EGO 18" chainsaw update

[folivier]

My other post was 277 days old so I couldn't post to it, so here's my update:
Update on my 18" EGO chainsaw. Piece of junk! I have a 16" aspen that I had someone cut down so this is laying on the ground. I have it supported so the chainsaw won't jam. I can only make 3 or 4 cuts before the battery is dead. EGO advertises this as making 130 cuts. Maybe in twigs or branches but it certainly won't cut big trees. I pulled out one of my old ICE saws (which needs a tuneup) and it sliced through this aspen like butter.
I think part of the problem is the EGO chain is a very narrow kerf so it tends to bind up.
But this EGO is wasted money. I'll have my other saws tuned up and use them.

 

[bloom2708]

What Amp Hour battery do you have? The 2.5 ah and 5.0 ah batteries are pretty limited.

I have a pair of 7.5 ah and a pair of 12 ah batteries. The 12s are used in my 2 stage snowblower. I can blow for 1.5 hours on those beasts.

I don't have the chain saw as chain sawing is beyond my abilities.

 

[CincyDave]

Sorry to hear. I have a 14 inch Wen plug in chain saw that works of 95% of my needs. If I need more, I have several friends with Stihl gas saws I can borrow.

 

[Ronstar]

You either have a lemon or the wrong battery. My 16" ego lasts as long as I need it to. Never have run the battery dead - maybe 40 cuts in a couple of hours.

My ego doesn't have the power that my Stihl has, but it is more convenient.

 

[folivier]

I have a 2.5amp and 5amp batteries. The 2.5 fully charged won't make 1 cut through a 16" aspen, maybe halfway before the battery indicator turns red meaning it is overheated. The 5amp battery when I first started today made 3 full cuts before dying. I fully charged it and it made 1-1/2 full cuts before it died again.
I'll call Ego tomorrow to discuss this with them. Their advertising claims over 100 cuts are not true at least for my new saw that I bought in December last year and have used only twice.
I will not buy another larger battery. I'd rather put the money into a gas chainsaw. Yes they are more temperamental and noisy but they CUT.

 

[ERD50]

I have a 2.5amp and 5amp batteries. The 2.5 fully charged won't make 1 cut through a 16" aspen, maybe halfway before the battery indicator turns red meaning it is overheated. The 5amp battery when I first started today made 3 full cuts before dying. I fully charged it and it made 1-1/2 full cuts before it died again.
I'll call Ego tomorrow to discuss this with them. Their advertising claims over 100 cuts are not true at least for my new saw that I bought in December last year and have used only twice.
I will not buy another larger battery. I'd rather put the money into a gas chainsaw. Yes they are more temperamental and noisy but they CUT.

What about a corded electric? Not temperamental like gas, probably not as powerful, but no running out of juice, and cheaper than battery.

I've got a cheap Harbor Freight corded, only used it for fairly small jobs (lis, and maybe some 4" cuts?), so you probably want to go much higher end for a 16" cut.


-ERD50

 

[folivier]

I'm in a discussion with customer support on their facebook page. Hopefully it'll get resolved fairly quickly since both saw and batteries are under warranty.
BTW I tried out a friend's Makita 36volt saw and it was much quicker and better than my EGO. So there is definitely a problem with mine.

 

[Sojourner]

You either have a lemon or the wrong battery. My 16" ego lasts as long as I need it to. Never have run the battery dead - maybe 40 cuts in a couple of hours.

My ego doesn't have the power that my Stihl has, but it is more convenient.

+1

Exactly the same experience I've had with my 10" Ryobi chainsaw. It's great for cutting up limbs and small-ish lumber (for firewood, say), and it easily goes 40+ cuts on a single charge (using 3 Ah battery).

 

[Fermion]

you definitely got a lemon. My EGO chainsaw on a 5 amp battery will do at least 50 cuts on 10" to 14" trees in snow at 15 degrees F. Best thing ever for carrying on a snowmobile, instant start and no mess.

 

[folivier]

I'd be happy with 50 cuts. Fermion are you using the original chain? When I bought it I bought an EGO chain (which is an Oregon) and may change it to that one. The original chain cuts a very thin kerf and may be part of my problem. The cuttings are almost like sawdust rather than chips like my gas saws put out.

 

[Fermion]

my saw uses a Oregon bar and chain. I will say that if you grind into a rock and dull the chain, you instantly will go from 50 cuts to not even 1 cut with that blade, but I think this is true for any chainsaw. With a new sharp blade I can cut through a 14" log in 10 seconds with the EGO.

 

[tryan]

Given that I burn 10 cords of wood/yr in 2 properties, I am sticking with the Stihl farm boss. My second one in 30 years.

 

[Sunset]

I'd be happy with 50 cuts. Fermion are you using the original chain? When I bought it I bought an EGO chain (which is an Oregon) and may change it to that one. The original chain cuts a very thin kerf and may be part of my problem. The cuttings are almost like sawdust rather than chips like my gas saws put out.

I'd try sharpening the chain as making dust instead of chips is a sign of a dull blade.

https://powertoolsavvy.com/how-to-tell-if-a-chainsaw-chain-is-dull/

 

[Fermion]

Given that I burn 10 cords of wood/yr in 2 properties, I am sticking with the Stihl farm boss. My second one in 30 years.

If I burned 10 cords of wood a year, I would go with electric....heat

 

[folivier]

If you'd see how much it costs to heat with electric you'd burn wood also ($500+/month). Besides our wood is free, there is always plenty of blow down trees and always someone clearing their lots.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I bought a Greenworks 80V saw, and I quickly learned that the chain didn't cut it (ha). I repolaced it with a Husq or a Stihl chain (can't recall which) and now the saw works great.

 

[Walt34]

The cuttings are almost like sawdust rather than chips like my gas saws put out.

Sunset is correct, the saw chain needs sharpening. The chips should be exactly that, clear chips of wood, not anything resembling sawdust.

I have a Milwaukee electric chain saw and I'm very happy with it. I gave my 40-year-old Stihl to DW's nephew.

 

[MC Rider]

I might need a new one. Have one of the Harbor Fright plug in chain saws on a pole. Worked good for a small saw but lately maybe the chain is dull. But more immediately the oil supply tube cracked and made an oily mess, plus did not oil the chain. It has not seen that much use, but this is what you get for going cheap.

 

[TheWizard]

Given that I burn 10 cords of wood/yr in 2 properties, I am sticking with the Stihl farm boss. My second one in 30 years.

Similar with me: two houses and maybe seven cords of hardwood per year.
But a Husqvarna 20" Rancher.

Regardless of your type of chain saw, you need to become proficient at knowing when and how to sharpen your chain.
That means not only sharpening the cutters with a round file, but dropping the depth gauges with a flat file when needed.
I keep all my tools in my F-150 side pocket so they're readily available...

 

[folivier]

EGO has agreed to send me a new 5 amp battery under warranty. Hopefully that will give me a proper functioning saw.

 

[mountainsoft]

Update on my 18" EGO chainsaw. Piece of junk! I have a 16" aspen that I had someone cut down so this is laying on the ground. I have it supported so the chainsaw won't jam. I can only make 3 or 4 cuts before the battery is dead.

I agree with others, sounds like your battery is defective. With a good 5AH battery I can make dozens of cuts in large logs without any problems. The only issue I have ever had is with an old battery that was overheating prematurely. I only got about 10 cuts before that one would flash red and shut down.

My main gripe with EGO is the batteries are very expensive and only seem to last about 3 years on average. I just paid close to $400 to replace the 7.5AH battery for my 3+ year old mower. I also had to replace that overheating 5AH battery last year. It starts getting expensive after a while.

Still, I love being able to just pop in a battery and go to work. Especially nice in the winter when I need to clean up a fallen tree or branch, not fighting to get a gas saw started, or messing with the fuel storage.

I also have a corded 18" Oregon chainsaw that I use for cutting up logs near my shed. Saves the EGO battery life, and uses the same 18" chain my EGO uses (it came with a "self sharpening" chain, but that didn't seen to work well or last as long as a standard chain). I buy three packs of the Oregon chains off of Amazon fairly cheap, so I don't even bother sharpening them. When they get dull, I just put on a new chain. Of course, I only use the chainsaw a few times a year.

 

[aaronc879]

I agree with others, sounds like your battery is defective. With a good 5AH battery I can make dozens of cuts in large logs without any problems. The only issue I have ever had is with an old battery that was overheating prematurely. I only got about 10 cuts before that one would flash red and shut down.

My main gripe with EGO is the batteries are very expensive and only seem to last about 3 years on average. I just paid close to $400 to replace the 7.5AH battery for my 3+ year old mower. I also had to replace that overheating 5AH battery last year. It starts getting expensive after a while.

Still, I love being able to just pop in a battery and go to work. Especially nice in the winter when I need to clean up a fallen tree or branch, not fighting to get a gas saw started, or messing with the fuel storage.

I also have a corded 18" Oregon chainsaw that I use for cutting up logs near my shed. Saves the EGO battery life, and uses the same 18" chain my EGO uses (it came with a "self sharpening" chain, but that didn't seen to work well or last as long as a standard chain). I buy three packs of the Oregon chains off of Amazon fairly cheap, so I don't even bother sharpening them. When they get dull, I just put on a new chain. Of course, I only use the chainsaw a few times a year.

I don't have a chainsaw but I have a mower, trimmer and snow blower. I have had some of my batteries for around 5 years and still going strong. Never had an issue with the batteries. Only issue I ever had with an EGO product was with a self propelled motor breaking after less than 3 years on my lawn mower. Batteries are great in my experience.

 

[fosterscik]

My main gripe with EGO is the batteries are very expensive and only seem to last about 3 years on average. I just paid close to $400 to replace the 7.5AH battery for my 3+ year old mower. I also had to replace that overheating 5AH battery last year. It starts getting expensive after a while.

I had problems with my ego batteries a while ago. On disassembly (looking for bad cells) I discovered the problem with my batteries was a carbon like build up on the electrical contacts. I assume dust generated while mowing was depositing on the contacts and "cooking" because of the high current. A quick clean with very fine grit emery paper and rinse with isopropyl alcohol restored my batteries to like new condition. There are quite a few videos about EGO batteries (most focus on bad cell replacement) but that was unnecessary in my case. They are easy disassembled (but you need a special torx screwdriver; it has a hole in the center to defeat the security feature in the screw)
I got this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0899LFHVF

 

[mountainsoft]

I have had some of my batteries for around 5 years and still going strong. Never had an issue with the batteries.

I have a 2.5 AH battery that is probably around 5 years old. It came with my first EGO string trimmer, and is still going strong. Of course, it has a shorter run time so I tend to use my 5AH batteries the most. I would expect them to die sooner.

I replaced the oldest 5AH battery from 2019, and my other two 5AH batteries are approaching three years old too. So we'll see how well they hold up.

I wouldn't mind replacing the batteries so much if they weren't so expensive. I've had other tool batteries die too, like my Dewalt 20V batteries, but they were about a third the cost.

When I replaced my 5AH battery, it was literally cheaper to buy a new blower with a battery and charger than it was to buy the battery by itself. So I bought the package and sold my old blower to regain a bit of the cost.

 

[mountainsoft]

I had problems with my ego batteries a while ago. On disassembly (looking for bad cells) I discovered the problem with my batteries was a carbon like build up on the electrical contacts.

My 7.5AH mower battery wasn't charging up all the way, and was running out of power quickly when mowing. I tried cleaning the contacts which seemed to help slightly, but then the mower just stopped while mowing. Further cleaning didn't help, and it wouldn't charge anymore. It was dead.