Cordless Electric Chainsaw Recommendations

[Ollie McDottie]

Hello Everybody.

I'm looking at buying a cordless electric chainsaw for my newly acquired lathe addiction. Any thoughts?

The contenders seem to be Milwaukee, Ego, Dewalt. Based on my searching the web, I've come to understand the following:

Milwaukee been around the longest. Solid tool. A bit pricey. 2-year warranty.

Ego best battery. Comparable cutting. Good price. 5-year warranty.

Dewalt all round good choice, a little cheaper than Milwaukee. Not as good on battery. 2-year warranty.

I have had good experiences with all of these manufacturers. Any experiences and insights would be appreciated.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I used be be a solid yellow (DeWalt) fan, until I picked up my LiIon cordless DeWalt drill a few years back.
I also picked up a 12V Milwaukee impact driver/drill driver set.

The runout on the DeWalt is terrible. I checked my older NiCad DeWalts & they too had a bit of an issue with runout.

My 12 V Milwaukee & new 18V LiIon Makita drill/driver are all worlds better.

When I picked up the 36V cordless Makita track saw - it uses 2 - 18V batteries in series - I decided to convert all my cordless tools over to Makita.
I'd say - go with whatever you already have in the way of cordless - since - like ink jet printers & ink, cordless tools are just a fraction of the cost. The real expense is the batteries.

I guess what I'm saying here is - I no longer feel DeWalt is a premium brand....

BTW - I've had a couple corded electric chain saws in the past. Whatever you get, make sure it's something that has plenty of power - the more the better.
My corded electrics were - pretty wimpy...

[Rick Potter]

If you have other cordless tools, I would stick with that platform. I have 18V makita's so chose that chain saw, but haven't used it yet.

PS: I think it was Popular Mechanics that did a recent comparison of these a couple months back.

[Ollie McDottie]

If you have other cordless tools, I would stick with that platform. I have 18V makita's so chose that chain saw, but haven't used it yet.

PS: I think it was Popular Mechanics that did a recent comparison of these a couple months back.

I have both Milwaukee and Ego tools. So that makes no difference in helping me choose a platform.

Another friend just suggested the Echo chainsaw. Anybody have experiences with that one?

[Bill Carey]

I bought a Wen 16" 40V chainsaw for about 160 bucks, as I remember. Great tool for my occasional use. Good run time and cutting 12" logs was no problem. And it's the only chainsaw I've owned that does not leak chainsaw oil all over the place.

[Jim Becker]

Electric chain saws can be really handy...plug-in or battery. Just be sure that whichever you choose has a chain that you can actually find replacements for and not pay through the nose for them. I have an old Remmington plug-in with an 18" bar and it's come in handy for many things. I originally bought it as it could be used "in the shop" (turning purpose at that time like you mention) but it's even been used for "construction" purposes when building retaining walls out of 6x6 material, a little tree trimming when it was the safer option over my Stihl Farm Boss for whatever reason, etc. I agree with the comment that if you have existing battery powered tools, then something from the same brand that can use the same batteries is a very good choice to consider.

[Mark Carlson]

I got the dewalt because I have a lot of dewalt 20v batteries from blower and trimmer. The chainsaw is very easy to use for smaller jobs. I like it.

[Keith Outten]

Stihl now has a battery powered chain saw. There are YouTube videos available if your interested.

[Jim Dwight]

I checked into this thread because I have some small trees I need to deal with and I am concerned my old gas chain saw (McCullough) might have sat too long. I will use carberator cleaner on the carb and give it a try when I get around to it.

I have Milwaukee M12 and M18 batteries but I have more Ryobi batteries and tools. Recently I tried the M12 drill in installation of a lock and deadbolt and was surprised the overload kept tripping and it would not do it. So I had to grab one of my 18V Ryobi drills which drilled the holes with no complaint. Both were using 4 amp/hr batteries. I was surprised. The reviews on the Ryobi 40V chainsaw are also pretty good. But it would not be worth getting more batteries and chargers IMHO.

[Charles P. Wright]

I very much like the Dewalt 60V chainsaw. I've used it in a suburban yard, and it has suited me well. I've cut several trees about 10-12" in diameter, but I've also used it for firewood; where I've had to cut rounds that are closer to 16-18". I've never been disappointed in the runtime using a pair of the 6AH batteries. The 10" 7AMP electric corded pole/chain saw that I have doesn't hold a candle to it as far as power.

I have the Flexvolt battery platform for other things, which makes a difference.

[Malcolm McLeod]

I have both Milwaukee and Ego tools. So that makes no difference in helping me choose a platform.

Another friend just suggested the Echo chainsaw. Anybody have experiences with that one?

I have the Ego chainsaw. It was purchased because - as others recommend - I already had the batteries (w/ other Ego tools) and needed a chainsaw. It replaced a well-used 16" Poulan whose fuel system melted by sitting with ethanol fuel (:mad::mad: my bad!).

I would guess that Ego electric chainsaw cuts 20% slower than typical homeowner 2-strokes. If like me, you don't use a chainsaw much (1-2X a year for 15min each), I find the engines get brutally hard to start. So factor in quality cussing-time with a recoil start, and overall job time is about equal IMO.

When I had to take down ~30ft of 9-10"dia limb from a Hackberry, I was pleasantly surprised by Ego's power and torque. But keep it small - I would not recommend it for a full day of logging. The Hackberry from tree to firewood took 3 full batteries, and I ruined 1 of them trying to get blade out of a bind. Oops!

Fairly sure I got the battery too hot - - but now at least I have a sense of where their limits are. (Consider it a $175 exploratory lesson? ...or just another case of cerebral flatulence.)

...No experience with other electric saw models.

[Jim Barstow]

Be careful. Electric chain saws have more torque than gas. I use kevlar chaps when using my gas powered saw after I saw a demonstration on how fast they stopped the saw. The same demonstration with an electric saw showed that the chaps were ineffective due to the added torque of an electric motor.

You'd think a lower power saw wouldn't be as dangerous but that is not the case. I'm much safer with my Stihl gas saw than an electric.

[Tom M King]

Any chainsaw is only as good as the sharpness of the chain. Don't wait until it gets dull to sharpen it. Keep it sharp. It's much less work (using a gas saw as a reference)to hit each cutter two times, at every fillup, than to fight a dull chain, and then it requires 7 or 8 strokes the next time you file it. If you need to take the saw somewhere to get the chain sharpened, you might as well not have one.

Picture was already in the gallery here. This is an electric saw that I bought new in 1974. I wear protection if I'm running a good sized saw. The small ones, my main concern is keeping chips out of my shoes. I run this chain dry, so as not to throw oil inside the old houses.
420810

[Roger Feeley]

For cordless yard tools, I'm fond of the Ryobi One from HD. When we replaced our electric chainsaw, we went with corded because we just don't use them that often. I do have a Ryobi One pole chainsaw (6" bar) that's pretty darn handy.

[Bill Dufour]

The Husquvarna corded electric was highly rated now it is only battery power. No idea if their batteries interchange with anyone else.

[Donald Hofmann]

I have had Milwaukee tools since '05 when Ford gave me a set for free with the purchase of a Super Duty. Those were 18V nicad. They lasted about 4 years. I then bought Milwaukee retrofit lithium batts for them. They lasted about 5 or 6 years. I then moved over to the M18 line. All are good tools. I did wear out a 3/8" impact after about 6 years of use.
Year before last I got a good deal on a set of Dewalt tools. They all work good as well. I just bought new cordless Dewalt finish nailer, router, and sander.
So I am confident in either brand.

For the chainsaw I went with the Dewalt 20V 12". I carry it in my side by side for down trees on the trail. It works good