# Cutting small trees with sawzall vs chainsaw



## sixeightten

With a good 12 inch blade, a sawzall will cut that in about 60 seconds. A good blade will set you back about 4-5 bucks. We recently built a pole barn and I used the sawzall to cut off the tops of the 6x6 posts. Much more versatile than a chainsaw.


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## jbfan

I think lenox makes blades for green wood.

The blades have teeth just like a bow saw.

I use them all the time, just to keep from digging out the chainsaw, but my sawzall is battey powerd and goes anywhere.


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## oh'mike

jbfan said:


> I think lenox makes blades for green wood.
> 
> The blades have teeth just like a bow saw.
> .


That's the type of blade you need--standard blades bind up in green wood.


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## gma2rjc

I used my sawzall to cut out 3 Yew shrubs to about 6" below ground level. It worked great. But as previously mentioned, get the right blade. It took me a long time to get them cut out with a regular blade meant for cutting wood (I didn't know there was a special blade available).


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## GottaFixIt

I've used both on plenty of occasions.

The recip saw (with the blades like mentioned above) tends to jerk the wood back and forth quite a bit. Probably not as much of a problem if they're already down, but trying to trim smaller limbs doesn't work so great. This is a 12 amp Dewalt, BTW.

The chainsaw is _much_ faster. It dominates for this purpose -even the cheapo 120vac, 12" bar I used to use. But of course, this is really it's _only _purpose.

I can't imagine not owning a good recip saw, I'd say go with the recip saw. Keep in mind, they're more susceptible to bind, so get a good setup that won't let the wood pinch the blade.


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## Mikelite80

Sawzall if small and infrequent trimming. Chain saw if regular tree trimming is in your furture

A decent sawzall is probably one of the most usefully tools you should have around the house. Like others have said they make special blades just for pruning. But get one of each blade cause you'll find uses for it. Of course keeping a well tuned gas chainsaw is always the best way. I can have a branch cut long before you can find the battery, if its charged, find the right blade, etc. Its a uni-tasker as Alton Brown would say, but it does its job and does it right.


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## Red Squirrel

Cool think I will go ahead and go with the sawzall then. I'll check out the available blades and go with the bow saw tooth ones.


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## 95025

Red Squirrel said:


> Cool think I will go ahead and go with the sawzall then. I'll check out the available blades and go with the bow saw tooth ones.


Good move. It'll be important to get that "big tooth job." I have one, and am amazed what I can saw through!


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## Rehabber

I own 2 chainsaws, a Stihl MS460, and a Stihl 034 super, both GREAT chainsaws. For small stuff I use my Dewalt sawzall in orbital mode with the 12" blade for green wood. It works great.


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## cbzdel

I have used my sawzall to cut down small trees and even large plants :thumbsup:

One time I was out of wood blades and even made it work with a metal cutting blade


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## 95025

cbzdel said:


> I have used my sawzall to cut down small trees and even large plants :thumbsup:
> 
> *One time I was out of wood blades and even made it work with a metal cutting blade*


That's kind of like cooking steak in the Crock Pot.


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## Tizzer

Sounds like a good excuse(I mean reason) for buying a new tool.


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## Ron6519

Red Squirrel said:


> I have some small trees that I already cut down by hand but I want to cut into logs and a power tool will be much faster. I'm debating between buying a sawzall, which will be versatile for other uses, or buying an electric chainsaw. Obviously the chainsaw is better for that, but will a sawzall work ok? These aren't that big of trees. The biggest trunk was maybe 8 inchs thick at very most.


Black and Decker used to sell a pruning blade for use in a sawzall. The teeth had an aggressive rake to them and worked pretty well for small projects.


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## Red Squirrel

Tizzer said:


> Sounds like a good excuse(I mean reason) for buying a new tool.


That's how I see it. :laughing: The chainsaw could be nice, but I would probably not use it as much as I could use a sawzall. 

Too bad it's supposed to rain for most of this long weekend, was going to do this project, guess it will wait... and so much for leaving the dead trees outside to dry. :laughing:


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## kwikfishron

Before you go buy your Sawzall you might want to start a which one to or not to buy thread. There’s a lot of junk on the market these days.


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## Red Squirrel

I'm looking at this one:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...ALT%2B10A%2BReciprocating%2BSaw.jsp?locale=en

Or maybe this one:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...kita%2B9A%2BReciprocating%2BSaw.jsp?locale=en


This one is also tempting, being on sale, but being only 6A I'm guessing I'm better off paying more for the 10A or 9A model:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...2BCompact%2BReciprocating%2BSaw.jsp?locale=en


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## sixeightten

I have used sawzalls from at least seven manufacturers. My top 3:

1) Makita JR3070CT 15 amp orbital anti vibration technology

2) Porter Cable Orbital

3) Milwaukee Super Sawzall 13 amp Orbital and super rugged

Not sure on the model numbers on the PC and Milwaukee. I don't think Dewalt makes an orbital sawzall, I could be worng though.


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## kwikfishron

Red Squirrel said:


> I'm looking at this one:
> http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...ALT%2B10A%2BReciprocating%2BSaw.jsp?locale=en
> 
> Or maybe this one:
> 
> http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...kita%2B9A%2BReciprocating%2BSaw.jsp?locale=en
> 
> 
> This one is also tempting, being on sale, but being only 6A I'm guessing I'm better off paying more for the 10A or 9A model:
> 
> http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...2BCompact%2BReciprocating%2BSaw.jsp?locale=en


That 34.99 special is exactly the kind of junk I’m talking about.

All of the saws 6810 listed are good tools.


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## Red Squirrel

What does orbital refer to in a sawzall? Is it the way the blade moves, it's more of a rounded movement so it does not get stuck or something? Is it maybe a feature I should consider?

What about that Dewalt one, is that good? Dewalt usually makes decent stuff.


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## sixeightten

Orbital action means that the reciprocation is aided by an orbital motion. This results in faster cut speeds. I have used Dewalt sawzalls a couple of times. I am not impressed. I am not a Dewalt hater either. I have many of their tools and am happy with most of them.


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## Red Squirrel

Think I will go with this one then:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...ita%2B12A%2BReciprocating%2BSaw.jsp?locale=en

Not sure if it's the same model that sixeightten posted or not though but should that be good?


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## sixeightten

That is the 12 amp model. See if you can find the 15 amp. I have seen a few on ebay. Sorry to inform you, but I bought two here in Ohio last year for $99 each. First I bought one, used it all day, and immediately went to Home Depot to see if the other one was still there. JR3070CT is the model you want if you can find it. The overall style is almost identical to the JR3050CT that you posted.


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## Red Squirrel

Odd seems our HD does not even have Makita ones at all. 

And yeah everything is cheaper in the states, things are usually double here. 

This is my choices: 

http://www.canadiantire.ca/search/s...>folder_id&FOLDER<>folder_id=1408474396672077

And

http://www.homedepot.ca/catalog/reciprocating-saws/172090

We also have a Rona here but every time I walk in there it feels like it's a big garage sale that's almost over. I did manage to find a piece of 5" duct pipe there once. :laughing:


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## sixeightten

Saw the Makita used on ebay for $80 starting bid. I have seen them every once in a while there fairly reasonably. I looked for about 6 months before I stumbled on the clearance isle find. Porter Cable and Milwaukee are solid choices as well. Get the highest amp you can, and make sure to get orbital action.


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## Red Squirrel

Cool that's what I'll do then. Maybe I'll see the 15amp Makita when I go in store too, sometimes the site does not have everything.


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## WirelessG

By both, but put the chainsaw under glass in your living room.:wink:


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## Red Squirrel

Ended up going with the 12a Makita (they did not have the 15a). I tried it a bit and it goes fairly well. Way too damn hot so I gave up, going to wait for a better day.


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## operagost

Chainsaw! 6 HP, 20" bar. MORE POWER AR AR AR AR AR


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## Missouri Bound

I would have recommended the Dewalt 18v cordless reciprocal saw....great tool....not cheap though.


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## Hatsee

Missouri Bound said:


> I would have recommended the Dewalt 18v cordless reciprocal saw....great tool....not cheap though.


I have this and would have recommended the chainsaw. :whistling2:


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## Red Squirrel

I'm not a huge fan of cordless, I see the use in some situations but if I'm working out of one spot I rather something I can plug in and have unlimited power. That said, the job's done and it went fine with the sawzall. There's a few stumps left to remove but I'll take care of those with the shovel and axe when I get around to it.


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## toolaholic

For years I used my Milwaukee 18 volt hatchet on obital mode to prune/cut down small trees. For bigger stuff I pulled out my Milwaukee 6527-21 9.5 amp super sawzall. I used to own a POS poulan electric but the screw adjustment wouldn't hold anymore!TodayI recieved my Husqvarna 316E 16 inch bar electric chainsaw! Defenitely better than the sawzalls on the trunks! For pruning/delimbing either works fine but chainsaw is faster! On the sawzalls I used Milwaukee 12inch pruning blades!


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