Battery powered chainsaw

[RayIN]

I've thinking about buying a cheap one (Ryobi) I have a 15% off coupon at HD.
A friend has one and he really likes it. Says it has plenty of power and he can put it down, do other things and not have to pull the start rope to get the engine going, Just push the button and start cutting.

I already own 3 gasoline powered saws, and just thought this battery saw is something that would be handy to use around the farm

I have a 14" Ryobi chainsaw, it uses the same 40V battery as my string trimmer. when the 6AH battery is run-down so am I, so we both go to the house to recharge, and I grab a different battery for the saw after I'm rested.
I'm happy with the saw, but it doesn't cut like my 14" Echo gas saw.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Friend just sent me this:

 

[rontaki]

Friend just sent me this:

I've thought about laser fly zappers an laser grass/weed cutters, but if the beam misses the intended target, wha happens to what it actually hits? "Sorry, sir, I didn't really mean to hit the drone"

 

[Grumpycat]

The battery on the 82v saw compared in this thread against the 500i cost over $300. I have no idea how long it takes to charge but i know my 8ah dewalt and Milwaukee batteries take a while to charge and that one is considerably bigger.

So, you are inferring the bigger battery charges slower yet discharges just as fast?

And you are comparing volts to amp-hours. Do you not know how that is in error? Marketing deliberately plays a numbers game knowing the ignorant consumer will latch onto a number and believe they have a metric for comparison.

A 40V 8ah battery is the equivalent of an 80v 4ah battery. Nit pickers will claim higher voltage has an advantage, but only if you are nit picking. 40v over 12v, yes, 40v over 20v, maybe. When dealing with 3.65v Lithium-ion cells one may be better off with fewer big ones than lots of little ones in the same size package.

 

[markjohn9]

The Ryobi 40V gear is super convenient, especially with battery swapping. But yeah, even a good cordless like that can’t quite match the raw power of a 14" Echo gas saw.


Still, for quick jobs, it's hard to beat the grab-and-go ease—like the fluxus hack blox of yard tools: efficient, no cords, and gets the job done (most of the time)!

 

[shooterdon]

I have both but use the battery saw the most. Nice to not have to have mix or starting issues.

I use the battery saw almost exclusively when using the firewood processor and need to lop off nubs and small crotches that cause feeding problems on the infeed conveyor.

I cleared 95% of the storm damage from our ice storm of the century using the little Dewalt 20V and two 5 a/hr batteries. It is a lot slower than a gas saw but much handier. I bought it becauses I have other Dewalt tools or I would have found something better.

In my case, there is place for both gas and electric...YMMV.

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

A small battery chainsaw (Milwaukee M18) lives in the back of my UTV. It's perfect for trimming limbs and cutting down invasives like honeysuckle and mulberry. It even works fine for taking down and trimming a medium sized tree. It's pretty rare that I'm out working and don't end up using that saw at some point. No messing with gas or worrying if it'll start on a cold morning or after it gets hot. I have a lot of batteries because it shares them with other tools like impact wrenches, drills, etc, but even with that I don't like it for taking down larger trees or multiple trees because I only have two chargers and I drain them faster than I can charge them. It's similar to my battery powered string trimmer - great for quickly trimming around the house but not strong enough or enough battery life to clear a ditch.

I can't wait until battery powered tools can completely replace gas though. I hate mixing gas, I hate the noise, and I hate the maintenance of gas engines. The technology is improving every day.

 

[ArlyA]

While looking at camp properties yesterday, at found one that the owner was at, and his son invited us on a few miles of "adventure ride" to a bridge his son wanted to see. He said he'd rode it last fall but the logging road was now grown over and dead falls across we couldn't drive around. It really was an adventure ride! We came to one that was to large and gnarly to remove so we got our little battery saw out and had it off in minutes. Ended up cutting 4 off but most we could drive over or around. Sure was nice to have this saw and some extra batteries along.

 

[LouNY]

So, you are inferring the bigger battery charges slower yet discharges just as fast?

And you are comparing volts to amp-hours. Do you not know how that is in error? Marketing deliberately plays a numbers game knowing the ignorant consumer will latch onto a number and believe they have a metric for comparison.

A 40V 8ah battery is the equivalent of an 80v 4ah battery. Nit pickers will claim higher voltage has an advantage, but only if you are nit picking. 40v over 12v, yes, 40v over 20v, maybe. When dealing with 3.65v Lithium-ion cells one may be better off with fewer big ones than lots of little ones in the same size package.

The main thing that I have gotten from a bit of checking around and a bit of working, and then the scary part it almost makes sense. Is that with multiple cells series for higher voltage the big gain is that most of the current cells have a maximum discharge rate without over heating and burning themselves and maybe more down. So the higher voltage requires less current flow to attain the same wattage which is what does the work.
Even conventional lead acid/AGM batteries can work much better when series into 48V, 60V, 84V and even 120V systems.
Heck even a great many years ago some of the industrial/communication backup power systems were 120V coming from multiple series and paralleled glass jar rebuildable wet cells.

 

[ning]

Friend just sent me this:

This was debunked at least once, perhaps twice, on TBN in the last few years

 

[garry1p]

I suspect the power supply for a laser saw would be the size of a small car.

 

[CalG]

I NEED one of these as a second for the Makita 10 inch .

18V LXT Lithium-Ion High Capacity Battery Pack 4.0Ah with Fuel Gauge

I just bought one of those little top handle "Clown Saws". for $100.

I used the electric saw while "up the tree" on spikes ,seat and flip line. The battery ran down before I did, (and I'm OLD!)

The $100 gas saw did 5 times the cuts on the ground during clean up on one fuel fill.

Both need bar oil.

Both have a place

 

[Hay Dude]

Which one is the clown saw?

 

[WinterDeere]

I suspect the power supply for a laser saw would be the size of a small car.

The accompanying optional fire suppression system might be even larger.

 

[Runner]

August cuts down a 150 foot pine with Milwaukee electric saw on basically one battery. Didn't switch to second battery until final cut at the base.

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

August cuts down a 150 foot pine with Milwaukee electric saw on basically one battery. Didn't switch to second battery until final cut at the base.

I didn't watch it all but skipped to near the end and it looks like he didn't buck the logs to firewood length or have any limbs to deal with so I'm not surprised he got it done on one battery. Bucking and dealing with the tops & limbs use a lot of battery. My tree climbing days are over, but I'd have loved to have a battery saw instead of gas when on a ladder or in a tree.

 

[Runner]

I didn't watch it all but skipped to near the end and it looks like he didn't buck the logs to firewood length or have any limbs to deal with so I'm not surprised he got it done on one battery. Bucking and dealing with the tops & limbs use a lot of battery. My tree climbing days are over, but I'd have loved to have a battery saw instead of gas when on a ladder or in a tree.

He did de-limb the tree all the way to the top, but yes, no bucking, just chunked the tree down in 10 foot pieces or so.

 

[DarkBlack]

I cut about 8 cord a year off my property using my 372xp for bigger stuff, my 357xp for most mid sized trees, and my little Echo 440 for small stuff.

I saw ( no pun intended) this little “toy” saw on Amazon for $39.99 on sale. I thought, what the heck, for the price of a pizza and a couple beers, I’ll try it. I figured it would be handy for larger brach pruning in the orchard.

Tell you what, I was shocked, how well it works. After using it for a couple weeks, I ordered a second one, to either keep or a present to friends/relatives.
I was initially skeptical that it would actually have a brushless motor for only $40, including 3 extra chains , but it does.
I just used it to clear out a 15 year old growth area of about 500 saplings ranging from 1/2”-4” diameter, and it exceeded my expectations, big time.
Battery life is actually quite good, and it was much easier than using my smallest gas saw. The single hand operation is so convenient, on the larger saplings I’d hold the butt ends off the ground with one hand and cut some small firewood pieces with the other.
I’m a believer now

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

I cut about 8 cord a year off my property using my 372xp for bigger stuff, my 352xp for most mid sized trees, and my 4400 for small stuff.

I saw ( no pun intended) this little “toy” saw on Amazon for $39.99 on sale. I thought, what the heck, for the price of a pizza and a couple beers, I’ll try it. I figured it would be handy for larger brach pruning in the orchard.


Tell you what, I was shocked, how well it works.

I have a Milwaukee version of that and it's incredibly handy. It's in my UTV any time I'm out in it. I was working at my old house a few days ago and needed to cut some 4x4's to make an impromptu pallet. Fortunately I had that little one handed saw in my truck. It zips through a 4x4 faster than a circular saw.

 

[walhondingMF]

Single hand work is underrated. I used my Echo again last night to work cut up and clean up the top of the hickory I just dropped. Its hard to beat that convenience. I also feel safer that the saw isn't idling my y leg while throwing the limbs around with the other.