Milwaukee Battery Top Handle chainsaw

[woody]

My step son is not very mechanical and only needed a saw to maintain his trail around his property so I convinced his wife to get him a Milwaukee m18 and he likes it no problem with chain, I have not had to clean the carburetor or get it running for him not one time and he already had some m18 stuff, my father in law borrowed it and like it enough that he bought one and he just used it a couple days ago and did not have any trouble but he was not cutting anything more than 7 or 8 inch trees.

 

[Hay Dude]

Didn’t Makita make a ECS with twin batteries?

 

[two_bit_score]

Didn’t Makita make a ECS with twin batteries?

Yes, and it's actually a top handle.

 

[TimberFarm]

I have two Makita 36v and love them. One 12" and one 14".
They are my go to saws along with Makita 36v pole saw.
The Stihl only comes out for the really big stuff.
I converted just about all my tools to Makita battery about 5 years ago and have about 15-20 batteries at this point. The oldest are over 10 years old and still charge and run fine.

 

[Hay Dude]

I have two Makita 36v and love them. One 12" and one 14".
They are my go to saws along with Makita 36v pole saw.
The Stihl only comes out for the really big stuff.
I converted just about all my tools to Makita battery about 5 years ago and have about 15-20 batteries at this point. The oldest are over 10 years old and still charge and run fine.

I did some timber work with a guy who had a portable sawmill. I cut the trees down, dragged them to his sawmill. That was first time I saw a Makita twin battery and thought it was a great idea.

Surprised the others don’t embrace this simple, but effective strategy to extend battery life.

 

[John_Mc]

I don't know what the OEM chain was. I will find it and see what I can determine. The replacement was this:
Amazon.com
The Milwaukee has an open drive sprocket and does not seem to be wearing unusually after the new bar and chain.

The Milwaukee M18 saws come with a 3/8"pitch, low profile, .043" gauge narrow kerf bar and chain. Since they are thinner than a regular bar, they tend to be more flexible. I suspect that it is the bending that causes the chain to derail. You really can't put much side load or twisting pressure on them. It takes some adjustment for those used to dealing with regular kerf bars. Some people never quite get used to how comparatively gentle you have to be with them.

The replacement is a 3/8" pitch, low profile, .050" gauge bar and chain. This is a standard kerf bar, so is thicker and stiffer than the narrow kerf bars. This chain uses the same drive sprockets as the narrow kerf chain, so it's not surprising that you are not seeing unusual wear.

 

[rgr33]

My first battery chain saw was the 12” DeWalt.I used it mainly for orchard pruning and fallen trees in the woods. I liked it, but didn’t love it, and eventually wore the thing plumb out

Decided to upgrade to the Milwaukee saw, and that thing has really been impressive compared to the smaller DeWalt.
haven't fired up the Stihl for a couple of years, but have no intention of ever selling it.
I rarely reach for a corded or gas powered machine any more, other than tractors and lawn mowers.
Still though, kinda wish I could try out a battery z turn, just out of curiosity.

 

[TimberFarm]

I have the standard M18 chainsaw. It’s not a bad saw, and always ready to go with a charged battery. I’ve cut 12-13 diameter pine with it. A couple things to note:

The batteries fade REALLY fast in cold weather.

It seems prone to pinching the chain/blade.

I don’t like having only the Milwaukee M18 saw, alone, outside my property. I don’t trust it to get the job done without having “backup”.

I also have an Echo 620, and I feel like Jesse Ventura in Predator wielding the 620. When it’s cold out and I go through 4 batteries in 10 minutes and the electric saw goes belly up, I like having the 620 available to go scorched earth on the problem.

And frankly, the more time I put on the Echo, the easier it starts, the better it runs, and the less desire I have to dink around with the Milwaukee.

Define "cold".
I run my Makita battery (LiIon) in cold weather and never really noticed any real drop in run time.

 

[John_Mc]

Define "cold".
I run my Makita battery (LiIon) in cold weather and never really noticed any real drop in run time.

Have you used it below about 15-20˚F (-10 to -7˚C) much?

I was out working in the woods when it was 15-20˚F a few days ago. Brought my Milwaukee M18 saw with me just to see how it would do. The battery certainly did seem to drain more quickly than the last time I used it. The Milwaukee saw does have its place, but it's definitely not one of my more regularly used saws.

 

[TimberFarm]

I have used them in those temps. Below zero. I haven't.