Bought my first battery operated chainsaw

[30WCF]

I already had Dewalt, so I keep a Dewalt battery saw close by. Rather than sorting through the wood pile since I changed stoves, I just bring whatever gets loaded up to the house. When I stack it on the porch I grab the battery saw and lop off a couple ends as needed. I think I knocked three or four ends off today. Most of the wood works with the smaller stove, but there are some longer splits mixed in there.

 

[Wood1Dennis]

Meh, brother in law has the Milwaukee one, I guess it works good for a battery saw. For sustained use it definitely liked to trigger the battery overtemp, even when it was well below freezing outside with 9ah packs.

I have the Milwaukee M18 with a 16" bar. I am very happy with it. The saw came with a 12 Ah battery that never triggers the battery overtemp. If I am still cutting when I run the 12 amp battery out of juice I will use a 9 Ah one that I have from my string trimmer. With the 9 amp battery it will trigger the overtemp when you work it hard. You have to let it sit for a bit and can run it some more. I have never triggered the overtemp with the 12 amp battery.

 

[TheBikePedaler]

I picked up a 18" Greenworks 60V and have 2 battery's one 4amp/hr and a 2amp/hr for it. I got it a a surplus store for $175. It has been a fantastic saw. I like the smaller battery for limbing because it is light. Charge time is pretty quick, 45mins for the 2a and 2hrs on the 4a. I did have an issue with the OG battery, on the 2nd charge it failed. I called the 1-800# and 3 days later I had a new battery, fantastic customer service.
The oil window is easy to see and just seems to weep a bit of oil, I leave it on a piece of cardboard. One of the things I really like is that the chain stops instantly when I let go of the trigger. The throttle response is better than my other ICE saw, but it usually gets used at FSA so it doesn't really matter. OG chain was a bit crap so I replaced it when it started to get dull.
My only real complaint is that it has made me a bit slack on the safety side. It is so quiet and light that I forget that it is not a recip saw. I'll even use it in the basement.
I am going to try it in the mill soon and see how well it does. The mill currently has a 250cc 1960's David Bradley with a rip bar/chain but it is a bit of a PITA with militance and getting it started. I highly doubt that i will ever have a gas saw again

 

[begreen]

It's interesting that Milwaukee is pushing their existing M18 (18V) batteries into chainsaws, while I believe the others (Ego, Greenworks, Stihl, Husky) are all doing 40 - 80 volt models. Obviously you can pull the same power at 18 volts as 80 volts, but developing the same torque is going to require a more expensive motor, and the higher current required will require more expensive components, with more heat and overall wear on the battery circuits and contactors.

The battery power is just one thing. I tried out the 56?v EGO pole saw recently and although the motor and power were ok, the actual saw part was a toy. The chain guide around the drive gear was wimpy and plastic. It was too easy to derail the chain when undercutting. This is odd, I tried an EGO hedge trimmer and loved it. That tool was much better made. Contrast this with the Stihl professional battery pole trimmer. It's expensive and heavy, but solidly made for regular use, albeit by someone with a lot of upper body strength.

A friend just got an 18v Makita electric chainsaw for limbing while he is up in the trees. It's a really nice and a solid little tool. The bar is only 12" but fine for small cuts of up to 6" limbs. The chain drive and tensioning are metal. FWIW, I have the original 18v Lithium Makita 1/2" drill that I bought 14 yrs ago when it first came out. It was super expensive back then, but came with 2 battery packs and the charger. The batteries and the drill are still going strong and they have built a lot of stuff.

On the other side of battery voltage, I just got the Greenworks Commercial 82V weed trimmer with the handlebars. It is a real beast and a pleasure to use. With tons of instant torque and a .095 string, it cuts through a ton of stuff without complaint. My last 2 stroke motor is in the Stihl trimmer. Looks like that is going to be sold this weekend.