Battery Chainsaws

i have been kicking around the idea to get a battery chainsaw, just don't know if I would use it or would it be another battery tool to lay around and find it to have a dead battery whenever I wanted to use it. Just got a flyer from the local Stihl dealer listing a 12" saw, battery and charger for one price. So what say you guys out there with use with the battery powered chainsaws. All that being said I will never give up my gas powered chainsaws.

 

I have the Team Red M18 saw. Couple thoughts:
- It basically requires 12AH batteries which are ~$250 a piece
- For some reason it absolutely eats sprockets
- The bar and chain it comes with is trash. Oregon bars are fine

Don't give up your gas saw, for sure. But, that said, I use my battery saw a LOT. It's fantastic for limbing, and it's QUIET. I also use it for nasty jobs like stump removal where I don't want to crap up my Stihl. If I'm running my wood chipper I will have the battery saw sitting right there ready to go. No yanking on the rope, no flooding, no warmup, etc. I basically use the battery saw for 90% of all the work I do, and then at the end of the day I'll have a pile of cleaned up logs, and I fire up the Stihl and buck them up and then shut it off. I probably get like 30 mins of runtime per year on my gas saw, and this is putting away multiple cords.

I think it will be a long time before battery saws replace gas, but they have their place now.

OH: also Milwaukee is coming out with a top handle battery saw that looks very compelling. I think it's due out in the next month or two, or might even be out now.

 

I’ve been considering one for aerial work with the bucket truck, but damm, a pro husky electric with battery and charger is high $$$ almost as much as a 572.
But, about a month ago I bought a Milwaukee M18 hatchet with 12” bar. Haven’t used it much but did a little pruning and cleaned up some storm droppings. I like it so far. I was really surprised that it came with a regular 3/8 lo pro chain without safety bumps

 

I picked this one a couple years ago and finally started using it. Very light and so far really liking it. Neighbor feels the same way after using it to trim up his spruce trees.

Makita LXT 10 in. 18V Lithium-Ion Brushless Battery Top Handle Chain Saw (Tool-Only) XCU06Z - The Home Depot

Also have the DeWalt 20-volt pole saw. Again, loving it when I need it.

DEWALT 20V MAX 8in. Cordless Battery Powered Pole Saw Kit with (1) 4Ah Battery, Charger & Sheath DCPS620M1 - The Home Depot

 

I finally found an Echo top handle last month at a good price after picking up a weed eater on special with an extra battery earlier. Now I've got two tools, three batteries and two chargers. I've been happy in the short time I've had it. Pretty light, turns on with a button push, no ear plugs required, seems to have pretty good run time. Did all this on a single battery.

 

I use my little blue Mak quite a bit. Specifically purchased for it's small size and light weight. I have a couple of Milwaukee's cordless offerings as well and the Mak is far superior as a chainsaw.

 

campinspecter has experience w/ battery saws.
Check out his thread:
Stihl MSA 300

 

I had a few errands to run, so I stopped by a local Stihl dealer and a stihl MSA 120c-bq kit followed me home. I was able to upgrade the battery for the price difference between the AK 20 & AK 30 battery. The extra chain 71pm3 64e however was a little pricey @ 27.00. Also Stihl is giving a 3 yr warranty on the battery powered tools.

 

Congratulations, but no pictures it didn't happen and you should know the rules.

Also, we would like a review of it after some use.

 

Congratulations. you'll be happy with it! Our MSA 160 is eleven years old and no problems with the saw or batteries!

 

here is the latest addition to the firewood fleet

 

I have picked up two used Stihl MSA200 battery chainsaws now off YouTube Marketplace. I sold one of them to my brother TurboDiesel

I‘m running a 14” bar on it and I have two batteries, so in the time it takes to drain one, fill the oil, etc., the other battery is charged up. I also have a Stihl weed eater that uses the same batteries and works well.

Overall I’d say the MSA isn’t quite as powerful as my Stihl MS250, but it’s compact, lighter weight, and always starts. Just add bar oil with each battery change and go. The battery is usually drained at the same time as the bar oil reservoir.

I hardly use my MS250 now and might sell it. The MS290 still gets a lot of use on bigger stuff.

 

Obviously that’s Facebook Marketplace. Stoopid autocorrect.

 

I’m not planning on giving up my gas saws anytime soon. The wife and I bought a Husky 540I XP awhile back with a 16” bar, 2 big batteries, and charger. She likes using it a lot, and it’s on loan for her dad to use. It cost more than my 372XP did, but it is what she wanted.
On another note regular chaps won’t stop an electric chain saw, she learned it at a women and their woodlots class. They demonstrated it with brand new chaps from several manufacturers.

 

The chaps just still slow the saw down enough that the chain it does not get to your leg ! First hand experience. Would have posted a picture but the pants are at the motherinlaws house.

 

I wonder if that was a corded 120v electric chainsaw or a battery chainsaw? I would think the corded saw has more torque.

 

I have and highly recommend the Kobalt 80v chainsaw. You can watch reviews on YouTube…it’s a beast for an electric.

I also have and love the weedwacker and lawnmower. I got everything on CL or FBM at different times for a song. I’m passively searching for the hedge trimmer and leaf blower.

80v is key. Lots of power. And then if you buy anything else you start to cheaply build your battery supply.

I regularly see people selling electric chainsaws that they used once for one project.

 

Got to try out the new addition today. The saw was able to cut an S-10 pickup load of this. Brought the first load home and battery on the charger. Came home after second load to find a solid red light on the battery. The shed was to warm for the battery to completely charge, so brought it into the house to finish charging.These batteries seem to very sensitive to heat. The saw did its thing on these rounds, I'm still learning this saw as I'm used to running a gas powered saw. The second load (bigger stuff) was cut with my stihl 025. All in I"m happy with this saw and will keep it for use around the house and as a backup.

 

I have the Milwaukee m18 saw. It does all I have asked of it. Pretty stout and easy on batteries. I use 9 and 12 Amp Batts. On it. I live in central AR and my shop gets very hot and they never fail to charge. My 2 cents. Edit to say I'm not giving up my gas saws either, especially the ported ones

 

Does the battery need to be cool in order to charge? My Dewalt batteries do. If i hot freshly dead one it will flash "hot pack" and not charge.