Chain Saw and Leylandii

DerbyBorn · 2017-07-27T17:08:06+00:00

Tried to cut through the truncks of a couple of Leylandii today. I had previously had sawed throught the upper supplementary trunks. The Chainsaw wouldn't make much headway - it gave up before getting within a couple of inches of the middle wherever it was tried. Tried 2 saws - never used one before not able to kudge on the blade sharpness. Is it normal for Leylanii to fight back like this?

Jul 27, 2017 24 Replies

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Mark Allread 8 years ago

From all you have said it sounds as though the chain needs sharpening. You will need the correct sized file for this and also need to get the angle right.

As you sound to be a novice user you may find this difficult so, for what it would cost, it may be easier for you to simply buy a new chain.

You will not be able to get too close to the ground so an opion is to trench around the remaining stumps which would enable you to take them off far closer to/at/just below ground level by a series of cuts all around the stumps into the centre. The result will be a bit of a hollow which you can then either light a fire in to burn the rest out or just backfill.

Whatever you do, wear some proper protective gear and be very careful.

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Tim+ 8 years ago

For my cheapo chainsaw it was a grand total of £10.95 for three new chains. Seemed a no-brainer to replace than mess around trying to sharpen.

Tim

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T i m 8 years ago

Hmm, *should* be a fairly easy cut then.

As already mentioned ... sharp, lubricated, saw engine in good condition ... wedges if cut under load etc.

Cheers, T i m

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Andrew 8 years ago

I just used a normal garden spade and sharpened the 'blade' with a wetstone and then literally chopped off all the side shoots leaving just the central stump.

I cut that off at 6 foot up and left them for a year, and by then the soil moisture deficit had been corrected and it was easy to rock them from side to side and tip them over.

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Andrew 8 years ago

I removed all the side branches (*) leaving a foot sticking out to use a ladder and worked my way up to about 25 feet then chopped off the top bit, then again 12 feet lower down.

the stump was massive, took some removing even with the rocking technique.

(*) Blue-Green conifer, not leylandii.

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