For my job I was sent to chainsaw training and then sent to an instructor school to teach people how to use a chainsaw. I'm not an expert at all cutting down trees or knowledge about chainsaws. I was given an Echo 20" chainsaw for my training and first thing I said to my boss is we need lighter chainsaws as that 20" blade kick out butts. We are also in South West Texas most trees are 6" max. I personally went out and bought for my home a 14" hart 40v chainsaw. I will tell you that smaller blade of so much easier to handle and weight it like night and day vs the Echo! No flame on the Echo it's a great chainsaw. For the past three weeks I brought the 40V to work and used it myself and allowed my lead Ranger use it. He loved how light it was yet still had the power to cut through that mesquite tree without a problem. He was able to use it to help clear a 10 yard section on trail. Cut all day on one battery (I would buy more then one). So far I'm very impressed with this little chainsaw lead is talking about buy a few for us to use around our park. If you have to be on a ladder this is the chainsaw you want because of the light weight make easy one hand movement with the chainsaw. Also it's great because with in a second or two it's at full speed unlike a gas powered chainsaw. We have been using it for a few weeks and are very impressed with this chainsaw so far! No problem at all and We have cut down over 15 trees with it. I will tell you the 20V pole saw not worth the money it does not have enough power and gets hung up when cutting. I would love to see Atlas 80V from Harbor freight get a 14" blade!
There is time and place for everything, including electric chainsaws. I, too, enjoy the light weight, reliability, ease of maintenance and long battery life, but they have their limitations. As a prepper I have both, because in an emergency I may not have the ability to charge/recharge the battery, and the gas-powered chainsaw can handle the bigger jobs. I also keep plenty of gas, oil, spare bar and chain, etc. For real SHTF I have axes, saws, wedges, sledgehammers, mauls, etc., too! Hope you remembered to put bar and chain oil in your electric chainsaw...so many people don't!
Funny you say that as Walmart has bar chain oil that is environmentally friendly. Worked great so far
I would say get Oregons lamest green safety chain to learn with. They have one that's a skip link with bumpers. I'm from Maine so naturally I started using chainsaws when I was about 12 years old. I'm in Eastern new Mexico now and most of the trees are around 6 inch diameter till they're not. I use carbide chains mostly on both saws but when I know there's going to be clean green trees to cut I slap a Stihl yellow chain on my 24 inch 60cc big echo. Don't f with that Stihl yellow chain unless you've ran saws a lot, that chain wants nothing more than to catch and flip that saw 180 degrees. But it cuts fast, it's a liner wood chipper. I use to have an 80cc Stihl ms460 with 36 inch bar, but I sold it before I left Virginia. Because I didn't think they made trees that big out here. I got a thousand dollars for it back in 2010 and plus my 60cc echo starts a lot easier and it starts every time.
I got a pair of Husky 18-inch 440's and they have done one hell'va a lot of work, cut hundreds of Lodge Pole, White and Red Fir and Ponderosa Pines with them....those Ponderosa's can get very big too. It cuts about 85% of the trees I need to take down. The 18-inch bar is favorite go-to size for cutting, limbing and making firewood rounds and the saw itself is light enough to work all day without strain. There is a time and place for a large bar and stronger motor...like for some of those big Ponderosa's but normally, my little 440s will get the job done. I have never used an electric but given what you say does have my interest, especially if you want cut something quick. I just didn't think they would have enough power for like you I have a 20V DeWalt Pole Saw and it is not impressive; many times find myself getting the ladder and one of the 440s.
I keep a little electric pruning saw in the truck just in case I have to cut something out of the road. I think it has maybe a 12" bar? Better than a hand saw, lol. For me I think the sweet spot between weight and power is somewhere around 50-55cc and an 18-20" bar. I guess there is a place for the great big saws, but who wants to carry a 100cc monster around all day right?
I'm just gonna stay real quiet here! Having bucked trees professionally, having a good sized saw is not only more efficient, but also a safety factor, I say safety because having a light saw kick back is NO JOKE SERIOUS, I can catch a big Husky 490 with it's 30 inch bar just about 6 inches into it's swing, but an 18 inch Stihl going at full zoot, will cover that distance 4 times faster and then what, don't even think of trying to stop it, just dodge as best you can and get as much of you out of the way as you can! I hear people say convenience, well, lemme tell ya, a proper tuned and maintained Gas Saw will start first yank, go to full power the instant you jerk that trigger, and lay chips as far as the eye can see, and properly prepped and stored, that same saw can sit for months, and still fire first pull and rip as long as needed! My most cherished Saw is a early 1980's Homelite professional 390, that saw flat out runs it's ass off, combines both the cutting torque of the Husky's and the Chip Ripping speed of the Stihl's and she still starts first yank with the choke set to half, give it a flick of the trigger once she growls and flip the choke off and she is all set for however long she is needed!
Whatever you do use it, because lots of folks have burnt up a lot of electric chainsaws by thinking they didn't need oil to lube the bar and chain.
Growing up dad had a Mall chain saw along with a few others we used, but the Mall had an attachment for an out bord motor application I thought was cool. On limbing or cutting laying wood with any saw, if you cut from the bottom first a third of its diameter and then start again from the top there is no chance of the saw binding. I'm not a brand fan, I use what I have and work with it best I can. Having whittled down my tool inventory into a small trailer I got a 20volt Bauer chain saw, and it seems to be functioning well so far. I grew up dropping trees of all sorts and in some precarious situations. Dad taught me all kinds of tricks with both saws and axes, even getting a tree to turn during a fall. Some events required waiting or the wind to cooperate. In a d forestry crew we bet one another on accuracy putting the challenger's helmet down at the predicted point of impact. There have been some interesting cutting techniques I've seen on you tube I'd like to try. A secondary thought on saw care, Having a good air compressor and paint brush for clean up makes a big difference in saw life.
I'm not bashing electric stuff, it has its place for folks that don't want or need a dedicated system with all that requires, BUT, when it comes to chain saws, I gotta draw the line! I just haven't seen battery life matching up with times, can you charge and then let sit a battery and then expect it to work 4 months from now and still put out full power like it just came off the charger? I get it, maintenance isn't everyone's favorite thing to do, especially if only using it once every few months, kinda like shooting a deer once a season, so you clean your rifle after that shot, or just unload it and put it back in the safe, ready to go next season!
I've actually been thinking of getting one of them little battery saws ,, or even one of the hand held saws,, Milwaukee makes one ,, I just need one to take out scrub brush trees ,, 2" max diameter,, and small low hanging limbs. I just don't want to be running my chainsaw into the dirt trying cut them below ground level.
I, too, have taught chainsaw safety classes over the years. Last spring I purchased a 60V - 16" Caterpillar chainsaw. I am VERY SATISFIED with its performance and weight. Last year I cut down a living 36" diameter cottonwood tree with it and the saw cut like a knife through butter. It had no problems. The battery remained charged throughout the cut. Battery chainsaws are the way to go, in my opinion. We may not always have petroleum available to fuel these things. We'll always have electricity to recharge the battery, maybe? But it's great to have backup chainsaws.
I have big and small saws….I use to sell Stihl and Husky to loggers and such…… small saw are great for convenience but I have never been cutting and wished for a “smaller saw”….I have often asked myself why I didn’t bring the real saw with me though……
Not everyone is cutting down a Redwood! Sometimes all you need to do is prune a limb or cut up a fallen branch, and you're gonna look three kinds of stupid running a 100cc-20" gas chainsaw. About a year ago, my sister and I cut up a 200-year-old Red Oak tree that had fallen on our property. She was using her battery-powered 12" chainsaw, and I was using an 18" gas saw. She cut the limbs up to 3-4" and I did most everything else, but that little electric saw could handle the same cuts that the gas saw did. Hell, for most jobs around here I don't need no stinkin' chainsaw, because I can get the job done with a bowsaw before someone can get the chainsaw running! It's called being a MAN!
I don't need a gas chainsaw or weed-whacker often enough to justify the hassle of maintaining the gas/oil mixture, and the tuning, etc. A number of years ago we had a 40' pine tree in the back yard die on us. Went out one day, looked up and went "Huh. That one's green; that one's brown. Musta died over the winter." (Yeah, we don't go in the back yard much in winter months.) We bought a good plug-in 18" saw, rented a 60' boom, and took that thing right down to the ground. Limbed it going up, topped it coming back down. 36" stump, 3" off the dirt. Was massively surprised how powerful it is. We only need it once every couple of years or so, but it always starts. Just clean the chips out of it and resharpen the chain after use, and it's good to go for the next time.
