Electric Chain Saw

[SMSW]

We rented an aerial lift two days ago, and using @sirbike's Stihl MSA120C chain saw, I pruned several trees - removing dead limbs that would be problematic when they fell. This saw has a 12" bar and weighs 9# wet (bar, chain, battery, oil). It was perfect - with my rotator cuff injuries I was still able to hold the saw out at full arm extension and it cut 3" dead oak limbs quickly. I'm sold, and will be looking for an electric saw. This model has been replaced by a similar size/weight saw, the 160.

Before I leap, does anyone have any experience with these smaller, pruning saws (any brand) aimed at homeowners and not professionals? I have a gas powered MS250 and MS311 for bigger stuff and both have handled everything I've encountered (including that big maple in another post) to date, but they are too heavy for aerial use.

 

[klaproth]

One of my customers is a professional surveyor, and uses one of the Stihl battery type chainsaws. I do not recall what model it is, but in general, he seems to buy the higher end tools. He is a BIG fan of the saw, and says he can use it all day on one charge, and have some left over. Granted, he is not cutting non-stop, but, looking at the tool, it has seen a lot of use over a few years. I asked him if it was a bit underpowered, but he says it does everything a similar sized gas unit will do, as well as being quieter, and lighter.
He liked it enough that he bought other Stihl landscape tools, all electric.

 

[Belisaerio]

We rented an aerial lift two days ago, and using @sirbike's Stihl MSA120C chain saw, I pruned several trees - removing dead limbs that would be problematic when they fell. This saw has a 12" bar and weighs 9# wet (bar, chain, battery, oil). It was perfect - with my rotator cuff injuries I was still able to hold the saw out at full arm extension and it cut 3" dead oak limbs quickly. I'm sold, and will be looking for an electric saw. This model has been replaced by a similar size/weight saw, the 160.

Before I leap, does anyone have any experience with these smaller, pruning saws (any brand) aimed at homeowners and not professionals? I have a gas powered MS250 and MS311 for bigger stuff and both have handled everything I've encountered (including that big maple in another post) to date, but they are too heavy for aerial use.

I have the dewalt and it works as well as my husquvarna (350?) but 12AH gets about half an hour cut time, plenty for me since I'm doing downed trees and spend a bunch of time moving the cut pieces. It's also nice to not have to choose between keeping a chainsaw running and restarting it all the time. 18" bar and I've had plenty of trees that use the whole thing.

 

[Bmacleod]

I have a Makita electric 36 volt and it is great. It has all the power I need to fell a tree and chop it up. It drains the batteries pretty quick, so it wouldnt be good for a day of cutting without at least 4 backup batteries. It uses 2x 18 volt batteries at a time. I have lots of batteries so I have never had an issue, short of having to change them out every 30 minutes or so. A friend used it briefly one day and was impressed with it and he is a professional tree removal guy. He said if it wasnt for the batteries running out too soon, he would own one or two

 

[dwalby]

I have a pro level Husky chainsaw, but what I use most often for trimming is a cordless recip saw. I have the regular two-handed one, and a single handed one. What I like about the recip is carbide pruning blades last a long time and don't require periodic re-sharpening like a chain, and you can cut roots and other stuff in the dirt without trashing the blade like you would with a chain. I have a 12" Diablo blade that I've used to cut 6-8" stuff quite easily and reasonably quickly.