Chainsaws

[Machias]

AWESOME replies, thank you very much.  This will just be for trail clearing, NOT for home heating.  I'll have to look into the electrical ones, never even considered one of those.

[HntnFsh]

Bought 1 of these last year. Incredible little saw that runs on M18 batteries. Cut hard dry maple up to 8 or 9 inches like it was nothing. Made several cuts on 1 battery.
Would buy it again in a heartbeat! This one is $12 cheaper than when I bought it. They sell one with 2 batteries and a charger for $100. Anybody that thinks a batteey powered chainsaw doesn't have enough power hasn't run 1 in a long time!

[HntnFsh]

They make them with bars up to 14". If you have bigger batteries I think they would be great.  They make them to use with Dewalt, Makita etc. Batteries also.

[Machias]

 

[rainshadow1]

Hey Fred, I have the Milwaukee Fuel cordless stuff, but not the chainsaw. Thinking about it, just to get another charger and battery(ies), but I use the recip saw a lot. (No leaking bar oil!)

I have the Hart 40v cordless chainsaw from WalMart, and I'm impressed with it for what it's for. It will fall, limb, and buck up one tree, (14" dia, 30' high) on one battery, but that's about it.

I wouldn't plan on brushing a whole road/trail with them, they just don't get enough done per charge. (That is, unless you're budgeting your energy to one or two batteries per session!) But if you're just looking to clear a blowdown out of your way and keep 4x4'ing, I would use the cordless first. So extremely convenient.

I have one of the Husquavarna's that they made for Homer Homewowner use, and I'm very happy with it. I wouldn't go out and do a firewood business with it, but to go take a few trees, it's been super. I love it. Only a couple hundred too.

[trophyhunt]

Not sure the model but those sthil climbing saws (little guys but crap ton of speed) are pretty bad azz for the quad.

[Angry Perch]

I’m really enjoying my stihl 180cbe.  The new start pull deal is pretty freaking nice.   Barely a tug and the thing fires right up.  No more on the ground, hold with foot and yang to hell, soft slow tug while standing up and it fires up.   

That's funny. I bought a 171 for little stuff around the place, and the "Easy2Start" is the one thing I can't stand. Maybe just old habits...

[pickardjw]

I got the Dewalt 20V Max 12-Inch Chainsaw to keep in the truck for clearing trails. Already have Dewalt everything else for power tools. Works great on a 5Ah battery.

Project Farm has some great videos comparing different electric models to each other and to gas saws. His videos are very well done.

https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectFarm/search?query=Chainsaw

[birdshooter1189]

Bought 1 of these last year. Incredible little saw that runs on M18 batteries. Cut hard dry maple up to 8 or 9 inches like it was nothing. Made several cuts on 1 battery.
Would buy it again in a heartbeat! This one is $12 cheaper than when I bought it. They sell one with 2 batteries and a charger for $100. Anybody that thinks a batteey powered chainsaw doesn't have enough power hasn't run 1 in a long time!

I bought a dewalt battery version of this about 6 months ago for ~$60. I was very impressed with it for about 45 minutes of use, until the teeth on the drive gear and the sprocket gear disintegrated. I used it to fell, limb, and buck up about a dozen trees, hemlock, pine, and doug fir; 1"-5" diameter, and about 30' tall.  I think the off-brand used poor quality steel for the gears.  I plan to get the actual dewalt model soon ($200 on amazon), expecting that the gears will hold up much better.

[HntnFsh]

That's a bummer. Ive run mine through the ringer on a lot of stuff that's probably bigger than I should be using it on. It's been flawless!

[timberhunter]

I’ve got a stihl 180 that has been a great saw so far. I’ve cut and sold 4 to 6 cords of wood a year with it for the last several years. Nice compact light saw and was only $200 new. We have a couple dewalt saws at work but haven’t used them enough to decide if I like them or not. The 180 is a lot more saw.

[Kingofthemountain83]

Stihl MS 170 20" has been getting our camp wood and cleared a couple down trees for us since 2008... Replaced the coil last year after it wouldn't fire... Replaced a couple chains too... I'm not the best at sharpening...

[Bob33]

I’m really enjoying my stihl 180cbe.  The new start pull deal is pretty freaking nice.   Barely a tug and the thing fires right up.  No more on the ground, hold with foot and yang to hell, soft slow tug while standing up and it fires up.   

I have that same saw and love it. I used it at a work party a few weeks ago to down and buck trees. I ran it for about five hours with no issues other than refueling.

[NOCK NOCK]

From a guy who owns a handful of gas Stihl saws (and uses them all frequently for my work) My go to for average stuff is a Stihl electric with a 14" bar. Not sure of the model (it was the fanciest one available 3-4 years ago.) Also get the nicest battery.
Sooooo nice to just be able to pull the trigger and go....let go of trigger and it stops. Lightweight too. Only issue is cause you never have to add fuel...easy to forget to add bar oil.

On a side note, I run skip tooth chains on all my saws. Keep em sharp and the batt saw will perform very close to a comparable gas saw with standard safety chain.

I cant say enough about how much I love that saw!!!!
 

[Boss .300 winmag]

From a guy who owns a handful of gas Stihl saws (and uses them all frequently for my work) My go to for average stuff is a Stihl electric with a 14" bar. Not sure of the model (it was the fanciest one available 3-4 years ago.) Also get the nicest battery.
Sooooo nice to just be able to pull the trigger and go....let go of trigger and it stops. Lightweight too. Only issue is cause you never have to add fuel...easy to forget to add bar oil.

On a side note, I run skip tooth chains on all my saws. Keep em sharp and the batt saw will perform very close to a comparable gas saw with standard safety chain.

I cant say enough about how much I love that saw!!!!
 

My next truck saw will be one.👍