Is It Worth It?

[Jim Frye]

I've had an old pole tree trimmer that was my FIL's that's been residing in the corner of the garage for the last twenty plus years. I now have a use for one to trim a tree at the new home. I dug the trimmer out and discovered the last couple of decades have not been kind to Dad's old Craftsman trimmer. The pull rope was rotted and strung incorrectly. The blade was rusted and dull. The hook where the blade slides into to cut the branch was bent. and the wing nut that locks the pull saw blade was broken . A quick check showed a new trimmer is $22 at HF, but given my limited use for this function, I decided to repair the hand me down. It took about four hours spread over three days to restore the old trimmer to operation. Waste of time or worth it?

[capncarl]

Pole saws are difficult for mere mortals to operate. I’m assuming that by the history you gave this is a manual saw….. even more difficult. I use a 40v Ryobi weed eater power head to connect to a 25 yr old Troy built chain saw type pole saw cutter head. The shaft and connections are the same so if you can find a used one on Craigslist or flea market they might could be used with your edger power head.

[LCHIEN]

Waste of time or worth it?

I know from your other posts you love to restore old stuff to working condition so it was probably worth it to you.

[Jim Frye]

It is very rewarding to me and yes I'm cheap. That's probably why my shop is littered with shop built jigs and fixtures, instead of store bought stuff. I guess it stems from a period when a new screwdriver was a luxury purchase. I actually have one in the garage that I picked up on the street when I was bicycle commuting to/from work back in the middle '70s. My heirs will never understand what they find in my shop when I'm gone.

[leehljp]

Pole saws are difficult for mere mortals to operate. I’m assuming that by the history you gave this is a manual saw.. even more difficult.

I watched a number of Japanese pruning trees with long pole saws in my time in Japan - and as a result purchased one here in the US just after returning from Japan. Yes, you are right. It's not easy but once one gets the hang of it, it works OK. I haven't used it nearly as much as I thought I would and 14 years have passed since I bought it. The decrease in my muscle power over those years has become apparent!

[JamesDean19]

Totally worth it. You saved a solid old tool with some family history behind it, and that’s always better than tossing it. Those old Craftsman trimmers were built tough, and fixing it up probably felt pretty good too. For as little as you’ll use it, it’ll do the job just fine.