Electric chainsaw

[John_Mc]

Ha. Yes - even battery saws need bar oil.

One of the manuals I read said you could even use kitchen oil in the machine. Never did that as my wife would not be pleased.

MoKelly

I know several folks who use canola oil in their chainsaws (gas or electric). I've tired it and it seems to lubricate better than the petroleum-based bar oils. Canola oil and some of the early "bio-based" commercial bar oils had one problem: if you left them sitting in the saw for an extended time, the oil would "set up" on the chain so stiff that you sometimes could not get it moving (by hand or with the engine) until you gave the chain a liberal dose of WD40 to loosen things up again. The stuff was kind of like the "crust" that develops over time in a cast-iron frying pan from baked on vegetable oil.

Modern Bio-based bar oils are mainly canola oil with some additives to prevent forming that baked-on crust. I've been using the Stihl BioPlus bar oil for years, since one of the properties where I regularly use a chainsaw requires it. It works well, and no problems with the saw, even if I leave it sitting for months. It's not cheap, but sinc eI have to use it on one property, I just use it all the time now.

 

[dmoerman]

Of course I use bar oil. But still, you know what I mean!

 

[John_Mc]

Of course I use bar oil. But still, you know what I mean!

I understand what you mean. However, you'd be surprised at how many people buy a battery saw and don't think about the bar oil. They do just plug in a battery and go... they just don't go for long without ruining their bar.

I currently have a couple of gas chainsaws. I recently added an electric chainsaw (Milwaukee M18 Fuel). It certainly is convenient for lighter work... and it's quiet. I sometimes start out the day with that when working in the woods in the early morning, so I don't disturb those living nearby. I'll clear saplings, or limb trees I took down earlier. I have to be careful though: with my gas saws, I'll run out of gas before running out of bar oil. If I start with a fully charged 12 AH battery in my Milwaukee, I'll run out of oil long before I run out of charge in the battery. I may have to switch to the 6 AH battery until I get used to checking on that more frequently.

 

[kenmbz]

I use a 8AH on the M18 pole saw. For the trimmer it last 60 minutes, so should get quit some time on the saw.

 

[Oaktree]

I have a 40V Lynx saw. It's perfect for small jobs...cleaning up downed limbs, trimming the occasional piece of firewood that's 2" too long to fit in the stove, etc. but it's too wimpy to do real work with. As someone else noted about a different brand battery saw, it's easy to bog it down and then it will just stop. Great supplement to my gas saw though, and glad I have it.
I have a corded saw too (was my wife's before we met)...will use it once in a while to cut up that odd piece of firewood that's a bit too long, but that's about it. Doesn't get much use since I got the HF one.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

I have the Milwaukee M18 saw. Heavy. Effective. My only complaint is the thin kerf bar and chain. It will derail if you just look at it funny. On the bright side you up your skills on avoiding pinches, but still, if the blade is heavy brush, it will derail easily. I plan to replace it with the normal Oregon bar and chain next time and see how it does. I've read that people do that. I'm not worried about power, and I have yet to drain the battery cutting wood. The string trimmer and blower will drain the batteries a lot faster than the chainsaw. But I don't cut firewood, I just have a steady stream of downed or standing trees to clear and only cut enough to make them ... "grapple-able". So, thin chain, thumbs down. Solid otherwise, thumbs up. Of course nothing about it is like a gas saw, but for my decades old rotator cuff injury, the electric saw saves me huge amounts of pain over the pull starts on gas saws.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Yes and Yes...

My Stihl 200 battery saw is very good... with two 300 batteries and the quick charge I can go as long as I want.

I also have a corded Stihl chainsaw... its a beast.

I have a few 110 v chain saws. But then, I came across s STIHL electric. This looks like a saw bar on a 9" angle grinder. Its a hoss.

 

[Midniteoyl]

LOL.. I bought the Atlas 40v from HF. Use it with a 80v battery. Only used it to clear low hanging or dropped branches so far, but that's what I bought it for - to sit on the tractor, and it works great for that.. Bought the 80v leaf blower for blowing things off too. Also works really good.

However:

 

[cqaigy2]

I'd take any one of those saws if they gave it to me and a supply of batteries.

Interesting the HF Atlas 40v will accept 80v batteries. Does it run faster with the higher voltage battery?

 

[newbury]

<snip>Bought a DEWALT DCCS620P1 for my wife. It might be small but its a animal. The battery life is impressive as well. It easily replaced our Stihl MS170. She loves it.
if you already have some Dewalt 20 volt stuff it would be a great fit

And that's a key point -
With batteries costing $10+ per AH it's a tradeoff to get another brand of battery.
I've had:
B&D 40V 14"
HF 40V 14"
DeWalt 20V 12"
I've about $3K worth of DeWalt 20v and Flexvolt tools and batteries, including the DeWalt 1800W Portable Power Station and Charger.
I've about $$6K of Stihl saws, several not in my sig.
It is difficult for me to transition to battery powered saws. But the DeWalt 20V at $99 hit the sweet spot. Basically it's a top handle with a handlebar.