What brand of Electric Chainsaw do you have?

[SMSW]

And, what do you think of it? Is it a toy, how useful is it? How much have you used it?

 

[VetteJim]

I have a dewalt and its great. Not for felling large trees obviously but great for smaller stuff.

 

[DavidR8]

I have an Oregon CS1500 that I use to cut up log lengths into bowl blanks for wood turning.
18" bar, self-sharpening. It is a serious saw. It will rip (which is harder than crosscutting) a 16" long x 16" diameter hardwood log like nothing.
Corded mind you but it's awesome.

 

[TourNut]

I have a Makita , it's nice to not have the motor sticking out on one side like most are . Only an annoyance was to find it is chinese made , despite the japanese name , so it had NO grease in the gearbox like almost all the chinese made tools I have come across . If they can profit extra money by hiding no grease in stuff - they do it ! I always tear new tools apart to check for lubrication , 95% of the time I'm glad I did , makes them last a lot longer , as the American & Japanese designers intended tools to have grease in gear boxes & bearings .

 

[mudduc]

I've run a tree trimming/felling business for 10+ years now.
When the Dewalt electric saw came out, I got one for up-in-the-tree work. Much nicer to have instant-on/instant-off when needed.

I do _NOT_ recommend the Dewalt. They have a design flaw, IMHO. The chain drive gear has a left-treaded bolt that holds on the chain retention washer. If the bar gets any little flex and torque when cutting, that bolt gets sheared off. After that happened a few times, I passed the Dewalt chainsaw and on to my father. It continues to work successfully as a light use stand-on-the-ground and make straight-no-stress cuts for some years now.

Cheaper and more robust is the chainsaw from Greenworks. I've used their 80 volt saws for years now without any issues. Can handle almost as hefty a load as my mid-size gas powered Husqvarna. Most jobs, even full large tree removals, I do now without firing up the gas saws.

Pro tip, sign up for emails from Greenworks and wait. At least 2 times a year, anything they sell goes on sale for 25 to 40% off.

Later,
Kent Larson in Minnesota

 

[skinl19]

I have had the Ego 16" for years now without a problem. The original chain didn't last long but a replacement Oregon one is working well.

 

[sirepair]

I have the Kobalt 40v 14" from Lowes. Primarily because I have several other Kobalt 40v tools. Works well enough for my needs. I like the quick convenience of it.

 

[sirbike]

I bought a Stihl MS 120 as a quiet alternative to an 18” gas saw for small jobs. It is great. Does much more than I thought it would.
As I shake myself out of the habit of thinking that battery powered tools are weaker, I realize that if I had it to do over again, for the money, I would buy the 18” Greenworks chainsaw for $500 vs the Stihl 120 for $300. The light weight smaller saw is a luxury addition to my gas saw for most of what I do.
However, the buying the bigger battery saw would have given me low sound levels, no exhaust etc all the time. Well worth the cost of being heavier than necessary part of the time.

 

[rjs987]

I have a Remington 16 inch corded chain saw that is at least 10 years old. I answered a previous post like this saying it was a Skilsaw but I was wrong about that. I've used it to cut down a 35 ft fruitless cherry tree after it split in half and half was blown down in a Derecho several years ago. Then I used it to chop up another 30 ft fruitless cherry tree and a 45 ft Linden tree after they were blown down by another Derecho in 2020. As long as I kept a sharp fresh chain installed and I took my time it worked great. The trunk of the Linden where I cut through was as thick as 18" at one point.

 

[Obo]

Still running my gas chainsaws, but when I want to do a smaller task I use the cordless recip saw with a pruning blade on it.

Any brand blade will work.



I limbed two 80' pines that I dropped with a gas saw when I was clearing for the new garage. It was fast and easy to use the cordless recip and a pruning blade vs using a gas saw.

You can also cut below the ground to get at roots etc. Yes it's not great on a blade but you'd not want to try that with a chainsaw! Pruning blades are not that expensive if you ruin one.

 

[dduelin]

I bought a 120v corded Homelite 14” some years back as part of my hurricane kit thinking it would always start even if not used for a year or three. I’ve used it several times to cut up downed 8 - 10" diameter trees after a storm. Ironically the power was out so I fired up the generator to power it. Homelite invented the gas powered generator.

 

[Nashcat]

I have the 20V Dewalt and bought it because I have bunches of batteries that fit. I also have gas powered Stihl and Poulan saws. Since I drain the gas out of the saws when I finish cutting, it means that I’d have to refill a saw, even to cut one fallen limb. With the Dewalt, I just plug in a battery and go.

My only complaint is that I have to sharpen it by hand, because the chain is to small for my powered sharpener.

John

 

[dwalby]

Still running my gas chainsaws, but when I want to do a smaller task I use the cordless recip saw with a pruning blade on it.

You can also cut below the ground to get at roots etc. Yes it's not great on a blade but you'd not want to try that with a chainsaw! Pruning blades are not that expensive if you ruin one.

same here.

I have a corded electric chainsaw that I bought 30 years ago when I lived in a tract, but I haven't used it in the last 20 years or so. The recip saw is good enough for most of my needs, I took down an entire lemon tree that had died with it, because lemon tree trunks never get all that large.

If I have larger or more intensive cutting needs I have a Husqvarna XP gas saw for that.

 

[naedlaen]

Buy a saw that will do what you want, but not a lot more. Weight and length of bar affect ease of use. have a 12" DeWalt that I like. Part of the reason for DeWalt is I could buy locally and the batteries will work in all similar DeWalt, so I now own a DeWalt drill/driver as well. Two charged 5 AHr batteries last as long as I want to be running the saw.

If you already have a reciprocal saw, a pruning blade for the small stuff makes sense.

I think that mudduc does chainsaw work for a living.

Neal

 

[Willsmotorcycle]

Not mine, good friend has nothing but positive things to say, powerful and long lasting.

 

[mudduc]

Buy a saw that will do what you want, but not a lot more. Weight and length of bar affect ease of use.

Good advice.

The Dewalt was a lot nicer to climb with but I just couldn't live with the easy-break bolt. The Greenworks, even with a shorter bar, is pretty bulky but I manage. Sometimes I let it hang on its safety strap for a climbing section then pull it back up when repositioned.

I think that mudduc does chainsaw work for a living.

Not for a living, really.
For a living, I sit in a chair and write firmware for medical devices.

I do tree work at about 1/2 the going rate so that people pay me to exercise. Unfortunately too many people have been hearing about my rates (and good reputation) and I've been getting way more exercise than I'd like. All last season, my son and I had 3 or 4 jobs a week from just word of mouth.

Still, good exercise and I really love working with my kid.

Later,
Kent Larson in Minnesota

 

[skinl19]

Not mine, good friend has nothing but positive things to say, powerful and long lasting.

That's the same one I have and we got one for my son last year. I have several other Ego tools as well so it's easy to swap batteries.

 

[jdmccright]

An old Remington 14-inch corded has been extremely useful. Great for extended work without worrying abt dying batteries. yes the cord setup and reeling afteris a drawback but I prefer consistent power to get it all done in one take. For quick stuff I just use a hand saw as I don't deal with anything bigger than 3 or 4 inches diameter, mostly branches. Then pruners to chop the smaller ends up.