Makita 18v cordless chainsaw

[oldfortyfive]

I picked up the new little 18v saw. Haven't tried it yet, but it has a good feel to it. Always looking for a smaller saw to carry on UTV for when I'm bumming around my shooting club. That's Makita's 36v saw to the left. Been pretty happy with that one.

 

[oldfortyfive]

Ok, finally got a chance to try it out. Once you get past just how cute this little saw is it actually works pretty good. I made a number for cuts on elm logs up to 8". With a sharp chain it walked though it fine, just not fast. You have guide the saw and let it do the work. On 3" and smaller it was reasonably quick. Obviously it's intended for small stuff and it works well for that. I've been carrying the 36v saw on my SXS and it cuts much better, but not when space is at a premium like when camping.

 

[Treespotter]

It's a nice little saw. I noticed two problems though. Working in temperatures over 30°c the saw overheats and stops working. That's kind of annoying when you're climbing trees depending on a hassle free saw.

The second problem is the standby time of the power switch. While climbing you don't always grip the tophandle with your whole hand while positioning the saw in the right cutting position. Releasing the lever on top of the tophandle results in cut out of the power. This means I have to use the power button more frequent than I want. This is not only annoying, I think it's a slap in the face for every professional user.

Wolter

 

[oldfortyfive]

High temps is a problem with all battery tools. Don't leave them sitting in the sun. Their manual doesn't state how long before the switch times out, only says after a certain time of non-use. I haven't seen it time out yet.

 

[sawfun]

I have a Makita that uses two 18 volt batteries. So far I like it for limbing where I don't have to continually start a saw or leave it running. It is very handy by the shredder/chipper.

 

[oldfortyfive]

I now have the Echo and the two Makita's above. Anymore it seems I use the battery saws as mush as the gas.

 

[Colt Marlington]

I got a 20v DeWalt circular saw that works pretty good on small limbs. And a $20 pawn shop 20-ish volt Craftsman sawsall. But the CS2511T Mighty Mouse is hard to put down.

 

[Franny K]

It's a nice little saw.....
The second problem is the standby time of the power switch. ....... This means I have to use the power button more frequent than I want.
This is not only annoying, I think it's a slap in the face for every professional user.

Wolter

Makita seems to have the user's frustration level pretty low on their list. I have the double battery rear handle chainsaw of theirs and the time out is just a few seconds. This means I find behaving differently just to keep the operator present lever down. Not too hard to adapt to so long as I am not using gloves. I have to think most folks will just put some tape around the handle to keep it in, I may once wearing gloves becomes the norm. My theory is they do this because the chain adjuster is weak and the best way to use it is to grasp the bar held up and shake while turning the adjuster. I have a 5 3/8 small battery circular saw and the safety feature had me de activating it in about half an hour because a blister was just about to happen.

I will probably get one of these little things. Looks like xcu06 from the picture above. I see on ebay I could get another tool only of the one I have for about $150 likely from folks taking kits apart. I think it is xcu03.

Fran

 

[oldfortyfive]

The double battery saw I have is the newer one and there isn't an on/off power switch, so there isn't any timeout issue. Just pull the trigger switch and go.