(Dis)Advantages to using battery powered chainsaws

[Artichoke Lover]

My concern with battery powered chainsaws is that here in the south most is that we usually use our chainsaws the most after severe storms or tornadoes. When the power is out... This makes it pretty much impossible to recharge. Plus the trees that fall around here are often large hardwoods that need the trunks cut in several pieces to be removed from roads or off of houses or cars in order to make way for emergency services to reach the area or when assisting with clean up in an area that may not have power for days or weeks after a storm.

 

[gtaus]

By the time those batteries are drained it's lunch time anyhow, so it's fine with me that they aren't going to last more than a couple of hours.

Pretty much my life, too. I am often exhausted from work before my batteries on the tools need to be recharged!

 

[gtaus]

My concern with battery powered chainsaws is that here in the south most is that we usually use our chainsaws the most after severe storms or tornadoes. When the power is out... This makes it pretty much impossible to recharge. Plus the trees that fall around here are often large hardwoods that need the trunks cut in several pieces to be removed from roads or off of houses or cars in order to make way for emergency services to reach the area or when assisting with clean up in an area that may not have power for days or weeks after a storm.

I hear you. I have many batteries on my power tool shelf that are always fully charged and ready to go. But, my 40v chainsaw has only 2 batteries, so they would not last very long before they would have to be recharged. If we had days with power, then my chainsaw would be worthless after about the first 25 minutes of use.

Having said that, last year I had a big tree fall across my driveway after a wind storm. My battery chainsaw had enough juice to get 2 cuts on the trunk, which allowed me to clear the driveway. It took me over a week to clear the remainder of the tree, cutting for about half an hour, and recharging my batteries for the next 3 hours (usually overnight).

IF I was concerned about days of electrical outage as a real possibility, I think I would buy a gas powered generator. That would recharge the batteries. Also, I have an 12v automobile charger for my 18v batteries, so I can plug that into my cigarette lighter/utility port in the car and recharge my tool batteries. I see a number of YouTube videos where people have emergency portable solar panels for recharging batteries.

 

[Hayden Goseek]

You have me thinking about battery chainsaws again. They're not going to do a BIG job but most jobs are small. ( I wonder if a battery sawsall would work for a lot of those?)
I have lost so many chainsaw and generators engines to 'varnish' in carberator ports!
I broke down and got an electric mower for my small yard and I love it.

 

[gtaus]

I'm still working on cutting up that large tree that I felled the other day. Yesterday, when I was out there bucking up the tree trunk, my 4.0 Ah battery went dead in a very short time - like maybe only 10 minutes.

I put the battery on the charger, but it was too hot to charge. When the battery cooled down, I notice that there were still 2 bars, out of 4, on the battery. So, what I learned is that the battery overheated and shut itself down to protect itself.

With that knowledge in mind, today I would cut a bit with one battery, and then swap out the other battery for a few more cuts. In that way, I was able to fully drain both batteries before they overheated, and I suspect I got maybe 50% more work out of them by swapping them out every few minutes. By the time both batteries were dead, they were truly drained all the way down and not just shut off due to overheating. Live and learn.

Another advantage to swapping out the batteries to prevent an overheating shut down, is that the batteries will take less time to cool down before the chargers will start recharging the batteries.

Normally, I'm only trimming up branches that fall to the ground after a windstorm. My little 40v chainsaw can do that a very long time and not overheat. The batteries stay relatively cool when stopping and starting all the time when trimming. However, cutting up a 20 inch trunk, with constant running and no stopping, will overheat the batteries pretty fast. Obviously, a 14 inch 40v chainsaw is probably not the best choice for cutting up a 20 inch tree trunk, but I wanted to see how it would perform on that job and I have been learning how better to use my 40v batteries and chainsaw on a bigger job.

 

[gtaus]

You have me thinking about battery chainsaws again. They're not going to do a BIG job but most jobs are small. ( I wonder if a battery sawsall would work for a lot of those?)

Yep, around the house, most of my chainsaw worthy jobs are indeed very small. A battery powered chainsaw is an excellent choice for yard clean up after a storm. At least, that is what I have found.

For years I just used my battery powered reciprocating saw with a 9 inch pruning blade. That works great for most branches 3 inches of less. I have even cut as much as a 6 inch branch, but that takes my recip saw to the limit. I still use my recip saw with prunning blade more than I use my battery powered chainsaws. However, it's a matter of matching the tool to the job.

I have lost so many chainsaw and generators engines to 'varnish' in carberator ports!

My problem, too. I live in northern Minnesota, and for half the year my yard equipment sits in the shed. The gas we have today is of very poor quality and if there is anything left in the tank, or carb, it's just about 100% going to gum up everything, causing problems with normal running operation.

My battery powered yard equipment last much longer and requires practically no maintenance. Replacing a battery is still cheaper than replacing a fouled carb. Our shop rates are about $100 buck per hour, and that does not include the price of new parts if needed.

I broke down and got an electric mower for my small yard and I love it.

I have 2 Ryobi 18v 16 inch mowers which I use close to the house and in areas where I cannot mow with my riding mowers. I have 3 acres of land, so I still do most of my work with my riding mowers, but I really like the battery powered mowers for those areas that my big riding mowers cannot get to. My battery mowers are about 7-8 years old and still run great. Never need any maintenance. When I used gas powered push mowers and trimmers, they would only last a few years before gumming up the carb and no longer run. I got real tired of replacing those gas powered engines every 2-3 years. Battery powered equipment works much better for me on most things.

 

[gtaus]

I added some pictures to my initial post, but will repeat them here because I think some people might not see them at the start of the thread.

Here is a picture of the tree trunk that I felled. It was 19 inches across. I measured it.

You can see a portion of the trunk here. I already cut about half of it up into rounds.

Here is a picture of some of the rounds I already cut off the main trunk. Boy, are they heavy!

The reason you don't see more branches in these photos is that the top half of the tree broke off and fell down last summer when we had a big wind storm. So, I had already cleaned up the top half of the tree last year. This was the bottom half of the tree that I cut down and there were not many branches to deal with.

 

[aart]

Interesting to read ALL this.
Am very close to buying a battery chainsaw, hoping I can find one that fits my EGO weed whacker battery(56V, 2.5ah). They used to change the battery slots on all battery power tools every year or two, so you couldn't just buy a new battery, not sure that's still the case but I sure hope not.
I would never expect it do to larger jobs as shown in the first post here, but have a bunch of 4" branches down all over the yards/fields. Too much for a hand saw(at least in my hands). My 16" Stihl has been sitting for several years, not even sure an overhaul would bring it back to life....and I wouldn't use it enough to warrant the fiddling to keep it running well.

Agrees the 25-45 minutes run times are plenty for my creaky old, stamina stifled body.

 

[gtaus]

Am very close to buying a battery chainsaw, hoping I can find one that fits my EGO weed whacker battery(56V, 2.5ah). They used to change the battery slots on all battery power tools every year or two, so you couldn't just buy a new battery, not sure that's still the case but I sure hope not.

I know EGO makes a battery powered chainsaw. As to the type of battery that fits it, I really don't know.

I would never expect it do to larger jobs as shown in the first post here, but have a bunch of 4" branches down all over the yards/fields. Too much for a hand saw(at least in my hands).

The battery powered chainsaws are great for those branches that are just a bit too big to deal with a manual saw. I mainly use my reciprocating saw with a pruning blade for just about everything under 3 inches, but take out the chainsaws when the branches get bigger.

My 16" Stihl has been sitting for several years, not even sure an overhaul would bring it back to life....and I wouldn't use it enough to warrant the fiddling to keep it running well.

I just took out my gas powered 16" Stihl chainsaw today, and gave it a good look over. Last time I used it, maybe 2 years ago, it ran fine for about 10 minutes, but then flooded out and I could not get it going again. I was told to check the air filter, because if it gets clogged, then you can flood the carb. So, I figured out how to remove the air filter and it did look pretty clogged. I'll be checking on a new air filter next time I go to town, but I also have to buy some pre-mixed 50:1 gas for it. I don't want to send it in to the shop, because I know the minimum tune up fee is about $100.00. Like you, I don't use it enough to put lots of money into it to keep it running well. I am much happier with dropping in a fresh battery in my other chainsaws and just get to cutting.

 

[gtaus]

Well, a bit of bad news. My 2.6 Ah battery died on me while cutting up rounds on this tree and it will not take a charge anymore. The battery is 5 years old and the warranty on them is just 3 years. So, I will have to replace it. There are YouTube videos on how to revive those batteries from the dead, because what happens is that the battery drains itself below the level of the charger to recognize the battery as good. I might give that a try, but the battery has lasted longer than the warranty period, so I really have nothing to complain about.

Even if I revived that old battery, I suspect that it does not have much life in it and would probably bottom out again. In general, when I buy these batteries, I write them off over their warranty period and if they last longer, then I am really happy. I got 5 years use out of a 3 year battery, so no complaints.

When I checked on my other battery, I discovered it went out of its 3 year warranty last month. So, I will be checking the Home Depot Father's Day ads when they come out for a 40v kit with battery(ies) that will work with my tools. Many times I have bought a Ryobi tool kit on those special sales and get both the tool and battery for less than the cost of the battery itself. That's when I make my purchases.

The disadvantage to these battery powered tools is that the batteries have a relatively short life. Because the batteries are so expensive, that is a disadvantage to these tools. However, I think of a battery as pre-buying all the gas I can use for the next 3 years. Since the same battery works on all my outdoor equipment, I am saving lots of money on gas for all those times I use my outdoor equipment.