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Monday, October 13, 2014

Reciprocating Saw - My New Best Friend

 I went over to a friends house a few weeks ago to help her prune a crab apple tree she had out front that was taking over the front yard and clogging her gutters every year and leaving large messes on her grass. 

She liked how I pruned my flowering and fruit trees so asked for some help. I shared several months ago with her how to prune it. She went and bought a saw and started in. 

Half way, it started raining or something and her sister (who owns the house) came and saw the half pruned tree and got upset and said they would have to pull it out. 

I went over and we finished pruning the tree and bunching up all the branches for removal and the tree looks beautiful now and will be much more manageable now and will be beautiful in the spring when it blooms.

I share how I prune my fruit trees here so that they are not overly tall but get lots of fruit that you can pick without ever needing a ladder. Here is another post about pruning those trees.

If you read those posts, I share why I do my pruning in the fall before the leaves fall off the trees. I show the tools and items I use to make the pruning each year very quick and each year it takes less and less time to keep the tree looking beautiful. 

BUT, when I helped my friend prune her tree and cut up the branches into bundles for the garbage men, I was in AWE of her saw! 

I have a small chain saw that I HATE getting out and running as I don't know how to maintain it and it scares me as you hear so many people that have accidents with them. Her saw was so perfect for pruning! 

It is a reciprocating saw. They have them at the home improvement stores. I didn't do research into the best brand or look for a sale or comparison shop online like I normally do for larger items. After using hers, I was sold. They have lots of brands and styles but hers was rubbery so it wouldn't slip from your grip and I can manage it with one hand as it isn't super heavy and it had a great place to hold with both hands if needed. LOVE IT! 

The blade is easy to attach without tools as well and although I haven't used any other reciprocating saw, I am in love with the whole idea and this one was so easy to use that I was in awe of it. We cut HUGE branches down and were able to chop them all into small pieces so quickly. I have had branches fall in my yard before and it takes us days to chop them up using a hand saw. Click here for that post.

I went to the local Home Depot and purchased the same one she had and spent about $65 on it. Looking online, I am sure I could have gotten a better deal but it was handy and I could return it if something did go wrong. 

Nothing went wrong and I actually cut off some branches on one of my front trees as well and got some fire wood out of the mix also. 

The next day, after these pictures, I did the other front fruit tree and have filled up five garbage cans. I am hoping to finish my green plum tree in the back and perhaps one of the apple trees today as well as some of my larger shade tree branches today.

I am grateful for the great weather we have had for the past month so I can continue to get my garden beds and windows washed, gutters cleaned out, yard edged, and the tree's pruned. I feel like taking care of yard and house is a full time job in the fall.

I still haven't gotten to washing the siding on my front picture window either yet. It seems like my "to do" list gets bigger and bigger but I am hoping I can get it all done in the next few weeks so that the yard will look good for winter. The grass is so long in these pictures but one of the wheels fell off and we lost some parts and I had to reorder them before we can use the mower and are just waiting on the parts to come in. 

I LOVE how the trees and yard look when I drive into our street and by pruning it now, it stays looking this way all winter. It is one of my great joys to see a manicured yard that I helped to shape. I am truly blessed to have such a beautiful yard, fruit trees and be able to maintain it by myself.  

Oh, the name of the saw is the Ryobi reciprocating saw. So far, it is my best friend but I will have to let you know after I take on the big tree.

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