Electric Chainsaws and Working out of a Bucket

[Little Red Tractor]

I've not been a fan of electric chainsaws, or other battery-powered equipment, but I've had to moderate my thoughts a bit. In the last six months I've been involved in two projects, both working out of rented 50-foot buckets, cutting a lot of problem trees. The first time, I was using my Stihl MS 211, a handy and reasonably lightweight saw with a 16 inch bar. The second trip I was using the homeowner's DeWalt, also with a 16 inch bar, though, I believe, a different pitch chain.

No question at all that the Stihl cut faster, but I have to admit that the ease of use of the electric saw makes it my choice if I ever have to do work out of a bucket again. There are no worries about starting/stopping re-starting...finger off the trigger and it stops...it's that easy.

Will I even be a convert to electric? Maybe not, but I won't turn down the offer to use one if I'm in tight spots or up on the end of a 50-foot stick!

 

[RandyT]

I've not been a fan of electric chainsaws, or other battery-powered equipment, but I've had to moderate my thoughts a bit. In the last six months I've been involved in two projects, both working out of rented 50-foot buckets, cutting a lot of problem trees. The first time, I was using my Stihl MS 211, a handy and reasonably lightweight saw with a 16 inch bar. The second trip I was using the homeowner's DeWalt, also with a 16 inch bar, though, I believe, a different pitch chain.

No question at all that the Stihl cut faster, but I have to admit that the ease of use of the electric saw makes it my choice if I ever have to do work out of a bucket again. There are no worries about starting/stopping re-starting...finger off the trigger and it stops...it's that easy.

Will I even be a convert to electric? Maybe not, but I won't turn down the offer to use one if I'm in tight spots or up on the end of a 50-foot stick!

The MS211 should have the .325 chain were the Dewalt has the 3/8 LP chain. Project Farm has tested battery saws on 2 separate test and the Dewalt 60V out cut the MS170 in both test which would be the more comparable saw to the battery saw.

 

[Tinhack]

I have the DeWalt chainsaw as well as the DeWalt pole saw. My arthritis doesn't allow me to pull the starter ropes on most engines. It's either use those or it doesn't get done. I've been satisfied with the performance of both saws. I've gone electric or electric start on just about everything including my minibike.

 

[CalG]

I bought the little Makita saw, because I was climbing with spikes and wanted something that would hang on my belt and do the limbing on the way up.

I find I use it for most every "incidental" need around the yard and gardens.

But the battery management is driving me nuts.
The saw only came with a single 4Ah battery. Sometimes, when starting out with a fresh charge, the saw will shut it's self off on the first several cuts even if they are light. I assume this is over amp protection, but IDK. Then after a few cuts , the thing just works.... running until the battery is spent.
I have a set of Makita brill and driver that the batteries "look" alike, but on a fresh charge that runs the drill or driver, They won't get past the first trigger pull on the saw. Guess I'll need to bite the bullet and get a new battery or two. PRICEY items they are. Driving the price of that dinky one hand electric saw up past what I recently paid for a four HP gas saw.

Oh well...It sure is handy while the battery lasts. ;-)

 

[kozal01]

I bought the little Makita saw, because I was climbing with spikes and wanted something that would hang on my belt and do the limbing on the way up.

I find I use it for most every "incidental" need around the yard and gardens.

But the battery management is driving me nuts.
The saw only came with a single 4Ah battery. Sometimes, when starting out with a fresh charge, the saw will shut it's self off on the first several cuts even if they are light. I assume this is over amp protection, but IDK. Then after a few cuts , the thing just works.... running until the battery is spent.
I have a set of Makita brill and driver that the batteries "look" alike, but on a fresh charge that runs the drill or driver, They won't get past the first trigger pull on the saw. Guess I'll need to bite the bullet and get a new battery or two. PRICEY items they are. Driving the price of that dinky one hand electric saw up past what I recently paid for a four HP gas saw.

Oh well...It sure is handy while the battery lasts. ;-)

Been considering a cordless chainsaw. I have both Dewalt and Milwaukee battery systems but I just love to run my little Echo 2511 top handle saw, it’s rips and is super lightweight.

 

[the old grind]

There's a 110v outlet in my bucket (F450/Terex 292) and a big inverter that's working fine, so I can borrow a corded pole trimmer (HFT) from next door.

But my experience with corded/electric saws (20 yrs+) is that after they bind a few times a gear strips. (main driven) $35 for a new gear or <$50 for a new saw with the popular-style 110v ones. Are the cordless saws much different if they're so light in weight?

Anyway, for a bit more than I paid a decade ago I'd buy another of these. btw, I don't mix gas but decant premix from gallons (VP, Tri-Fuel, etc) to the quart-size bottles and take 'em to the job. Not a lot of fuss for even/just one saw & I'm getting 1-2 pull starts using 10 yr old fuel from their tightly sealed cans.

Amazon.com

But it''s not just that it's so easy to start (up there too) and handles so well (I'm 75 w/osteo-arthur) but for limbing fells and when needing one hand to hang on for balance or whatever a good top-handle will pay for itself in a season or two.

AND, a 6" dia limb is nothing with a 12" bar when you can undercut and back-cut one handed with plenty of power and a carded Millwright as your ground observer. Fun times.

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[shooterdon]

I did all my ice storm damage cleanup with a tiny 12" 20V Dewalt saw and two 5 amp-hr batteries. Could not get my gas saw to start.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

I bought the little Makita saw, because I was climbing with spikes and wanted something that would hang on my belt and do the limbing on the way up.

I find I use it for most every "incidental" need around the yard and gardens.

But the battery management is driving me nuts.
The saw only came with a single 4Ah battery. Sometimes, when starting out with a fresh charge, the saw will shut it's self off on the first several cuts even if they are light. I assume this is over amp protection, but IDK. Then after a few cuts , the thing just works.... running until the battery is spent.
I have a set of Makita brill and driver that the batteries "look" alike, but on a fresh charge that runs the drill or driver, They won't get past the first trigger pull on the saw. Guess I'll need to bite the bullet and get a new battery or two. PRICEY items they are. Driving the price of that dinky one hand electric saw up past what I recently paid for a four HP gas saw.

Oh well...It sure is handy while the battery lasts. ;-)

I only had the DeWalt die on me one time, and that may have been for low oil, as it seemed to be positional. I cut on and off for about 8 hours and went through 3 batteries. It would have been 3 or 4 tanks of fuel in my saw, I'm sure.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

I bought the little Makita saw, because I was climbing with spikes and wanted something that would hang on my belt and do the limbing on the way up.

I find I use it for most every "incidental" need around the yard and gardens.

But the battery management is driving me nuts.
The saw only came with a single 4Ah battery. Sometimes, when starting out with a fresh charge, the saw will shut it's self off on the first several cuts even if they are light. I assume this is over amp protection, but IDK. Then after a few cuts , the thing just works.... running until the battery is spent.
I have a set of Makita brill and driver that the batteries "look" alike, but on a fresh charge that runs the drill or driver, They won't get past the first trigger pull on the saw. Guess I'll need to bite the bullet and get a new battery or two. PRICEY items they are. Driving the price of that dinky one hand electric saw up past what I recently paid for a four HP gas saw.

Oh well...It sure is handy while the battery lasts. ;-)

My son has a 14" Kobalt. He has quite a few batteries, and makes use of them all. I guess it's all a trade off: size, weight, run time....

 

[ultrarunner]

Tree guys saw my Stihl battery saw and thought it cute

I had him try it and he was impressed except mine has the smaller chain which he said would be a problem for his crew as they standardize.

I also have a Stihl corded saw and it’s a beast…

 

[Dan Hunter]

I'm in the process of re-clearing the slope in front of our building. The initial time was days before the dozer came to level a pad. We had no idea how aggressively oak trees suckered. Most of them got chem'd but maybe a third didn't when we ran out of poison. We're after those suckered trees right now.

Cutting my way into the base of the tree and then cutting and spraying is a process that is best served by the small Kobalt unit. Originally, I didn't worry about abusing it as I honestly didn't respect it. It has crappy plastic compared to my Stihl chainsaws and even my Echo 2511 (which the aftermarket muffler replacement header turned into a screaming beast). But I've come to appreciate the safety margin of the "on or absolutely off" nature of an electric and have gained respect for them.

The flip side is my 2511 dropped two oak on the peripheral that we hadn't touched initially that were well over the bar length in diameter. The Kobalt doesn't have the power or chain speed for such a job. Sure, my Stihl 261C would have done the job more quickly but the 2511 cracks me up with what it's capable of. Plus the case I carry it in fits quite handily in the back of my Polaris 900 ACE so it sits there, gets used and serviced, and returned there.

There are no parallels to electric cars. I'll collect all my Kobalt batteries when the electric saw is having a big day...no different than making sure I have bar oil and fuel. But I live in Enid, OK and vacation in Manitou Springs, CO. I'm not stopping in Guymon, OK and asking a farmer if I can plug my car in overnight plus they've yet to manufacture an electric touring coupe as nice as my wife's C7.

 

[kozal01]

I'm in the process of re-clearing the slope in front of our building. The initial time was days before the dozer came to level a pad. We had no idea how aggressively oak trees suckered. Most of them got chem'd but maybe a third didn't when we ran out of poison. We're after those suckered trees right now.

Cutting my way into the base of the tree and then cutting and spraying is a process that is best served by the small Kobalt unit. Originally, I didn't worry about abusing it as I honestly didn't respect it. It has crappy plastic compared to my Stihl chainsaws and even my Echo 2511 (which the aftermarket muffler replacement header turned into a screaming beast). But I've come to appreciate the safety margin of the "on or absolutely off" nature of an electric and have gained respect for them.

The flip side is my 2511 dropped two oak on the peripheral that we hadn't touched initially that were well over the bar length in diameter. The Kobalt doesn't have the power or chain speed for such a job. Sure, my Stihl 261C would have done the job more quickly but the 2511 cracks me up with what it's capable of. Plus the case I carry it in fits quite handily in the back of my Polaris 900 ACE so it sits there, gets used and serviced, and returned there.

There are no parallels to electric cars. I'll collect all my Kobalt batteries when the electric saw is having a big day...no different than making sure I have bar oil and fuel. But I live in Enid, OK and vacation in Manitou Springs, CO. I'm not stopping in Guymon, OK and asking a farmer if I can plug my car in overnight plus they've yet to manufacture an electric touring coupe as nice as my wife's C7.

My 2511 is piped and has the 1/4 pitch picco bar and chain conversion and it’s a little ripper. I use it like a big saw because it’s so fun and quick to use. Echo killed it with that saw.

 

[strykerAKAmack]

I've got 2 stihls both dedicated to Alaskan sawmilling and use my electric dewalts for pruning and my Egos for
bucking , gotos are the 20 inch 60cc commercial and the 18 inch 45cc .
Batteries aren't an issue as 2-8amp hr
last longer than me on the 20 and 3- 5amp hrs on the 18 will still outwork me . Best is the just add oil and go .

 

[qualsite]

I have 110V available, which I run up to the top of the manlift on my boom forklift. The SunJoe electric chainsaw is soooo much easier and safer than my gas saw. In fact, my gas saw hardly even gets used at all anymore, and we heat with wood. The SunJoe corded electric is cheap, but very well built, and has Oregon bar and chains. Sure, there are better built ones, but it gets the job done, and if it eventually fails, replacement is easy. It makes it so much easier, I wouldn't use anything else unless I needed to.

 

[nyone]

The dewalt 60v weights about 13lbs and I believe that's with no battery. That's prety heavy to me.

I have a ms193t top handle saw that's under 8lbs dry I believe.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Believe me when I say that for short jobs, there is no substitute for cordless. Tons of torque. No carb or fuel problems. No hearing protection. They start every time.

One of my most useful tools is a really junky-looking cheap Kobalt 8" pole saw. I paid $100 for the saw and one battery. On one charge, I can get 20 minutes of work out of it. It looks like a toy, but it's a lifesaver. Blows right through anything 4" or smaller.

I also have a cordless EGO pole saw which I always use instead of gas when possible. I added a 3-foot extension.

I have a Makita cordless chainsaw which is nothing short of fantastic.

Gas is king for working all day, but that's all it's good for. I have a bunch of gas saws, and I don't touch them until I run out of cordless options.

 

[kozal01]

The dewalt 60v weights about 13lbs and I believe that's with no battery. That's prety heavy to me.

I have a ms193t top handle saw that's under 8lbs dry I believe.

This is my issue with a lot of the cordless saws as well, they are very heavy compared to their output, especially considering they are all like 95% plastic too. My little Echo top handle has saw is like 5 pounds.

 

[neilpaku]

I have and use both - Milwaukee cordless polesaw and a handled saw, and Stihl KM55 pole saw (has a ton of other attachments), MS170 top handle and MS270 utility. They all get used - it's only the cutting scenario that is my basis of choice as they all work as I expect.

 

[HFK Farms]

I find my Echo battery power chainsaw ideal for when you only have small jobs, you do not want to run fill gas can and add your two stroke oil. Like a downed tree on your dirt road, it is perfect. The Echo does a great job, but with the battery it is just as heavy as my gas powered Stihl and Echo.