Stopped using a pole pruner for deadwood and went back to a handsaw for better cuts

After 20 years of climbing I finally realized a pole pruner leaves jagged stubs on oak deadwood so I switched back to a folding handsaw and the trees heal way cleaner, anyone else find the pole just masks bad cuts when you cant get close enough?

2 comments

2 Comments

leohart1mo ago

Yeah the part about "jagged stubs" really hit home. My buddy Dave used to run a pole pruner on his maples and left these little torn up nubs everywhere. Over a couple years the whole tree started looking rough with dead spots all around those cuts. He switched to a small handsaw on a rope and now the wounds close up smooth like they were never touched. I watched him take down a dead limb last fall and the cut was so clean you could barely see it after a season. Makes me wonder why anyone bothers with power tools for detail work like that.

paige5141mo agoMost Upvoted

I get what you're saying, but I think power tools have their place if you're careful. I've been pruning my old oaks for fifteen years with a decent pole pruner and I make sure to sharpen the blade before every season. A dull blade is what causes those ragged tears not the tool itself. I also make my cuts just outside the branch collar and never leave a stub. The key is going slow and not trying to force it through a thick limb. My trees have healed up just fine with clean wounds that callus over in a year or two.