I had a stack of previous years wood that was to long for the stove. I was dreading shortening it up with my gas saw. I borrowed my son's electric saw. I went out this morning thinking "This is going to be a joke." I was pleasantly surprised. The thing actually did a pretty good job for what I was doing. You wouldn't want to make a whole years supply with the thing. I just may get one to get one to take care of the occasional long pieces instead of piling them up until I get around to getting the gas saw out.
My first winter with wood heat, I only had a 14" electric chainsaw, a maul, and a pile of logs. It did the trick, and I still use it sometimes.
Are we talking plug in corded versions here or the new battery ones from Husky (and Stihl if you must go there....)? They seem very interesting to me. Seems like they'd be a perfect saw for an arborist who has to climb.
I have a question. I have a really old Craftsman electric chainsaw (10 inch bar) that I inherited from my Dad. It works great, but how do you sharpen the chain (I don't think he used it much and the chain was probably never sharpened anyway). With a gas saw, just pull the chain to sharpen it, but with the electric, the chain doesn't "freely" move, it only moves when under power. A little dangerous to say the least. Unless of course, the newer electric saws have a clutch?
Mine is a plug-in. My wife has a low-end recharegeable, and it works fine for trimming small branches.
My Worx 303 has a brake on the trigger as well as on the hand guard. Be sure it's unplugged (Ask me how I know), hold the trigger in the run position and try pulling on the chain. Gassers are safe if they aren't making noise, electrics wait silently.
I work with a guy who owns about 80 acres , he got himself the whole climbing gear, and a battery electric saw, it was cheaper than a gas saw, lighter, and lasts about as long as he can stand to be up on the spikes . I'm not sure how well the idea would work for a real arborist
Built a railroad tie retaining wall this fall and made all the cuts with a green works electric chainsaw. I was pleasantly surprised as well. It definitely is an obnoxious sound, id much rather hear a two stroke run but i could definitely see the utility of it for some situations. Very low chain speed, but very respectable torque. Complete with exxon valdez oiler. Only complaint was the crappy 3/8" lp, though i dont think railroad ties were what they had in mind for the end user haha
I have one in my furnace room to cut down long stuff also. Last few years I've been getting 35 yd rolloff containers of 1-2" hardwood lumber cutoffs ( for $30 ) from a lumber grading operation. Most of them are under 24" some are up to 40". My furnace will take 29. Used to throw the long ones back outside and hack them . Now I set them off to the side and buzz them up once a week.
Electrics are nice to use, if you need to be up in a tree. Wrong place to be if your gas saw decides to get finicky. The electrics are light, and start with the pull of a trigger. Downside, is needing an extension cord. But those, I have plenty of.
Oh....We're there! the only electrics I've used are a Remington 14" -great for small stuff, and a Ryobi 18v cordless.......basically just OK at best
