When your kids celebrate you on Mother’s Day, you get flowers and chocolates; maybe even a homemade breakfast. When your kids celebrate you on Father’s Day, you get a gift card to Home Depot or Lowe’s, which is awesome. My kids are perceptive enough to know there’s always something I need for the workshop, so that little plastic rectangle of credit always brings a smile. But what I need is always trumped by what I want. Like power tools.
A polesaw is one of the cooler power tools out there (especially if you have a use for it). A polesaw is essentially a chain saw mounted on top of twelve feet of plastic pipe. At the bottom is the trigger. It’s like the world’s longest rifle, only you’re spinning chain saw blades instead of firing bullets. Picture the head and neck of a very thin giraffe. Or something out of a horror movie you’d watch this Halloween.
Polesaws are perfect for cutting down those overhead tree branches you cannot reach. You avoid the whole fall-off-the-ladder thing, which is fine with me since I’ve done it before. And with today’s super-batteries, you’re not tethered to a cord or a gas tank. Which brings me to my real story.
After purchasing my brand new Craftsman polesaw at Lowe’s – and barely fitting it into the back of my SUV – I headed on home eager to try it out. Charge up the battery, unsheathe the chain saw blade, and get to chopping down branches. When I did get home however, I realized my most basic of blunders: I had no battery. Right there on the box in plain English: TOOL ONLY. BATTERY AND CHARGER SOLD SEPARATELY. Talk about “buzz kill”.
A few days later I made it back to Lowe’s. Found the battery (the last one!), as well as an employee to escort me to check-out to make sure I paid. I get it – those batteries are expensive – more than the pole saw itself in fact. Okay, so now I have my pole saw and my battery. When I got home again however, I discovered my next blunder. It’s just a battery. It’s not a battery and a charger. Without a charger, a battery is just a bunch of chemicals housed in a case. Good grief, Charlie Brown! (with a whack on the forehead)
The next time I went to Lowe’s – where they now know me on a first-name basis – I found the charger. But here’s the problem. The charger comes with a battery, versus being sold all on its own. In other words, I have to buy a battery I don’t need. Okay, so I’ll return the first one. But after another employee escort to check-out and a little thought, I realized my biggest blunder of them all. I’d already unpacked and installed the first battery on the polesaw. Now I have a polesaw, a battery, a charger… and another battery I can no longer return. Needless to say, I’m well past the amount of my Father’s Day gift card by now.
I like to end every story with good news. The polesaw advertises “325 cuts per battery charge”. In other words, I’m never gonna need that second battery. Sure looks lonely sitting there on the workbench. Guess I just found me an excuse to buy another Craftsman power tool!
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LEGO Trevi Fountain – Update #1
(Read about the start of this build in Brick Wall Waterfall)
Our LEGO Trevi Fountain already feels like it’s flowing after just 3 bags – of 15 bags of pieces. You know this is going to be quick construction when I’m showing evidence of “brick wall” and “waterfall” just twenty percent into the build.
The rust on my LEGO skills was apparent from the first bag. I assembled the first two pieces incorrectly, thought I was missing a piece (which you always find later), and questioned why I ended up with an extra piece (which is LEGO’s way of saying, “in case you lose one”). Bag 2 had similar challenges. And Bag 3 was a little more difficult because you get lost in all those dreamy shades of blue. There was a moment when I placed an entire section of the fountain too far forward, corrected it, and thought, “Wow, Travertine is hard to move!”
For my fountain-building accompaniment, I thought it would be appropriate to listen the to the works of classical Italian composers. For today’s portion, I went with Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”. Bag 1 took me through “Spring” while Bag 2 took me through “Summer”. Bag 3 required the other two seasons. But as you can see, I already have a four-seasons pool I could throw coins into!
Running build time: 1 hr. 5 min.
Total leftover pieces: 2
Life In A Word 
I wouldn’t have pegged you for someone that needs an escort to the register ha! The lego would be more realistic if it came with 1000 people trying to take a selfie.
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I didn’t take the Lowe’s escort as a personal jab, ha. They lock those batteries up because they run into the hundreds of dollars. Love the idea of the Trevi surrounded by hundreds of little LEGO people. Gives the fountain the context it deserves!
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That was funny, but I would have done the same thing. I think that employee should have given you some advice before he escorted you to pay, but I find sometimes Lowe’s employees aren’t that well informed themselves. I tried to get advice about a kitchen lightbulb there once and swore I knew more than he did.
I’m jealous of the Trevi Fountain. Looks like fun!
I’m sorry about the Mariners losing, while being happy about the Blue Jays winning, if I can be both simultaneously. They looked so sad and dejected sitting there in the dugout, when they were so close and the game could have gone either way. Especially as they have never been to the World Series, where at least the Blue Jays have been twice, although not for 30 years. But let’s face it, neither would have/will win against the Dodgers, so I’m going in with zero expectations. I’m happy they got that far, both teams should be, as that’s an accomplishment in itself. Only 3 of the Jays players have ever played in a world series and many never in a post-season game. And last year the Jays finished last in their division, this year first, so there’s always next year. Whereas for the Dodgers, it’s every year!
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I’m going to assume the Lowe’s employee didn’t ask questions about the battery/charger because he assumed I knew exactly what I was doing 🙂
My son-in-law has the same perspective as you, Joni (at least, he did several days after the fact). The Dodgers seem destined to win it all no matter who they face. But it’ll be awhile before he gets over the Springer home run that effectively sealed it for Toronto. Who knows what would’ve happened if they’d gone with their star pitcher Munoz instead.
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By coincidence, I spent part of the last two days trimming my trees with a pole tool because I have not done ladders for a long time. But my pole does not operate with a battery. I guess the battery version is the next step since I converted to battery operated hedge trimmers quite awhile back. It just never occurred to me. Old habits are not often questioned!
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If only I’d purchased all of my battery-operated power tools from the same manufacturer, I wouldn’t have to worry about all these batteries/chargers!
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That’s the exact reason why I have a shop full of Ryobi tools. One day I bought a drill and trim router but didn’t check to see which came with a battery. They both did so I bought another Ryobi tool … now I have like five batteries and tons of tools. I was going to buy a different brand, but I’d need a different type of battery. I guess until all my batteries are dead, I’ve got Ryobi tools …
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Totally agree with this approach, but we needed the polesaw and the only one Lowe’s had was a Craftsman. Maybe I’ll start building up my inventory of Craftsman power tools now, sigh…
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I was thinking about getting a pole hedge trimmer as I’m not fond of climbing up on a ladder and some of the Fire Bushes and Vicaries planted eons ago in the backyard have reached great heights and look like Chia pets if I can’t reach the top. I was reluctant to buy that equipment, wondering if the pole was sturdy enough for the trimmer, but you’re dealing with a heavy chain saw – yikes! The whole lithium battery craze is good as you’re not dealing with electrical cords, but yes, it’s a ripoff that they don’t give you a complete tool with all its parts. I had all my lithium batteries on a metal table in the basement … all the same type battery used for all the yard equipment and two spare batteries. I only plug them in the day I’m going to use them. A few years back I had plumbers in the basement that helped themselves to all the batteries, leaving me the empty chargers and I didn’t notice it until I went to use them.
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Haven’t tried the polesaw on our hedge, Linda, but I’m afraid I’d make a mess of it anyway! I’ll leave high-profile jobs like that to people I’m willing to hire instead. The polesaw chain saw isn’t as heavy as you might think (as long as the job is short). It does a great job on stubborn roots too.
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Well I had the landscaper do my high trimming this year as I had a retainer wall enlarged and mulch laid, so I decided to give myself a treat – no Chia pet bushes in 2025. 🙂 I was watching someone trimming his hedge with a pole hedge trimmer, so I asked about it as I’d not seen one before. His was a Kobalt, but if I got one, I’d get a Worx as my electric lawn mower is a Worx and I’ve had no issues with it. I’m surprised the chain saw is so lightweight … easier to handle then.
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My husband is a DeWalt guy and to hear him tell it, you never have enough batteries! It seems to me that 325 cuts sounds like a lot, but once you get going it really isn’t that many! I have one of those electric pruners and as often as not I will need to use a second battery.
That looks like a very beautiful LEGO Project!
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Just when it seems I’ve pruned everything in sight, the trees quietly grow more branches. Wouldn’t surprise me – to your point – to see the extra battery come in handy for the polesaw itself. It’s the case with my DeWalt blower too. I carry an extra battery around when I use it because most times one battery’s worth of air isn’t enough to clean up everything around the outside of the house!
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We need to trim trees too. Wondering how high that pole goes and how thick the branches could be. Trying to visualize this with no success. GREAT job on Trevi Fountain so far. Love the blue colors.
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The saw is smaller and lighter than you might think – probably 15″. The pole has extensions, so it can be just a few feet long or several feet long. If tearing up roots is any indication, the polesaw will do just fine on overhead branches!
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Good to know.
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My first battery power tool was a Black & Decker, and the interchangeable batteries are why the rest of them are too. My method is to have a charged battery ready so that I can swap out a dead one whenever I need to. I don’t think you’ll regret having a second battery.
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Wish I’d done what you did and stick with one manufacturer. I’m not sure they all make polesaws but I should’ve checked Ryobi first. I have plenty of their batteries!
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I stay out of stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot. I know nothing! The fact that you can tell the difference between a battery and a charger is pretty impressive to me! (Might be exaggerating just a teeny, tiny bit)
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Now if only I could remember that a battery NEEDS a charger 😉
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