I recently acquired some OT dollars the wife doesn’t know about lol. Do I need a top handle saw? Or a battery saw? Budget is $350 max, and yes, I am saving for a 500i.
I'm still hacking back 3/4 an acre of overgrown/undermaintained woodland behind my house, and I obviously need to CSS more firewood
How big is the wood you plan on tackling? A moderately powerful saw with a 20" bar is versatile enough for most backyard processing in the northeast. If you're just doing brush and it's not much thicker than your arm, I'd go with a gas powered top handle. I have one and I love it for kindling and brush. But hey, we all have our preferences and what works from some doesn't work for all.
Given the saws listed in your sig line, I would really consider a battery saw. I've got two 16" Milwaukee 18V fuel saws and I find I use them a lot for that type of work. Pretty much just pull the trigger & go. As much as I like my big over powered saws, the battery saws really shine in certain applications, this may be one of them.
What do you have for a top handle? I’m an equal opportunity addict, but I do love my Echo 620p. I have some pine that’s 28-30in DBH, but it’s mostly pine/oak/locust at 12-20 DBH. Of course there’s some (too much) 1 and 2 hour fuels.
That's kind of what I was thinking, there’s quite few times I need to make 10 smaller cuts, instead of a full day of bucking. What's your decision point to reach for battery VS gas?
MS194T Great little top handle. Once you own and use one youll ever wonder how you cut without it. Maybe a bit more than $350. EDIT: seeing you have a 170 id save the 350 towards the 500i unless you really want a top handle. Just my 2c worth. My only battery saw is my deWalt pole saw.
I tend to use my top handle makita 18v more than any other. It has a 10"bar. du06 maybe. May be able to get the saw and 4 batteries for 350 still. Pretty handy for most limbing and clean up. It may have used to cut some dimensional lumber for a little bundle stand build the other day.
Limbing, marking for length, or clean up work. I bucked about a 1/3 of a cord of Oak limbs this past winter in 10 degree weather. Was too windy to wanna work outside all day. Grab the battery saw, fill the bucket a couple times & get lunch. I limbed a 32" dbh Red Oak with it after we dropped it just as a test. Did just fine.
I did get one! I have only put a few tanks through it, but I love it. Good power to weight ratio, starts with ease. Zero complaints
Edit: I’m saving for a 500i. And I picked up a new battery circular saw lol. Thanks for all the input!
