Electric Chainsaws

[Egon]

This past week I spent several days trimming overhead branches on an access road. Most of the work was done off of a 20 ft. ladder. I used a small inexpensive electric chainsaw powered by a generator. I found this much easier than handling my Huscky 51 when up the ladder. It was lighter, instant on/off and much easier to control. It could also be raised/lowered by the cord. The generator and ladders were on a small utillity trailer pulled by my tractor.

My question is:
Has anyone experience with the larger electric chainsaws and if so how do they compare to gas saws for felling trees, cutting up firewood and just general use? The type I'm thinking of would be a Husky/Makita or some other make that is of good quality.

Thanks for the help.

Egon

 

[pajoube]

Only area of concern would be the length of your power cord. I would stay under 100 feet at all times.
PJ

 

[mikim]

<font color=blue>Most of the work was done off of a 20 ft. ladder.</font color=blue>
Man that's gotta be the hard way - my plan is to set the generator on the 3 point carry-all, tie the extension cord around on the loader, fashion a manlift on the loader, and let my wife drive up and down the roads with me cutting limbs from the manlift using the chainsaw-on-a-pole. I have a coupla miles of road to keep clear too - and it's been 4-5 years since I last did it - needs it ba-a-ad. I mow those "roads" as well with the brush hog - they're really just large paths through the woods - and it's getting tough to get through some places with all the limbs that have overgrown.
mike

 

[Egon]

PJ:

Yes, the length of cord shouldn't be too long or there would be too much power loss. Carrying the generator on the tractor I could get pretty close.
Thanks for the reply.

Egon

 

[Egon]

Mike:

My body did complain and I'm not really that old but there was only me and myself there.

But you did give me a few ideas. Perhaps a nice wide ladder from the three point hitch with supports to bucket would make it easier to place and climb up. But then with my propensity to foul up I'd just drop a big branch on the tractor like I did to the ladder. Then again maybe I could use a rig like that for picking apples.

A manlift would have been nice.

Egon

 

[skent]

I use a Remington 12" bar pole saw for the high limbing and I have a Sears 16" (Remington) for limbing closer to the ground. I also use the Generator on the carryall and really like being able to start the saw without pulling on recoil starters while balanced on a branch or ladder.

Use a Poulin 18" gas for the bigger stuff.

I think weight-wise the bigger electrics (16 and up) are actually heavier than their gas operated counterparts.