What is the best battery operated chain saw

[Industrial Toys]

Is that how many turns it can make on a charge? lol

 

[k0ua]

Is that how many turns it can make on a charge? lol

Zero. Duh!

 

[4570Man]

There is a battery powered zero turn

I think I’ll keep my 30 hp diesel mower. I could see the usefulness of the battery saw but a lot of the battery stuff is near useless.

 

[mopardude318]

Ive had excellent results with all of the Milwaukee M18 fuel tools. Their new chainsaw is on my list.

 

[sea2summit]

There is a battery powered zero turn

There is also a battery powered welder on the market.

 

[beowulf]

This is a very timely post for me. I have gas powered chain saws for firewood and such, but have wondered about whether a battery operated chain saw would 1) really work well enough, and 2) be a good option for walking the fence line and cleaning up limbs and trees that fall across my barb wire fences taking them out, and really thick bushes that intrude. We have 90 acres - fenced and cross fenced and I have to walk to get to most of the fencing and there are some very steep areas. Carrying my gas chain saw down some ravines and back out at my age, 75, is not easy. So I weighed my smallest gas powered chain saw (Husq Rancher 455) and it was a bit over 17 lbs - I don't know how much gas it had in it then. Then saw that the 40 volt battery powered chain saws were in the 10 lb range - I don't know if that was the weight with the battery on or not. If so, well, 7 lbs is not a huge difference in weight - but still important when in steep terrain, so I am still debating if I want to spend $150 + on a saw and more on an extra battery. I want an extra battery because I will be a long way from the shop on winding back "roads" and once I am out there I don't want to have to come back in on a slow tractor.

Anyway, this post has caused me to be less concerned about how well they will work. So, now need to decide if 7 lbs difference is worth paying for another saw. The information here has been useful.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I can not speak to the quality of our HF chainsaw and pole saw yet but since the blower and line trimmer are keepers that gives us 4 of the 40 volt batteries. With the blower cleaning off the bush hog before the cuttings cake on top of it is a short job now.

 

[John_Mc]

This is a very timely post for me. I have gas powered chain saws for firewood and such, but have wondered about whether a battery operated chain saw would 1) really work well enough, and 2) be a good option for walking the fence line and cleaning up limbs and trees that fall across my barb wire fences taking them out, and really thick bushes that intrude. We have 90 acres - fenced and cross fenced and I have to walk to get to most of the fencing and there are some very steep areas. Carrying my gas chain saw down some ravines and back out at my age, 75, is not easy. So I weighed my smallest gas powered chain saw (Husq Rancher 455) and it was a bit over 17 lbs - I don't know how much gas it had in it then. Then saw that the 40 volt battery powered chain saws were in the 10 lb range - I don't know if that was the weight with the battery on or not. If so, well, 7 lbs is not a huge difference in weight - but still important when in steep terrain, so I am still debating if I want to spend $150 + on a saw and more on an extra battery. I want an extra battery because I will be a long way from the shop on winding back "roads" and once I am out there I don't want to have to come back in on a slow tractor.

Anyway, this post has caused me to be less concerned about how well they will work. So, now need to decide if 7 lbs difference is worth paying for another saw. The information here has been useful.

From several reviews, the Milwaukee M18 chainsaw weight 10.6 or 10.7 pounds with bar & chains, but without the battery and with the bar oil tank empty. With the 12 AH M18 battery, it comes to 14 lbs. Filling the oil tank adds about another 0.4 lbs.

I've always felt the Husqvarna 455 was a bit of a pig for weight compared to it's power. The Husqvarna 450 weighs significantly less, and only loses a little on the power as compared to the 455. The Stihl 250 is similar in power to the Husky 450, but weighs about a pound less. The pro-level saws in that power range for both brands are significantly lighter.

When comparing published weights, remember that most gas chainsaws specified weight is for the powerhead only: no bar and chain, and tanks empty. The weights for the Milwaukee chainsaw above included the bar & chain.

I really like the Milwaukee saw. For me it would be a no-brainer, if I ever decide to own one (rather than just trying out my friend's), since I already have a fair amount invested in the Milwaukee M18 products.

Home Depot is currently showing a sale where you can get the saw with two of their 12 AH batteries for $399. However, this sale special comes without their RapidCharger (actually, without any charger). That's OK if you already have one. If you don't, you can charge it with their regular charger, but it takes longer (the RapidCharger is really nice for the larger battery sizes).

 

[Gale Hawkins]

While we went with HF 40 volt tools because the wife wanted a line trimmer that did not require a big jerk to start and the leaf blower is a work horse around the place the Milwaukee M18 line of tools may be what we standardize around.

We have the M12 flashlight (used daily for a few years) and the M12 grease gun that is awesome. The factories around here have moved to the M18 line they purchase from Fastenal (sp). Having one power source for many hand tools works for most. I have not seen the M18 chainsaw but I have not seen Milwaukee put their name on junk. I use the HF leaf blower of a couple hours non stop recently and started with 3 hot batteries and never had to wait only using one of our four chargers. The run and charge time was about 20 minutes using the blower in Turbo mode.

M18 is what I am looking at for 3/8" and 1/2" drive power tools to use when working on equipment. Cords are so yesteryear.

 

[sea2summit]

From several reviews, the Milwaukee M18 chainsaw weight 10.6 or 10.7 pounds with bar & chains, but without the battery and with the bar oil tank empty. With the 12 AH M18 battery, it comes to 14 lbs. Filling the oil tank adds about another 0.4 lbs.

I've always felt the Husqvarna 455 was a bit of a pig for weight compared to it's power. The Husqvarna 450 weighs significantly less, and only loses a little on the power as compared to the 455. The Stihl 250 is similar in power to the Husky 450, but weighs about a pound less. The pro-level saws in that power range for both brands are significantly lighter.

When comparing published weights, remember that most gas chainsaws specified weight is for the powerhead only: no bar and chain, and tanks empty. The weights for the Milwaukee chainsaw above included the bar & chain.

I really like the Milwaukee saw. For me it would be a no-brainer, if I ever decide to own one (rather than just trying out my friend's), since I already have a fair amount invested in the Milwaukee M18 products.

Home Depot is currently showing a sale where you can get the saw with two of their 12 AH batteries for $399. However, this sale special comes without their RapidCharger (actually, without any charger). That's OK if you already have one. If you don't, you can charge it with their regular charger, but it takes longer (the RapidCharger is really nice for the larger battery sizes).

Because the battery didn’t come charged wife went out and tester hers with one of my 4AH batteries, trimmed 5-6 ~2-3 inch branches then cut four rounds from a 12”+ (bar could barely reach through) deadfall pine before it was done. Didn’t cut a lot but if weight is a big concern the 4AH is half the weight of the 12AH battery. Compared to my 391 it’s light either way