Chain Saw For Rat Trapping

[coonboy]

What is a good chain saw for cutting in to rat houses? What is a good bar length ? Is 16" long enough?

[trappnman]

no advice from someone that uses chainsaws?

or is it impractical?

All I ever used, was an ice spud.

[mustelameister]

I used a chainsaw to cut ice last year, but only on days where it was near freezing as it tended to freeze up on me when too cold. Don't know much about cutting into 'rat huts as that is illegal here in WI.

Chainsaw is just a sissy Poulan.

[coonboy]

So more trouble than it would be worth?

[TrapperRon]

I was never a fan of trapping the houses during freezing conditions. The houses could freeze up killing all the rats that were living in the house. Push ups are a different matter. They are winter feed stations and if you loose one to freeze up, the rats can still use the house as a refuge spot.

We teach this in our trapper education courses, it makes sense conservation wise.

[mustelameister]

Ice saw. Anyone ever use one? Video makes it look interesting. I'd be tempted to buy one if I thought it would work all the time as easy as they make it out to be.

www.icesaws.com

[bankrunner]

Kaspars new winter muskrat video has him using a chainsaw on rat huts and ice.

[calvin]

Ron, you should be teaching how to repack a hut so it doesn't freeze. Not that hard and if rats inside they will help from the opposite direction. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Almost like teaching trapping is cruel IMO. A right and a wrong way to do anything.

Mike, I use that saw for beaver trapping. Works well for that. Have to spud a pilot hole first thought but after that cutting is a breeze once you get the hang of it. A mini version might work well for huts but I don't believe a normal sized one would.

[musher]

Would a battery powered sawsall or gas powered drill work?

[irnhdmike]

Old hand saw works great.Cut the top off and set it right back on.

[garman]

Aug 10, 2011 19:35:58 GMT -6 TrapperRon said:

I was never a fan of trapping the houses during freezing conditions. The houses could freeze up killing all the rats that were living in the house. Push ups are a different matter. They are winter feed stations and if you loose one to freeze up, the rats can still use the house as a refuge spot.

We teach this in our trapper education courses, it makes sense conservation wise.

Exactly, that is the way I was taught at home, and truely believe it. Especially early ice push up trapping where you go through the run outside the hut.

[milkie62]

No rat houses in my area.Some things should be sacred and off limits

[thorsmightyhammer]

No rat houses in my area.Some things should be sacred and off limits

Ignorance at its finest.....

Me personally, I'd leave the chainsaw at home.

[coonboy]

So what is the best cutter? Sharp tile spade?

[thorsmightyhammer]

I like a chisel.

I know several guys who use sharp shooters(tile spades).

[calvin]

I can comment on the difference between the tile spade and chisel as I used both last year. Pros and cons to both but overall I prefer the chisel as Steven uses. (his advice to me that was a step up from the tile spade). You can get by with the tile spade in the earlier season. Later, the huts freeze harder and thicker and the tile spade just doesn't have enough weight to it to get through the ice. Hut sides (in some areas) turn to ice. Really not much different than going through pure ice at times.

If your going to use a tile spade as things freeze up harder sharpening it is key. Just like skinning with a dull knife, opening huts with a dull spade is a lot harder than with a sharp one.

The bad on the chisel (for me) is the weight. It does take its toll on you over course of the day but overall probably easier than the spade as it doesn't take as many hits to get through the wall of the hut. Thinking back to last year, walking through the all the snow probably wore me out more than the chisel did. Lesson learned.

Maybe I/ll try the chainsaw this year just for comparison. I can see the advantages (and disadvantages to a mechanical device that can freeze up) of the saw when cutting ice if using colony traps under ice, however.

If I were going to use the tile spade again, I think I would cut it down narrower and try and add some weight somehow.

[Rally Hess]

Not all saws will cut ice, at least not very long. Most current models have forced air systems on them, that direct air from the flywheel to the compartment where the carb is, so any water that is sucked up by the flywheel (always) is directed towards the carb. I just plug the passage ways with caulking and duct tape for a makeshift "form" until it hardens. I've not noticed any performance difference after being plugged, either wood or ice. Seems the more plastic parts on the saw the better they are at repelling water and bouncing off the back of a snomachine. LOL Seems the more utilitarian, metal housing ,saws tend to fit less well around the powerhead and water diverts back to the carb and causes early freezing. Some rewinds also freeze up quick, but alot of that can be eliminated by waxing the roap with a bar of parrifin and using lightweight grease on the spring if any lubricant at all. I use LG (chipper) chains on all my ice saws, but don't cut the rakers down, though some do. I believe it makes the saw more likely to kick back, and i run alone. The best ice saws I've ever used were old Homelite 340's, believe it or not, they were great ice saws just only marginal as wood saws. I'm using a Jonsrud 2065 now with bars up to 28". Good saw, both wood and ice with some minor alterations I mentioned above. I use 10w oil in the rsevoir and run it until I can see oil slung onto the snow after cutting a hole to keep the bar from freezing up while transporting to the next beaver house. Helps to encase a saw in a rubber laundry bag with drawstrings when transporting on a snowmachine to keep powder out of the saw and I bring it in every night to thaw out. I never saw the need to use a chainsaw on rat houses and like the guys above use a chisel on big houses and a potatoe fork on pushups.

[rk660]

There are days I get more done w/ chainsaw, and days it would be better to leave at home. With my bad shoulder, once they crust or ice to over 4-6" thick, I pretty much need a saw to keep going thru an entire day. Really only need for setting, checking not needed. Youve got to know how to do chores to keep running w/o a ton of problems. Rally touched on these well. In a perfect world, and plenty small huts to pick from, and no need to set anything with more than a 6" sidewall, I could prolly leave saw behind, but, Iven never seen this perfect world yet either. Early ice and less snow prolly when not needed as much. Im always just getting there in Feb. Also, as the days blur into weeks, the need for a saw becomes more apparent.

[Wright Brothers]

I've never sawn a "rat house" so at the risk of being out of bounds heres couple thoughts.

To what Rally said about icing from the fly wheel. My saws have a flap that you switch from summer to winter. It helps to keep the icing less of a problem. Just don't forget to change it back for summer time.
On some you can change around the peice on muffler that holds the spark arrestor and it will blow hot air at the engine.

Frozen mud dulls chains fast.

Know the kick back zone of the saw. If saw sitting broad side on bench, motor right, bar left, at nose of bar, 9 oclock to 12 oclock is the kick back area. Avoid hitting that on anything while running. You can read about this in all saw manuals and online.

Remember the guy on here from NY that got bit?