Hi

I have just started my 2 weeks holiday and I need to clear my garden of 10
years worth of neglect (we have just moved in). To make matters worse, I
just cut through the cable of the hedge trimmer. I went to buy a petrol
driven type but they didn't have one - the guy said he had plenty of chain
saws. Question! what is the difference (apart from the obvious) between
using a chain saw and a trimmer for doing the same type of work i.e.
cropping back bushes and scrub etc? - will a chain saw TRIM a hedge?
I would appreciate a quick reply so that I can buy one tomorrow and save me
a few days of my holiday!!

thanks in advance

Charlie

"Charlie Brown" wrote:

will a chain saw TRIM a hedge?

A chain saw is a much cruder thing, and it doesn't do a nice job on small
stuff. I've used mine to good effect lopping off a bunch of brush that had
overgrown an old farmer's access lane by a boundary wall, but you sure
won't be doing topiary with it!
Is there somebody who will rent a petrol powered hedge trimmer, or an
electric one with an intact cord? Are you comfortable with splicing the
cut one? Heat shrink tubing over soldered connections works nicely, but if
the terms don't make sense, don't try it...


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

In article ,
Charlie Brown wrote:

I have just started my 2 weeks holiday and I need to clear my garden of 10
years worth of neglect (we have just moved in). To make matters worse, I
just cut through the cable of the hedge trimmer. I went to buy a petrol
driven type but they didn't have one - the guy said he had plenty of chain
saws. Question! what is the difference (apart from the obvious) between
using a chain saw and a trimmer for doing the same type of work i.e.
cropping back bushes and scrub etc? - will a chain saw TRIM a hedge?
I would appreciate a quick reply so that I can buy one tomorrow and save me
a few days of my holiday!!

Be sure to buy a few spare legs, the odd spare arm and a spare neck
or two. Plus the odd gallon of blood. It is AMAZING what you can
cut through with a chainsaw.

Alternatively, you could go to an agricultural merchant or GOOD
garden centre, and buy some hand tools (shears, a billhook and/or
machete, a sickle (not a grass hook), a hand axe, some secateurs
and some loppers). Then drop in at the off-licence and stock up
on beer.

It's all a matter of taste, really.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Charlie Brown" wrote in message
...
Question! what is the difference (apart from the obvious) between
using a chain saw and a trimmer for doing the same type of work i.e.
cropping back bushes and scrub etc? - will a chain saw TRIM a hedge?
NO.
I would appreciate a quick reply so that I can buy one tomorrow and save
me a few days of my holiday!!

A chainsaw cuts branches, logs etc, a hedgetrimmer cuts hedges, bushes etc.

One is a saw to cut through objects, like you would use a handheld
wood/metal saw. The other has blades that cut through the surrounds, much
like an electric shaver on your face.

The message
from "Charlie Brown" contains these words:

I have just started my 2 weeks holiday and I need to clear my garden of 10
years worth of neglect (we have just moved in). To make matters worse, I
just cut through the cable of the hedge trimmer. I went to buy a petrol
driven type but they didn't have one - the guy said he had plenty of chain
saws. Question! what is the difference (apart from the obvious) between
using a chain saw and a trimmer for doing the same type of work i.e.
cropping back bushes and scrub etc? - will a chain saw TRIM a hedge?
I would appreciate a quick reply so that I can buy one tomorrow and save me
a few days of my holiday!!

If you've never used a chainsaw before, forget about it - they're not
things to trifle with.

--
Rusty
horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Charlie Brown wrote:

I have just started my 2 weeks holiday and I need to clear my
garden
of 10 years worth of neglect (we have just moved in). To make
matters worse, I just cut through the cable of the hedge trimmer.
I
went to buy a petrol driven type but they didn't have one - the
guy
said he had plenty of chain saws. Question! what is the
difference
(apart from the obvious) between using a chain saw and a trimmer
for
doing the same type of work i.e. cropping back bushes and scrub
etc?
- will a chain saw TRIM a hedge?
I would appreciate a quick reply so that I can buy one tomorrow
and
save me a few days of my holiday!!

Be sure to buy a few spare legs, the odd spare arm and a spare neck
or two. Plus the odd gallon of blood. It is AMAZING what you can
cut through with a chainsaw.

Alternatively, you could go to an agricultural merchant or GOOD
garden centre, and buy some hand tools (shears, a billhook and/or
machete, a sickle (not a grass hook), a hand axe, some secateurs
and some loppers). Then drop in at the off-licence and stock up
on beer.

It's all a matter of taste, really.

What he said. If you have to ask, you don't want a chain saw. They
are absolutely not for trimming hedges. They're for cutting through
solid trunks and branches when you can see what you're doing, and
there's no small stuff in the way to deflect the machine into your
crutch. Full training and protective gear are basic essentials. The
man who tried to sell you one should be reported to the Trading
Standards Office, if not the Police.

In any case, trimming through flexible stuff in a hedge with one
wouldn't even work.

The DIY shed will sell you a cable connector for a couple of quid.

--
Mike.

"Charlie Brown" wrote in message
...
Hi

I have just started my 2 weeks holiday and I need to clear my garden of 10
years worth of neglect (we have just moved in). To make matters worse, I
just cut through the cable of the hedge trimmer. I went to buy a petrol
driven type but they didn't have one - the guy said he had plenty of chain
saws. Question! what is the difference (apart from the obvious) between
using a chain saw and a trimmer for doing the same type of work i.e.
cropping back bushes and scrub etc? - will a chain saw TRIM a hedge?

No it will not do it all all or be really crap. You either need a HT and a
small hand saw, or both plus a chainsaw depending upon how big the
branches/trunks are and how much there is. Dont forget to factor into the
cost of the chainsaw, £25 on chain mail gloves. Seriously. And a spare chain
(hit one nail or one stone and the chain will blunt instantly, if you dont
have a spare that may be the rest of the day gone while you get it
sharpened or a new one. Or just spend longer with a handsaw.

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

Thanks guys for everything. A chain saw is not for me. If it weren't for
you, people like me could do themselves serious injury, I am amazed
retailers are allowed to sell these things to just anybody. I guess I'll
stick to the old fashion way and just take my time....

thanks again

Charlie


"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
...
"Charlie Brown" wrote in message
...
Hi

I have just started my 2 weeks holiday and I need to clear my garden of
10 years worth of neglect (we have just moved in). To make matters
worse, I just cut through the cable of the hedge trimmer. I went to buy
a petrol driven type but they didn't have one - the guy said he had
plenty of chain saws. Question! what is the difference (apart from the
obvious) between using a chain saw and a trimmer for doing the same type
of work i.e. cropping back bushes and scrub etc? - will a chain saw TRIM
a hedge?

No it will not do it all all or be really crap. You either need a HT and a
small hand saw, or both plus a chainsaw depending upon how big the
branches/trunks are and how much there is. Dont forget to factor into the
cost of the chainsaw, £25 on chain mail gloves. Seriously. And a spare
chain (hit one nail or one stone and the chain will blunt instantly, if
you dont have a spare that may be the rest of the day gone while you get
it sharpened or a new one. Or just spend longer with a handsaw.

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

The message
from "Charlie Brown" contains these words:

Hi

I have just started my 2 weeks holiday and I need to clear my garden of 10
years worth of neglect (we have just moved in). To make matters worse, I
just cut through the cable of the hedge trimmer. I went to buy a petrol
driven type but they didn't have one - the guy said he had plenty of chain
saws. Question! what is the difference (apart from the obvious) between
using a chain saw and a trimmer for doing the same type of work i.e.
cropping back bushes and scrub etc? - will a chain saw TRIM a hedge?

No. It's likely to snarl up and take your face off.

If , to make a sale, he implied a hedgetrimmer and chainsaw are
interchangeable tools for your job, then congratulations. You've had a
narrow escape. Without having made an expensive mistake, you have
identified someone who does not know his stock, does not care for your
safety, knows damn all about garden maintenance, and even less about
machine maintenance. Don't do business with him; find someone else.

Janet

On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 23:28:37 +0100, "Charlie Brown" wrote:
Thanks guys for everything. A chain saw is not for me. If it weren't for
you, people like me could do themselves serious injury,

I am amazed at some of the doom-mongers and nay-sayers that have
posted replies.
If you look at the mechanisms side by side and cannot work out the
mode of operation of the two devices and their appropriate
applications then I agree with you that a chain saw is not for you.

I am amazed
retailers are allowed to sell these things to just anybody.

Oh dear, yet another embryo EU ban in the making, to deny to competent
people those things which may decapitate incompetent people !
I hope you are not contemplating a career in politics ?!
Just look what they did to shredders ,,,

I bought my first chain saw (a small Danarm) in about 1970
I currently use a rather larger Stihl.
I am still here ! I have never injured myself (nor anyone else for
that matter !!) with them.
I am self taught.
I treat them with respect, but I dont fall over in a quivering heap at
the sight of one, like some of the other posters hereabouts.

I use (have used) them on anything from 1in. to 2ft. diameter, 2 to
80 ft. high.
I don't use them on anything that could, if I make a mistake, fall on
anyone else's property or personage. It can upset them !

On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 22:56:18 +0100, "Tumbleweed" wrote:
chain will blunt instantly, if you dont
have a spare that may be the rest of the day gone while you get it
sharpened

Leaving aside, for the moment, the possibilities of nails, barbed
wire, remnants of other fencing wires etc. destroying chains
( yes, I agree a spare is handy)
but the business bits do blunt under normal operations anyway, and one
always has a round file to hand to do the sharpening oneself, as part
of normal operations. Tedious work, but not a loss of "the rest of the
day" ! It is work that can be done 'by eye' with the usual cuppa'
whilst contemplating the next bit of the job !

The serious 'getting the angles just-so' part of maintaining the chain
can be left till the next evening in the workshop.

On 19 Oct 2005 20:54:23 GMT,Nick Maclaren wrote:
Be sure to buy a few spare legs, the odd spare arm and a spare neck
or two.

Rubbish, pandering to legislators, do-gooders and cotton wool
manufacts.. !

Plus the odd gallon of blood.

Sell it to H. F-W to make TV programmes about blackpuddings.

It is AMAZING what you can
cut through with a chainsaw.

It is AMAZING what the incompetent can do with allsorsafings,
including zippers on trousers

Alternatively, you could go to an agricultural merchant or GOOD
garden centre, and buy some hand tools (shears, a billhook and/or
machete, a sickle (not a grass hook), a hand axe

Mon dieu, u canna be serious ! u can remove a finger, or hand , with
one of they ! (Or, if ingenious some other part of one's anatomy)

some secateurs
and some loppers). Then drop in at the off-licence and stock up
on beer.

Sounds a good plan to me
Except that I frequently lose my secateurs in the undergrowth, so I
suggest the local cheapshop/allsorts for about £1.99, some of them are
good, compared to £15 or more for a named brand secateur.

It's all a matter of taste, really.

Or Darwinian evolution :-?)

Actually, in danger of destroying my own reputation for omnipotence,,,
I have drawn more blood with secateurs than with chain saws !
It all comes down(I think) to respect, chain saws command serriuss
reespekt, secateurs are used casually, often.

Janet & others wrote:
cropping back bushes and scrub etc? - will a chain saw TRIM a hedge?

No. It's likely to snarl up and take your face off.

Rubbish
Alarmism
Whilst there are some circumstances, while dealing incorrectly with
real timber, that kickback could do a facial injury, "take your face
off" is an emotive and unlikely (seriously incompetent like not
noticing a tree) result of hedge trimming.

If , to make a sale, he implied a hedgetrimmer and chainsaw are
interchangeable tools for your job, then congratulations. You've had a
narrow escape. Without having made an expensive mistake, you have
identified someone who does not know his stock, does not care for your
safety, knows damn all about garden maintenance, and even less about
machine maintenance. Don't do business with him; find someone else.

In this regard I do agree with you.

"WaltA" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 22:56:18 +0100, "Tumbleweed" wrote:
chain will blunt instantly, if you dont
have a spare that may be the rest of the day gone while you get it
sharpened

Leaving aside, for the moment, the possibilities of nails, barbed
wire, remnants of other fencing wires etc. destroying chains
( yes, I agree a spare is handy)
but the business bits do blunt under normal operations anyway, and one
always has a round file to hand to do the sharpening oneself, as part
of normal operations. Tedious work, but not a loss of "the rest of the
day" ! It is work that can be done 'by eye' with the usual cuppa'
whilst contemplating the next bit of the job !

The serious 'getting the angles just-so' part of maintaining the chain
can be left till the next evening in the workshop.


I'm sorry but you appear to have confused me with a competent DIY person,
that would have a round file, and would know where it is, would known what
an angle is, and would have a workshop. And that would be able to do
something useful with all those.

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

"Charlie Brown" wrote in message
...
Hi

I have just started my 2 weeks holiday and I need to clear my garden of 10
years worth of neglect (we have just moved in). To make matters worse, I
just cut through the cable of the hedge trimmer. I went to buy a petrol
driven type but they didn't have one - the guy said he had plenty of chain
saws. Question! what is the difference (apart from the obvious) between
using a chain saw and a trimmer for doing the same type of work i.e.
cropping back bushes and scrub etc? - will a chain saw TRIM a hedge?
I would appreciate a quick reply so that I can buy one tomorrow and save
me
a few days of my holiday!!

thanks in advance

Charlie

=================
I found a reciprocating saw very useful when clearing a seriously overgrown
garden. You can buy one for about £30-00 and it's much less dangerous than a
chainsaw.

Despite the 'gung-ho' attitude of some posters towards chainsaws they can be
very dangerous and they do need to be used with great care even by
experienced users.

Cic.