The Little ‘Cip Saw That Could

Like most contractors (or former contractors in my case), I’m always skeptical about new building products. When I edited the Training the Trades column on recip saws for the March issue, I was surprised when author John Spier mentioned that pruning blades were available. I bought one of these blade to take photos of for the article and then tossed it into the case without much further thought.

Then last Friday, the first of two major nor’easters hit New England. The first storm was particularly hard on Cape Cod. Hurricane-force winds and astronomical tides tore away huge sections of sand dunes and toppled trees all over the peninsula, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of residents. My wife and I stayed at her cottage on the edge of a marsh that night, powerless—literally and figuratively—to deal with the wind, the rain, and the rising waters of Cape Cod Bay. Luckily, a propane-fired fireplace was enough to keep the tiny cottage warm throughout the storm and it held fast on its foundation.

The next morning, I braved the wind and rain to check on my own place a couple of towns over. I arrived to find that a big locust tree in the hollow next to the house had snapped off a dozen feet from the ground. When I walked over to assess the damage, I discovered that a large pitch pine had fallen into my neighbor’s yard across a row of arbor vitae planted on the property line. Just moments after I got back to the house, he drove into the driveway, clearly upset at this big tree mashing his shrubs.

He asked if I could please cut the branches of the pine away so that the shrubs that were just bent over could have a chance to straighten up. I agreed, but my chain saw was broken, so I had no idea how I was going to cut away the branches. Then I remembered the recip saw and the pruning blade. I have an 18V cordless version as well as an ancient corded model. I chucked the blade into the cordless saw and headed out with the wind still whipping rain squalls all around me.

I started with some of the smaller 1- to 2-inch limbs that the saw went through effortlessly. I worked methodically from either side. Luckily the fallen tree was literally at the foot of my brush pile, so I was able to toss the branches onto the pile as quickly as I cut them. After I freed the outlying shrubs, they popped back upright with only minor damage. I was then ready to tackle the two 6-inch leaders from the main trunk. To clear the shrub row I would have to cut them back on both sides of the line.

So far I’d been working off just one battery charge! The 8-inch blade cut through the first trunk with no problem, but the battery finally gave out in the middle of the second. I retrieved another battery, and finished cutting through the second trunk. Then I hopped over and cut through both trunks on the other side of the line. After about an hour’s work, only two small arbor vitae would need to be replaced—pretty minor damage considering the size of the tree that went down.

I was so impressed with how well the saw and the pruning blade handled the pine tree that I decided to tackle the locust tree the following day. I was able to limb out the entire top that had fallen over, in addition to cutting back some 3- to 4-inch oak branches that the locust had taken with it on the way down. Locust can be pretty tough wood, and I was able to cut up to 5-inch-diameter branches with my portable recip saw with no problem. A couple days later, a friend has loaned me his chain saw in exchange for using my shower—he’d been without power for four days. Luckily the second nor’easter wasn’t nearly as severe as the first—no more downed trees—so hopefully I can take care of the rest of the locust this weekend.