I liked that Stihl saw (borrowed from
@sirbike). It fit neatly in the aerial lift's platform and as I said, it's overall weight of 9# was not too heavy for me.
@klaproth - Stihl has quite an array of battery op saws, and some are rated for professsional and almost continuous use. That said, I find their advertising saying a noise rating of 93db means no hearing protection is necessary. Since I have hearing loss, I think Stihl should be taken to task for that assertion. Most of the medical people who write about hearing loss say the published limits of allowable noise are too high and the duration before permanent damage is too long.
@Belisaerio - I like dewalt tools, though I own none and am loath to begin another battery platform. That friend who owns the tree that is the subject of another of my threads has a Makita saw with (a guess) a 16" bar. But, he has a dozen tools and more batteries than I can count. I confess to being astounded at how he runs that saw, steadily cutting wood, swaps batteries, and continues. I'd have expected that saw to have died long ago.
@Bmacleod - Your saw is probably what I referred to above. The abuse - well, continuous use w/ no apparent damage surprises me.
@dwalby - I've got an old corded sawzall, (and at one time even a super sawzall (with a longer stroke and more power). Even with so called Milwaukee pruning blades it never pruned fast enough for me. You did not miss anything. The Stihl was not 'humiliated'.
@jdmccright - yeah, extension cords tend to limit how far from the house you can go.
@the Ferret - My feeling with all these brands is, buy one tool and we own you because of our proprietary battery. I have no doubt the Ego will do all you ask - as evidenced by that Makita I mentioned above.
@mudduc -
@sirbike also has the Greenworks saw w/ 10.5 zillion batteries. This saw too has proven its mettle. My only complaint is that the chains seem to dull faster than that Makita or the Oregon and Stihl chains on my gas powered MS250 and MS311. No real big deal, just swap out the chain for another. Sirbike has a number of their other batt tools, including a ZT mower...hence so many batteries. I appreciated that link - it never occurred to me that batt chain saws are throwaway toys. Of course, I know my Milwaukee drills are not repairable - well they are, but if you take one in to their store they will tell you up front that the repair cost will exceed the cost of a new drill/battery/charger kit, especially if you buy one from a big box store (latter not said by Milwaukee sales folks).
@ReSTored - I've heard some good things about Ryobi tools. But I'm not going to another platform. (See below).
@snowmoer - excellent suggestion, but if you were to wander the aisles of a store like Hartville Hardware you might get the same reaction I get. They stock and show EVERY tool made by Milwaukee, Makita, Ryobi, etc. Their selection is e-normous. (Yeah, they sell Stihl and John Deere too). The sheer number of throwaway tools stirs something not good in me. just my reaction.
@mello dude - good video, but I find his 'tests' a bit simplistic. There is no best anything unless you define that word. I still think my gas powered saws outperform the two batt saws I've used - Sirbike's greenworks and my friend's Makita. Both of these men have a bucket load of batteries, but for cutting down a medium sized tree and bucking it into rounds for firewood, my MS250 outperforms them. And it is not a throwaway.
There is a LOT to chainsaws, as I've learned. ICE models generally have a larger selection of bars (gauges and lengths) and a wider selection of chains - though to be honest I've not searched for alternatives to the OEM bars or chains on that Greenworks or Makita. And in my somewhat limited experience, few homeowners know how to properly sharpen a chain or maintain the saw. This is not really an issue for limited homeowner use - just buy a new chain.
I was surprised at the selection and obsolescence of Stihl batt saws. I am considering a lightly used model identical to Sirbike's...and I'm also following a thread on another forum by a guy who makes battery packs for Makita, Milwaukee, and other brands of battery tools.
