Are cordless electric chainsaws any good?

[trevarthan]

I made this video comparing my Stihl farm boss to a Greenworks Pro saw to find out:

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TL;DR I think the Greenworks saw is great around the house, but I probably won't be selling my gas saw either.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

You did put the cordless saw up against perhaps one of the best gas powered chainsaws on the planet so all things being equal !

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

You did put the cordless saw up against perhaps one of the best gas powered chainsaws on the planet so all things being equal !

?? Farmboss is not very powerful for it's displacement or weight. Yes, it does have a reputation for reliability and getting the job done but it's not nearly the best on the planet unless you disqualify all the pro saws.

I like the concept of battery electric saws but not for big jobs, better for limbing, pruning, carving, and jobs with a lot of dinking around. Certainly turning the 16" hardwood log into rounds was interesting but perhaps not the beast measure of utility. I do wish the video included a couple of cuts in real time, it was very hard to tell how fast each saw was cutting in "chipmunk" time.

 

[trevarthan]

?? Farmboss is not very powerful for it's displacement or weight. Yes, it does have a reputation for reliability and getting the job done but it's not nearly the best on the planet unless you disqualify all the pro saws.

I like the concept of battery electric saws but not for big jobs, better for limbing, pruning, carving, and jobs with a lot of dinking around. Certainly turning the 16" hardwood log into rounds was interesting but perhaps not the beast measure of utility. I do wish the video included a couple of cuts in real time, it was very hard to tell how fast each saw was cutting in "chipmunk" time.

It's that fine line between boring people and giving people all the info they want. I should have started a stopwatch before each cut. That would have helped.

My feeling was that the electric cut a little slower, but not so much slower that it bothered me. The reduced vibration and noise won out over raw speed imo.

 

[trevarthan]

It's that fine line between boring people and giving people all the info they want. I should have started a stopwatch before each cut. That would have helped.

My feeling was that the electric cut a little slower, but not so much slower that it bothered me. The reduced vibration and noise won out over raw speed imo.

Maybe I'll do another video, timing the cuts, and comparing the speed of the safety chain vs an Oregon bar and chain.

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

Maybe I'll do another video, timing the cuts, and comparing the speed of the safety chain vs an Oregon bar and chain.

I don't know if I would go that far - it will never be definitive because chains vary in sharpness, even new ones. But it would be nice just to watch it make a couple of cuts in real time to get a general impression.

 

[TreePointer]

Maybe I'll do another video, timing the cuts, and comparing the speed of the safety chain vs an Oregon bar and chain.

If you ever do, I suggest simply cutting "cookies" off the end of the same log. When we watch the YouTube video, we'll be able to note the time.

 

[johneh]

I get a heck of a lot more cuts on harder larger wood with my stihl saws .
If I only got 5 cuts per fuel charge I would buy my wood processed
An electric saw is not my cup of tea may be good for light trimming
around the house but I can see where you need it and the battery is dead
from just sitting .

 

[trevarthan]

An electric saw is not my cup of tea may be good for light trimming
around the house but I can see where you need it and the battery is dead
from just sitting .

I think you're thinking of the older nimh and nicd tech. Lithium loses energy while sitting very very slowly. Even if it was dead when you needed it (like my nimh wireless mic batteries sometimes when I want to shoot a video), just pop it on the charger for 30 minutes and you're ready to go.

I'm not sure what to tell you about the gas saw only getting 5 cuts to a tank. I've always felt like my gas chainsaw drinks it, but it's supposed to be one of the more efficient saws on the market. I don't think 2 cycle engines are very fuel efficient.

 

[TJ1]

My battery Echo will never replace my larger gas saws. But the Echo is the one I grab when I need to cut something around our property. It gets more cutting time than the other two put together.
Now, when a tree is down and the mission is to get it cut up in rounds then the gas saws come out. But the Echo can't be beat for convenience.

 

[johneh]

Just to see I went out to the wood yard pulled 6 20 ft logs off the pile
they ranged from 21 in across to 12 in across 4 white oak 2 sugar maple
cut last winter .
Filled the little saw stihi 025 it turns 21 this year
Cut till it ran out of fuel made 88 cuts right throw
2 more cuts and I would have finished all 6 logs
with today's price of fuel If I only made 5 cuts with
a full tank I would buy my wood processed rather
than bust my butt doing my own

 

[Prof]

I get a heck of a lot more cuts on harder larger wood with my stihl saws .
If I only got 5 cuts per fuel charge I would buy my wood processed
An electric saw is not my cup of tea may be good for light trimming
around the house but I can see where you need it and the battery is dead
from just sitting .

I agree, I would have easily cut up a tree that size with either of my saws, and probably would have a good bit of gas in the tank. I think the electrics are going in the right direction, they just aren't there yet.

 

[trevarthan]

Just to see I went out to the wood yard pulled 6 20 ft logs off the pile
they ranged from 21 in across to 12 in across 4 white oak 2 sugar maple
cut last winter .
Filled the little saw stihi 025 it turns 21 this year
Cut till it ran out of fuel made 88 cuts right throw
2 more cuts and I would have finished all 6 logs
with today's price of fuel If I only made 5 cuts with
a full tank I would buy my wood processed rather
than bust my butt doing my own

You made 88 cross cuts through 12 to 21 inch wood with a single tank; using a fraction of a gallon of gas?

What's going on here? How is your saw able to perform 17 times as many cuts as mine?

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

What's going on here? How is your saw able to perform 17 times as many cuts as mine?

There are a lot of possible reasons one saw might be more efficient than the other:

Engine size (your saw has 25% more displacement).
Chain type. I couldn't see what kind of chain you had but a sharp full chisel will be more efficient than a sharp semi-chisel. Anti-kickback chains have more drag than standard chains.
Chain grind. I noticed your Stihl produced lots of fine powder. You said it was freshly sharpened but you might need to lower your rakers. It could also be the cutters are filed to different lengths. This will make the longer teeth do most of the work and is inefficient.
Chain tightness. I noticed your chain got hot after one cut. That's likely due to a chain that's too tight. You should be able to spin the chain with a gloved hand and it should coast a little after you get it going.
Cutting style. Your log was in the grass which resulted in a lot more dinking around in the cut.
Idle time. I noticed you shut the saw off after each cut. No work is being done when starting/idling but fuel is being burnt.
Fuel fill level. Some people fill their tanks more full than others.
Wood density. I noticed you cut through a number of large knots/branches. That slows the saw down.
State of engine tune. Your saw was difficult to start. It might be too rich which wastes fuel.
Fuel quality. Some fuel requires the mixture screw be set more rich. Your fuel will run out sooner.

I suspect, given the very small amount of cutting accomplished/tank (and the video evidence) that more than half of these factors were at play. Also, your saw holds almost 20% more fuel than a 025.

 

[trevarthan]

There are a lot of possible reasons one saw might be more efficient than the other:

Engine size (your saw has 25% more displacement).
Chain type. I couldn't see what kind of chain you had but a sharp full chisel will be more efficient than a sharp semi-chisel. Anti-kickback chains have more drag than standard chains.
Chain grind. I noticed your Stihl produced lots of fine powder. You said it was freshly sharpened but you might need to lower your rakers. It could also be the cutters are filed to different lengths. This will make the longer teeth do most of the work and is inefficient.
Chain tightness. I noticed your chain got hot after one cut. That's likely due to a chain that's too tight. You should be able to spin the chain with a gloved hand and it should coast a little after you get it going.
Cutting style. Your log was in the grass which resulted in a lot more dinking around in the cut.
Idle time. I noticed you shut the saw off after each cut. No work is being done when starting/idling but fuel is being burnt.
Fuel fill level. Some people fill their tanks more full than others.
Wood density. I noticed you cut through a number of large knots/branches. That slows the saw down.
State of engine tune. Your saw was difficult to start. It might be too rich which wastes fuel.
Fuel quality. Some fuel requires the mixture screw be set more rich. Your fuel will run out sooner.

I suspect, given the very small amount of cutting accomplished/tank (and the video evidence) that more than half of these factors were at play. Also, your saw holds almost 20% more fuel than a 025.

The Stihl in the video has a semi chisel chain, not safety chain. I use one of those angled wheel grinders designed for chainsaw chain to sharpen it. The teeth are all the same length as the wheel grinder has a jig to lock each tooth down before grinding. I think in the future I may use the jig less and use my files more as I feel like the grinder wastes far too much tooth material, but that's a different story.

I also noticed the fine powder and scratched my head over that. I checked the raker height before filming. I used the jig that comes with the Stihl file sharpening kit. Seemed to be the correct height. I couldn't file any material off the top of the raker with the jig installed.

It's possible the chain is too tight. I'll be honest... I find a lot of conflicting information about how to properly tighten a chain online. The chain rotates freely and is easy to rotate, but there is no way it coasts when spun by hand. I'm not sure that is possible. I tighten it so it doesn't snap back onto my 18" bar when I pluck it from below, but the teeth still engage the bar.

The wood appears to be red oak now that I've split some of it. I originally said it was butternut in the video, but I was wrong. It's pretty dense.

It's entirely possible my fuel mixture is wrong. I haven't touched it since I bought the saw five years ago. Any tips or guides on properly tuning the mixture?

Again, my saw usually starts on the first pull. I'm not sure what happened with that pull in the video. I just kept it because ... chit happens with gas saws sometimes and I wanted to highlight that.

 

[trevarthan]

The Stihl in the video has a semi chisel chain, not safety chain. I use one of those angled wheel grinders designed for chainsaw chain to sharpen it. The teeth are all the same length as the wheel grinder has a jig to lock each tooth down before grinding. I think in the future I may use the jig less and use my files more as I feel like the grinder wastes far too much tooth material, but that's a different story.

I also noticed the fine powder and scratched my head over that. I checked the raker height before filming. I used the jig that comes with the Stihl file sharpening kit. Seemed to be the correct height. I couldn't file any material off the top of the raker with the jig installed.

It's possible the chain is too tight. I'll be honest... I find a lot of conflicting information about how to properly tighten a chain online. The chain rotates freely and is easy to rotate, but there is no way it coasts when spun by hand. I'm not sure that is possible. I tighten it so it doesn't snap back onto my 18" bar when I pluck it from below, but the teeth still engage the bar.

The wood appears to be red oak now that I've split some of it. I originally said it was butternut in the video, but I was wrong. It's pretty dense.

It's entirely possible my fuel mixture is wrong. I haven't touched it since I bought the saw five years ago. Any tips or guides on properly tuning the mixture?

Again, my saw usually starts on the first pull. I'm not sure what happened with that pull in the video. I just kept it because ... chit happens with gas saws sometimes and I wanted to highlight that.

 

[johneh]

The 025 chain is a full chisel hand sharpened by
me about 20 logs before the test still very sharp.
I like my chains very sharp for faster cuts . the
reason I used the 025 is because it is older
and uses a richer mixture than the newer saws .

Tomorrow I will redo the test with my ms290
Bigger faster saw also has bigger fuel tank
and uses a leaner mixture it does go a lot
farther on a tank of fuel The chain is sharp
the saw has not been used sense the last time
it was sharpened . I will try to get some pictures

What's going on here? How is your saw able to perform 17 times as many cuts as mine?

After watching your movie and your saw One of your biggest
problems is your chain looks to be dull (Dust instead of chips )
also you seem to be forcing the saw to cut where as the weight
of my saw does the cutting considerable less operator fatigue that way

 

[trevarthan]

Assuming my chain tension is correct, I think the reason my bar gets hot is the anemic oiler on the ms290. I had it almost all the way up but the chain never seemed well oiled. Seems to be a common problem on these saws. I've opened up the oiler to max. I'll try a cut tomorrow and see if that helps with the heat build up.

Johneh... you did mean 88 cuts, not 8 cuts, right?

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

The Stihl in the video has a semi chisel chain, not safety chain. I use one of those angled wheel grinders designed for chainsaw chain to sharpen it. The teeth are all the same length as the wheel grinder has a jig to lock each tooth down before grinding.

Except the photo you posted is an anti-kickback safety chain.

There's too much sawdust on the teeth to tell for sure but it looks like the wheel grinder you're using is making the wrong radius. It's like it was filed with a file with too large a diameter. I'm not familiar with angled wheel grinders so I can't say whether the problem is the setup or the technique but the result isn't right!

I also noticed the fine powder and scratched my head over that. I checked the raker height before filming. I used the jig that comes with the Stihl file sharpening kit. Seemed to be the correct height. I couldn't file any material off the top of the raker with the jig installed.

It's possible the chain is too tight. I'll be honest... I find a lot of conflicting information about how to properly tighten a chain online. The chain rotates freely and is easy to rotate, but there is no way it coasts when spun by hand. I'm not sure that is possible. I tighten it so it doesn't snap back onto my 18" bar when I pluck it from below, but the teeth still engage the bar.

If the chain tension is correct, I would look for other problems. My almost new 261 C-M coasts 4-6 inches when I spin the chain with my gloved hand and my 20 year old, well used 026 spins a bit further than that. You can use feeler gauges to check the width of the bar groove. If it's been pinched it might have a tight spot (which could explain why your bar became hot).

It's entirely possible my fuel mixture is wrong. I haven't touched it since I bought the saw five years ago. Any tips or guides on properly tuning the mixture?

I've seen some good tutorials online but I didn't save a link to them. Maybe someone else has a link.

In a nutshell:

Use a new air filter or one that has been well vacuumed. Make sure the saw has been used long enough to be at normal temperature. Basically, the high speed jet is turned leaner until rpm's rise and the unloaded, full throttle saw is two-stroking. Then turn it back richer until it starts to four-stroke. When loaded in the cut it should two-stroke again. This can be accomplished without holding it wide-open, unloaded for anything but a second or so. As soon as you hear the rpm's go really high you know it's two-stroking so you don't need to hold it there at peak rpm's to make sure. Just trust your ear and then back the screw CC about 1/8 or slightly more of a turn and make sure it four-strokes at full throttle (except when it's loaded in the wood). Good to go.

 

[trevarthan]

Except the photo you posted is an anti-kickback safety chain.

Gah. You're right. Looks like an RM3? I looked it up before the video since it had been years since I bought it and the safety chain picture I saw didn't look like that. I see I just didn't search hard enough though.

There's too much sawdust on the teeth to tell for sure but it looks like the wheel grinder you're using is making the wrong radius. It's like it was filed with a file with too large a diameter. I'm not familiar with angled wheel grinders so I can't say whether the problem is the setup or the technique but the result isn't right!

I sharpened it at a 35 degree angle, then 30. The wheel also may be the wrong size. I'm not sure how to check, but I'll see if I can figure it out.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

I bought the Greenworks 40V model about a year ago. Have not regretted it so far.
I like that saw a lot. Also got a second battery for it at the outset. Makes a big
difference to have a fully charged spare on hand at all times- though I have only
rarely gone into the second one in any one cutting session. No, I won't sell my gas
saws either, but it sure is handy to have this one in the car with me. I can cut up
branches and small stuff 'on the fly'. It's a real quiet running saw, too- as you might
expect. This thing is not all that wimpy. It powers through pretty big logs, and does
not bog down when noodling the full length of a round, cutting through a crotch.
I am favorably impressed with the cutting time I'm getting off of a fully charged
battery. Recharges pretty darned quick. This is way better battery tech than the
old NiCd types. And I love that these things have no battery memory. Run them
down as far as you care to- half one time, three quarters next time... in every case
they are going to recharge fully and not complain. Batteries seem to hold a charge
for months. Nothing like NiCd. Seems like this saw is a keeper, so far...

 

[johneh]

88 and was about though 89 when saw ran out of fuel

 

[mtarbert]

Maybe I'll do another video, timing the cuts, and comparing the speed of the safety chain vs an Oregon bar and chain.

Next video....Make the Cuts 2 inches from each other Parallel . Log should be same diameter

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

Gah. You're right. Looks like an RM3? I looked it up before the video since it had been years since I bought it and the safety chain picture I saw didn't look like that. I see I just didn't search hard enough though.

While on the subject of bar/chain efficiency, your electric saw will become more efficient (longer battery run time) as the bar/chain break in. Also, a few charge/discharge cycles might increase battery capacity a bit. Don't forget to keep the bar/chain oil reservoir filled! I hear it's easy to forget with an electric saw!

I sharpened it at a 35 degree angle, then 30. The wheel also may be the wrong size. I'm not sure how to check, but I'll see if I can figure it out.

That's good but it looks like you will need to remove a fair bit of material to get it back into shape. The gullets need to be cut deeper, but smaller, to create a sharper angle on the top of the cutters.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Iv got 2 electrics ,a 12 and a 18in and NO gas powered saws or battery powered saws at the moment. Any job too big for those ill hire out. Quit using gas powered saws years ago. I know thats not practical for most of you full time burners but it works for me.