New Milwaukee Cordless Chainsaw

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Cerd

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I see that Milwaukee is catching up with the versatility of other cordless tool brands. I think Ryobi and Dewalt have the broadest selection of tools with everything from grease guns to miter saws.

The newest one that Milwaukee released is a 16 inch chainsaw. They claim that it is equivalent to a 40cc gas chainsaw, but depending on brand, that can vary from 1.5 to 4hp. The kit sells for $400 and comes with a massive 12.0AH battery and they say it lasts for appx 150 cuts.

I can get a really nice saw for $400, so it doesn't make sense to me, but I thought it was interesting that they made one.
https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Outdoor-Power-Equipment/Chainsaws/2727-21HD
 
Cerd said:
I see that Milwaukee is catching up with the versatility of other cordless tool brands. I think Ryobi and Dewalt have the broadest selection of tools with everything from grease guns to miter saws.

The newest one that Milwaukee released is a 16 inch chainsaw. They claim that it is equivalent to a 40cc gas chainsaw, but depending on brand, that can vary from 1.5 to 4hp. The kit sells for $400 and comes with a massive 12.0AH battery and they say it lasts for appx 150 cuts.

I can get a really nice saw for $400, so it doesn't make sense to me, but I thought it was interesting that they made one.
https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Outdoor-Power-Equipment/Chainsaws/2727-21HD
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It would be a good product for the casual home owner. Someone who wants to prune their trees and drop small diameter trees. You can't beat the uncomplicated-ness of a battery saw for the casual user.
 
Ok, it takes the M18 Fuel battery. I have 4 or 5 Milwaukee M18 power tools; very nice stuff. If only need the saw and not the battery or charger, you can knock at least $50 off the purchase price.

Frankly, I'd like to go in the other direction -- instead of going towards battery power, maybe we should power more hand tools with 2 stroke engines? I already have an ancient Jonsered XD set up for drilling. I'd also love to have a 60cc 3/4" impact wrench. One of the Homelite circular saws. A 70cc Sawzall would be a lot of fun, too.
 
flyinfinn said:
It would be a good product for the casual home owner. Someone who wants to prune their trees and drop small diameter trees. You can't beat the uncomplicated-ness of a battery saw for the casual user.
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That's true, but a corded saw would make more sense then. Those sell for as low as $40 instead of $400. However, a properly cared for saw can last years. My Homelite PS33 has been going strong for years without even requiring a carb cleaning. I have used it for dropping 14 inch trees, although it takes a bit longer. I just use good gas with name brand oil and run it dry at the end of the year. The first start of the year takes a bit to get it going, but it still is my go to.

Myself, as a homeowner living in a small town with trees in the yard, I don't see much market for this one. There is a very specific demographic of people that use a saw so little that battery operated saws make more sense than gas and CANT use a corded model. Plus, divide that by the amount of people that will pay that amount vs all of the other options for half the price. Even Dewalt and Ryobi have them beat on price by 3 figures.
 
Cerd said:
That's true, but a corded saw would make more sense then. Those sell for as low as $40 instead of $400. However, a properly cared for saw can last years. My Homelite PS33 has been going strong for years without even requiring a carb cleaning. I have used it for dropping 14 inch trees, although it takes a bit longer. I just use good gas with name brand oil and run it dry at the end of the year. The first start of the year takes a bit to get it going, but it still is my go to.

Myself, as a homeowner living in a small town with trees in the yard, I don't see much market for this one. There is a very specific demographic of people that use a saw so little that battery operated saws make more sense than gas and CANT use a corded model. Plus, divide that by the amount of people that will pay that amount vs all of the other options for half the price. Even Dewalt and Ryobi have them beat on price by 3 figures.
Click to expand...

That's true. About the advantageous thing they can do if offer it for less $$ by not including the battery and charger, for those already invested in the M18 system. Also, battery vs corded for a casual user is true. I forgot about that one.
 
From other sellers, you can get just the tool, but its still over $300. Official Milwaukee retailers do not seem to sell the tool only. However, if you compare that to the kit price of $400, its 50% off for the battery, so if they do have a large amount of m18 tools, it would make more sense to buy the kit.
 
flyinfinn said:
That's true. About the advantageous thing they can do if offer it for less $$ by not including the battery and charger, for those already invested in the M18 system. Also, battery vs corded for a casual user is true. I forgot about that one.
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Cerd said:
From other sellers, you can get just the tool, but its still over $300. Official Milwaukee retailers do not seem to sell the tool only. However, if you compare that to the kit price of $400, its 50% off for the battery, so if they do have a large amount of M18 tools, it would make more sense to buy the kit.
Click to expand...
The theory behind it is M18 has an assortment of batteries ranging anywhere from 1.5ah to the 12.0ah. The saws are something that require a lot of power so that is their way of promoting you to run the high demand batteries so that you don't slap a 1.5ah battery on it then get all bummed out when it lasts 10 minutes. From a retailer, I know I can offer the bare tool but like stated you would be better off as a kit. The 12.0 battery retails for around $200 alone so for the price, the kit makes more sense. I believe even the difference from a 5.0ah battery (probably the most common in my area) to a 12.0ah would be immensely noticeable.
 
cuinrearview said:
Who supposedly makes 4hp with 40cc?
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I don't remember the model, but I know it was an older one (before the EPA started forcing MFGs to detune their saws). A spec sheet claimed that it was at about 3.5HP and I just rounded up for simple numbers.

I know there are quite a few 40cc saws around 3HP. With a few mods, its definitely possible to get to 4HP, though.
 
Cerd said:
I don't remember the model, but I know it was an older one (before the EPA started forcing MFGs to detune their saws). A spec sheet claimed that it was at about 3.5HP and I just rounded up for simple numbers.

I know there are quite a few 40cc saws around 3HP. With a few mods, its definitely possible to get to 4HP, though.
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Certainly with mods, but that's not what I got the impression you were talking about. I was just wondering where to get one from the factory. Rounded up makes sense, but I've never even heard of 3.5 from 40cc.

What's the class leader these days, 241?
 
cuinrearview said:
Certainly with mods, but that's not what I got the impression you were talking about. I was just wondering where to get one from the factory. Rounded up makes sense, but I've never even heard of 3.5 from 40cc.

What's the class leader these days, 241?
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I'm not sure. I've tried to look for it again, but I've looked through a lot of spec sheets recently.

But honestly, does it matter? My point was that 40cc saws have a lot of variety and comparing an electric motor to a number cc gas engine is not a very good comparison.
 
Cerd said:
I'm not sure. I've tried to look for it again, but I've looked through a lot of spec sheets recently.

But honestly, does it matter? My point was that 40cc saws have a lot of variety and comparing an electric motor to a number cc gas engine is not a very good comparison.
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As far as chainsaws go what other comparison is there? I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here.

Likely for 80% or more of the population a battery saw would be the ticket. No fuel lines and carb diaphragms to erode. No need to keep mixed gas around to go bad. If I can put my likes and needs aside it seems pretty sensible. Especially if the battery system is used in other tools so as not to lose it's capacity.
 
cuinrearview said:
As far as chainsaws go what other comparison is there? I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here.

Likely for 80% or more of the population a battery saw would be the ticket. No fuel lines and carb diaphragms to erode. No need to keep mixed gas around to go bad. If I can put my likes and needs aside it seems pretty sensible. Especially if the battery system is used in other tools so as not to lose it's capacity.
Click to expand...

If anything, this can be a good thing. Perhaps this is the fork in the road which will lead to homeowner saws being battery powered, and pro saws being gas, leading to less cheap plastic home owner gas saws.
 
cuinrearview said:
As far as chainsaws go what other comparison is there? I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here.
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I, for one, would rather see a HP rating. They don't seem to list one anywhere on the website.
cuinrearview said:
Or a bad thing if you enjoy the work...
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Do you get a lot of work from homeowners? The farmers in my area tend to have quality saws and I could see them bringing them to a shop, but the people in town seem to just buy the cheapos and throw them away when they have issues. I am genuinely curious, not trying to sarcastic or condescending.
 
Cerd said:
Do you get a lot of work from homeowners? The farmers in my area tend to have quality saws and I could see them bringing them to a shop, but the people in town seem to just buy the cheapos and throw them away when they have issues. I am genuinely curious, not trying to sarcastic or condescending.
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Fuel lines and carb kits, lots of them. And leaking primer bulbs. Easy $$
 
flyinfinn said:
If anything, this can be a good thing. Perhaps this is the fork in the road which will lead to homeowner saws being battery powered, and pro saws being gas, leading to less cheap plastic home owner gas saws.
Click to expand...

The thing with these new electric saws is most of them will go right through a set of chaps. Unless somebody comes up with a functional option that will work with electric saws the way current design chaps work with gasoline powered saws, don't look for any sort of approval for professional use that requires safety apparel. Same for homeowners unfortunately. Expect a lot more saw injuries on users who thought they were protected because they were wearing chaps.
From the Stihl website:
WARNING FOR CORDED ELECTRIC AND BATTERY CHAINSAW USERS! The fibers may not stop the sprocket on most corded electric chainsaws and some battery-powered chainsaws because of the constant high torque. However, to reduce the severity of injury from accidental contact with the chain, STIHL recommends that leg protection be worn when operating these types of chainsaws.
Click to expand...
 
arathol said:
The thing with these new electric saws is most of them will go right through a set of chaps. Unless somebody comes up with a functional option that will work with electric saws the way current design chaps work with gasoline powered saws, don't look for any sort of approval for professional use that requires safety apparel. Same for homeowners unfortunately. Expect a lot more saw injuries on users who thought they were protected because they were wearing chaps.
From the Stihl website:
Click to expand...
Wow! I never knew that. I guess chaps jam up a clutch, but electric saws don't have a clutch. Good to know.

I'm surprised there hasn't been chaps developed for electric saws. Or electric saws with safety features to use current chaps.
 

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