It's called a high limb chain saw and here's a source

Here is a link that might be useful: AMLeonard

i have spent time thinking about this product over the years ....

answer me this.... how do you make the initial undercut .... to avoid a bark tear as the branch starts falling????

hmmmm

ken

These things come up in conversation at work every now and then, when we're in a joking mood. Not a serious piece of equipment;^)

+oM

It's not a gadget in my inventory of pruning tools either, but was responding to Calliope's request. I have seen the silver maple tree trimmers use them before - ones that either didn't know how to climb or didn't have ladders - and their solution to what Ken was talking about was to cut the limb off about two feet from it's base and leave the stub.

If I had a LOT of trees that needed periodic trimming, I'd opt for one of those gas engine chain saw bladed pruners on a telescoping pole. I believe Echo and Stihl have several selections to chose from.

I am not a 'silver maple' tree trimmer. I do have access to a gas engine saw, ladders and saws on telescoping poles, and we do use an arborist for serious larger jobs. Put the major money right in our household and business maintenance budget. Yes, I undercut when I take down limbs on our ornamentals. Geesh, I am a nurseryman. I am not, however, an arborist.

Our property is large and we have a good many weed trees on the peripheral acreage. These overhang things like vegetable plots, outbuildings and the like. I'm not overly concerned with making a stink tree beautiful. I'm concerned with safety and utility. I don't have a problem getting up on a ladder to neaten up the cut. The issue is getting the bulk down and out of the way before I do it. It's a heck of a lot easier to take a stub down to the stump if it's a foot long, than carefully remove a twenty foot branch. We are also dealing with dead trees across a barn access road and tired of getting impaled on a tractor to even get it through to doze them out. I've no intention of doing the whole job with this gadget, just need it for the arsenal.

Thanks for the info, Mrpag. I had already looked through A.M Leonard online and couldn't bring it up on a search.

If AM Leonard doesn't have it, try Lee Valley, Peaceful Valley, Kinsman (pricey), Nick Nolte or FarmTek.

Leaving a stub won't solve the problem. When a large limb like that is cut off from the top without an undercut, a tear often occurs down into the tree's trunk. This product would probably work OK on a dead tree (or on a long dead limb), but it's not a useful tool for removing a live branch from a tree that you want to keep alive and healthy.