Cordless chainsaw, hedge trimmer recommendations?

[RSKY]

Anybody have any experience with the Kobalt 40-v chainsaw or hedge trimmers? I already have a Stihl gas powered but occasionally need to cut one fallen limb apart or drive to a neighbors and cut one limb for them. It seems that the little Kobalt would be ideal for that, No gas to mix. No cords to pull. Throw it (gently) in the bucket of the tractor or bed of the truck and take off. Same way with the hedge trimmer. I have a corded one but some of what I need to cut is away from power.

I already have a leaf blower with the 40-v battery and want to stay with the same line. Just wondering if anybody else has them.

RSKY

 

[kirkawilson]

I just purchased the Ryobi 40V string trimmer/power head (Gen II - 4 amp-hour battery) from Home Depot for $179. The power head by itself was $159 online but out of stock. I already had 4 Ryobi expand-it attachments (pole saw, hedge trimmer, string trimmer, extension, brushcutter) that fit my 2-cycle commercial power head, but the carburetor needed replacing, so I just 'chunked' the gas engine for the Ryobi 40V power head. Used the pole saw and string trimmer for about 4 hours over the past couple of days and am very happy with performance. I did recharge the battery between uses so it had plenty of power. Next purchase is the axial blower attachment.

 

[RalphVa]

My wife wore out 2 Kobalt 40v chain saws. First one was last year in clearing out a 100 yards long about 6 ft high pile of debris left by our May, 2018 storm. Second was after we started the war on invasives. Major cutting was of fallen trees in the way. First failure was apparently the brushes. Second one was an internal cog. Kobalt has both its 40v and 24v (brushless) chain saws on factory recall. They fully refunded our money for the 2nd saw. We replaced the 2nd Kobalt with a Stihl MSA-120. Great saw except its bar oil use is excessive, and it's level indicator absolutely does not work. These were both good on the Kobalt.

You should not be using a hedge trimmer, only use it on dead stuff. Use hand pruners. The present head of Va Tech's green houses and horticulture area bought a blueberry farm and a used JD tractor. The previous owner came back finding them yanking out all his hedge trimmed bushes with the JD tractor. If you ever look at an evergreen, you'll see that anything not exposed to sunlight is DEAD. That's what happens when you use hedge trimmers. You get gobs of "lion's tailings" that shut of light and air flow to the interior of the plant.

Ralph

 

[tshep]

I use a corded chainsaw in suburbia, and love it.
I do huge trees when necessary.
One of my big concerns is walking away from a 1/2 cut tree, and it then falling, maybe wrong.
I just don't think the battery types are there just yet, without multiple redundancy expenses.
My wire 'fuel' rarely fails, and I have big amp extra battery/inverter in the truck for real remote stuff, and that 'fuel' serves many extra purposes.

 

[Alan W.]

Dont know about the 40v Kobalt but I have the 80 v Kobalt and love them. They have been performing flawless for the years Ive had them.
I have the chainsaw, string trimmer with brush and limbing attachments.

 

[i7win7]

I think Stihl makes the best saws. Have one of the original 36v units (now considered their pro series) big box stores now selling home owner series. Bought 20v Dewalt (own several 20v tools) wouldn't recommend unless trying to standardize on battery / chargers. Nothing worse than 5 batteries / 5 chargers, nothing charged when ready to use it.

 

[Welshman]

I have the 40v hedge trimmers and the chain saw (also the line trimmer). I've only had the chain saw for about 10 mos. and haven't used it a lot, but so far so good. I'm satisfied with their products.

 

[RSKY]

My wife wore out 2 Kobalt 40v chain saws. First one was last year in clearing out a 100 yards long about 6 ft high pile of debris left by our May, 2018 storm. Second was after we started the war on invasives. Major cutting was of fallen trees in the way. First failure was apparently the brushes. Second one was an internal cog. Kobalt has both its 40v and 24v (brushless) chain saws on factory recall. They fully refunded our money for the 2nd saw. We replaced the 2nd Kobalt with a Stihl MSA-120. Great saw except its bar oil use is excessive, and it's level indicator absolutely does not work. These were both good on the Kobalt.

You should not be using a hedge trimmer, only use it on dead stuff. Use hand pruners. The present head of Va Tech's green houses and horticulture area bought a blueberry farm and a used JD tractor. The previous owner came back finding them yanking out all his hedge trimmed bushes with the JD tractor. If you ever look at an evergreen, you'll see that anything not exposed to sunlight is DEAD. That's what happens when you use hedge trimmers. You get gobs of "lion's tailings" that shut of light and air flow to the interior of the plant.

Ralph

The hedge trimmer will be used on plants that have grown up against buildings. We have been here over forty years and I haven't over trimmed and killed anything yet.

Didn't know about the recall. I did notice that there was a lot of refurbished chainsaws on their online store.

RSKY

 

[mikester]

The cobalt brand reminds me a lot of one of these greenworks I bought on sale, partly because it had a lot of good reviews and partly because Im getting to old to sling around a heavy gas powered unit for long periods of time for trimming evergreen trees.

Greenworks 24 V Cordless Hedge Trimmer | Canadian Tire

The unit basically self destructed in the first year with plastic bits breaking off, constant jamb ups, screws and nuts falling out, red hot motor smoking,...

Im tempted to go get a battery powered stihl hedge trimmer. Ive had good luck with all my stihl products so far and they have been the most durable and reliable two strokes in my shed. I would trust them with getting a battery powered tool right over some no-name chinesium homeowner brand.

The biggest problem I see, other than 2x the cost of a gas engine model, is that batteries are only good for about 5-10 years And Ive been burned too many times with manufacturers discontinuing their proprietary batteries rendering the tools useless with relatively little use on them.

I figure Im better off sticking with stinky 2 strokes and taking more body breaks to rest my Popeye arms. I dont see the point of spending twice as much for a part time use item with limited shelf life.

 

[nybirdman]

After a lot of research I went with and ECHO chain-saw;EGO was second.I like Stihl products but the ECHO was half the price.So far it has worked well.Don't know if they have a hedge trimmer.

 

[Sodo]

Here's my current program.
The Makita 36v XCU02 has worked so well over the 3 years I've had it that I bought a 2nd one.
I've used the first one so hard (14" bar) that I can't believe it has much life remaining.....although it shows no sign of giving up.
But I thought Makita might discontinue the XCU02 (which doesn't have that infuriating safety time-out like the XCU03).



It ran a 14" bar on it for most of its life.
Then I bought a new saw, and kept the 10" on it, but put an 18" on the old saw.
The way I use the pair: I bury the 10" bar, and then if I need more reach I use the other saw that goes 18".
It doesn't have enough power to pull the whole 18" of chain, I only use it for the 8 inches more "reach".

But I have a lot of other Makita LXT battery tools so it works out well for me.
I have 12 batteries.

 

[Sodo]

Here's my current program.
The Makita 36v XCU02 has worked so well over the 3 years I've had it that I bought a 2nd one.
I've used the first one so hard (14" bar) that I can't believe it has much life remaining.....although it shows no sign of giving up.
It ran a 14" bar on it for most of its life.
But I thought Makita might discontinue the XCU02 (which doesn't have that infuriating safety time-out like the XCU03).

Then I bought a new saw, and kept the 10" on it, but put an 18" on the old saw.
The way I use the pair: I bury the 10" bar, and then if I need more reach I use the other saw that goes 18".
It doesn't have enough power to pull the whole 18" of chain, I only use it for the 8 inches more "reach".

But I have a lot of other Makita LXT battery tools so it works out well for me.
I have 12 batteries.

The Makita XCU02 is one of the better $169 I've ever spent...

 

[Alien]

I bought a 18V Makita Hedge Trimmer as I already had the charger etc. Very happy with it. I use it for mock orange shrubs and trimming bamboo and even tall dry grass. Very sharp.

 

[RSKY]

After a lot of research I went with and ECHO chain-saw;EGO was second.I like Stihl products but the ECHO was half the price.So far it has worked well.Don't know if they have a hedge trimmer.

Where did you purchase the ECHO?

RSKY

 

[Rebeldad1]

Have both and more in Dewalt.
Smile every time I use them.
Some are over 5 years old and work just like they did new.
I used to have to do all the string trimming with my Stihl. Bought a Dewalt 20v and had my wife try it out. She loves it

 

[two_bit_score]

My brother bought the 80V self propelled Kobalt lawn mower. I was skeptical that it would last and give good cut. But I’m impressed!

Based on what I’ve seen of the Kobalt 80v lawn mower I’d feel comfortable about the Kobalt battery system.


.

 

[4570Man]

Here's my current program.
The Makita 36v XCU02 has worked so well over the 3 years I've had it that I bought a 2nd one.
I've used the first one so hard (14" bar) that I can't believe it has much life remaining.....although it shows no sign of giving up.
It ran a 14" bar on it for most of its life.
But I thought Makita might discontinue the XCU02 (which doesn't have that infuriating safety time-out like the XCU03).

Then I bought a new saw, and kept the 10" on it, but put an 18" on the old saw.
The way I use the pair: I bury the 10" bar, and then if I need more reach I use the other saw that goes 18".
It doesn't have enough power to pull the whole 18" of chain, I only use it for the 8 inches more "reach".

But I have a lot of other Makita LXT battery tools so it works out well for me.
I have 12 batteries.

The Makita XCU02 is one of the better $169 I've ever spent...

I was considering a battery saw for light use especially trimming from a bucket truck. I was looking at the Dewalt 20 volt saws because I’m pretty much already married to that platform. After watching YouTube videos I concluded the dewalt 20 volt saws was pretty terrible. I didn’t want to spend the money on a more capable battery setup and ended up with a top handle gas saw. I wish more manufacturers would go with Makitas double battery setup vs different bigger batteries. BTW I recently bought a Makita branded ( Dolmar ) saw and I’ve been really happy with it especially considering the price compared to other comparable saws.

 

[dragoneggs]

Doesn't really help but I am running Stihl battery tools now exclusively. Big investment as I went with the AP battery line but the tools convinced me to sell off my Stihl gassers. Hedger, String trimmer, blower, chainsaw, and my recent addition is a pole hedger. Might sell the hedger now. All are first class. A couple require the battery on your belt (blower, trimmer) but that makes them even better (lighter!).

 

[RSKY]

WOW, you guys have made what I thought was a simple decision more complicated. Gonna have to sit down tonight and go thru specs/prices/etc. and make out a spreadsheet to help make a decision.

But wait, there is more! Nome of these battery powered tools will be used more than a few times a year. So maybe the cheaper Kobalt would be the way to go. Hmmm.....

RSKY

 

[Welshman]

WOW, you guys have made what I thought was a simple decision more complicated. Gonna have to sit down tonight and go thru specs/prices/etc. and make out a spreadsheet to help make a decision.

But wait, there is more! Nome of these battery powered tools will be used more than a few times a year. So maybe the cheaper Kobalt would be the way to go. Hmmm.....

RSKY

Under those circumstances, and if you've already got at least one Kobalt 40v battery, that's what you should get.