What Is A Gas Pole Saw? – Everything you should know
Pole saws have been a major tool for cutting the barks and heavy branches of long trees. Apart from the manual pole saw or pole pruner there are a number of other categories depending upon the input energy. The gas pole saw is one of them. So what is a gas pole saw?
The gas pole saw is a specialized pole saw under the general category of automated pole saws. This pole saw runs entirely on petroleum oils. The shaft of the cutting part is directly connected to an engine of a certain limit. This gas-powered engine is used to throttle the saw.
Gas pole saws are a revolutionary development making the lives of arborists convenient. It saves a lot of time and energy if the project includes more than a few acres of land with trees.
How does a gas pole saw work?
A gas pole saw is powered by petroleum gas. An integrated engine is connected to the cutting head on top.
Included Mechanical Parts
The gas-powered pole saws have different mechanical parts. It includes a 25cc or above engine, a driving shaft, a small chain saw, a cutting chain, housing, switches, and levers.
The powerhead has a small engine, gas container, starter plug, and a small throttle for driving the shaft. This powerhead is covered by a metallic housing and remains at the operator’s end.
There is a rotary-valve type carburetor embedded with the engine. Mostly the engine is of a two-stroke type. Some of the advanced gas-powered pole saws have a vibration-reducing chamber.
Working Principle Of The Gas Powered Pole Saw
The gas container is fed with a certain amount of specific petroleum oil. It is mandatory to pour the specific gas because common vehicular gas is not accepted by these engines.
A gas-powered pole saw includes a minimum of 20 cc to a maximum of 50cc two-stroke engines. This engine runs on the principle of an internal combustion engine. A spring-assist cord pulling technology is used for starting up the engine.
When you pull the starter string the spark plug ignites the engine and it gets started. Some gas pole saws have spring assisted starters that can be used to ignite the engine with a very gentle pull.
The operator can throttle the engine using a trigger on the engine side. While throttling a small amount of gas is mixed with air in a specific ratio. The mixture gets compressed inside the engine. A small spark plug ignites the compressed mixture and the burst of the gas drives the shaft.
The driving shaft is attached to a driving axle of a small chainsaw. Throttling the engine rotates the axle by the shaft and runs the chainsaw. Compared to other pole saws such as Battery operated or Electric motor-operated the gas-powered pole saws have the highest torque.
This whole setup is housed in a long retractable pole. This pole has the chainsaw at one end and the engine on the other end. The gas pole saws can be as long as 10-12 feet depending on different models of the manufacturers.
What is a gas pole saw used for?
You can use a gas-powered pole saw for different circumstances.
For Professional Arborists
A gas pole saw has been developed for professional arborists. They have a huge land full of long and broad trees that require trimming and cutting. It can not be done using a manual pole saw. Because too much energy will be required and it is not possible for a human.
Moreover, electric corded or battery-operated pole saws cannot be used because of maneuverability limitations. Hence the gas-powered pole saws come into play. And there are other uses for gas pole saws as well.
Cutting Hard To Reach Overgrown Branches
Some trees in a household garden grow very quickly. The branches of the trees become overgrown. These branches are a threat to the house especially if your house is located in disaster-prone areas. That is why the overgrown and excess branches require to be cut down.
In the past, people used to climb up a ladder to manually cut the branches. This process was very dangerous, time and energy-consuming as well. You can easily cut the yard to reach branches on a height from 10-12feet above the ground using a gas-powered pole saw.
Moreover, gas-powered pole saws are portable unlike an electric pole saw that has a limitation of cord length. That is why you can also climb up a ladder from a safe distance or get on a climbing box to reach even a higher height for cutting the tree branches.
Trimming Garden Tree Leaves
People plant different ornamental trees in gardens which requires regular trimming for keeping the leaves in shape. Usually, it is done manually using a leaf-cutting scissor. But the process is very ancient and less productive.
The gas pole saw can be used to trim and shorten the tree leaves very easily. It takes a very less amount of time and energy to cover up a decent land area full of trees.
How long are gas pole saws?
The gas pole saws have a variable minimum and maximum length depending upon the brands and the manufacturers. Gas pole saws are retractable. The setup includes another pole that can be retracted to increase the overall length of the machine.
On average the minimum length of a gas pole saw being unretracted is around 5 feet to 6 feet. This pole can be extended up to 10 feet to 11.5 feet by pulling off the hidden pole inside the main pole. The maximum height gas pole saw can be up to 13 feet for some brands.
How to use a gas pole saw?
Using a gas pole saw is very straightforward. You would not require any prior training to operate a gas pole saw.
- Wear ear muff and a protective helmet as a safety precaution. Plastic safety goggles and high-density silicone hand gloves can also be worn as additional safety.
- Open the cap of the gas chamber and pour the specific gas up to the highest limit of the container.
- Pull off or retract the pole up to an optimum length for better grip and operation.
- Pull the starter string to ignite the engine of the gas pole saw.
- Hold the pole saw using both hands while the right hand is to be placed under the handle for throttling.
- Push the throttle to activate the chainsaw on the drive shaft.
- While pushing the throttle, place the chainsaw on the target branch until it gets completely chopped off.
Conclusion
Gas pole saws are one of the most used power tools for gardening. Being a professional arborist owning a gas-powered pole saw is a must. But most people have little knowledge about the operative principle and existence of the gas pole saws.
Some of them even wonder what is a gas pole saw. The gas and engine-powered pole saw highly efficient power tools for cutting, and trimming heavy and thick branches.
It can cut branches having a diameter of more than 4-5 inches very conveniently. It reduces the work time very effectively and increases the overall productivity of gardening.
