Chainsaws (Battery powered)

Domenick

Domenick

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Domenick
I have a small EGO Gas chainsaw which works pretty well for my small yard. A couple of years back I transitioned to an EGO cordless mower that I like a lot. This got me thinking of a small chainsaw. I'm not cutting firewood, just small limbing and clipping.
Any suggestions on a good cordless chainsaw for my mission?
 
I’ve got a black and decker corded one. Works well. [mention]cowman [/mention], yours is battery powered, yes?


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All of my battery powered tools are Dewalt, so when I needed a small pruning/limbing saw the obvious choice was yellow. Powerful little guy, I've even cut down some smaller 3-4 inch trees with it.

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I've got a DeWalt that has only seen action cutting legs off an elk to get it quartered and off a mountain. Worked well on bone. For around the house I've got a Stihl ms362, but roughly 3 of my 5 acres is woods.
 
Generally I have been relatively impressed with the Harbor Freight Bauer Brand tools, but up until the Chainsaw have stuck with corded tools.
I was unimpressed with the Planer and ended up returning it when it wouldn't hold thickness while cutting, I could watch the adjustment screws unwind while using it and it didn't have any kind of lock for them.
The rotary hammer drill works extremely well and I really like the corded electric chain saw.
Can't say I am terribly impressed with the cordless chain saw. It is super handy to just grab and go cut something. But the battery shuts off if I load it very much, so have to keep my cutting pressure pretty light.
perhaps a bigger AH battery would do better? I don't remember if I am using the 3 or 5AH battery.

Brian
 
I needed something more convenient for quick small jobs than my big Husqvarna gas saw. I got a Kobalt (Lowe's house brand) cordless saw and am pretty impressed... I hardly ever pull out the gas saw any more. I ended up buying a Kobalt string trimmer and leaf blower that use the same batteries, and they all work great, too. The leaf blower worked great for testing the fuel system venting on my plane.

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I was all ready to buy a battery powered chainsaw, months doing light research & all. The main reason was lighter saw for small jobs. I ended up buying a $200 gas Echo 3510 off fleabay, ‘as new’ condition.

It’s just over 8 lbs, not too loud, cuts great. Mixed fuel is a norm here, so no biggie. It starts right up, no batteries to rotate.
 
I have a whole collection of Stihls, but they're way too big for the wife, so I picked up a Wood Ranger mini chainsaw for her to trim small limbs etc around her garden etc. $79. Sucker impressed the heck out of me. Will zip through a 3" oak branch in no time. Light, pretty good battery life.i use it to cut oak fence boards to length when the horses break one.
Would recommend.
 
With any brand, the batteries are the expensive part, and chainsaws go through them. If you already have ego batteries, that seems like a no-brainer. I've heard good things about their saw, but I've not actually used one.

I have a makita and it's awesome for limbing and pruning, but I wouldn't recommend investing in a new battery ecosystem unless you wanted multiple tools in their line.
 
I have the Dewalt that's pictured above. Works good for pruning trees and the like. I'm already held hostage at this point to a lot of DeWalt for a bunch of other tools until I decide to punt and go with more ethical companies like Makita, Hilti, and Festool.
 
I'm in the Ryobi ecosystem. I have their 18" chainsaw and it's a beast. I've felled fairly large trees using it, and it makes short work of limbs. I have accumulated several Ryobi 40V batteries already for my push-mower and other items (6 Ah, 5 Ah, and 4 Ah, IIRC) and rotating those meant I never ran out of power even when I was chopping up a felled tree into chunks suitable for firewood splitting. It has my recommendation, if you're already team dayglo safety green.
 
Yes, the batteries are the most expensive ongoing cost. Make sure they are charged or maintained on a charger correctly, otherwise they will die an early death.
 
I have an Ego battery-powered chainsaw. I bought it for hurricane cleanup a few years ago, and it handled that pretty well. It works fine for my light jobs around our place, and I love the convenience. Don't expect to go north woods lumberjack with it.
 
Domenick said:
Any suggestions on a good cordless chainsaw for my mission?
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Why not the EGO chainsaw.

I started with their lawn mower and over the years I've added edger, leaf blower and yes... chainsaw. Advantage of staying with the one brand is the interchangeable batteries. I've got a fair amount of mowing to do at our lake property and usually do it over 2 days. But if for some reason I need to get the mowing out of the way in a day, I'll dip into the smaller batteries that came with each of the smaller devices. Sure, I have to change the battery more often, but it is enough battery power to complete the whole yard and back area.

And now you've reminded me I need to bring the chain in to be sharpened.
 
Just be careful with a battery or electric chainsaw. They are actually more dangerous to use than a gas saw. Electric motors unlike gas ones make all of their torque the closer to zero rpm you get. They are also usually direct drive to the chain without a clutch. What that means is if you somehow get the saw into something it’s not supposed to cut (like a leg in a pair of safer pants) the saw won’t immediately stall out and bind up and the clutch won’t slip as it clogs up. Instead it will continue to increase the torque and take much more force before it stops moving the chain. Many safety pants are not rated for electric saws.
 
Zeldman said:
Came in from physical torture.

Just a little sore right now.
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M20K said:
Why not the EGO chainsaw.

I started with their lawn mower and over the years I've added edger, leaf blower and yes... chainsaw. Advantage of staying with the one brand is the interchangeable batteries. I've got a fair amount of mowing to do at our lake property and usually do it over 2 days. But if for some reason I need to get the mowing out of the way in a day, I'll dip into the smaller batteries that came with each of the smaller devices. Sure, I have to change the battery more often, but it is enough battery power to complete the whole yard and back area.

And now you've reminded me I need to bring the chain in to be sharpened.
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You can easily do it yourself in 5-10 minutes. I do my small gas Ego quite often. Makes a huge difference.
All you need is a proper sized round file. Stick the bar in a vice if you want. I don't.

And how to properly tension your chain--the nickle trick.
 
Domenick said:
I have a small EGO Gas chainsaw which works pretty well for my small yard. A couple of years back I transitioned to an EGO cordless mower that I like a lot. This got me thinking of a small chainsaw. I'm not cutting firewood, just small limbing and clipping.
Any suggestions on a good cordless chainsaw for my mission?
Click to expand...
I have used a Stihl and like it a lot.
 
We went with Toro, and it works really well. We have a few of the larger batteries and smaller ones also. I think they are 6amp hours and 2 amp hours in size. In any case, depending on the task, we switch which battery we use.
We stuck with Toro because we have the hedge trimmer, mower, and now chain saw all with interchangeable batteries.

On the larger battery, we called it quits after cutting trees for two hours before the large battery was used up. Do not recall how much charge was left, but we had none :D

Tim
 
Domenick said:
I have a small EGO Gas chainsaw
Click to expand...
Ego... Gas??? Didn't know they ever made any gas tools.

Domenick said:
A couple of years back I transitioned to an EGO cordless mower that I like a lot. This got me thinking of a small chainsaw. I'm not cutting firewood, just small limbing and clipping.
Any suggestions on a good cordless chainsaw for my mission?
Click to expand...
If you have an EGO mower, I'd just get the EGO chainsaw. You already have extra batteries for it if you need them...

I have a Black and Decker chainsaw and pole saw for the same reason. They're not gonna win any awards, and I probably haven't cut anything more than maybe 8" with it but it does the job, and it's much quieter, doesn't need to be started or 2 stroke oil and gas mixed or any of the other stuff that gas chainsaws require. It's just sitting in the garage ready to go as soon as I need it.
 
Bill said:
Probably an Echo, I had one when we had the bigger place and needed gas powered tools. It was a great saw.
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Used to help my buddy plow the lots for Echo in the winter. Have "tested" a lot of their products. Even helped them with the prototype of their chainsaw on a stick concept years and years ago.

I still prefer stihl
 
Domenick said:
You can easily do it yourself in 5-10 minutes. I do my small gas Ego quite often. Makes a huge difference.
All you need is a proper sized round file. Stick the bar in a vice if you want. I don't.

And how to properly tension your chain--the nickle trick.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reminder on this. For various reasons I have probably a dozen extra chains that need to be sharpened and I never remember to pick up a file. Today, I did.
 
I have a DeWalt on a stick, and I like it. Couple of things to keep in mind w/ electric vs gas in a chainsaw. First, they have full torque at zero RPM. Great for a sports car, something to be careful of in a chainsaw. Second and related to the first, a small gas chainsaw can just stall if something tries to lock it up. Electrics don't stall. I sometimes use a chainsaw, but I'm at the same level of paying attention doing that as I am hand propping an airplane.
 
Domenick said:
I have a small EGO Gas chainsaw
Click to expand...
I was going to ask if that was a typo... then I just saw your post with the pic of the BATTERY chainsaw. :D

So is that what you're transitioning to, the EGO chainsaw (which are only battery).
 
1. I have zero idea on super green ego power tools.
2. Small quality Still chainsaws are much more expensive than gas powered. I've been shopping the AP line.
3. A worthy alternative is a standard reciprocating saw. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-24-...procating-Saw-Battery-Not-Included/1000374033
4. Skip the standard blades for the above and search for reciprocating saw pruning blades.
5. Evaluate the recip action of the tools before purchase, one of my corded models pinches my hand when I am not careful. Pinch = near rip.
6. Safer. Blades dispose, No chains to rip off.
I live the advice above.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
It says "40cc" but if you read it, it says "equivalent to 40cc" and it's fully electric.
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Actually says "...equivalent to a 40CC gas chainsaw..." But even before the part about it being equivalent to gas, the "high-efficiency brushless motor" should have also been a give-away.
 
M20K said:
I was going to ask if that was a typo... then I just saw your post with the pic of the BATTERY chainsaw. :D

So is that what you're transitioning to, the EGO chainsaw (which are only battery).
Click to expand...

Mea culpa. No not a typo, just stupidity. My small gas powered chainsaw is an ECHO. Still it does start with an 'E'.
And yes, EGO is the brand I will likely go with.
 
Domenick said:
Mea culpa. No not a typo, just stupidity. My small gas powered chainsaw is an ECHO. Still it does start with an 'E'.
And yes, EGO is the brand I will likely go with.
Click to expand...
ECHO makes great chainsaws, and they have a good line of electric versions, too. I just picked up an Echo top-handle 2511TN for limbing/etc. since we already have a Husqvarna 455 Rancher for felling bigger stuff. I'm sure the electric stuff works fine, but I just prefer not being locked into a battery-format or waiting for overload circuits to reset. I'm also going to be annoyed if I have to recharge a battery when I have 20 minutes of cutting left to do and I have to stop/wait for a battery to recharge.
 
I have the Ryobi 18" 40V with the 8AH Edge battery and the thing is a beast. It will overheat with 4 and 5AH batteries with larger and hardwoods but I was cutting 24" trees no problem on the 8AH battery.

I also have the 14" 18v chainsaw and while that is fine for small jobs, the 40V is so much better.

As with any chain saw I have learned chain sharpening, bar oil, and keeping the oiler free of debris is critical help things running.

I also like the Ryobi line for the weekend warrior homeowner as once you have a few batteries there are tons of other products in the line that you can but tool only and something is always on clearance.
 
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SoonerAviator said:
ECHO makes great chainsaws
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Yes they do. My big Stihl had plenty of power but I got tired of leaking fuel, leaking oil, hard to start, etc. I replaced it with a commercial Echo and it had been terrific. The Echo starts predictably easily, has no leaks and has similar power to the Stihl it replaced.

This thread is about electric however. Electric tools have made so much progress I believe my next chainsaw will be electric as well. I'm pretty invested in Ryobi for other small electric tools so that would likely be the first direction I would look.
 
SoonerAviator said:
I'm sure the electric stuff works fine, but I just prefer not being locked into a battery-format or waiting for overload circuits to reset. I'm also going to be annoyed if I have to recharge a battery when I have 20 minutes of cutting left to do and I have to stop/wait for a battery to recharge.
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As long as you're not one-offing every tool battery format, it's not necessarily a big deal. It's not like you can't buy a tool because the battery is different, it would just be a minor inconvenience if that was the only tool from the line as you've got another charger and most likely no backup batteries.

But that's definitely the trick, get at least a few of the same line so that you have multiple batteries, and then you don't really have to worry about recharging. I've got 6 or 7 batteries that I keep charged using two chargers and I never have to wait to recharge - They'll definitely outlast me on any given day!

Also... Waiting for overload circuits to reset?

Shawn said:
I also like the Ryobi line for the weekend warrior homeowner as once you have a few batteries there are tons of other products in the line that you can but tool only and something is always on clearance.
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And there's an outlet store about 45 minutes from me that is nothing but Ryobi stuff on clearance. It's a dangerous place to stop! :D
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Also... Waiting for overload circuits to reset?
Click to expand...

On my Ryobi 18" 40V chain saw it is common on larger trees or a lot of hardwood for my 4AH and 5AH batteries to overheat and shut down till they cool off whereas the 8AH battery is an impressive beast. My buddy had a nice Echo and his battery was overheating and shutting down as well.
flyingcheesehead said:
And there's an outlet store about 45 minutes from me that is nothing but Ryobi stuff on clearance. It's a dangerous place to stop! :D
Click to expand...

That is probably www.directtoolsoutlet.com which is Ryobi's factory outlet and only other authorized retailer other than HD...I wish I had one near by but also glad I don't but order plenty of things from their site. While I agree some of their cheaper power tools can be crap their higher end HP lines are becoming super impressive. I just built my entire house by hand with almost all Ryobi 18 and 40v tools.

The 20" HP chain saw with the 8AH battery is super impressive for an electric saw and often on sale pretty cheap at the site above but as with any electric chain say you really need 2-3 batteries depending on your use.
 
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