What is a pruning saw?
Just about anyone who either enjoys gardening and has trees or large shrubs in the yard, or inherited a house once owned by a fan of gardening—that has trees or large shrubs in the yard—owns a pruning saw of some design. The most important thing to note about the majority of pruning saw designs is that they’re a major pain in the butt to use.
Pruning saws, as the name implies and for those who can’t figure out the obvious, are saws used for pruning, or removing smaller branches from trees or shrubs too sturdy to eradicate with pruning shears, which are also used for pruning in case you couldn’t figure that out either.
Do not confuse your pruning saw for another type of saw. A hacksaw is used to cut through a number of substances, including steel; these are well designed, easy to use and therefore aren’t pruning saws. Cross cut saws, rip cut saws, panel saws, back saws, flooring saws, coping saws and bow saws are also designed soundly and therefore don’t qualify as pruning saws, either. If it’s unwieldy, has an uncomfortable grip, skips across the branch your trying to cut and leaves you with a sore wrist and a merely gouged branch, it’s probably a pruning saw that you’re using.
Most pruning saws have a pistol grip style handle. This supposedly makes it easier to use in tight spaces, say if you’re trying to thin out a shaggy bush, but in reality only makes the job more difficult. Some models fold into a nearly straight handle (a design nearly impossible to use) for easy storage, though considering their small size and the fact that the blade is only a few millimeters thick, they don’t take up a lot of space to begin with.
Trust me, in most cases where gardening experts tell you to use a pruning saw, do yourself a favor and buy a pair of pruning lopping shears. They’re indescribably easy to use when compared to the pruning saw, won’t leave you frustrated and swearing at the top of your lungs, won’t make your wrist sore and will finish the job in a few seconds rather than several aggravating minutes. Plus they just look so cool.
I love to camp, and all too often I see inexperienced fellow campers trying to convert ten-foot long branches into firewood by using a pruning saw. First of all, if the branch is so flexible that you can’t snap it simply by propping it against a tree trunk or rock and stepping on it, it isn’t going to burn well, no matter how many hours you spend hacking away at it with your useless pruning saw. While my friend likes to include a double-edged axe, a maul, several wedges and a sledgehammer in his camping gear, the only wood cutting tools I take camping with me are a hatchet and a bow saw.
For those of you thinking about buying a pruning saw, don’t! Get yourself a bow saw instead. Granted, it won’t fit into tight spaces as well as a pruning saw, but bow saws are easy to use, deceptively sharp and will cut through branches in a matter of seconds that would take a pruning saw the better part of an hour to sever. In addition, you won’t look like a pansy trying to hack through a branch with a tiny, useless blade that makes a butter knife look sharp. With the manly bow saw, you can impress the girls by cutting through thick branches with ease while looking as cool as Viggo Mortensen.
A pruning saw is a saw which is specifically designed for pruning tasks. Pruning saws can be utilized for thick branches which are too dense for pruning shears, and also for high branches which are difficult to reach. There are several different styles of pruning saw on the market for people to choose from, and most garden supply and hardware stores carry several options, especially during pruning season. A basic pruning saw consists of a medium-length blade which can be curved or straight, set on a basic saw handle. Sometimes the handle is curved to allow for a better angle. The teeth are big and very sharp, designed to quickly bite into and saw away branches. This type of pruning saw can be used on the ground or with a ladder. Other pruning saws have telescoping handles so that they can be used to reach high branches from the ground without the need for a ladder. A trigger may be mounted into the handle, so that the trigger can be pulled to activate the blade, or a rope assembly may
