Cordless chainsaw: recommendations?

[euro]

I've had my 40v DeWalt chainsaw for 4-5 years now and right from the start I knew that I would not ever go back to gas powered saws. I have felled and cut up trees as large as 40 inch (chest hight diameter) in diameter with no issues at all. I have the entire family of tools, so I have 3 batteries I can swap among them. I have never run out of power (i.e. I can go many hours of cutting on 3 batteries.

Sadly, Dewalt discontinued the 40v series, so eventually, I'll have to change, but the tools are very robust, so I expect they'll probably last as long as I do....

In any event, I'd pick a 40 or 60 volt tool of a brand that has an extensive line of tools. I really doubt that there is a huge difference among the top half dozen brands.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

My husband bought a little bitty battery powered one and I loooove it. It is my new favorite tool. I'm running out of space to put camellias, so I have been clearing out our woods all by myself with this thing. Who needs to go to the gym? Brand-name zikopomi. Pretty sure he got it on Amazon

 

[joesxm3]

How come no mention of Stihl?

 

[euro]

How come no mention of Stihl?

Stiehl have a good selection of battery powered chainsaws and I have no doubt they are excellent quality. They ARE on the more expensive side though and the main disadvantage in my view is that Stiehl doesn't (yet?) seem to have a family of tools you can exchange batteries with. If a chainsaw is all you ever need (unlikely?) then this won;t matter to you.

 

[euro]

My husband bought a little bitty battery powered one and I loooove it. It is my new favorite tool. I'm running out of space to put camellias, so I have been clearing out our woods all by myself with this thing. Who needs to go to the gym? Brand-name zikopomi. Pretty sure he got it on Amazon View attachment 44497

Yes, I got one of these too for DW so she can now cut down those 1-2inch saplings herself. She loves it. But: yes, it IS indeed a chainsaw - however, not intended for "serious" cutting....

 

[folivier]

I did consider Stihl and Echo. Echo tested very high in the reviews. But neither is available locally yet. I think they're just trying to "have an electric" chainsaw.
But here's a peeve of mine: with so many different brands none of the battery systems are compatible. All of my cordless tools are Dewalt 20V. At least I have a couple adapters to use the 20V lithium batteries in my old nicad tools. Those are still going strong and I use them frequently, circular saw, drill, recip saw.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I have several Greenworks 80-volt tools, including their chain saw. It works well, but I quickly discovered that the chain was pretty flimsy. I replaced it with a standard aftermarket chain, which fit fine.

Greenworks tools are a little hard to find, but my experience with them has been positive other than the crummy chain. I got my first one, a 21-inch self-propelled mower with two batteries and a charger, from Costco.

 

[pb4uski]

I don't have an electric cordless chain saw but I do have a Ryobi branch saw that is a mini chain saw with a number of extension poles. Very happy with it. I've cut branches as much as 4" diameter, but usually less. Very handy tool for keeping our trees trimmed.

I already had a number of Ryobi cordless tools and as I recall the tool only was inexpensive on sale.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

If I had a line of newer cordless power tools I would look at saw brand with compatible batteries.

I currently have Dewalt 18 volt equipment with older batteries.

If I were to get a new electric saw I would go with Milwaukee and gradually switch my other tools over to the compatible batteries.

A good 14" electric saw could do 90% of what I need a chainsaw for. I'll keep my Stihl gas powered saws for the remaining 10% (Or hire a professional tree trimmer)

Electric saws are great, everyone I know that has one loves it.

 

[OldShooter]

... But here's a peeve of mine: with so many different brands none of the battery systems are compatible. ...

No surprise there. Look at the battery prices --- that's where the OEMs make their money. If I were shopping right now with no commitment to any OEM I would compare battery prices on a watt-hour basis. That might provide some insight on good and bad choices.

Another thing I would do is to attempt to identify the market share leader. In the future there will be third-party suppliers who rebuild the batteries with new cells. It will be the share leader whose batteries first attract the rebuilders.

All of the batteries are undoubtedly protected by patents and design patents. That will thicken the soup for anyone who wants to make new copy-cat replacements. But eventually that will happen too.

 

[folivier]

Agreed. I won't fell a tree but will cut it up once on the ground. Thankfully there are a few guys up there that will cut down a tree for ~$150 or less. I can take it from there.