saw something new today, thought it might interest

[jmethodrose]

Hi Guys,

I went to a local chainsaw carving event today, at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire, UK. One of the carvers there had an electric saw I didn't recognize, upon enquiry it turned out to be a brand new model he'd been given to test.

Brand name is Pellenc, I believe it's french? Has a lithium-ion battery which you wear on a shoulder harness, with a cord running to the saw in your hand. Apparently it has 5 hours battery life, and can also be used to power a pole pruner (and maybe others?).

I didn't have a camera on me, this is the only video I can find:
http://www.pellenc.com/videos.asp?paramUsage=Tron%C3%A7onneuses&paramGamme=Selion+%C3%A0+main&paramCodeProduit=SEM&paramLibProduit=Les+tron%C3%A7onneuses+%C3%A0+main&linkToFamille=.%2Fespaces-verts-collectivites-locales.asp&linkToUsage=.%2Ftronconneuses.asp&paramFamille=ESPACES+VERTS+COLLECTIVITES+LOCALES

The guy who had it said he had thought it would be just a toy for homeowners initially, but after using it for a bit was more and more impressed with it. Said he'd much rather use it now for light pruning than a petrol saw, as there's no need to carry fuel (although you still need bar oil) and no need for ear protection.

Drawbacks - he reported an annoying design feature where you can't easily detach the saw from the cable if you want to put it down for a minute or so, you have to take the whole backpack kit off. And, from what he said it seemed there was no classic chainbrake - only a front hand guard. The chainbrake is electrically controlled, once it's triggered you have to turn the switch on the battery off and back on to reprogram the saw! Sounds a bit fiddly to me...

Anyway, thought some of you might enjoy seeing this. Can't say I'll be rushing to buy one, but I can see the use for someone who rarely uses a saw, and for who a 14" bar is more than enough!

cheers,
Joe

 

[Hedge Hacker]

No offense to anyone who owns one of those but to me there is just something terribly wrong with that!!!

 

[rmh3481]

Hi Joe,
Very interesting. Battery's have improved quite a bit over the last few years.
Thanks,
Bob

 

[Guido Salvage]

This would be ideal for someone who is doing trail maintenance work. Power saws are not allowed in federal wildlife areas and today all cutting is done with one and 2 man hand saws. If you spent a few days pushing and pulling on one of those you would think you had hit the lottery if one of these was presented to you.

It would also be great for surreptitiously cutting your annoying neighbor's trees or bushes...

 

[jmethodrose]

I think there's definitley a market for it, whether this concept will eventually replace two stroke saws or not is up for debate though - if you needed to run a saw with a 36" bar all day, you probably wouldn't want to carry that battery around on your back!

I also forgot to include the price in my original post - I was told £800 (GBP) for the battery, £500 for the saw. That's a pretty hefty price for a saw that small, it costs more than a MS880!

cheers,
Joe

 

[MacLaren]

Very interesting. Thanks for taking the time to post it!

 

[JustinM]

interesting indeed.

With the advancements in battery power and weight in recent years, I guess there's no reason to believe they wouldnt be able to produce a decent saw powered by one.

However, the prices would need to drop a LOT for it to be even marginally successful. Not to mention that you'd want at least 1 spare batter and at that cost, forgettaboutit.

 

[Bounty Hunter]

OK...That's pretty cooooooool...
I bet you could even use it when USFS says no chainsaws due to fire restrictions...
But before I looked at one it would have to say Husqavarna, Stihl, or Jonsered on it

 

[rxe]

And now for the bad news: even if you don't use them, Li-ion batteries last about 3 years. So it's not £800 + £500 and you're good to go - it is £800 every 3 years.

Apart from very specific areas where you can't use a real saw, I see no point in this at all.

 

[Tzed250]

And now for the bad news: even if you don't use them, Li-ion batteries last about 3 years. So it's not £800 + £500 and you're good to go - it is £800 every 3 years.

Apart from very specific areas where you can't use a real saw, I see no point in this at all.

I would say it depends on the battery. The battery for my D2Xs is three years old and has only used 20% of it's life, according to the charger.


.

 

[Wildman1024]

This would be ideal for someone who is doing trail maintenance work. Power saws are not allowed in federal wildlife areas and today all cutting is done with one and 2 man hand saws. If you spent a few days pushing and pulling on one of those you would think you had hit the lottery if one of these was presented to you.

It would also be great for surreptitiously cutting your annoying neighbor's trees or bushes...

I'm not big into electric or battery saws but this one did have sort of a cool factor to it. Also i really agree with what was said above. if your doing some kind of trail maintenance...this is 100x better then doing it by hand

 

[Dan_IN_MN]

Thanks for posting about the electric chainsaw!

It looks like a step in the right direction! I don't think this was possible a few years ago.

 

[dancan]

The pole saw setup was kinda neat as well .
I can see tree huggers having a hard time about that saw not being green .

 

[twiztedsix]

Echo tried something like this years ago with a hedge clipper i believe. My stihl rep told me they were coming out with a chainsaw next year that uses the same battery as the hedgeclipper that just came out.