Looking for a heavy-duty hand saw

B

BigDude

Joined
Nov 8, 2006
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I do a fair amount of cutting trees and brush with a hand saw. I prefer to do things by hand when possible, and I don't like the stink of chainsaws. I do some fairly big stuff. I've been using a collapsible bow saw that's really good, but I can tell it's getting a bit unhappy with the hard use. Does anybody have some suggestions for real heavy duty hand saws? Likely bow saws, but I'm also interested in others that might be good too.

Thanks :thumbup:
 
Bahco makes a 36" bow saw, with two types of Bahco blades available: for green wood (with some raker teeth), and for dry wood (with simple "peg" teeth). I have one and I like the longer stroke on the bigger trees. I also swap blades depending on what I'm cutting (green/dry, hardwood/softwood),

Even more heavy-duty than the Bahco is a 30" Swedish military surplus bowsaw, which are built tough and should come with an unused blade; the blades on mine were new old stock of excellent quality, made in Sweden. Even though they were the "peg" type teeth, they cut very well even in green wood. Another good thing about this 30" saw is that it had a similar distance between blade and frame as the Bahco 36" saw, which affects how big a log you can cut. The smaller saws typically have a smaller distance.

The Swedish military bowsaws can be found online from several sources, and the price range goes as low as $5 each plus shipping, which is a true bargain.
 
I have a smaller Silky Supper Accel, and it blasted through this log honestly in under 10 Seconds, they make even larger saws for more heavy duty work, I have had a couple of different camping saws and this one blows them away, there bigger offering will likely perform amazingly.
P6060237.jpg
 
Slider817 said:
...Silky Supper Accel...blasted through this log...
Click to expand...

I agree those "razor" teeth cut very well (on the pull stroke), and this type of saw packs very well. I have a Felco (12" blade) and it has similar teeth, but the replacement blades are so pricey that I save it for more precision work (like pruning fruit trees).
 
Steve, thanks I'll check those out.

Slider, thanks for the suggestion but I'm looking for something bigger. My wife has a Felco.
 
They use to make some big old bow saws about 4 foot long they called them a pulp saw.

I don't know where you are living at, but sometimes farm auctions will have some big old cross cut saws not to high priced. My wife got me a one man cross cut saw with a "D" handle on one end and a removable handle on the other end.

just got to keep you eyes open.
 
They use to make some big old bow saws about 4 foot long they called them a pulp saw.

I don't know where you are living at, but sometimes farm auctions will have some big old cross cut saws not to high priced. My wife got me a one man cross cut saw with a "D" handle on one end and a removable handle on the other end.

just got to keep you eyes open.
 
+1 for Silky Saws. I have the Silky "BigBoy" folding saw and it screams through wood. The BigBoy has over 14 inch blade and is just shy of 16 inches closed. You can choose from 4 blades (extra large teeth, large teeth, medium teeth, and small teeth) for different types of wood from green to hard. Quality on Silky Saws is top notch. I also own 2 "Sawvivor" saws which are excellent, but Silky's are arguably the best in the world. Minimal effort and crazy fast cutting. I got the extra large teeth on mine, and it has flown through everything I've thrown at it.
 
omniviking said:
...a one man cross cut saw with a "D" handle on one end and a removable handle on the other end...
Click to expand...

Now these are heavy-duty to the extreme. They are attractive to me because they can cut right through a 16"-diameter log when a bowsaw would be stopped by its frame. I've been looking for some reasonably-priced ones, and just lucked into a couple this past week on "that auction site". Got one with peg teeth for hard/dry wood, and one with perforated lance teeth for softwoods. Learning to resharpen them will be my next journey...
 
Steve Tall said:
Now these are heavy-duty to the extreme. They are attractive to me because they can cut right through a 16"-diameter log when a bowsaw would be stopped by its frame. I've been looking for some reasonably-priced ones, and just lucked into a couple this past week on "that auction site". Got one with peg teeth for hard/dry wood, and one with perforated lance teeth for softwoods. Learning to resharpen them will be my next journey...
Click to expand...

I was going to try to learn saw sharpening, but then I heard the local saw guy (the one the Forest Service folks take their stuff to) only charges 15-30 bucks a saw. I took two in to him -- he jointed/set/sharpened the two for a whopping total of $35, and it only took him a day and a half to get them back to me. I'll put off learning to do it myself until the day that old fella is no longer around!


-ben
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Better yet--see if he'll help you learn!
Click to expand...

ah, very very good idea. he probably would like that, too. he wasn't around when I picked up my saws, but he left me a page-long note telling me what he did and why he did it. he also threw in a couple of tips (what the "old-timers" used to do and such).

in other words, he's the kind of guy I'd like to have teach me something like this.

-ben
 
Sharpening saws is a whole art in itself. I would die to have the opportunity to learn from a pro. I can do a passable job, but it would probably make your local guy cringe to look at! :p
 
omniviking said:
They use to make some big old bow saws about 4 foot long they called them a pulp saw.I don't know where you are living at, but sometimes farm auctions will have some big old cross cut saws not to high priced. My wife got me a one man cross cut saw with a "D" handle on one end and a removable handle on the other end.
Click to expand...

Can these be used by one person or do they need two? I've always thought it'd be cool to have a two-person crosscut saw available if I have a helper, but I had no idea that they might work for just one person.
 
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