Electric chainsaws...

Now..corded or battery? The best battery seems to be the Makita range but are quite expensive. I do have an Einhell drill with 2 batteries which is their "power exchange " range so could swap them out with their saw but they're probably quite low mah power so wouldn't be that good.

Clint said:

Now..corded or battery?

Click to expand...

Like a lot of things, it probably depends on your usage. If it's just a light amount of use or out away from power sockets (in the woods etc) then battery would be better. If you want to do a lot and would fear the batteries would'nt last and are close to a power source, then corded may be better.

Now..corded or battery?

Click to expand...

My view clint if corded will do the job go for it you'll then not regret it in the future.

Chippy_Tea said:

My view clint if corded will do the job go for it you'll then not regret it in the future.

Click to expand...

That's been my reasoning for choosing to go with cordless . But each person has their own preferences

I've wanted to go battery for awhile but I tend to pile up a fairly large amount of wood to cut in one go, was looking only yesterday on Amazon at a Stihl battery chainsaw and someone posted a pic of what they'd cut. It was a pretty small amount and the poster said they'd got through 5 batteries!

I cut lots of firewood and have 3 small saws.
Petrol - Heavy Duty work and roughing shapes. Felling wood.
Electric - Firewood and indoor. Don't trust it for felling work on heavy wood. Stops more frequently.
Battery - General usage. Don't use for felling wood. The Battery has an overload safety feature and cuts out. I feel it is just too risky for felling.

I made the decision to have the same Bar on both the petrol and the mains electric saws.
Both have a 40cm Bar and 56 teeth Chains with oregon type 91 chains for everyday work, and Multicut heavy duty chains for "Dirty Wood" - last 2 to 4 times as long.

The petrol saw has the fastest chain speed and can be used anywhere outside, but as I move under cover into the wood store (a Dutch Barn), I prefer to use the Electric Saw which has a slower chain speed, so slightly safer. Also much quieter and pleasant to use.

Just over a year ago, my Electric Saw went pop. I tried a few others, but ended up with a battery saw with a 35cm bar. It uses type 90 chains, and a much slower chain speed. The Bar has a special sprocket for the tool less chain adjustment, and is a faff to turn. It is good for garden work, hedge layering etc. 2 x 4Ah battery will give about 30mins continued use cutting wood, but a day for hedge work. Its a good wee saw.

I ended up buying the same saw that failed as a replacement to run off the Solar panels along with the Log splitter to process the wood during the summer. Just a simple saw with no electronic chain safety stuff.

I never did get into the knack of sharpening the blades with a file, so I bought a bench unit. ended up about cost even because over last 2 years, have refurbished all the "old chains" I had.

You don't notice. But a sharp chain will produce chips about the size of rolled porridge oats, and a blunt chain with produce more vibration and dust.

pilgrimhudd said:

I've wanted to go battery for awhile but I tend to pile up a fairly large amount of wood to cut in one go, was looking only yesterday on Amazon at a Stihl battery chainsaw and someone posted a pic of what they'd cut. It was a pretty small amount and the poster said they'd got through 5 batteries!

Click to expand...

With 2 x 4Ah and heavy 300mm dia logs I get a stack 1m x 0.5m x 0.5m or if processing up to 6" logs, will be a builders bag of loose logs. Would be just over half a bag if closely stacked.

Agentgonzo said:

That's been my reasoning for choosing to go with cordless . But each person has their own preferences

Click to expand...

I get cordless if you are doing a lot of moving around but *assumed Clint is going to mostly use his for logs for the burner so will be in roughly the same place every time

*that may be a huge assumption

This won't be big enough for big logs but hands-down this is the best bit of garden kit I've ever bought, a Stihl GTA26 mini-chainsaw with 2 batteries. I've felled 15ft trees with this and it's great for tree pruning and cutting up smaller firewood. 2 years in and the batteries are still going strong, got through a few chains but easy enough to replace.
https://shop.stihl.co.uk/products/gta-26-cordless-garden-pruner

Foggie said:

The petrol saw has the fastest chain speed and can be used anywhere outside, but as I move under cover into the wood store (a Dutch Barn), I prefer to use the Electric Saw which has a slower chain speed, so slightly safer. Also much quieter and pleasant to use.

You don't notice. But a sharp chain will produce chips about the size of rolled porridge oats, and a blunt chain with produce more vibration and dust.

Click to expand...

Agree, that sharp chain should produce wood flakes, rather than dust.

But, find the small difference in chain speed, means it isn't worth using a petrol saw, when mains electricity is available. Because a petrol saw is usually 'running', even when you're not cutting,.

Battery tools are very dependant on battery life. This deteriorates: when the battery gets old; if if not used regularly; or if it's cold. So basically battery OK, if you're doing little, and often, in the warm.

My son uses battery, for certain tools, but only because he handles loads of them anyway, through working for SSE.

If you have a Dremel (or equivalent), an easy way to sharpen chains, is using a rotary sharpening stone (sized to your chain). Frequently dip it in parafin, or white spirit, for cooling.
Never had any luck with chain files.

MashBag said:

This is the basic frame.
I use a couple of angle brackets to attach it to a pallet.
The pallet sits on the log box. You will be amazed by how much quicker & easier it is. Bar wear is more even too.

View attachment 106425

Click to expand...

Thanks, you've given me an idea to build something I can use to chop bits that are just a bit too big for the fire.

jeremy Hall said:

Thanks, you've given me an idea to build something I can use to chop bits that are just a bit too big for the fire.

Click to expand...

Use plenty of wood in the base... It makes it more stable.

Turn the log gently clockwise also improves the cut.

Without reading the whole thread…

Chains need frequent dressing up, it’s an easy process. YouTube is your friend.

You can do it with just a round file but the kit is better as you also need to file the depth gauge down and the teeth at the correct angle.

I have experienced in petrol Stihl and 54v Dewalt saws. Very rarely pick up the petrol now unless a tree is coming down.

HTH.

I picked up the corded Titan from Screwfix and never had any issues with it. It is only used occasionally but at the start of the year we used it to take down 2 large oak trees and it went through them without issues.

I suppose it depends on how much you will use it, I am certain that something like a Stihl would be much better than my Titan but for my needs it would be overkill

Clint said:

Now..corded or battery? The best battery seems to be the Makita range but are quite expensive. I do have an Einhell drill with 2 batteries which is their "power exchange " range so could swap them out with their saw but they're probably quite low mah power so wouldn't be that good.

Click to expand...

Corded if you can.

Batteries are always a PITA.
Whatever possessed people to think they would be a good idea to build them into cars.... Might be another thread in that

200m extension lead anyone?

MashBag said:

Corded if you can.

Batteries are always a PITA.
Whatever possessed people to think they would be a good idea to build them into cars.... Might be another thread in that

Click to expand...

I bet you think the same about phones don't you? No need for this "wireless" malarkey when you can have a good old cable coming out of the wall.

Not at all. As a thinking bloke, I like well designed, usable, reliable kit. For me batteries are a weakness. For all the obvious few reasons.

For what is worth I have quite a good array on m18 tools.

We (as a race) do not need to produce a pointless ammount of disposable sh1te, that it heavy on energy, pollution and natural resources. It is not sustainable.

And you may have spotted I use some online resources too.. Wirelessy

MashBag said:

Batteries are always a PITA.
Whatever possessed people to think they would be a good idea to build them into cars.....

Click to expand...

Two simple reasons.
1) to have an electric starter motor, and do away with the starting handle.
2) so our government can legislate a minimum % battery vehicles sold, so driving all car makers (one of the few remaining industries) out of the UK.

I have both petrol and electric chainsaws petrol are fine in the bush where there are no power sockets or chargers at home I use the electric plug-in chainsaw, which is a lot quieter.