Essential tools to carry; pole saw.

[KKELLER14K]

Funny how subjects get brought up but this was one I would like to address here in the NW...I was talking to someone who wanted to travel off road...a bit deeper into our forests with a TC....I asked do you have saws?MMM...well I carry an electric chain saw; long extension cord (no gas) and a pole saw always...well I think it is obvious why...my genny can run my Pollan if I run into a fallen tree and my pole saw can take care of low branches..just tools of the trade. Comments?

[Buzzcut1]

Naio wrote:
Well I do carry pruning saws and loppers, not so much for camping purposes but for the work I do. And a bucket and a shovel. And a jigsaw and an inverter. I suppose if I had to I could cut a tree out of the way of the road.

The thing about being stuck somewhere is it brings out your creative side. I'm sure Buzzcut1 could claw his way through an 8-inch tree with his churchkey if he had to.

I carry an axe and two different sized folding hand saws at all times. But I make dang sure that I can always easily crack open a cold beer. A man has to have his priorites straight.

[Naio]

Well I do carry pruning saws and loppers, not so much for camping purposes but for the work I do. And a bucket and a shovel. And a jigsaw and an inverter. I suppose if I had to I could cut a tree out of the way of the road.

The thing about being stuck somewhere is it brings out your creative side. I'm sure Buzzcut1 could claw his way through an 8-inch tree with his churchkey if he had to.

[zcookiemonstar]

The one thing no one mentioned is that if you are cutting or pruning any live trees you have to make sure whatever you are cutting with has been properly cleaned. If you make a cut on a tree that has a disease and then make a cut on a healthy tree you can transfer that disease. You can also be bringing that disease from one area to another.

[bb_94401]

2x we carry a gas powered chain saw (with spark arrestor) and a pruning saw.

richclover wrote:

... All it takes is an overnight thunderstorm to bring down the deadfall across the only road out.

jaycocreek wrote:

... I knew a guy that went back on an older logging road and a tree fell over the road after he went through. He didn't have an axe or a saw and he had to walk out for help...

deserteagle56 wrote:
... Storms knock some of the trees over across the roadway. The Federal agency responsible is not about to send out a crew to prune trees or remove fallen ones.

richclover wrote:

.... Pine bark beetles have killed off lotsa trees and deadfall has become more of a problem. I’ve had to trim branches from leaning dead trees to avoid damage to roof or sides. I’ve also had to chain saw deadfall trees off of a forest service road ...)

We go on extended trips so we can explore further into various FS and BLM lands. We've often cut trees that fall across the road both inbound and outbound. We also remove rock fall as well.

In addition to beetle kill, there are a significant amount of fire killed trees still standing from previous years. It doesn't take much of a breeze to bring them down across the road, blocking your way out. Add a big storm with rain resulting in water saturated soil and lots of wind and you may not get out for some time.

Even if you are relying on an agency to clear the road, we ran into a 1 mile section on a FS road that had over 40 8" diameter trees down on our only route out. In this case the FS had cleared the road of trees just 2 days after the storm. Unfortunately they only cut out an opening as wide as their truck. There wasn't enough width for my dually to fit through with the TC on ....

Idaho State law "requires vehicles to carry a bucket with minimum 1 gallon capacity, 24" handle shovel with a 6" blade, and a 4-BC fire extinguisher" when recreating on Idaho state endowment trust land. Forest service suggests an axe as well.

Better to be prepared. A chain saw, an axe or a mountain bike beat walking out.

[Buzzcut1]

this is my most essential camper tool, I would be lost without it

[Lwiddis]

“I’d Doo it for free!”

He does. “I'm a volunteer for the US Forest Service and...”

[ppine]

Trail clearing is fine. But I can tell once I get in 12-15 miles that the crews don't get in that far. My mules are good at stepping over, around and jumping logs. I keep an axe on the first mule but rarely have to use it.

[specta]

TxGearhead wrote:
Who made that 40volt green chainsaw? My Stihl wont fit in the Bigfoot basement. That green one might. I guess I could put it on the trailer...

40 v chainsaw

Here's a link to the my chainsaw. I also bought a 5.0 AM battery to go with it and use the 2.0 AM battery for the spare.

Mine has started leaking chain oil. If I were to buy a new chainsaw I would pick a different brand but you can use this one for dimensions.

Other than minor oil drips I've been very happy with the saw and its performance.

[specta]

Grit dog wrote:
^I wanna be YOU!!
That looks like a blast! I’d Doo it for free!
Think I found another retirement hobby when that finally happens!
I’m gonna groom snomachine trails!
Do you ride specta?

Clearing the trails is a blast and I do it fro free. 🙂
I spend a lot of time on my ATV. That's why I have a camper. 😉
I don't ride sleds. They'd kill me. LOL

Living the good life. Snowcat video.

I do get paid to groom snowmobile trails though.

[KKELLER14K]

I'm just saying it again...it is worth a conversation. Being prepared, specta thanks for the pics...this is exactly what I was talking about....great visuals. You need saws and this really proves it beyond a doubt. The hangers can tear a hole in your roof in a second, hence the pole saw, but a down tree can really ruin your day if you can't remove it. Example; Coming back out of the Mount Hood National Forest one weekend,(in the snow), not a huge tree but one tall enough to completely block the road across.. I came up on it coming back down and a few cars had stopped on the other side...no one had any thing to cut with, but who did? Yeah me..so it goes to show that my advice to someone who had never been further off a paved road is not a good piece of advice? I beg to differ. If you do this long enough you learn what to expect..what can go wrong will go wrong, trust me. Tools of the trade.

[TxGearhead]

Who made that 40volt green chainsaw? My Stihl wont fit in the Bigfoot basement. That green one might. I guess I could put it on the trailer...

[Old_Islander]

Amazing some of the comments about this subject. Political correctness seems to have become a thing, regarding the use of saws in the woods. I guess it depends on where you live and camp.

My buddies and I have been hunting/fishing in the back country of south to central BC for well over 50 years -- pretty much all on crown land or land under timber license to assorted forest companies. And we have never ventured into the back country without gas powersaws.

Coming out from some of our remote locations, I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say we've needed the saw for 50+ trees across the road, usually due to heavy snowfall. Every fall, it seems branches have appeared one way or another, that would damage the camper sides or roof. Anyone cutting back these branches and 'leaners' is doing everyone else a favour.

We seldom camp in national parks, unless it's a 'sight seeing' vacation. But the saw is still in the basement, in case we come across a tree across the road. This can happen anytime, anywhere. And in many of the places we visit, you might wait days or weeks, for someone else to come along with a saw and bail you out.

[richclover]

“...I'm a volunteer for the US Forest Service and spend a lot of time in the spring time removing fallen trees off the trails....”

Specta, in Utah, thanks for volunteering and for posting the photos. That’s why I carry my chainsaw on boondocking trips to the mountains. All it takes is an overnight thunderstorm to bring down the deadfall across the only road out. I have that T-shirt 😉

Ps. Mine is a Stihl, loaded up in the truck with a couple extra gallons of mixed gas and a spare chain.

Works for me.

[Grit_dog]

^I wanna be YOU!!
That looks like a blast! I’d Doo it for free!
Think I found another retirement hobby when that finally happens!
I’m gonna groom snomachine trails!
Do you ride specta?

[specta]

Bedlam wrote:

specta wrote:


I carry a 40v chainsaw with me everywhere I go when camping. I use it to clear existing roads.

I'm not sure whether to thank or curse you. I'm now looking at cordless saws and trying to justify that my bow saw is enough...

I'm a volunteer for the US Forest Service and spend a lot of time in the spring time removing fallen trees off the trails.

I've used this chain saw a lot and I'm very pleased with it.

I bought a second battery for it, that's my extra fuel. With the cost of the saw and the second battery I could have bought nice gas chain saw but I refuse to strap a messy gas chainsaw on the front of my ATV and carry extra 2-stroke mix.



I take it with me in the snowcat when I groom snowmobile trails.
It always starts regardless of the temperature or altitude and its light enough I can use it one-handed when I need to reach to get a tree.

If I was going to cut piles of firewood I'd get a nice Stihl chainsaw.