Battery powered chainsaw?

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Tifford

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I'm pulling out the wood stove and putting in a coal stove for supplemental heat to my oil furnace. Therefore, I won't be cutting much wood.

I do live at the end of a 1/2 mile dirt road with trees on both sides and we get heavy snow and sometimes high winds. All this means is that I'll probably only need a saw on a rare occasion for the trees that fall across the road that is not state maintained.

Looking for suggestions for a chainsaw that's battery powered that'll cut up to a 16" tree to keep the road open. I might spring for a second battery if needed.
 
If high winds knock trees down there is a good chance you won't be able to recharge. Maybe most folks have generators now.

I have both Husqvarna and Makita battery chainsaws. To do a 16" log will involve chewing away with the nose of the bar. The two battery Makita one xcu03 can be obtained with a total of four batteries, and a double battery circular saw again with four batteries for pretty much the cost of the Husqvarna one with one (comparable to a pair of Makita ones) and charger. All in all the Husqvarna 536lixp one is better, more thought out design. There are other choices I choose not to speculate. Look at the bottom of the page for suggested similar threads.
 
If high winds knock trees down there is a good chance you won't be able to recharge. Maybe most folks have generators now.

I have both Husqvarna and Makita battery chainsaws. To do a 16" log will involve chewing away with the nose of the bar. The two battery Makita one xcu03 can be obtained with a total of four batteries, and a double battery circular saw again with four batteries for pretty much the cost of the Husqvarna one with one (comparable to a pair of Makita ones) and charger. All in all the Husqvarna 536lixp one is better, more thought out design. There are other choices I choose not to speculate. Look at the bottom of the page for suggested similar threads.
Thank You for the info
 
A bit late to the party, I've just bought my second battery saw, first was an 18v 10" brushless ryobi with 9ah battery that I was pleasantly surprised by, lent it to my buddies wife and she wouldn't give it back. So I've just replaced it with a 58v 16" with 4ah battery, I think it's comparable to my 40cc chainsaw and one tank of gas, so long as you realise you're running on a battery and not petrol I think you'll be surprised how much cutting you'll get done on a battery. I believe the saw I've got is sold in usa as a zombi 58v 16".
 
To compare lithium Ion battery stuff it is good to know what value is actually posted. The nominal voltage of a cell is generally 3.6 volts. Husqvarna claims 36 volts which is 10 in series Makita claims 18 volts which is five in series. There may be strings of paralleled that are in series. Oregon and Dewalt choose to use 4 volts per cell and 20 and 40 in the specs. 3.6 is half way depleted. On the available amp hours there is a similar way to kind of cheat. There is the maximum a battery (cells and electronics) can deliver as allowed by the battery management system and then there is the maximum the cells could output from fully charged to fully emptied which the battery management won't allow. I do not see that 3.6 goes into 56 a round number of times. Kind of curious how many cells or strings of cells they actually have. Or what they are using for cell voltage to get 56.
 
I had a change of mind and went and bought a stihl ms251.

I figured that it would handle the infrequent big trees better. Also, I got a quart of Stihl's premix fuel that is suppose to last 2 years. I got to remember to run the fuel out of the saw on choke.

Had the 18" bar buried in a 32" downed tree the other day and the saw kept doing what it was suppose to.

I seriously considered the battery powered saw as an option so I could let the saw sit for years if need be and take it out for downed branches or a tree laying across my road. With the Stihl fuel lasting a long time I should be able to do the same thing if I remember to switch out the fuel every so often.

So far, I'm happy with the new saw. She starts and runs which is primarily. For a 45cc it feels stronger than other 40ish cc saws I've run in the past. I'm 51 now and I like the weight of the saw. In my 20s weight did not matter, but now it does. For the occasional cutting it appears to be a good fit.
 
Sorry, just seeing this. Sounds like you are happy with your choice - they are nice saws. But battery tools are ideal for the situation you describe.

Just for reference, here is a thread with a lot of information in it:
https://www.arboristsite.com/commun...chainsaws-and-outdoor-power-equipment.177392/

For example, I have a 120V battery saw with an 18" bar that would cut that stuff in a single pass. But it is no longer just about a battery powered chainsaw; it is about a platform for a number of O*P*E options.

I always suggest that folks who have a lot of battery powered contractor type tools (Makita, DeWalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, etc.) start with their offerings, since they are already invested in that battery platform (typically about half the cost of each tool). If starting from scratch, or choosing a separate platform for O*P*E, take a look at the entire line offered by the brand (string trimmers, leaf blowers, hedge trimmers, pole saws, lawn mowers, etc.): you may think that you only want a chainsaw, but pretty soon . . . . .

Philbert
 
To compare lithium Ion battery stuff it is good to know what value is actually posted. The nominal voltage of a cell is generally 3.6 volts. Husqvarna claims 36 volts which is 10 in series Makita claims 18 volts which is five in series. There may be strings of paralleled that are in series. Oregon and Dewalt choose to use 4 volts per cell and 20 and 40 in the specs. 3.6 is half way depleted. On the available amp hours there is a similar way to kind of cheat. There is the maximum a battery (cells and electronics) can deliver as allowed by the battery management system and then there is the maximum the cells could output from fully charged to fully emptied which the battery management won't allow. I do not see that 3.6 goes into 56 a round number of times. Kind of curious how many cells or strings of cells they actually have. Or what they are using for cell voltage to get 56.
58v mate, 3.6v times 16 cells 57.6v, some 40v tools are just 36v measured a different way like fresh off the charger vs under load.
 
I had a change of mind and went and bought a stihl ms251.

I figured that it would handle the infrequent big trees better. Also, I got a quart of Stihl's premix fuel that is suppose to last 2 years. I got to remember to run the fuel out of the saw on choke.

Had the 18" bar buried in a 32" downed tree the other day and the saw kept doing what it was suppose to.

I seriously considered the battery powered saw as an option so I could let the saw sit for years if need be and take it out for downed branches or a tree laying across my road. With the Stihl fuel lasting a long time I should be able to do the same thing if I remember to switch out the fuel every so often.

So far, I'm happy with the new saw. She starts and runs which is primarily. For a 45cc it feels stronger than other 40ish cc saws I've run in the past. I'm 51 now and I like the weight of the saw. In my 20s weight did not matter, but now it does. For the occasional cutting it appears to be a good fit.
Long life fuel is good, I've always heard that a little extra 2 stroke oil will lengthen the shelf life of fuel too, and I've got a mate that removes the kill switch from all his 2 stroke gear and kills it with the joke claiming it floods the engine with fuel and oil, the fuel evaporates and leaves a coating of oil on everything, says he frequently leaves saws sitting and has never had a problem. I do it the same way and haven't had problems so far but I haven't been running saws anywhere near as long as he has. I also like to give it half throttle out of the cut for a bit to make sure the bar and chain have plenty of oil on them before putting it away.
 
I watched a video on the dual battery power makita in action on youtube and I was impressed.

Dewalt was the real loser in the series with a terrible terrible bar mount design.

Milwaukee was ok, but imo it really does feel like cheap plastic. I use Milwaukee tools so batteries are not a problem for me. However I would still not chose the Milwaukee as a long time runner, especially at its price tag.

I also watched the husqvarna battery chainsaw and the only issue I saw with it was that it was a top handle, clearly designed for a climbing arborist and not firewood. Video did mention the batteries are expensive.0

Has anyone seen the stihl in action? I have not checked it out, I can’t even remember if it was a top handle or not.
 
I watched a video on the dual battery power makita in action on youtube and I was impressed.

Dewalt was the real loser in the series with a terrible terrible bar mount design.

Milwaukee was ok, but imo it really does feel like cheap plastic. I use Milwaukee tools so batteries are not a problem for me. However I would still not chose the Milwaukee as a long time runner, especially at its price tag.

I also watched the husqvarna battery chainsaw and the only issue I saw with it was that it was a top handle, clearly designed for a climbing arborist and not firewood. Video did mention the batteries are expensive.0

Has anyone seen the stihl in action? I have not checked it out, I can’t even remember if it was a top handle or not.
Several are not top handle, including this one:
Stihl 160C Chainsaw.jpg
 
Dewalt was the real loser in the series with a terrible terrible bar mount design.
Milwaukee was ok . . .However I would still not chose the Milwaukee as a long time runner, especially at its price tag.
My recommendations for choosing a chainsaw based on the batteries you already own is for a casual user. For more demanding users, try as many saws as you can, and decide that way.

I also watched the husqvarna battery chainsaw and the only issue I saw with it was that it was a top handle, clearly designed for a climbing arborist and not firewood. . . .Has anyone seen the stihl in action . . . I can’t even remember if it was a top handle or not.
STIHL, Husqvarna, Makita, and others have many models each. Some of this changes very fast. Some models are only available in Europe. The STIHL top handle battery saw (MSA 160 T) is supposed to be coming to the US later this year. Note that different STIHL battery series O*P*E use different batteries!

https://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/battery/
https://www.stihlusa.com/products/battery-products/
https://www.makitatools.com/ope/cordless
https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/XCU06Z

Philbert
 
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