Best Hand Saw?

[svk]

May be doing some volunteer work this winter in a non-motorized area to clear trails.

I've got a host of axes and also a folding "sharktooth" camp saw. Need something to cut larger trees.

What's the best production saw you can recommend for bucking larger logs? Thinking trees from 6-16 inches.

Thanks in advance.

 

[El Quachito]

Maybe a one man crosscut saw? They go cheap on Ebay. I have no experience with them.

 

[svk]

Maybe a one man crosscut saw? They go cheap on Ebay. I have no experience with them.

That's what I'm thinking. Hoping someone can recommend a brand so I don't have to take a chance on performance.

 

[El Quachito]

Sharpening it could be a factor as well.....

 

[svk]

Replaceable blades...very few people these days know how to set teeth.

 

[blackdogon57]

I would ride in there on a horse and drag logs back to my chainsaw.

 

[firebrick43]

Largest sandvik bow saw if you don't want to sharpen. A one man cross cut if you do. It's a whole nother rabbit hole to get the tools to sharpen.

Do a google search for the forest service crosscut saw manual!

 

[Marshy]

I have a bad@ss pruning saw I bought from Lowes. It's manufactured by Corona, model RS7500, 18" razor tooth. It starts getting a little small for anything over 10" and wouldn't be very inefficient with stuff 14" or larger. They make a 21" saw, maybe you can find one even larger idk. It works exceptionally well on any green wood including your flesh so be careful with it if you get one...
After using this Corona I will never pick up a bow saw again. Plus they won't cost ya an arm and leg, only a finger if you slip.

 

[firebrick43]

I have a bad@ss pruning saw I bought from Lowes. It's manufactured by Corona, model RS7500, 18" razor tooth. It starts getting a little small for anything over 10" and wouldn't be very inefficient with stuff 14" or larger. They make a 21" saw, maybe you can find one even larger idk. It works exceptionally well on any green wood including your flesh so be careful with it if you get one...
After using this Corona I will never pick up a bow saw again. Plus they won't cost ya an arm and leg, only a finger if you slip.

I have one of those coronas and typically if I am climb pruning I use nothing else. I want to say mine is 14" Its a great saw! It's a pull type Japanese tooth saw. That 21" is more like an original cross cut saw but not nearly as stiff of a blade. I would be worried about it pinching on big wood and 21" would be for a long cut on 16" wood.

A 30" bow saw blade is 10 -12 bucks so it hurts a lot less if you wreck it or don't hand sharpen your saws. Make your own wood frame it packs down pretty well to!

 

[KenJax Tree]

Silky Zübat or Sugoi

 

[Cheesecutter]

+1 on Silky

 

[Jere39]

Several good ideas here. I have a nice 18" Silky that I typically attach to a pole, but the pole head works well as a handle alone. Of course it wouldn't be of much use on a large tree or log. When you find your right saw, you will likely find it helps to open up a hinge face on the opposite side with an ax or hatchet.

 

[zogger]

36" bowsaw and extra blades. Sandvik, Bahco.

 

[firebrick43]

Use to be common to carry extra bow saw blades under your belt. Some times they didn't even carry a frame and built one on sight with saplings. Also bow saws are sort of unique in that even the large 36" and 42" saws are not that much heavier than the smaller 24 and 30" saws but the frames are defiantly more bulky to pack in. How many miles are you hiking in?

 

[svk]

Use to be common to carry extra bow saw blades under your belt. Some times they didn't even carry a frame and built one on sight with saplings. Also bow saws are sort of unique in that even the large 36" and 42" saws are not that much heavier than the smaller 24 and 30" saws but the frames are defiantly more bulky to pack in. How many miles are you hiking in?

Very little walking required except on the trails that we will be working on. Size/weight isn't an issue just need a tool capable of tackling larger aspen/jack/norway pine that inevitably will be blown over the trail.

 

[svk]

Also not sure if I mentioned earlier. This will only be used to buck horizontal or leaning trees, no felling.

 

[El Quachito]

Well, let us know what you get, of course.

 

[svk]

Will do some due diligence and post up once I purchase. Most bow saws are surprisingly reasonably priced.

Appreciate all of the suggestions!

 

[zogger]

Also not sure if I mentioned earlier. This will only be used to buck horizontal or leaning trees, no felling.

Bowsaws cut better than a crosscut, as long as you develop a real smooooooth stroke and don't twist or wiggle and bind them up. I cut a lot with both, bowsaw rules. If grandpappy had one, he would have dropped the misery whip in the mud. Just much lighter in the hands, no wasted calories on a wide kerf you don't need. Same rules as sawchain though, cutting dirty wood..oops. Bad idea. Axe the cut area clean first.

You said no felling, so just FYI if you ever try it, when I was doing it a lot, I would face cut/notch with the axe, back cut with the bowsaw.

Ya, I got pinched...again same as a chainsaw, remove blade from "powerhead" put new blade on, fix the mistake. Much easier to carry around some spare bowsaw blades compared to spare crosscut blades.

That is when I learned about wedges in the cut, bucking or felling, no one ever showed me, I just made my own from chunks of wood, because it seemed logical.

 

[AT sawyer]

If you'll be working in a wilderness area on USFS land, you'd need a sawyer card to run a crosscut saw. That's not required for axes or good pruning saws like the Silky. If you're clearing mostly softwoods, a well sharpened DB axe will make short work out of most blowdowns and it can't get pinched. However, you can chip the blade in frozen hemlock. Absent that, a well-filed crosscut saw will do all those things faster in large diameter wood, providing you have someone on your crew who's familiar with crosscut saw techniques.