjacent to the septic field, it get fed well and grows at an alarming rate.

I have trimmed it back almost yearly and sometimes it just sprouts a new tree (from the base!)

I'd say it's likely approaching 30' tall now. .....and that includes me lopping the top off it many times in the early years.
 

cthomas

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Had an antenna like that growing up, was on a 40 foot tower. Every year parents wanted F@#king Christmas lights on it so it looked like a candy cane. Don't miss it one bit.
 
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i7win7

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You might want to consider a Hyper Tough 20v polesaw (Walmart) or another "brushed motor" polesaw, because it uses a simple on/off switch. Can't reach as high as you but, here's my redneck engineering
 

ve9aa

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TG1860, BX2380 -backblade, bx2830 snowblower, fel, weight box,pallet forks,etc
Apr 11, 2021
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You might want to consider a Hyper Tough 20v polesaw (Walmart) or another "brushed motor" polesaw, because it uses a simple on/off switch. Can't reach as high as you but, here's my redneck engineering
I checked out your thread. VERY NICE BUILD !

I'll brace the saw onto the bracket a little better with a wooden saddle, next year when I use it. Even with 2 big ratchet straps, the saw moved a little here and there.

Only 1 thing I found surprising. When I kinda got the saw "hung up" in some of those branches (couldn't really see what I was doing, behind all those big green maple leaves) and was I trying to get free w/o wrecking my saw, I felt/saw one rear wheel come off the ground. Luckily I was working very slow.
Next time I'll use some rear ballast. For whatever reason, I didn't think to use it. I mean, it was an aluminum pipe and recip saw weighing a couple pounds.

If I was doing a bunch of limbs along a property like yours, I'd certainly do things up a lot beefier, but as there's really only 1 tree on my property that is anywhere's close to the house, it's the one that gets all the attention.

Others way away from the house I generally just let branches collapse on their own, then go drag them out of the way in the spring.

Cheers fellas !
 

Runs With Scissors

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Love it!

I love these "combat solutions" to problems.

Nicely done!
 
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GreensvilleJay

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re:
... but as it's adjacent to the septic field, it get fed well and grows at an alarming rate. ..

You may want to consider incurring' the wrath' and chop down the tree !! That tree's roots WILL destroy your weeping bed and actually get INTO the tank. The cost of replacing an entire bed is $$$ these days, when I did it 30 years ago 'just' $3500...100' of pipe and fancy 'gravel'.

bet the 'pole saw' was a tad weebly-wobbly and knowing how 'precise' the loader valving is HAD to be 'fun'.
Glad you saved the antenna. Got an old Heatkit unit hear 'looking for a good home'.....
 
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ve9aa

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TG1860, BX2380 -backblade, bx2830 snowblower, fel, weight box,pallet forks,etc
Apr 11, 2021
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NB, Canada
re:
... but as it's adjacent to the septic field, it get fed well and grows at an alarming rate. ..

You may want to consider incurring' the wrath' and chop down the tree !! That tree's roots WILL destroy your weeping bed and actually get INTO the tank. The cost of replacing an entire bed is $$$ these days, when I did it 30 years ago 'just' $3500...100' of pipe and fancy 'gravel'.

bet the 'pole saw' was a tad weebly-wobbly and knowing how 'precise' the loader valving is HAD to be 'fun'.
Glad you saved the antenna. Got an old Heatkit unit hear 'looking for a good home'.....
Hi Jay

Yes, indeed it was very weebly wobby. 1/8" movement on the loader joystick was a foot or more at the far end. If I "jerked" the joystick at all, I had to patiently wait for all the weeble-wobble to stop before repositioning. As long as I went suuuuuupppppper slow and deliberate things went well.

I had (and have) a real liking for Heathkit gear. What do you have? Send me a PM if you don't mind please.