Chainsaw guys

soloz2

Member

Equipment
B2601
Feb 10, 2023
73
74
18
WNY
I have and love my Milwaukee M12 Hatchet. It cuts beyond what it should and is so handy. That said, for an actual saw I’d still go gas. I have a MS180, MS261c, and MS400c. I absolutely love and recommend both a 261 and 400. Use canned fuel and they start up right away even after months of storage.
 

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Bmyers

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
Grand L3560 with LA805 loader, EA 55" Wicked Grapple, SBX72 BB, LP 1272 mower
May 27, 2019
3,151
3,628
113
Southern Illinois
WE have the DeWalt electric chainsaw. Both dad and I have one. My wife and dad both really like them. It makes it easy for them to trim branches and cut branches that get blown down into smaller pieces. Both saws have worked well.

If you have battery tools already, see if they offer a battery chainsaw in your preferred battery choice. Saves you money.
 

PoTreeBoy

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L35 Ford 3930
Mar 24, 2020
2,344
1,180
113
WestTn/NoMs
A battery saw is great when clearing brush. You can cut a little, clear a little, then pick up the saw and just pull the trigger without having to pull the starter or have it idling all the time. Keeping a sharp chain is important.

I have the Ryobi 40v system, so i bought the brushless saw and have been pleased with it. My BIL has the Makita (he sells Makita) that uses 2-18v batteries and it works good. My sister has the 18v Makita with 8"? bar. I'm not impressed with it, seems the chain speed is too slow and the teeth grab small branches.
 
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woodman55

Well-known member

Equipment
L6060HSTC, RTV 1100
May 15, 2022
724
516
93
canada
I have the M18 saw. The 12 amp battery makes a big difference compared to the 5 amp battery. The saw is stronger, and it runs A LOT longer.
 

Henro

Well-known member

Equipment
B2910, BX2200, KX41-2V mini Ex.
May 24, 2019
5,116
2,341
113
North of Pittsburgh PA
I love my 12" dewalt 20 volt chainsaw. As well as my Dewalt sawsall with the 12" carbide tipped demolition blade, that somebody showed a picture of above. Both bought because I have a number of Dewalt batteries. Any brand is likely just as useful.

edit: I have gas powered chainsaws too. But nothing beats the battery one for a quick job cutting a few limbs or even a 12 inch dead tree that fell across the driveway, and needed to be cut a couple times to carry off easily with the tractor forks...
 
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Steve67

Active member

Equipment
B2601-fel, 60"mmm, 5' rear blade, balast box
Jan 20, 2017
322
101
43
St. Louis, mo.
I have the Greenworks tools , all use the same 60v interchangeable batteries . Grass trimmer, leaf blower, 16” chainsaw, 10” pole saw, and 21” self power lawnmower. Highly recommend.
 
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Matt Ellerbee

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
MX6000
Jun 27, 2019
1,656
1,859
113
Canton, Georgia
If anyone has made the switch to battery only, I will buy your old, nasty, hard to start and bad for Mother Earth Gaia gas saws for pennies on the dollar.
 
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Henro

Well-known member

Equipment
B2910, BX2200, KX41-2V mini Ex.
May 24, 2019
5,116
2,341
113
North of Pittsburgh PA
If anyone has made the switch to battery only, I will buy your old, nasty, hard to start and bad for Mother Earth Gaia gas saws for pennies on the dollar.
I will do one better.

Promise an environmentally friendly life for them, and all you have to do is pay the shipping to me. Who can offer a better deal than that?

IF you switched to battery only, you certainly realize this is a once in a lifetime offer.
 
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skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,094
2,755
113
SW Pa
OK. My wife and I are both USFS Certified Chainsaw Fallers.

Electric chainsaws are NOT approved. The reason for this is that existing chaps will NOT stall them.

Look at any of the warnings on the PPE pages of sites like Baileys or Foresty Supply.

Of course, if you are an occasional user who sez "I do not use a saw often enough to worry about PPE" I have some chaps to show that saved my leg when I got tired. And I have been working on backcountry trails for 20 years.

Even though NH is known for "Live free or die", I prefer to live free with all my parts.
Watchmaker,,, I am not a logger, though I do use PPE for obvious reasons. Since I was in health and safety for a very long time, I know things can and do go sideways in a heart beat. No it is for light work since I have a bunch of dead pines down from the storms, what I wanted was for liming I have the Husky and the Stile for everything else. And thank you for the reminder for the PPE, that never is a bad thing. Too many times I heard,, I never thought anything would happen to me ;)
 

chim

Well-known member

Equipment
L4240HSTC with FEL, Ford 1210
Jan 19, 2013
1,738
821
113
Near Lancaster, PA, USA
I have a gas Stihl chain saw plus two DeWalt 20V chain saws.. One DeWalt is a regular 12" chain saw and the other is a pole saw (plus I have an extension for it). Since getting the 20V saws the Stihl doesn't get used much. I sometimes use the pole saw to cut up fallen limbs or small trees. It's handy to (A) keep out of the wood chip stream and (B) reach into a rats nest of branches to make the cuts without needing to wade into them.
 

The Evil Twin

Well-known member

Equipment
L2501, LA526,
Jul 19, 2022
2,330
2,206
113
Virginia
I'm with @RCW . If the recip can't handle it, the 2 smoke saw comes out. 12" wood blade handles limbing trees, brush and the random small tree.
 

Steve67

Active member

Equipment
B2601-fel, 60"mmm, 5' rear blade, balast box
Jan 20, 2017
322
101
43
St. Louis, mo.
Battery tools are simple a convenience for me, I still have plent of gas power equipment .At my age I could give a shit what the waco green people think..😎
 
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D2Cat

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L305DT, B7100HST, TG1860, TG1860D, L4240
Mar 27, 2014
12,899
4,266
113
40 miles south of Kansas City
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rc51stierhoff

Well-known member

Equipment
B2650, MX6000, (BX sold)
Sep 13, 2021
1,899
2,044
113
Ohio
I am sort of curious for the battery saw users, are you heating with home cut firewood, or just cleaning up branches…how many cords of wood cutting annually with the electric saw? Cutting all day or less than an hour at a time?
 

jkrubi12

Well-known member

Equipment
B2601/LA435/QA54"/BH70/B8160box/BB1254/PFL1242/SGC0554/WC-68 Chipper
Sep 24, 2012
397
289
63
right coast
In my limited electric chainsaw experience, if I use my saw and fully drain the battery I've got to wait 20 minutes minimum for the lithium battery to cool down before I can mount it to the charger for its 45 minutes-to-1 hour recharge (I do have several batteries). I find that the electric saw, while quiet. convenient and impressive as a tool, isn't my first choice for cutting cordwood but is nice for smaller trimming.
 
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NCL4701

Well-known member

Equipment
L4701, T2290, WC68, grapple, BB1572 box scrape, Howes 500, 16kW IMD gen, WG24
Apr 27, 2020
2,488
3,508
113
Central Piedmont, NC
I am sort of curious for the battery saw users, are you heating with home cut firewood, or just cleaning up branches…how many cords of wood cutting annually with the electric saw? Cutting all day or less than an hour at a time?
Heat half of two houses (2000 SF each) with firewood.

The portions heated are partially underground. Normal year, use a stack 42” wide, about 54” high, about 35’ to 50’ long (whatever that works out to be).

Cut zero firewood with electric. Firewood is the gas saw.

Electric is for pruning and cleanup of stuff mostly under 4”.

For me, the electric is kind of like the knife I carry in my pocket all the time: it’s quickly accessed, easily carried (maybe carry an extra battery but not gas and bar oil; just check oil before heading out), and useful for quick jobs. But I don’t dress and butcher deer with my pocketknife nor do I cut firewood with a 12” electric saw.

Would be interesting to hear from someone who cuts substantial amounts with electric only.
 
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PoTreeBoy

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L35 Ford 3930
Mar 24, 2020
2,344
1,180
113
WestTn/NoMs
I am sort of curious for the battery saw users, are you heating with home cut firewood, or just cleaning up branches…how many cords of wood cutting annually with the electric saw? Cutting all day or less than an hour at a time?
I haven't cut firewood in years, but if I did I'd use my Makita (Sachs-Dolmar) gasser. Also, if I'm felling a sizable tree. The battery saw won't keep up with the Makita or even my old Poulan top handle, but it sure is handy. I'd have to have more batteries if I was cutting all day.
 

chim

Well-known member

Equipment
L4240HSTC with FEL, Ford 1210
Jan 19, 2013
1,738
821
113
Near Lancaster, PA, USA
I am sort of curious for the battery saw users, are you heating with home cut firewood, or just cleaning up branches…how many cords of wood cutting annually with the electric saw? Cutting all day or less than an hour at a time?
My battery saws are used for small jobs and with numerous batteries recharging is not an issue. As others have said, bigger jobs warrant the gas saw. However, the battery saws have done some cutting of decent-sized limbs. Here are a couple pics from early '20 taken while on Covidcation. There was a large tree growing out of the bank of the creek in the front yard that was dying - red arrow in first picture.. It had 5 or 6 big main branches. The cutting done with my 20V DeWalt pole saw to get the tree reduced to the stumpy thing in the picture. The gas saw took over from there.
 

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