25 cuts of 15" hardwood is where I am hanging up. My 501 does that and still has 2/3 a tank of fuel left. Makita will soon drop a backpack unit I bet.
Definitely that is a huge issue. Plus your 501 is 10.5 pounds sans bar amd chain. I can see a pro grade battery top handle for in tree work. The end. Oregon has backpack batteries for their equipment.
I've always thought that a a battery chainsaw would be handy to have when I'm camping in NH, twice a year. Lots of down falls and blowovers available for campfire wood.
A battery powered chainsaw would be good for those unexpected limb drops that happen outside of firewood season. Grab a battery and go. Less hassle. I am not sure about batteries that were intended for drills and hand held power tools being the best place to start for OPE equipment. I think I'll wait and see. Mfg are making huge technology leaps every year in this market. If anyone does buy one of those Milwaukee's please give us a review here!
Doubtful unless gifted to me. Fat chance on that as I bet the selling price with two batteries will be ~$600, if not more. I don't want one, but will give kudos to Milwaukee for at least trying. Lithium batteries cannot contain the same energy as gasoline in the same given space. This is why it is somewhat futile trying to get 6 horsepower out of them and why a backpack full of batteries or a giant battery will be needed. Also...why they gotta be so ugly? CampInspector's big Stihl is the best looking battery (conventional) saw thus far and it's still a little fugly IMO. This Milwaukee looks like they were trying to keep costs down...no glossy plastics even. The operator presense lever looks goofy...trying to reinvent the mouse trap.
For most people/homeowners, 50 cuts through 15" hardwood with the two batteries would be plenty sufficient imo. Not having to deal with the fuel related issues of their saw sitting for months(year?) on end will definitely be a good selling point
One pack is only 18V and to compete with 36, 56/60, or 80V tools, there's gonna be some serious amps involved which means heavier conductors in everything. The pack, the wiring, the motor - all of it. And being a chainsaw means that the sustained loads will not allow electronical witchcraft to cheat a bit and overload components for a limited duration. At least the dual packs on this unit mean that it's a 36V tool. But forcing dual pack operation has it's drawbacks too as now the packs must be of similar design & capacity, and ideally, age. Mis-matched packs just mean more trouble. And you can just about buy a complete 501 for what a pair of those XC 8.0 packs cost. ($400)
Milwaukee has a large battery. Marketing execs want customers to be able to use existing batteries rather than force to adopt the larger and more expensive batteries that won't work on their existing tools.
Milwaukee's stubborn strategy of remaining exclusively with 18V (and 12V) batteries has hobbled them a bit, especially for tools that have a high demand for more than a few seconds at a clip. They've publicly committed to their customers that they would maintain backwards and forwards compatibility withing the 18V line, and while that's technically true, it's not so peachy in reality as acceptable performance with certain high-demand tools is only obtained if you use the high-capacity or high-drain capable packs. It's all over their marketing. How many different "flavors" of 18V pack have they introduced? And of course the bundled packs you get with tools are often not the top performing pack for that tool. So naturally your encouraged to buy bigger, better battery packs, or at least forgo the bundled packs, buy bare tools and spend for the better batteries. And of course, the better packs all work with your older 18V tools, but those will get new versions issued with somewhat better specs, to take advantage of those more capable batteries, so you gotta get a better drill/impact/saw/ratchet/etc. Right?
