Opinion on battery saws

[EngineNoO9]

As the technology improves what's everyone's opinion on the cordless saws? Clearly they still are mostly meant for homeowners rather than anyone who does a substantial amount of cutting. However I've seen some stuff on a top handle Makita that looks quite nice for a limbing saw. However price is my biggest drawback as I can easily find a used gas top handle for probably $20-40 to fix up vs spending $200+ on a cordless saw.

 

[RandyinTN]

Love my Echo 58V. It is my go to saw on the property for taking care of jobs lasting up to 30 minutes. By then both the battery and me need to be recharged.

 

[oldfortyfive]

Love my Echo 58V. It is my go to saw on the property for taking care of jobs lasting up to 30 minutes. By then both the battery and me need to be recharged.

Same here with the same saw....Been very happy with it.

 

[oldfortyfive]

At this point battery saws are no match for gas, but they still work pretty darn good. I also have both the 36v top handle and 18v top handle Makitas. No regrets. While they are a little more money, what you are paying for is a lot of convenience with not that much of a performance hit on the lesser jobs. That said the guys at my rod & gun club are still talking about a tree I took down with the Echo because the guy with the gas saw didn't show up.

 

[Philbert]

Lots of threads on these saws. Very convenient. Lots of advantages. Won't replace every 2-cycle saw today.

But not a fair comparison between the prices of a cheap used saw and a new battery saw. You need to also include: parts, maintenance, fuel, mix oil, etc.

Philbert

 

[buttercup]

As the technology improves what's everyone's opinion on the cordless saws? ...

Extremely convenient, and extremely expensive if you want the same chain speed as a gas saw, and the same endurance.

 

[Matt93eg]

No battery love from me.

A lot of the enjoyment running and messing with saws for me is the 2 stroke engine.

 

[Philbert]

Here are some of the related threads:

https://www.arboristsite.com/commun...chainsaws-and-outdoor-power-equipment.177392/

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/36-volt-and-40-volt-chainsaws.256224/

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/echo-58-volt-cordless-chainsaw.277864/

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/oregon-cs300-40v-cordless-chainsaw.286385/

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/review-oregon-powernow-cordless-chainsaw.179262/

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/oregon-40-volt-pole-saw.248941/#post-4611988

https://www.arboristsite.com/commun...20v-lithium-cordless-battery-chainsaw.310665/

Philbert

 

[RandyinTN]

The Echo 58 will never replace my other saws. Its greatest feature is convenience. Burning brush, grab it to cut some small logs. Big tree branch falls onto the road, grab it and press the button and cut it up. Last month noticed half a tree fell over the road to my neighbors house. He was told not to run a chain saw due to medical issues. I grabbed the Echo and went to help him. He heard the saw and said...…...what the hell is that? Had a big ole smile on his face watching me cut up the tree and get it off his road.
No muss, no fuss. Pull the trigger and go.

 

[Philbert]

The Echo 58 will never replace my other saws.

Wait for the Tesla saws!

Philbert

 

[holeycow]

I picked up a pretty expensive Echo one one day. I can't recall the model. It was heavy and ungainly. I wasn't interested in that particular model, that's for sure.

I'll have one someday. I prefer a saw that handles and balances nicely. Maybe some of them do..?? IDK.

 

[KiwiBro]

Not expecting miracles, I like my top handle makita 18v saw. I don't like the proprietary drive sprocket but haven't looked into if it can be swapped out...yet. It's a very handy saw around the sawmill and trimming. Not as fast or grunty as a top handle wee echo though. Was using it today to clean out some rebates I cut into some outdoor furniture I'm making.

 

[Justsaws]

Battery powered saws have a niche, outside of that niche they fair horribly, inside they define it, just like corded electric saws.

If I was to choose one, it would based on which brand I have the best chance of getting replacement batteries/parts from a couple years later.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Farmers (ranchers?) over here love the Stihl battery saws if they employ staff- you cannot straight gas a battery saw and many farm saws are straight gassed by staff annually here.
Now we are not talking felling and bucking here, just a small saw for cutting windfall limbs off of fences and paddock clearing, the battery saws are ideal for this.

 

[KiwiBro]

Farmers (ranchers?) over here love the Stihl battery saws if they employ staff- you cannot straight gas a battery saw and many farm saws are straight gassed by staff annually here.
Now we are not talking felling and bucking here, just a small saw for cutting windfall limbs off of fences and paddock clearing, the battery saws are ideal for this.

It's handy to just get straight into cutting, starting the saw with one hand keeps the other hand free for holding branches, etc. Took some getting used to the safety button needing to be pushed after about 3 seconds of inactivity, before the saw will respond, and if I could I'd bypass that completely. Besides that, I find myself reaching for the lil smurf progressively more.

Triming boards when off-bearing while milling is a perfect use for it too. I'm not a fan of starting a gas saw for just a cut or two. Maybe it's irrational of me but I don't like cold k's on any of my saws and most often can't be arsed waiting for 'em to warm up when just making a trimming cut or the like. The smurf is a perfect solution for me for that.

Just today, cutting some mitres in slabwood seats, I had the 42" on the 395 for the mitres, and smurf for cleaning up the cuts and chomping out some rebates.

Obviously helps if buyers are already invested in the battery tools. I'm quite deep into the makita 18v matrix so it was an easy decision to stick with it.

Also, the last time I did a residential job with my MMWS 261, the neighbours complained about the noise. A battery saw would fit in perfectly in that anally retentive urban setting. I very much like how Makita have stuck to their 18v battery platform, with their larger battery saws being 2x 18v. One of those would eb a perfectly capable and quiet option.

 

[Philbert]

If I was to choose one, it would based on which brand I have the best chance of getting replacement batteries/parts from a couple years later.

That is an important consideration. Good reason to stick with mainstream brands.

Last I checked Batteries Plus was not rebuilding Li-Ion battery packs, but this could change.

Philbert

 

[Gypo Logger]

I love my batt saw cause I poach valuable walnut trees in parks and provincial forests. I wait for a snow blizzard, do my felling cuts and let the wind do the rest. Then I skid main trunk down the main street of any given town with my JD 540A and seem to fit right in.

 

[Franny K]

I have 3 battery chainsaws. One Husqvarna t536 one double battery rear handle Makita and one double battery top handle Makita. The Husqvarna one is the best in the following ways.
The thing remains on for a few minutes, it blows cooling air through the battery. On the negative the chip clearing at the power head is terrible perhaps ok for cutting sizeable things but for brush it is frustrating. Even if the outer plate to keep the chain on the sprocket is replaced with an e clip as a shim.

The Makita double battery rear handle one is more solid in the way the bar attaches, It will not go very long in 90 or 100 degree F. It beats the Husky one in the equal bar and chain testing by just a little bit even though it trips the breaker a bit easier.

The Makita double battery top handle one is really not well handling but there is the type of safety feature like on cordless circular saws in that push a button on the side of the handle then the trigger. No on button, no tripping a breaker just lugs down. Maybe it can be made to trip a breaker but I did not do it yet. It has a reduction gear, the other two are direct drive and the sprocket has a larger bore with flats (this paragraph one).

I am skeptical about how long the shaft that the sprocket attaches to will last. If one is supposed to change a splined drum every two rim drive sprockets it would seem the sprocket attachment on these electric ones would last less than half of one rim drive.

My shortened Husqvarna battery pole pruner is quite handy and has been used enough to see some wear on the shaft.

The sawmill application mentioned above is true. cut a slab (waste) into manageable pieces to take off for example. Wedge up cut in pieces take off.

Talking to someone while trimming their vegetation is somewhat different.

The cold usage is questionable as well. Cold charging might not even start.

 

[Philbert]

The cold usage is questionable as well. Cold charging might not even start.

Battery performance should decrease in colder weather.

My first test of an Oregon 40V pole saw was after a late fall tornado, when temps were about 22°F. I kept the batteries in my car, in a small, insulated, beverage cooler:
https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/oregon-40-volt-pole-saw.248941/
I was pleasantly surprised by the performance. This is not to say that they lasted as long as they would at 70°F.

One issue was bar oil: gas powered saws generate heat, and warm up the oil - battery saws do not. I get best performance with my battery saws in cold weather by storing them indoors (no flammable fumes to worry about) and thinning out the bar oil a lot.

General Internet comments state that Li-Ion batteries should not be recharged when they are frozen (damages them?), so warm them up before putting on a charger. That said, the Redback 120V chainsaw batteries are also used in the company's ice fishing auger, and I saw many more brands at an ice fishing show last year, so they must work.
https://www.arboristsite.com/commun...20v-lithium-cordless-battery-chainsaw.310665/

Philbert