(Dis)Advantages to using battery powered chainsaws

[Hayden Goseek]

Here's my problem(s)
I have a Milwaukee drill motor with a M-12 battery. Recently it stopped working and I THINK the battery charger is defunct. It is old but it WAS running well before it wasn't.

I would like to get a Milwaukee circular saw (M-12). I don't do a lot of projects and I retired from construction long ago. (My Skill HD77 worm drive was a bear but it gave up the ghost also.)

Questions;
Should I try to buy a charger off Amazon to charge the drill motor battery?
Should I just try to get a sale on a drill motor / saw combo. (@$300)
Should I get the 7 1/4 or is the 6 1/2 enough?

 

[Hayden Goseek]

Also, I once saw a YouTube of a guy building a huge chicken run made of 1/2 hardware cloth, but he was using a heavy duty staple gun. I don't remember the brand or even if it was corded, battery or pneumatic. With one of those I could build coops until I ran out of money. (And no purple fingers.)

 

[sdm111]

Also, I once saw a YouTube of a guy building a huge chicken run made of 1/2 hardware cloth, but he was using a heavy duty staple gun. I don't remember the brand or even if it was corded, battery or pneumatic. With one of those I could build coops until I ran out of money. (And no purple fingers.)

I use an air brad/staple gun. Makes quick works for hardware cloth. My wife has an electric staple gun and it's not all that great. It doesn't have the power to send staples deep in dense wood and the staples are thin and rot out

 

[sdm111]

Here's my problem(s)
I have a Milwaukee drill motor with a M-12 battery. Recently it stopped working and I THINK the battery charger is defunct. It is old but it WAS running well before it wasn't.

I would like to get a Milwaukee circular saw (M-12). I don't do a lot of projects and I retired from construction long ago. (My Skill HD77 worm drive was a bear but it gave up the ghost also.)

Questions;
Should I try to buy a charger off Amazon to charge the drill motor battery?
Should I just try to get a sale on a drill motor / saw combo. (@$300)
Should I get the 7 1/4 or is the 6 1/2 enough?

If the charger or batteries went out I don't think the other woukd be too far behind it. Buy a new charger and in a few weeks the batteries go. 6.5 is fine for ordinary woodworking but I would be concerned if the torque of the smaller one could survive as well as the 7.25

 

[gtaus]

Let me see if I can pump some life back into this thread.

In that spirit, I will add a few things I have done with my battery powered tools since my last post. First of all, I recently purchased a second Ryobi 40v 14-inch chainsaw (tool only) at my local Home Depot. I was in the store a few weeks ago and saw that these were on Clearance. A few months ago, this Ryobi 40v 14-inch chainsaw (tool only) was selling for $229.00. It was now marked down for Clearance at $115.00.

Here is a picture of the complete kit, with battery and charger, but I got the tool only chainsaw without the battery and charger. I already have 3 40v batteries and chargers, so additional batteries and chargers were not essential for me.

I have been really happy with my Ryobi 40v 14-inch chainsaw, but my 5-year warranty on my original chainsaw ran out this summer. I have 3 acres of wooded property and need to have working chainsaws all the time to cut down dead trees, diseased trees, trees that get blown down in a storm, etc...

So, I was thinking that if my current chainsaw should die on me, it would have to be replaced at whatever the current price of chainsaws was at that time. To make things even better, I got an additional 10% military discount on the purchase, bringing the price down to $103.50. If I had to go out and buy a new chainsaw within the next 5 years, I am sure it would be more than $103.50 that I could get this chainsaw for on clearance now.

More or less, I considered this purchase as buying a 5-year warranty on an item that I know I will use and paying only $20 per year for a guaranteed working machine. Add to that, having 2 working chainsaws within the same battery platform means I will only be using either of my chainsaws half as much as normal, and maybe they will last twice as long?

Bonus Upgrade!

Ryobi now has 40v chainsaws in longer 16-, 18- and 20-inch models. Of course, they are more expensive. But they all have a 40v motor which takes the same Ryobi batteries. So, I contacted Ryobi Customer Tech Support and asked them if there was any difference between the 40v motors in these chainsaws, or if I could just upgrade my 14-inch bar to a longer bar. I got a response back from them that I could upgrade to a longer bar without any problems!

Now, a 14-inch chainsaw is more than enough for most of the work I have to do around the house. But if I have to cut down a tree, a longer bar would really be nice.

Last fall, I purchased a Tri-Link 18-inch bar and chain combo on Clearance for about $6.00 - crazy good deal. I did not even have a use for it at the time, but a good deal like that I could not pass up. Anyways, I am going to put the 18-inch bar and chain combo on my new Ryobi chainsaw. For about $110.00 investment, I have almost a $300.00 equivalent chainsaw!

Just to show you how good of a deal I got on the bar and chain combo for $6.00 on Clearance, here is a current listing...

Well, I hope that long post did not kill the thread, but it's an update from my last postings.

 

[gtaus]

I have a Milwaukee drill motor with a M-12 battery. Recently it stopped working and I THINK the battery charger is defunct. It is old but it WAS running well before it wasn't.

Do you have any other batteries or tools in that M-12 line? If you do, you could determine if the charger failed, the battery went bad, or the tool died.

Questions;
Should I try to buy a charger off Amazon to charge the drill motor battery?
Should I just try to get a sale on a drill motor / saw combo. (@$300)
Should I get the 7 1/4 or is the 6 1/2 enough?

Buying another tool or tool kit in your line tool line is a great option if you need/want additional tools. Keeping everything in the same family of batteries saves you money. I am not too familiar with the M-12 line of tools, but if they are still supported, you might find a good deal especially as we come up to Black Friday sales in November.

I would only buy a charger off Amazon if you knew that is only what you need or want. If Amazon is not an authorized seller of Milwaukee tools, you might be buying used products or new tools without any warranty support. I know Ryboi does not support tools bought from Amazon. You have to buy Ryobi tools from Home Depot to get their warranty.

My main circular saw I use is my first small 5-1/2 inch old blue Ryobi saw. It's small and lightweight but big enough to cut apart all the pallets and pallet wood I can throw at it. I also have a newer 6-1/2 inch saw and a brushless 7-1/4 inch saw. All those circular saws use my Ryobi 18v batteries. In general, I would suggest getting a 7-1/4 inch saw so you can use standard blades sold everywhere. You will have a much better selection of 7-1/4 saw blades than the other smaller sizes. If I was going to buy only one saw, I'd pay a little more money for the bigger 7-1/4 saw and have many more options. Having said that, I use my 5-1/2 inch most of the time because it's all I usually need.

 

[Hayden Goseek]

Do you have any other batteries or tools in that M-12 line? If you do, you could determine if the charger failed, the battery went bad, or the tool died.



Buying another tool or tool kit in your line tool line is a great option if you need/want additional tools. Keeping everything in the same family of batteries saves you money. I am not too familiar with the M-12 line of tools, but if they are still supported, you might find a good deal especially as we come up to Black Friday sales in November.

I would only buy a charger off Amazon if you knew that is only what you need or want. If Amazon is not an authorized seller of Milwaukee tools, you might be buying used products or new tools without any warranty support. I know Ryboi does not support tools bought from Amazon. You have to buy Ryobi tools from Home Depot to get their warranty.

My main circular saw I use is my first small 5-1/2 inch old blue Ryobi saw. It's small and lightweight but big enough to cut apart all the pallets and pallet wood I can throw at it. I also have a newer 6-1/2 inch saw and a brushless 7-1/4 inch saw. All those circular saws use my Ryobi 18v batteries. In general, I would suggest getting a 7-1/4 inch saw so you can use standard blades sold everywhere. You will have a much better selection of 7-1/4 saw blades than the other smaller sizes. If I was going to buy only one saw, I'd pay a little more money for the bigger 7-1/4 saw and have many more options. Having said that, I use my 5-1/2 inch most of the time because it's all I usually need.

Come to think of it, I don't have any other m-12 tools. I may consider another line.
I always used Makita when I was in business, (HVAC control contractor) and I was very pleased with it. I was at one of the Pawn Shops today and they had 'new' Makita circular saws, 7 3/4" w/ 2 batteries, charger and bag for $200.
I'm glad you said something about the standard blades, I hadn't considered that.
As long as I can slice through a 2X4" I'm good.

 

[gtaus]

Also, I once saw a YouTube of a guy building a huge chicken run made of 1/2 hardware cloth, but he was using a heavy duty staple gun. I don't remember the brand or even if it was corded, battery or pneumatic. With one of those I could build coops until I ran out of money. (And no purple fingers.)

I have a nice small Ryobi 18v power stapler that uses standard ARROW T50 staples...

I use that for many things. I even used it staple some 2X4 inch fencing to a trellis I made for the raised bed. Worked really good for that stuff.

For heavier duty use, I would suggest something like this Harbor Freight pneumatic nailer/stapler which can shoot longer staples and brad nails....

Obviously, you pay a lot extra for the convenience for a battery powered tool whereas the pneumatic nailer/stapler has more fastener options at a lower cost. Well, a lower cost only if you already have a compressor and air hose.

 

[gtaus]

I use an air brad/staple gun. Makes quick works for hardware cloth. My wife has an electric staple gun and it's not all that great. It doesn't have the power to send staples deep in dense wood and the staples are thin and rot out

Well, I don't have many complaints about my Ryobi 18v stapler, but the ARROW T50 staples are not all that heavy duty. You can buy rust free staples but they cost 3X as much as the regular staples. And, my 18v staple gun is limited to 9/16 staples at most. My 18v stapler has a dial to increase the driving force of the stapler. I have never had a problem sinking my staples deep into the wood.

There are more options and better fasteners for the pneumatic brad/staple guns. That's a big advantage. But you are tethered to an air hose and compressor. Not a big deal for projects in the garage, but out in the field, I always pick up my battery tools.

 

[DLA]

I have a 12" Stihl battery powered chain saw that I've had for years. It's still going strong and I've never had to replace the batteries or the charger so far (knock on wood). Does a pretty good job, can't complain.