I still have some serious damage left over from the ice storm of 2001. I was thinking about a chainsaw attachment or somehow fastening one to my 580 extendahoe to get to those dangerous spots. I have external hydraulics to the bucket, wonder if that would work to run one. Otherwise, I can rig up an electric saw but it certainly would not be as convenient. Would require carrying my generator in the front bucket, a cord to tangle and such. Anyone done such a project?
This may not be what your looking for but a business not far from here has a firewood processor that uses a hydraulic chain saw. I watched it work one day and was quite impressed. Uses a 20" bar and that large 041(?) chain that is all but obsolete now. This is a nice factory made unit probably made in the U.S. A hydraulic cylinder moves the bar and a hydraulic motor drives the chain. Chain oil is fed by the operator when necessary. What I liked about it was that the 10' wood lengths being fed by a conveyor, were dirty, and it still kept cutting no problem. You might be able to adapt this design to you hoe, failing to find a factory unit. The hydraulics may require some extra valving to prevent stalling or damage to the bar. I think the rotary blades as an attachment are quite common now too, but maybe there is a safety issue with these in a public place. Phil
I have seen those in action at a farm show one year. They looked something like the one on this video. This will give you an ideal of the Hyd. chain saw. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8iPMpp83O0&feature=related
Some utility companies use hydraulic saws in the man lifts. These are standard chain saws, just hydraulically powered. http://www.wesspur.com/powertools/hydraulic-chainsaw.html It might be safer or easier to make a scissor / shear assembly. I know I am going to make a splitting attachment like a fixed thumb for my dad's backhoe for splitting wood. Just curl the bucket to split it. And while its splitting I can swing to the pile. The company make a skid steer attachment, and you might be able to get a small feller buncher head from warath or something. http://www.sheyennemfg.com/index.php?page=tele-saw
Thanks for the links, that stuff is all pretty pricey! I am thinking the electric may be the way to go, I will need to fasten it to the bucket somehow.
We have a hydraulic chainsaw at work we use to cut concrete, goes right through re-bar as well. The only drawback is it is water cooled. I used it once to cut a "Jersey" barrier, like a hot knife through butter. If used for wood you probably don't need the cooling. I think it is made by Holmatro. Check Fire and Rescue suppliers. Do you really want to fool around with a generator in the bucket and cords? To me that is asking for trouble where you don't need it.
The way I currently do it is to use my electric pole saw but there are some areas that due to the damage or other circumstances, the possibility of something falling the wrong way or whatever are increased, especially working alone as I do. So I thought by fastening the pole to the boom and being well away from the danger would be beneficial.
so are you cleaning up a tangle of downed trees or are you feling busted up stuff? If your cleaning a tangle / windfall up, just get a graple or thumb for the hoe and grap and pull. If its big stuff, you might want to have a excavator, but since you already have it, go for it. Also for woods work you really should have a forestry package on the machine. If you have an open station machine, you need to have some gaurds or something.
I use a LimbHog mounted on the loader bucket
I work for a electric & gas utility. We use hydraulic chainsaws out of our manlifts. They work real well for the trimming that we do, and maintain the dielectric properties (except for the actual metal saw) of the unit. We have very little actual problems with the saws, except that they are heavy, which would not be a problem for you. Another added feature is that the saw actually bleeds a small amount of hydraulic oil on to the blade while being used, so the operator would never have to oil the blade. They also make a similar saw that has a carbide blade and will cut about anything...we do not use them. I put a link to a saw below. there are some specs on pressure and flow as well. https://www.truckutilities.com/product/cs06-stanley-chain-saw/ The above being stated, I agree, if the trees are down, a grapple is probably a better route to go, although I am sure a bit more spendy.
Before you dig too far into this, I would look at your gpm flow on your hoe and compare that to what you might purchase. I am thinking you are going to have way more flow than a chainsaw will be able to handle. A long time ago, I had bought a hydraulic chainsaw for a potential underwater tree cutting job. It was made by Stanley. Here is a link to their stuff: https://www.stanleyinfrastructure.com/products/underwater-chain-saws . Their specs show flows from 7-9 and 10-14, depending on the model. I didn't get the contract and sold the saw before I ever hooked it up.
Another idea might be one of these. Easter Sunday we had several damaged and uprooted hardwoods. Two of those were over the driveway. We were really impressed by what this battery powered saw could do. Made a bunch of cuts limbing out really big trees with it. Highly recommend. I own 6 other gas saws up to 72 cu in size and this saw is so easy for cutting out the tops we grab it first now for those type jobs. https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Outdoor-Power-Equipment/Chainsaws/2727-21HD