Cutting Snow-Broken Limbs After a Wet Spring Storm With a 10-Inch Folding Saw: Hazards First, the 50 Percent Crown Rule, and Cuts at the Collar

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A wet spring snow in the mountains can drop a foot of heavy slush on trees that have already leafed out. By morning there are limbs hanging, split, and lying across the driveway.

Check for power lines and hanging limbs before you touch anything. Keep a tree if it still has its leader and at least half its crown. Cut broken branches back to the branch collar with a folding saw, take heavy limbs in pieces, and call a certified arborist for anything overhead, on a ladder, or chainsaw-sized.

Look up before you cut

The Colorado State Forest Service's advice on snow-damaged trees says to assess the situation before cutting, both to avoid hurting yourself and to avoid making the damage worse. Check your surroundings first.

Its storm damage quick guide says to stay away from downed utility lines, telephone and cable lines, and fence wires. It also says not to stand under broken limbs that are hanging or caught in other branches overhead.

The classic mistake after a storm is grabbing a saw and starting on the first limb you can reach. A hung-up branch overhead can come down the moment you cut what is holding it.

Deciding what to keep

The CSFS article says a tree that is healthy overall and still has its leader, most of its major limbs, and 50 percent or more of its crown has a good chance of full recovery. Under half the crown, the quick guide says, the tree may not survive.

1. Find the leader, the main upward branch. If it is intact, that is a good sign.
2. Estimate how much of the crown is gone. Look from two sides.
3. Note which breaks are large limbs and which are small branches.

Getting snow off without breaking more

If snow is still loading the branches, the CSFS article says to be careful, because knocking snow off can break them. Push up gently on the branch from below instead of shaking or hitting it from above.

I use a long broom held upside down and lift from underneath. Snapping the branch to make it bounce clear is how a bent limb turns into a broken one.

Cutting what is broken

For the small and mid-size breaks I can reach from the ground, a 10-inch folding pruning saw is the right tool. It cuts on the pull stroke, fits in a coat pocket, and handles limbs a few inches thick.

1. Watch for stored energy. The CSFS article warns that a twisted or bent branch can have pent-up tension, so stand to the side, not under or in line with it.
2. Take a heavy limb off in pieces first, so it is not pulling down on the final cut.
3. Make the final cut at the branch collar, the point where the branch joins a larger one. Do not leave a stub, and do not cut into the collar.
4. On larger limbs, use the three-cut method: an undercut a foot out, a top cut just past it to drop the weight, then the clean collar cut.
5. Trim ragged bark at the edges of a tear back to solid bark with a sharp knife.

What not to do

The CSFS article says not to over-prune. A tree may look lopsided after a storm, but the article says most trees grow new foliage that hides bare spots, and you should wait to prune further until it leafs out.

The quick guide is firm on two more points: do not top the tree, and do not assume fertilizer will help it recover. It also says large, broken branches should be cut back to the trunk or a main limb by an arborist.

Knowing where to stop

The CSFS article says if the job needs a chainsaw overhead, sawing from a ladder, or removing large branches or whole trees, call an insured, certified arborist. That covers most of the big breaks.

Home Depot and Harbor Freight both sell folding pruning saws and long-handled loppers for the ground-level work. Spend the money you saved on that arborist for the overhead limbs.

For the full three-cut sequence, see this walkthrough on taking down a 3-inch yard tree limb with a folding saw.