battery powered chainsaw

[stockdoct]

I've never bought a chainsaw before. And I'm a clutz, and my wife will divorce me if I buy a terrifyingly loud, 16" gas powered chainsaw powerful enough to cut my arm off in the accident I'm destined to have.

So I bought a Remington battery-powered chainsaw. My daughter says its the only "gay" chainsaw in the world, a tiny but easy-to-manage 8" arm and powered by a rechargeable battery. She's embarrassed her father owns one.

But I think its kinda cool. Cuts very gently, so I don't expect a major accident. Battery charges in 3-4 hours and gives (continuous) maybe 15 minutes of cutting time. It advertises "150 1 1/2 inch logs per charge" but who-the-hell cuts 1 1/2 inch logs??? I found I can cut about (10-12) 6-8 inch diameter logs per charge, which is just great for scrounging downed limbs, etc.
No cord, no gasoline, barely any noise. Costs 5 cents of electricity to charge it up.

It's not the chainsaw for most guys, but I'm kinda impressed.

Mike

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I think your daughter is cool.

I'm pretty sure I'd be frustrated in about 14.5 minutes or after my 149th 1 1/2 inch "log".

Matt

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I've never bought a chainsaw before. And I'm a clutz, and my wife will divorce me if I buy a terrifyingly loud, 16" gas powered chainsaw powerful enough to cut my arm off in the accident I'm destined to have.

So I bought a Remington battery-powered chainsaw. My daughter says its the only "gay" chainsaw in the world, a tiny but easy-to-manage 8" arm and powered by a rechargeable battery. She's embarrassed her father owns one.

But I think its kinda cool. Cuts very gently, so I don't expect a major accident. Battery charges in 3-4 hours and gives (continuous) maybe 15 minutes of cutting time. It advertises "150 1 1/2 inch logs per charge" but who-the-hell cuts 1 1/2 inch logs??? I found I can cut about (10-12) 6-8 inch diameter logs per charge, which is just great for scrounging downed limbs, etc.
No cord, no gasoline, barely any noise. Costs 5 cents of electricity to charge it up.

It's not the chainsaw for most guys, but I'm kinda impressed.

Mike

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

 

[JayD]

Probably work good for the Thanksgiving day turkey hh:

 

[bsruther]

If it works for you, tha's all that matters.

 

[pinewoodburner]

I've never bought a chainsaw before. And I'm a clutz, and my wife will divorce me if I buy a terrifyingly loud, 16" gas powered chainsaw powerful enough to cut my arm off in the accident I'm destined to have.

You don't want an electric chainsaw if you are accident prone, the chainsaw chaps don't work with electric saws because of the torque they make. Chainsaws are dangerous. Respect them.

 

[Valhalla]

Cut safely with all power saws! Do not underestimate the injury a saw can inflict.

 

[stockdoct]

[/quote]
You don't want an electric chainsaw if you are accident prone, the chainsaw chaps don't work with electric saws because of the torque they make. Chainsaws are dangerous. Respect them.[/quote]

Tell me more about this. I realize an 8" cutting arm will wear out quickly, so I was thinking about buying an electric chainsaw for the garage, and keeping the 8" mini for scrounging out and about .... what is the concerns with a corded, electric chainsaw?

 

[Bigg_Redd]

If it's sharp enough and powerful enough to cut firewood it's definitely strong enough to cut the sh_t out of you. Also, the assumption that quiet = safe is childish. Get a real saw and use it carefully.

 

[MotoBoyMatt]

You don't want an electric chainsaw if you are accident prone, the chainsaw chaps don't work with electric saws because of the torque they make. Chainsaws are dangerous. Respect them.[/quote]

Tell me more about this. I realize an 8" cutting arm will wear out quickly, so I was thinking about buying an electric chainsaw for the garage, and keeping the 8" mini for scrounging out and about .... what is the concerns with a corded, electric chainsaw?[/quote]

It has to do with the torque curves of an electric motor vs. a gas engine. Generally speaking the torque of a gas engine decreases as rpm decreases but the torque of an electric motor increases as rpm decreases. What this means in real terms is that as the chaps shred and start to jam the chain the electric saw will "pull" harder and harder making it more difficult stall the saw. Also electric chainsaws are direct drive and have no clutch to slip/disengage at lower rpms again making it harder to completely stop the electric saw.

 

[johnsopi]

I hate to say this but that a funny thought. Chaps, hardhat,boots and a 8" battery powered chainsaw.

 

[Beanscoot]

The battery powered saw sounds like it would be handy to have in the trunk of the car for when you came across some large branches pruned and left on the boulevard, or wanted to do some pruning in a tree.

I would imagine it would get pretty frustrating to use it to cut up a large amount of firewood, because of the short battery life.

I have a gas saw and an electric 14" saw, which I prefer for cutting up stuff in my driveway as it's not so loud and starts every time! I did recently wreck an electric though, the problem is that I sharpened it and sawed very heavily into the logs. It cut beautifully for a few minutes but then the smoke came out....

 

[Fod01]

I've got a 1/4 acre in Suburbia....with 30 adult oak and maple trees. A couple years ago I picked up a Remington electric polesaw. There was a sale, and I had a gift certificate. The power head doubles as a light duty chainsaw. Good for limbs, and cutting those too-long splits into 2 pieces. For the big stuff I yell for dad, and he comes over with the 30yr old Homelite. Dont know if I'd go for a battery powered saw. I'm on my second set of Ryobi batteries for my drill/light/saw combo, and they are fading fast... about $40 for 1 battery. Cheaper to by a new combo!

 

[stockdoct]

I know I'm not ready for a Stihl or a major chainsaw yet --- but I did end up giggling at how impotent the battery-powered saw is. So I bought a Remington electric 16" at Menards and have cut about 30 logs I've scrounged, 14-16" diameter. I'm using ear protection, eye protection, but no chaps or boots yet.

The Remington battery powered saw is still handy, though; I keep it in my truck, and when I'm out driving and see a roadside limb down, it comes in handy. And with my inverter, I can re-charge it in my cigarette lighter.

 

[Brian VT]

I have a Ryobi 18v for the odd cut here and there. Nothing wrong with it and a good, safe, choice for small awkward cuts or if you've had a few cocktails.
Electric (plug in) saws scare me a lot more than gas saws. Be safe when running it and don't ever get to thinking you're running a toy like the rechargable.

Funny you wear ear protection. The quiet is the best part about the electrics. Don't bother with chaps for that saw. Boots are good...steel toes even better.

 

[stockdoct]

Mine is really, REALLY loud.