Pulling the trigger on the Milwaukee Hatchet

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I'm just asking because on an oak you have perhaps 4 yards of trunk - thats your 500i domain, then you have several miles of brances to deal with. Thats where the real work is, yes?
Oaks up here you’re looking at 40 to 60 feet of good trunk. The branches just get cut to 10 to 20 foot lengths and skidded out for firewood. Taking the tree down is always the hardest part.
 
What size trees you doing down there?
It doesn't matter now does it, taking down the tree is one cut.
That's about 1% of the time I spend with that tree. 100 cuts o'yeas that's what it takes before you're done.
Very few of them is done easy on a trunk with a long bar.
And then you have to carry it all and tidy up, all the branches to a pile. All the wood, o'man - that easy felling and trunk cutting with a powerful chainsaw and a long bar is just a fragment of the work involved.
 
It doesn't matter now does it, taking down the tree is one cut.
That's about 1% of the time I spend with that tree. 100 cuts o'yeas that's what it takes before you're done.
Actually, to do it correctly it’s 3 or more cuts….and all have to be executed flawlessly. its the hardest hour or so I put in on a tree….especially the dead standing ones.

I take it you’re into smaller trees down your way….they’re relaxation for me..a couple of cuts, then a trip on the skidder to the mill or firewood pile.
 
I see, I do relaxation yes. So you do 3 or more cuts to fell the tree with your 500i, then what?
You have several miles of branches before you, all linked together and attached to a trunk.
When you go home for dinner, that should all be tidy an neat yeas?
 
I'll interject my 2 cents, my uncle has one of these and loves it. I got to use it recently and can say it's a very, very niche product imo. Battery life was fine, I didn't use it long enough to wear the battery out. I wasn't impressed with how it cut locust or white oak branches. It did not like the full bar length being used in either tree. I ended up grabbing the ms400 to finish limbing.
It does do well for what it was intended, light trimming and yard work. I was more or less playing with it because it was there and my uncle always says how much he likes it, but to be fair he normally calles me over when there are trees that need dropped. Its nothing I would want to limb an entire or multiple trees with, taking a casual stroll down a wooded path I can see where it may come in handy for light trim work.
 
It doesn't matter now does it, taking down the tree is one cut.
That's about 1% of the time I spend with that tree. 100 cuts o'yeas that's what it takes before you're done.
Very few of them is done easy on a trunk with a long bar.
And then you have to carry it all and tidy up, all the branches to a pile. All the wood, o'man - that easy felling and trunk cutting with a powerful chainsaw and a long bar is just a fragment of the work involved.
Not trying to pick a fight or anything, but no it's not uncommon to use the same saw to fell, limb and buck a tree. It's rare for me to swap saws out from felling to limb work unless it's a rather large tree and I stepped up to the 390xp. Beyond that it's one saw to do it all. 100 or 1000 cuts doest matter.
 
Just got one a few weeks ago...great tool for what it is intended...trimming small branches. Powerfull enough for up to 4" branches. Not as clean of a cut as pruners or a cordless sawzall if doing doing ornamental pruning as it leaves a typical chainsaw cut. Lasted for about an hour of trimming the path through my forest using a 4 amp-hour battery. A lot easier than using one of my smaller gas saws. I can foresee an update to the handguard design as there is a natural tendency (especially if an inexperienced user doesn't appreciate the outcome of a chain vs hand incident) to hold it improperly if 2 handing it.
 
Got my wife a 20V chainsaw, polesaw, trimmer etc. Was only a test years back. If I knew it was going to be a great idea I would have invested in the 40V.
You know how much work that has saved me. ;)
Dont have to break out my gas stuff and follow her around to do trim work. Plus she love to do weed trimming and I hate it. So I hardley even have to trim the acreage anymore. Shhhhh dont tell her. :laughing:
:cheers:
 
I got a M12 hatchet last year and absolutely love it. This weekend it got used right alongside my 400c and 261c. Wife will use it to shorten limbs to drug or to fit in the fire pit and it makes short work of smaller branches and even some light duty limbing. In pine you can just bury the 6” bar, but it will stop when buried in ash, but that’s to be expected.
 
Any suggestions how to move the chain a little at a time for sharpening ? As I squeeze the trigger it usually goes too far,or all the way around. We have one at work for light duty, ?,ha ha, we use it on 10 inch branches,trunks at times,, we are allowed to use it as its not called a chain saw,, we are not allowed to use a chain saw.(6 inch milwaukee fuel hatchet)
 
You all may have seen this - Milwaukee is going to introduce a new version that runs on the M18 platform. It looks the same or very similar in size and power. Changing to M18 power will probably add runtime but also change the balance, which might or might not be a good thing.

I was thinking about buying one. I'll probably wait until there are user reports on the M18 version for comparison.
 
I've been considering buying a Milwaukee cordless tool "kit" with seven or eight tools in it. The ones I've been focusing on are the ones that have the circular saw, the hackzall, and the sawzall. I've already got several other Milwaukee tools, but I only have a corded sawsall and circular saw right now, and would like cordless versions of them. I thought the hackzall would come in especially handy for what the OP bought his hatchet for. My main use would be to use it on my UTV trails when small limbs fall down in the trail etc... Or using it to cut small stumps off closer to the ground so I'm not so hard on my UTV tires, and don't have to worry about putting my gas powered saw chains in the dirt. I may have to look at the hatchet as well now. I'm glad I ran across this thread, even though it did get kind of "weird" for a while. https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Power-Tools/SAWZALL-Reciprocating-Saws/HACKZALLS/2719-20
 

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