• It's time to cast your vote in the April 2025 Turning Challenge. (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Steve Bonny for "A Book Holds What Time Lets Go" being selected as Turning of the Week for 28 April, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Bought an electric chainsaw

David Wrate

David Wrate

Joined
Sep 2, 2022
Messages
301
Likes
231
Location
Victoria, BC
Since I have a bunch of logs that need to get cut into blanks I figured that a chainsaw was in order. I did not want to mess with gas and living in the city my neighbours wouldn't be real happy if I fired up the Husky.
Did a bunch of research. All my battery tools are Ridgid and they don't make an battery chainsaw so I went with the Oregon CS-1500.
Might give it a whirl tonight :)
 
My suggestion: if you plan on doing a number of ripping cuts on sizable blanks (say 14 inch diameter x 14 inch long log sections) you may want to invest in a second battery (or third) I find with my Wen 40v (basically the same saw on different platform) it will go through maybe 2 to 2 1/2 log sections of about that size, assuming a sharp chain (ash, cherry, walnut) but nine times out of ten, the battery is used up halfway through a cut and then you have to recharge - with a second battery you can put first one on charger (before it goes completely dead) while using the second one, and after a couple logs you'll get a feel for how many you can process in one batch. Ripping cuts (such as splitting a log down the length to cut out pith) are far far harder on the saw (even a gas chainsaw) and the chain than cross cuts. Also, if you get spare chains, get a couple of them set aside and get them sharpened/ground at 5 degree top plate angle (instead of the usual 30 or 35 degree) which makes them into more of a ripping chain (there are specialized ripping chains that are basically skip tooth with modified rakers and cutters ground at 5 degrees) which do make things go a little easier on the saw.) That way you will have a couple chains you can swap out for the processing (slicing the pith out of the log) , and a chain or two you can still use for crosscutting.
 
Brian Gustin said:
My suggestion: if you plan on doing a number of ripping cuts on sizable blanks (say 14 inch diameter x 14 inch long log sections) you may want to invest in a second battery (or third) I find with my Wen 40v (basically the same saw on different platform) it will go through maybe 2 to 2 1/2 log sections of about that size, assuming a sharp chain (ash, cherry, walnut) but nine times out of ten, the battery is used up halfway through a cut and then you have to recharge - with a second battery you can put first one on charger (before it goes completely dead) while using the second one, and after a couple logs you'll get a feel for how many you can process in one batch. Ripping cuts (such as splitting a log down the length to cut out pith) are far far harder on the saw (even a gas chainsaw) and the chain than cross cuts. Also, if you get spare chains, get a couple of them set aside and get them sharpened/ground at 5 degree top plate angle (instead of the usual 30 or 35 degree) which makes them into more of a ripping chain (there are specialized ripping chains that are basically skip tooth with modified rakers and cutters ground at 5 degrees) which do make things go a little easier on the saw.) That way you will have a couple chains you can swap out for the processing (slicing the pith out of the log) , and a chain or two you can still use for crosscutting.
Click to expand...
The Oregon is a corded saw so no battery worries.
Thanks for the chain advice, definitely noted.
 
Ah cool. back when I was a outdoor power equipment dealer, I knew about Oregon's battery units - everybody was just starting to jump on that bandwagon then.. didn't realize they also came out with corded electric.. I considered corded for inside the shop use, but then realized I'd need to buy another hundred feet (plus) of extension cord if I wanted to also use it out in the woodpile or at another location, since I didn't have a gas chainsaw and couldn't justify $400-plus for something that really was not going to see all that much use. (The Wen was $189 at that time, and had 18 inch bar)
 
I've had the same saw for just over a year. Biggest reason for getting this model was the 18" bar + the self sharpening feature. Exclusive use is for bowl blank prep and after using it for awhile and making a couple modifications am a happy user. Took off the self sharpening feature, switched out the chain to a stihl low profile and cut off the corner of the cover to assist with chip removal when ripping. Saw does clog up when ripping quite easily but with the corner removed and tilting the handle down does a pretty decent job. It will handle a 17" cut without much difficulty. This saw handles about 90% of my chainsaw work and it handles all the abuse thrown at it. YMMV but I'm a happy camper with it.
Oregon1.jpg
 
I bought a Wired Poulan pro electric saw in 2006 IIRC (I do have a picture of it in the shop from 2008, so it is at least 14 years old and has been used a lot, The last 6 years I have it also used to cut my firewood to length before splitting, I don't know how long I will be able to do all this, but it has been the better than I suspected it would be when I bought it new.

While I use the Stihl for felling trees the electric does all the rest of the cutting, problem is that Poulan was too much competition to Husqvarna and they bought Poulan out, so no more Poulan :(, but an electric saw can do a lot of work, keep the oil in and the chain sharp and it will do the job, quickest start and stop you can have and no 2 stroke fumes in the stop and noise to have to listen to.

dropping tree with the least of forest damage.jpg Electric saw.jpg firewood.jpgfire wood.jpg
 
Leo Van Der Loo said:
I bought a Wired Poulan pro electric saw in 2006 IIRC (I do have a picture of it in the shop from 2008, so it is at least 14 years old and has been used a lot, The last 6 years I have it also used to cut my firewood to length before splitting, I don't know how long I will be able to do all this, but it has been the better than I suspected it would be when I bought it new.

While I use the Stihl for felling trees the electric does all the rest of the cutting, problem is that Poulan was too much competition to Husqvarna and they bought Poulan out, so no more Poulan :(, but an electric saw can do a lot of work, keep the oil in and the chain sharp and it will do the job, quickest start and stop you can have and no 2 stroke fumes in the stop and noise to have to listen to.

View attachment 47063 View attachment 47064 View attachment 47065View attachment 47066
Click to expand...
The lack of smoke and noise were big motivators for me to get an electric.
 
@Dave Delo thats a great idea cutting the corner! I have an electric chainsaw (Wen) for cutting at home, and it gets clogged so quickly especially when ripping. I used to ignore it, and then stupidly wondered why my chain dulled so quickly. Eventually got wise and frequently de-clog, but it would be nice to have a bit more efficiency. I think I’ll try your method.

That self-sharpening feature sounds pretty cool too. Did you remove it just because you switched chains? (Assuming the low profile chain was not compatible)
 
David Wrate said:
The lack of smoke and noise were big motivators for me to get an electric.
Click to expand...
I bought an Echo several weeks ago, along with a spare battery. After a bit of use, I’m very happy with it. As Dave said above, this one also tends to clog on rip cuts, I believe because the bar and chain are narrower than on gas saws, but it’s easily cleared (with the saw off!). My motivation was to have a saw I can keep in the car to pick up the random log I come across while out on my travels. Noise is admittedly quite a bit less than my gas Husqvarna, but alas, still too much to sneak into my neighbor’s yard to grab his walnut burl!
 
Michael Anderson said:
@Dave Delo thats a great idea cutting the corner! I have an electric chainsaw (Wen) for cutting at home, and it gets clogged so quickly especially when ripping. I used to ignore it, and then stupidly wondered why my chain dulled so quickly. Eventually got wise and frequently de-clog, but it would be nice to have a bit more efficiency. I think I’ll try your method.

That self-sharpening feature sounds pretty cool too. Did you remove it just because you switched chains? (Assuming the low profile chain was not compatible)
Click to expand...
I guess the self sharpening is okay for someone just cross cutting for firewood. Seemed to work okay for a couple sharpenings but after that didn't seem to help. I got rid of the s.s. gizmo to make make more room for chip evacuation on rip cuts. To use a different low profile chain on this saw you need to remove the s.s. gizmo.
 
Look up Project Farm on You Tube, for just about any tool you can think of. He does cover cordless chainsaws, and chainsaw sharpening devices. Can't remember if he does gas saws or not. He is not sponsored by anyone, and he has a lot of fun putting things through their paces. I am pretty sure he covered the 'self sharpening' set up.

robo hippy
 
Years back I did a review on corded electric chainsaws. A Sears Craftsman, a Husqvarna, a Makita and a Stihl. I used a plum burl which was very hard. The Craftsman and Husqvarna both made it about an inch before not cutting anymore. The Makita made it about 2 inches and the Stihl cut completely through it ( about 15 inches) and I continued to use it for many many months afterword. All saws started with brand new blades. One thing that surprised me was that the Husqvarna had a plastic gear inside. The saws other than the Stihl MSE 250 all had a smaller chain where the Stihl uses the same size chain as their gas powered saws. I know the Stihl costs a lot but there is no electric saw that compares to it. One other thing chaps will not stop an electric saw so be careful (I do not know if that applies to battery powered saws).
 
Been very happy with my greenworks 80V 18” saw. Great fit for most of my needs - trim or split a few blanks, quickly cut a few pieces from a pile on the side of the road or even take down a good sized tree on my property. Powerful and cuts as well as my gas for most jobs. Only have one battery so limited time but so far haven’t cranked up the gas saw in quite a while.
 
Bill Blasic said:
Years back I did a review on corded electric chainsaws. A Sears Craftsman, a Husqvarna, a Makita and a Stihl. I used a plum burl which was very hard. The Craftsman and Husqvarna both made it about an inch before not cutting anymore. The Makita made it about 2 inches and the Stihl cut completely through it ( about 15 inches) and I continued to use it for many many months afterword. All saws started with brand new blades. One thing that surprised me was that the Husqvarna had a plastic gear inside. The saws other than the Stihl MSE 250 all had a smaller chain where the Stihl uses the same size chain as their gas powered saws. I know the Stihl costs a lot but there is no electric saw that compares to it. One other thing chaps will not stop an electric saw so be careful (I do not know if that applies to battery powered saws).
Click to expand...
Thanks Bill. I'd never heard of this saw before.
 
have had an Oregan cs 1500 for 5 or 6 years and love it. quick story: While cutting a log I hit a nail. As most of you know when this happens you know instantly that your chain just got wasted. I jumped on my computer and started to order a new chain when i remembered that I had a self sharpener system. having only had the saw for a a few months I hadn't had occasion to use it so I thought it seemed like a good time to give it a try. 3 quick preassures of the lever and it cut like brand new! I love this saw
 
I use both gas and corded. The only battery tools I’ll own are drills/drivers. I got the corded saw to use inside , on smaller stuff, 16” bar. Works great. Use the gas saw on site, and in the yard for larger pieces.

Make sure you file raker teeth to correct height when sharpening chains. Havent messed with with ripper chains, dont have any issues ripping piths out.
 
I bought a very cheap corded chainsaw a while back in the full expectation that it wouldn't last much longer than the warranty. It was an online purchase - Worx is the brand. I use it inside the shop and at the wood processing pile just outside the front doors. Its got an 18" bar. Its now been 12 years and its still going strong. Granted, I don't use it much, but I haven't even changed the chain on this thing - just sharpen once in a while. One of the best purchases I've made...
 
Bill Boehme said:
@Bill Blasic Is that due to the limited bite of the Stihl Picco Micro chains used on their electric saws?
Click to expand...

Chaps will not work with electric-powered chainsaws because they use an electric motor instead of a gas-powered engine and do not use a clutch to engage the chain. Manufacturers of chainsaw chaps will not certify their products for use with electric chainsaws. Found that with a quick search but I learned it from the Stihl Rep of NY, PA. My MSE 250 uses a .325" RM3 Oilmatic, chain so not knowledgeable about Picco Micro chains.
 
Bill Blasic said:
Chaps will not work with electric-powered chainsaws because they use an electric motor instead of a gas-powered engine and do not use a clutch to engage the chain. Manufacturers of chainsaw chaps will not certify their products for use with electric chainsaws. Found that with a quick search but I learned it from the Stihl Rep of NY, PA. My MSE 250 uses a .325" RM3 Oilmatic, chain so not knowledgeable about Picco Micro chains.
Click to expand...
The interesting thing about the Oregon (and it may be the same for other electrics) is that the chain stops the instant the trigger is released. It's pretty dramatic and is really different from any gas saw I've used.
Regardless of their lack of certification for use with electric saws, everything I've read indicates that they will stop an electric saw. I'm likely going to invest in a pair.
 
Last edited:
As far as chaps go I was using a chain saw to clean out a brushy area, small trees and such, wearing sweat pants. After an hour or so of doing that my wife said look at your sweats. There were 3 3" to 5" slices on the left side of my sweats mid thigh where I obviously got very close to flesh (they were very loose sweat pants). I now put on chaps whenever I have a chainsaw in use.
 
I bought a Kobalt branded version of this saw on Monday on clearance for $51 at Lowes. It ran for about 10 minutes before the smoke escaped. I was able to return it and got my money back so no harm, no foul. I really wanted it to be good but I think I need to stick to my stihl gas saws.
 
Didn't see any mention of the EGO brand saws in this thread. I have the 18" EGO battery operated saw. Cut down a 24" cherry tree, limbed it, and cut into logs using two batteries. The next day I did the same with an apple tree. Very happy with the saw. Use it to cut up bowl blanks in the back yard, quiet enough to not bother the neighbors.
 
Darryn Achall said:
Didn't see any mention of the EGO brand saws in this thread. I have the 18" EGO battery operated saw. Cut down a 24" cherry tree, limbed it, and cut into logs using two batteries. The next day I did the same with an apple tree. Very happy with the saw. Use it to cut up bowl blanks in the back yard, quiet enough to not bother the neighbors.
Click to expand...
I've got the 18" EGO as well. It's not a go-all-day saw like my Stihl, but I'm very happy with it for yard maintenance including decent-sized tree & shrub work. It did a nice job cutting a 15" ash (trunk & branches) into firewood lengths.
 
Charles Cadenhead said:
The EGO is a very nice battery operated saw.
Click to expand...
Any idea what it weighs Charles. I have Stihl Gas saw that works well but is getting heavy. It is about 17 pounds. At 78 I think I am crazy still wanting to do this stuff but have 4.5 acres and always lots of stuff to do. Will end up with my son who has a hobby farm.
 
Mike Brazeau said:
Any idea what it weighs Charles. I have Stihl Gas saw that works well but is getting heavy. It is about 17 pounds. At 78 I think I am crazy still wanting to do this stuff but have 4.5 acres and always lots of stuff to do. Will end up with my son who has a hobby farm.
Click to expand...
With the battery attached it's about 18 pounds so it's not lighter than your Stihl. I gave my my 88 year old FiL one of these ECO 18" saws for Christmas after watching him try to repair his 30 year old Stihl saw for 3+ hours. My inlaws are on 6 and a half acres.
 
I have a corded Dolmar chainsaw (same as a Makita) that is a wonderful saw but the cord is the limiting factor. I also purchased a Ryobi 40v battery saw with an 18" bar. I am impressed with the Ryobi. It will cut thru anything without bogging down and the battery life is substantial. Stihl would have been my first choice but I already had a Ryobi pole saw and Weedeater that use the 40v so I have 4 batteries. It's a great little saw.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top