Battery powered chainsaw

[Bob_Young]

I've got the 62V DR electric chainsaw and a couple of 2.5 AH batteries. I love it but it has a few bad points.

Bad:
1) possible to start it accidentally by grabbing it wrong. Probably its worst feature. Found out when I unloaded the pickup in the dark one nite. Knew what happened immediately & shifted my grip before any damage occurred.
2) It's heavy. But its not an all-day saw.
3) good for a few 3-4" cuts on a fresh battery, then only good for light stuff until batt goes dead. Shuts itself off midcut if batt voltage drops too low. After a 'resting' period, you can continue the cut.
4) Takes a couple seconds to get up to speed. Seems to use a fair amt of pwr doing so.

Good:
1) very convenient to use. Part of what makes it easy to accidentally start.
2) excellent for trimming nubs and small branches off firewood. Excellent for trimming in general...if you don't mind the weight.
3) Oregon bar and chain w/greasable bar nose
4) always starts if batt good
5) tell-tale lights on batts tell how much power is left
6) batts charge fast.

My usual complement when hitting the woods (no heavy stuff expected) is:
1) DR saw with extra fully charged battery
2) Jonsered 2240 14" saw with gas and oil
3) Echo 10" polesaw
4) Bug repellant
5) lunch
Both the Jonsered and the Echo are good at starting and re-starting.

Thinking of getting DR's electric polesaw.
Bob

 

[KennyG]

Bob, if your DR is anything like my DeWalt, the battery is the problem. Mine won't do much with a 2 amp battery but will cut like crazy with a 5 or 6 amp battery.

 

[ArlyA]

DR does not = quality tools.

 

[Snobdds]

I just retired and no longer will be heating with wood. My only wood cutting will be for sitting around the fire pit. So I sold my 044 and will be selling my MS361 and 036 and buying a Milwaukee electric due to already having batteries. I'll keep my hopped up 026 pro for cutting campfire wood. ( being retired is amazing )

If your 361 is in good shape and you want to sell it...let me know.

 

[Richard001]

If it's a hot sunny day, keep your tools & spare batteries in the shade. If there's a flat heat sink nearby - like a rock or concrete slab - keep the batteries on that. Putting tools & batteries in cool damp (not wet) grass to keep them cool too.

I had a task where I had to use a biscuit joiner on some very hard wood repeatedly and I found that it was getting really warm. I broke up the job so that I could cut a bunch of slots, toss the joiner in the freezer, do some other things, get the joiner out, repeat, and it was a lot happier.



Guessing time: The 5Ah batteries probably have 2.5x more cells than the 2Ah (and 2x than the 2.5Ah), and/or the cells themselves are larger, so each cell is being asked for less so each cell isn't generating as much heat - in fact, at the same power draw, there's likely less total heat in the 5Ah than in a smaller battery, because the heat generation probably goes up faster than current draw (ie, pull 2x the current from a battery and it probably generates more than 2x the heat) so it'll handle it better.

As I had mentioned earlier in this thread, my new Ryobi 14" chain saw was overheating the battery. I sent a note to the Ryobi help desk.

Here is the e-mail I sent to them:

RYOBI Customer Service
Ticket Information
Email: XXXXX@msn.com

Model Number: OP40404-06RGVNM
Serial Number: XXXXXXXXX

Subject: Battery model OP40404
Message:

Hello,
I am using this battery in your 14" chain saw model RY405010. Several times now I have had the saw quit. Upon checking the battery display lights I see that it was indicating "battery overheated" Is this a faulty battery? I am not continuously sawing, taking small breaks now and then.

Please let me know if this is a common thing or if this is a faulty part.

Thanks,
Richard


Here is the response I got:

From: RYOBI Tools Support <ryobi@support.ryobitools.com>
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2023 1:53 PM
To: XXXXXXX@msn.com
Subject: Re: RYOBI Customer Service [002007]


Dear Richard,
Thank you for contacting RYOBI. We apologize for our delayed response.

Unfortunately this can happen when using the saw in the summer heat, I always suggest having a couple other batteries to swap out when this happens. And throw the others in the shade while allowing them to cool down.

Sincerely,
Jesse Bridgeman
RYOBI Digital Support


So keep your batteries out of the sun and in a cooler if possible.

Richard

 

[ArlyA]

I have two mini Makia saws and love them but one thing they can't do is heavy cutting for X amount of time. These are very light, tinny little things and found them more handy every time we've had them out. (professionally) To keep the battery from over heating we usually bring 4 to 6 full batteries with us. As other have stated the larger amp-hour ones are less prone to over heating than the small ones. We generally bring two of these saws along so if one overheats its drive motor which does happen, I simply switch to other saw.

 

[yomax4]

If your 361 is in good shape and you want to sell it...let me know.

Yes it's in great shape and no saw out there is tuned better. 20" bar and a couple mid aged chains. The 036 is a great saw too but sat too long without use so I need to throw a new carb on it. I'm not sure what I would ask for the 361 I really don't. People are nuts. I see them from $250-$400. Not sure why.

 

[5030]

If your 361 is in good shape and you want to sell it...let me know.

Gee, I own a pristine 090 as well as an 075, bought them both new when I bought my 028 about 42 years ago. I was flush back then, not now. Dang 090 sounds like a motocross bike...

Juist sold an MS290 in mint condition for 400 bucks with a 20" bar and 2 loops.

 

[Snobdds]

Yes it's in great shape and no saw out there is tuned better. 20" bar and a couple mid aged chains. The 036 is a great saw too but sat too long without use so I need to throw a new carb on it. I'm not sure what I would ask for the 361 I really don't. People are nuts. I see them from $250-$400. Not sure why.

Lets see some pictures of it.

 

[two_bit_score]

I have two mini Makia saws and love them but one thing they can't do is heavy cutting for X amount of time. These are very light, tinny little things and found them more handy every time we've had them out. (professionally) To keep the battery from over heating we usually bring 4 to 6 full batteries with us. As other have stated the larger amp-hour ones are less prone to over heating than the small ones. We generally bring two of these saws along so if one overheats its drive motor which does happen, I simply switch to other saw.

I have been considering one of those. Mainly for convenience. Convenience includes not needing too much redundancy at increased expense.

After two saws, 6 batteries and a charger maybe another brand like Stihl might work out just as efficiently, as long as you don’t NEED to have two people using the saws at the exact same time.