How to Use a Pole Saw

1. Plan the tree and the drop zone, and pick two exit paths.
2. Put on eye protection, a hard hat, hearing protection, gloves, long sleeves and boots.
3. Pre-flight the saw: oil, oil flow, chain tension, sharpness, fasteners.
4. Set the pole length and lock the collar before you power up.
5. Plant your feet, body to the left of the chain line, both hands on the tool.
6. Start the cut at full chain speed, bar near the rear of the guide bar.
7. Undercut, finish from the top, then a clean final cut at the collar.
8. Let the chain stop before you lift clear and move.
9. Clear the cut material as you go.

Plan the tree, not just the branch. Decide which limbs come off, in what order, where each will land, and where you will stand. Take the low and thin ones first and the high and thick ones later, and identify two exit paths before the saw starts.

Clear the drop zone of anything you care about: no car, no glass, no pet, no person. Bystanders stay well back, and the common guidance is 50 ft (15 m). Stay at least 50 ft from live electrical lines as well, because electricity can arc and can travel through branches, especially wet ones. If the work needs you closer, stop and call the utility.

Work on level, dry, firm footing, with no wind, no rain and no wet conditions. You cannot control a falling limb you cannot predict.

What to wear

• ANSI Z87.1 eye protection, which is non-negotiable.
• A hard hat, because the limb falls toward you as often as away.
• Hearing protection.
• Heavy non-slip gloves.
• Long sleeves and long trousers.
• Sturdy non-slip boots.

For pole work the gear is about the falling limb as much as the chain. Keep someone within calling distance, and never work alone.

Check the bar and chain oil reservoir first. Check the oil flow by pointing the bar nose a few inches from a piece of cardboard, paper or a stump and running the chain: you should see a light spray. No spray means no oil, and no oil means a ruined bar.

With the chain cold, you should be able to pull it about 1/8 to 1/4 in (3 to 6 mm) clear of the bottom edge of the bar, and it should snap back when released. Do not tension a hot chain. A new chain stretches and needs re-tensioning after a few cuts.

If you have to force the saw, if you are getting sawdust instead of chips, or if the wood shows burn marks, the chain is dull. Stop there. Pressing harder is how people get hurt.

Check the rest of the tool: bar straight, all fasteners tight, telescopic collar locked, scabbard off, battery out or cord routed and clear of your feet and the cut line. On a corded saw, keep the plug connection off wet ground on a brick, a board or an upturned bucket, and plan the cord route so you neither trip on it nor cut it.

Extend the pole only as far as you need and lock the collar, then re-check it during the job. A pole at full extension feels far heavier than the same tool short, because the weight sits at the end of a long shaft and loads your shoulders and back.

Stand with your feet planted shoulder-width on level ground, with your body to the left of the chain line, the area directly behind the chain, even if you are left-handed. Put your left hand on the shaft and your right hand on the rear handle and throttle, even if you are left-handed. Never cross-handed, never one-handed: one-handed use causes the bar to skate and costs you control.

Keep the trigger handle below shoulder height and do not raise the rear hand above the shoulder. Hold the pole at no more than about 60 degrees from horizontal. Beyond that you are cutting vertically overhead, which is exactly what the pole saw exists to avoid. Never stand directly under the limb; stand below and to one side.

Above about 15 ft (4.5 m) of working height, stop. That is lift-bucket or arborist territory, not pole-saw territory.

Start at full chain speed, with the bar near the rear of the guide bar, close to the cutting guide. Use light pressure and let the weight of the saw drive the cut, with no back-and-forth sawing action. Hold the cutting guide against the branch so it does not whip.

For anything over about 1 to 2 in, make three cuts:

1. Undercut from below, about 6 to 12 in out from the trunk, roughly 1/3 of the way through the limb.
2. Finish from above, a couple of inches further out than the undercut, until the limb drops.
3. Final clean cut on the stub, just outside the branch collar. Never flush to the trunk, never leaving a large stub.

Authorities do not agree on the exact numbers: extension services give 6 to 18 in for the first cut and 1/3 to 1/2 depth, while manufacturers give 6 in and 1/3 or 1/4. The range above is the safe middle.

Why the undercut comes first

Cutting from the top alone lets the branch pinch the bar as it drops. The undercut removes the wood that would close on the chain, so the limb separates cleanly instead of trapping the saw.

The branch collar

The collar is where trunk growth rings overlap branch rings, and it holds the tree's defense zone. Cutting into it invites decay. Angle the final cut to mirror the branch bark ridge.

Small branches and long limbs

Small, thin branches can go in one pass at about 60 degrees to the limb, but watch for whipping and keep the cutting guide against the wood. Long limbs come off in sections of 2 to 3 ft at a time, from the tip inward, so you are never fighting a heavy limb at full reach.

Anticipate the drop. The weight in your hands changes the instant the limb separates, so be ready to hold the saw up so it does not follow through into you or the ground. Let the chain stop before you lift clear and move, never stop the saw while it is still in the wood, and never walk to the next cut with the chain moving.

Start a gas saw on firm ground with the bar clear of everything: choke on, prime, pull. Never drop-start it. Once it catches, blip the throttle to release the fast-idle setting. Fuel up on bare ground and move at least 10 ft (3 m) from the fueling spot before starting.

On a battery saw, insert the battery with the bar clear, check the oil, then power up. A typical cordless pole saw manages roughly 100 cuts per charge, so carry a spare for a big job.

On a corded saw, route the cord before you switch on, keep the connection dry, and never let the cord cross the cut line.

On all three, never switch the saw on with the bar already in a cut. Remove it and re-enter at full speed.

Rotational kickback happens when the bar nose contacts something and the bar is driven up and back in an arc toward you. Keep the nose clear of wood and never bore with it.

Linear kickback, or pinch, happens when the cut closes on the top of the bar and the saw is driven straight back. The undercut prevents it. Pushback happens when the chain at the top of the bar stalls and the saw is driven back, most often when the top of the bar is used for cutting. Pull-in happens when the chain at the bottom of the bar stalls and the saw is yanked forward, most often when you start a cut below full chain speed.

Skating is when the chain will not bite and the bar hops sideways across the bark. Fix it with two hands, a groove started at lower speed, then throttle up. A spring pole whips when a limb under tension is released, so stand clear of the arc. Follow-through swings the saw into you or the ground as the cut completes, so hold it up.

If the chain binds, shut the saw off, remove the battery or kill the engine, then lift the limb. Never try to power out of a bind. If the branch is falling and the saw is stuck, let go of the saw and move.

• No ladder, no roof, no climbing into the tree. The whole point of a pole saw is to stay on the ground.
• No one-handed use, no overreaching, no rear hand above shoulder height, no cutting vertically overhead.
• No cutting in wind, rain or wet conditions.
• No felling or bucking with a pole saw. It is a limbing and pruning tool.
• No cutting anything but wood.
• No drop-starting a gas unit, no tensioning a hot chain, no forcing a dull chain.
• No working within 50 ft of power lines.

Call a professional for anything within 50 ft of power lines, anything above about 15 ft of working height, and limbs over roughly 8 in in diameter, which is chainsaw or arborist work. Do the same for anything over a roof, driveway, sidewalk, road or a neighbor's property.

Storm-damaged, dead or rotten trees also belong to a pro: a rotted trunk can snap toward you, and dead branches vibrate loose. Any job where you are not confident is a good enough reason on its own.

Clear as you go. Cut material underfoot is a trip hazard and a bad landing surface.

Prune in the dormant season for most trees. Early spring is fine if there are about six weeks of healing before growth. Spring-flowering trees go right after blossom drop, and needled evergreens as new growth emerges.

Remove no more than about 1/4 of the tree's foliage in one session, and avoid topping and tipping.

A pole saw is a reach tool, not a precision tool. Clean cuts are harder to make at 10 ft than at arm's length, so where the cut has to be perfect, that is a reason to get closer or call someone who can.