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Silky saw

4wanderingeyes

4wanderingeyes

5 year old buck +
I am looking to get a Silky saw, I have heard all kinds of good things on here about the Silky Zubat, but I have a couple questions. I see they have the Large tooth option, and the extra large tooth option. Anyone have input on that? Is there any down side of going with the extra large tooth option?

I was just ready to hit the buy now on Amazon, and was reading the comments, and the thing that got my attention was there was saws made for the USA with a limited lifetime warranty, and they had red metal screw holding the handle on with a 1.5mm blade, and there was ones made for only Japan, that didnt have the limited life time warranty, they had black plastic screws, and the blade was 1.4mm thick.

People made comments on the Amazon item saying they advertise the USA one, and list a picture of the USA one, but they received the Japan one instead. But some people said they did get the USA one. Rather then ordering from Amazon, does anyone have a recommendation on where to buy one in store, so I can see that it is indeed a USA model?
 
I've owned the Silky Zubat and Sugoi models for 8 or 9 years. They are worth every penny you pay. Only caution is be extremely careful when handling. They will send you to the ER for stitches in a hurry should you rake the blade across and arm, hand, leg, etc. I assume mine were made in Japan but don't know that for certain.
 
I have the regular silky zubat. It’s more than enough saw. Super sharp with very aggressive teeth. I always wear gloves when using it but it also is always with me when I’m out working. I’m sure there are plenty of good arborists saws out there but silky makes a great product.
 
I have a fleet of Silky's in every size and shape and TPI (Teeth Per Inch). I'll only add this as far as the type of teeth top get. Generally the more TPI a saw has the finer the cut you're going to get. Those large teeth saws (lower TPI) are going to be super aggressive and will chew through material quickly. If the end use is cutting shooting lanes and general delimbing work I think you'll be happy with either the large or extra large. If you will be using the zubat in your apple orchard or on other trees requiring more of a pruning end use, I would definitely recommend a saw with a higher TPI.

But yes....super sharp. Japanese saws cut on the pull, not the push, like American hand saws...so the metal on the blade does not have to be as thick. Thus you get extremely thin metal and super sharp teeth. Love these saws!
 
I have these two saws.. I use the smaller one much more often. If you buy just 1 the 330 is probably the saw for you.


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My saw is almost always on my hip when I'm in the woods.

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You need to exercise caution using them. They are extremely sharp. I use the smaller saw for hand clearing all vegetation and brush when I'm planting trees and installing weed matts. I'm constantly cutting and pruning stuff with it. I will never be without it.


The bigger saw.... the Katanaboy is lethal. I can cut off 4" diameter popple around waist height in about 5 seconds. Its that f******g sharp. If flesh comes in contact with the blade plan on bleeding profusely. It saws like a dream. I can reach branches about 10 feet off the ground fairly easy to clear shooting lanes. Does things a chainsaw can do. Let the saw do the work and it breezes right through.
 
I just got the bigger Silky saw for an early birthday present and last night used it to prune a VERY overgrown apple tree. It was unbelievable....I was taking 4-5" diameter limbs (ok they were dead, but still) with ease. I hope I never hit any body part with it. I still have alot more pruning to do, as most of what I am taking off is vines/briars. In only about an hour I got alot more space showing between limbs just due to taking out the briars/vines. Pulling them down through old/dead limbs is doing a pretty good job of pruning too. These trees were so loaded with apples this past year without any pruning...I can't imagine what they will be like with a little bit of care....to note, these trees are beside a path between my neighbor and my front fields where I had a put a cam when several scrapes and rubs started popping up and in 1 night during the rut I had 7 different bucks (4 of them shooters) visit the scrapes and apple buffet.
 
4wanderingeyes said:
I ordered the Zubat 330 large tooth. I am planning on trimming a trail through some tag alder this spring, and I am hoping this will be easier then lugging a chain saw in there.
Click to expand...


I created a few pockets like this picture in some 12 year old aspen clear cut regen. Transplanted 8-12 white spruce trees from the road ditch into the areas I cut. I used the Big 500 saw to do this. Trees ranged from 2-5" in diameter. That worked awesome and much faster then the 330. You get way more accomplished with the 500 with less effort. Planted more white spruce and balsam fir leading in and out of those areas. Nice little diversity pocket. I did one with a chainsaw before and I prefer the Silky. It goes pretty damn quick. I bought the 500 saw specifically for doing a couple of these pockets. Gave me a good excuse to justify buying it. 330 has superior handiness and convenience. 500 for bigger jobs.



IMG_2887.JPG
 
Just walk out in the shop and thank your old hand saws for their service. Make them feel good today because you're going to toss them in thrash after your silky comes in.
 
I have a couple small islands in the alders, and they have a couple oaks on them, and some sort of balsam. But the trails I am going to cut will guide them onto these islands more. One main trail veers on and off my land and goes into the neighbors swamp. I want to take that trail and take it into my swamp and into a small food plot.
 
Been needing a folding limb saw to replace the amazingly good little Chinese no-name one I've had held together with duct tape for the last year.
My Silky Big Boy 2000, with the extra large teeth came in a week ago. Damn! That thing is big! Not gonna fit & stay in the back pocket of my overalls like the last one, but that's OK.
Haven't used it on anything bigger than a few 3 inch oak limbs that needed to come off to allow room to get to and from the barn with the pontoon boat, but it zipped through 'em in no time.
Looking forward to using it here in a few weeks when I get to topping some 20 yr old pecans to topwork them to superior hickory cultivars.
 
I got my Zubat on Friday, but since we had freezing rain Friday, and Freezing drizzle, and a couple inches of snow since, I haven’t gotten a chance to use it. All the trees have a good 1/4” of ice on them right now, I don’t really want to try it out on ice trees for the break in.
 
4wanderingeyes said:
I got my Zubat on Friday, but since we had freezing rain Friday, and Freezing drizzle, and a couple inches of snow since, I haven’t gotten a chance to use it. All the trees have a good 1/4” of ice on them right now, I don’t really want to try it out on ice trees for the break in.
Click to expand...

Watch out for your pinkie fingers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Kooch said:
Watch out for your pinkie fingers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Wish I had read this before using my new Silky last month. With my left hand I was holding a main branch while cutting a 1" diameter side branch. The cut completed halfway through a final downswing motion, then nipped the pinkie on my left hand and cut halfway through the pinkie tip. It bled profusely, clotted quickly and healed up nicely in the next two weeks. Overall, that was a cheap lesson on respecting sharp saw blades.
 
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