Small battery chain saw recommendations

[nhbubba]

More voltage => more power. That isn't a marketing thing. I think this is why you see most of the "pro" grade saws in the 80V range.
The higher the voltage the more expensive / bigger / lower the capacity the battery. All things being equal the same size/cost battery will be 2Ah in 80V but 4Ah at 40V.

I'm not going near the 18-20V saws. That just isn't enough power for the task at hand IMO. I'd rather just use my cordless 18V sawsall. ... Which I'm doing right now BTW. I bought a set of special "wood cutting" blades for cheap and figure that is worth a try.

I also rolled into HD for some other necessities this weekend and pawed over the Ryobi 40V system. I like it. I figured I was looking for a 12" pruning or limb saw. But their 14" saw seems very light and easy to manage. Maybe a good all around replacement for my gas saw except for the big jobs and long days of cutting. A longer bar would not offend me for limbing. I'm also impressed with the plethora of other tools in the lineup. $140 for a 14" saw with battery seems pretty fair to me. Dug the other goodies too including a backpack blower! Wonder how well that works..

Unfortunately, I found the Dewalt chainsaw one of the poorest tool Dewalt ever designed. I love most Dewalt hand tools......all except their chainsaw.

I have a close friend that works at Dewalt and as such I usually try to default to Dewalt. Many of my corded woodworking tools are Dewalt. But I'm not much for their cordless lines. I have a 20V impact and that will likely be the only Dewalt cordless tool I ever own.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

More voltage => more power. That isn't a marketing thing.

I would disagree. More voltage means that the cells are wired in series instead of in parallel. It isn't "more power". It's differently wired power. That isn't to dispute the utility of more voltage in some tools, but in no way is it "more power".

 

[metalbender]

I have the Greenworks brushless chain saw, pole saw and trimmer. Two 40 volt batteries, never run out of juice. Use the pole saw for most jobs, ever so handy, plus you're a long way from the dangerous bit. With small saws, the urge to hold a branch while cutting could be very hazardous. Pole saw requires both hands on the tool, built in safety margin.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

I had a second day to try my new Milwaukee battery powered chain saw yesterday. Worked great except for the fact that the chain came off three times in rapid succession. I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt for now, as I was cutting dense dry branches in a grove of spruce, and it was easy to jam branches of all sizes and angles into the chain/body, heck, I was bodily jammed in the branches myself (with multiple levels of head protection) just trying to access the branch where it connects to the tree. It was very dense. However if that chain derailure occurs again in more conventional settings I'm going to think there's a problem. Perhaps I need metalbender's pole saw. Though contrary to his notion about being tempted to cut one-handed, I'm getting a good workout using the chainsaw two handed, that thing is heavy.

 

[ultrarunner]

New chain stretches...

I tend to err on loose opposed to tight which can be problematic in dense brush.

 

[metalbender]

Once you have used a pole saw, you will not be without one. I also have a corded pole saw from when I was in the city. Postage stamp sized yard, extension cord worked well. That one had the feature of taking the pole off and using it as a stand alone saw. Very compact, hence the thought of one handed cutting. Easy to picture losing body parts with a moment of inattention. Also have full size corded and gas saws from saw carving days.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

New chain stretches...

I tend to err on loose opposed to tight which can be problematic in dense brush.

Re: stretching, maybe, but this 3-fer was within minutes of each other after re-installing and tightening the chain.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've had good luck with Stihl but had some off brand chains I couldn't keep on unless it was a simple straight cut.

 

[Grumpycat]

More voltage => more power. That isn't a marketing thing. I think this is why you see most of the "pro" grade saws in the 80V range.
The higher the voltage the more expensive / bigger / lower the capacity the battery. All things being equal the same size/cost battery will be 2Ah in 80V but 4Ah at 40V.

Yes, it is marketing. Marketing knows without any argument you will believe 80V is better than 56V and they will stay at 80V for a few years until they can convince engineering to give them a 100V battery.

My EGo mower and blower came with 56V 7.5AH batteries (420 Wh). Competition boasts of 80V 4AH batteries (320 Wh).

 

[bcp]

Yes, it is marketing. Marketing knows without any argument you will believe 80V is better than 56V and they will stay at 80V for a few years until they can convince engineering to give them a 100V battery.

Obviously 12 volts is far more powerful than 1.5 volts.

Bruce