Anyone carry a chainsaw on their bike ?

[Zimmerframe]

I often take a chainsaw out on a specific "trail clearing" rides after storms or just when tree/larger branches have randomly dropped across trails.

First time I tried it I just put a strap round it and slung it over my back .. This didn't work too well as on the first bumby descent it jiggled itself round, initially pulling me sideways with the extra weight and then smacking me in the face and knees once it had completed it's journey as I came to a painful stop.

Since then I've been carrying it in a chainsaw bag and squeezing my arms through the hand loops. This is uncomfortable, causes the loops to tear out and is just a bit crap.

So I was wondering if anyone else carry's one and if they have a better solution. I need to sort through my backpacks and see if a saw will fit in one of those a bit better, but the other questions is, would it be better to have the Bar facing down rather than up. In the upwards position it sits higher than your head and still stays high even when you duck, causing potential full parachute deployment rapid rear dismounts when you hit low branches.

 

[Gary]

Ditch the Eeb and go full MADMAX CHAINSAW powered like this russian dude did...

 

[Zimmerframe]

Ditch the Eeb and go full MADMAX CHAINSAW powered like this russian dude did...

Nice, it would certainly stop anyone ever making the mistake of going OTB more than once.

 

[mark.ai]

I've seen a couple of trail builder rucksacks:

https://www.evocsports.com/products/backpacks/trail-builder


Dakine Builder Pack 40L | Dakine

But it looks like with the right strapping you could just make an attachment for an existing backpack a lot cheaper.

 

[wepn]

Ditch the Eeb and go full MADMAX CHAINSAW powered like this russian dude did...

Haha that'll put the K? in your Kenevo. I think I might have guessed Russian without having already been told lol

 

[Zimmerframe]

I've seen a couple of trail builder rucksacks:

Thanks for those .. the first one looks quite sensible, but you're correct, it wouldn't take much to add/modify some straps on an existing one to carry like that, with the blade up, but the handle sitting lower.

 

[routrax]

I've seen a couple of trail builder rucksacks:

TRAIL BUILDER - EVOC - PROTECTIVE SPORTS PACKS
View attachment 18664

Dakine Builder Pack 40L | Dakine
View attachment 18665
But it looks like with the right strapping you could just make an attachment for an existing backpack a lot cheaper.

I wouldn't fancy crashing with either of them on my back!

 

[Mikerb]

A good reciprocating saw will tackle stuff up to about 125mm and much easier to carry.....or maybe just learn to bunnyhop!!

 

[Gary]

a chopper that can only manage 125mm is of little use to anyone

 

[Mcharza]

I rather use this folding saw. Used for a long time and well proven
https://www2.fiskars.com/Products/Gardening-and-Yard-Care/Saws/Folding-Saw-7

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

The man made trails where I am are cleared by NRW (Natural Resource Wales) if a tree or two falls. They are normally fairly quick to remove them although recently they have been a bit slow..... Off piste trails are down to us to clear as NRW do not look after our ‘wild’ trails.
If it’s not too big, I can remove most trees that fall across the trails quite easily with my trusty Irwin 14 inch handsaw. If it’s a biggin, I will take my 22 inch handsaw with me which to be honest I have not really needed to do that often as the 14 inch clears most trees in my forest in a relatively short time. What I like about the saw is it is light enough and small enough to fit in my small back pack. It is also great for clearing the dreaded brambles and wild rose tentacles.

Bought from Screwfix

The photo below was taken after a storm. This is one of our off piste trails.
One of the very rare occasions of me having to use my 22 inch handsaw. Each cut took around 15-20 minutes. The smaller ones were cut with my 15 inch which took about 20-25 minutes. There were 2 of us and we had the trail cleared and ready for traffic in 3 hours

 

[Zimmerframe]

I wouldn't fancy crashing with either of them on my back!

Would not be nice .. though you'd have some things to hand to make splints or perform amputations with ease.

A good reciprocating saw will tackle stuff up to about 125mm and much easier to carry.....or maybe just learn to bunnyhop!!

I agree, though for the smaller stuff a decent branch saw is generally as quick and easier to carry. They're supposed to clear up round here, but generally don't so you end up doing it yourself. Same as KIWI, if it's the natural or made MTB trails you have to do them yourself, though I'm told they're supposed to do these if they're on the trail maps.

Always found this one quite effective :


For me, unless you have a nice two man hand saw, some things are too big and beyond my limited bunny hop abilities ..

Or are too big and require too many cuts to make a hand saw practical (I totally miss read this one as it was held up in three places, trapped the bar and had to go get another saw... super dumb). I fractured my rib acrobatically going over this particular tree a few days before, so I owed it.

I think Kiwi's winning for effective use of a handsaw though ...

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

Would not be nice .. though you'd have some things to hand to make splints or perform amputations with ease.



I agree, though for the smaller stuff a decent branch saw is generally as quick and easier to carry. They're supposed to clear up round here, but generally don't so you end up doing it yourself. Same as KIWI, if it's the natural or made MTB trails you have to do them yourself, though I'm told they're supposed to do these if they're on the trail maps.

Always found this one quite effective :


For me, unless you have a nice two man hand saw, some things are too big and beyond my limited bunny hop abilities ..

View attachment 18702

Or are too big and require too many cuts to make a hand saw practical (I totally miss read this one as it was held up in three places, trapped the bar and had to go get another saw... super dumb). I fractured my rib acrobatically going over this particular tree a few days before, so I owed it.

View attachment 18703

I think Kiwi's winning for effective use of a handsaw though ...

That first one is definitely a call to NRW. Way, way way out of my league on the hand saw front. Looks more like a beached whale than a tree.

 

[Zimmerframe]

That first one is definitely a call to NRW. Way, way way out of my league on the hand saw front. Looks more like a beached whale than a tree.

I class it as at least 12 hours with a leatherman wave ... or time to charm a beaver .. (The wet kind The river kind).

Thanks again to @mark.ai for the pack links. I looked through mine and found an older "Peter Storm" sack with a "goody flap". The Electric Makita sits in there nicely at a diagonal, so the bar ends up just above shoulder height with the pack on.

Plenty of space for wood glue in case you get the wrong tree.

 

[B1rdie]

I have been dreaming of buying a makita like this for a long time now. Already have the saber saw and bush trimmers, these machines can work for hours with batteries. Wish those batteries could be compatible with shimano.

 

[Nasty Nick]

That Makita chain a aw is beautiful But I bet most of you have reciprocating saws. One of those with a pruning blade can handle some pretty decent tree branches.

 

[Zimmerframe]

I have been dreaming of buying a makita like this for a long time now.

That Makita chain a aw is beautiful

But I bet most of you have reciprocating saws.

I sold all my 36v dewalt gear and 18v Hitachi Gear last year and switched to the Makita range because they have a larger range which uses the same batteries (ie, x2 18v batteries for 36v stuff).

When I first started looking at e-bikes or converting something, I wondered about just buying another 36v chainsaw and rigging it with 4 batteries for 36v and 11ah. (but not set up quite like @Gary 's russian suggestion)

The reciprocating saws are great, even my previous dewalt 36v one was a beast and still going strong after 12+ years of abuse. With the right blade they're effective and superb if you need to hack out roots.

The Makita 36v chainsaw is a dream though, absolutely flies through things. I sold my smaller Husqvarna after I'd had the Makita a few months because I just wasn't using it and prefer the electric for small jobs. It's quick, easy, just press a button.. QUIET ! not smelly .. bliss.. Obviously if you're cutting up a huge oak, you get the petrol one out, but for general trimming and cutting .. they're great. The "copy" batteries are now only about £20 each for 5ah and seem to work as well as my Makita ones.

 

[z1ppy]

I rather use this folding saw. Used for a long time and well proven
https://www2.fiskars.com/Products/Gardening-and-Yard-Care/Saws/Folding-Saw-7

Silky Fox for the win, when it comes to (hand powered) trail saws. Round here I need to buy a Makita battery powered hedge cutter to reclaim some of our trails!