Electric chainsaws

I just sawed down a 25m silky oak tree in my backyard with a stihl electric chainsaw with about a 14' blade, was quite amazing, but unfortunately it got stuck in the tree (novice mistake) and when I managed to pull the tree down with a winch strap the Stihl fell to the ground and don't go no more.

So I went out and bought an Echo cause I wanted something more mobile, cut up the rest of the tree with the 2 stroke petrol today.

Impressions? Go the electric, no fuss, no choke, no mixing fuel, the Stihl was plug and play, the Echo is great but so many buttons compared to the Sthil. And the electric chainsaw are very cheap.

The Stihl, just checked downstairs, at about a 14" roughly blade is rated at 1400w.

Go for the electric if only a couple times a year. Then don't have to worry about stale fuel, if anything. Just don't drop them from any height.

G'day joff1,

Just make sure the lead(s) are not to long as I used an electric chain saw in the beginning and the power loss was quite substantial over a long distance i.e. more than one 25m extension cord. So you may have to have the generator close by to get the best performance. My electric saw is 1600w. Don't know if a 2kW gen will be enough but I have a 5.5kW gen that ran a 2000w 9" angle grinder and handled it well. But to carry a generator that big around won't be worth it!

Cheers.

I have a great Bunning no name electric chain saw that is rated at 1800w.

Garry

Joffster,
I had a small Ryobi (I think) electric for many many years, it was almost impossiblr to kill - used it on the farm for just the things you suggest, firewood etc and it puched outside its welterweightclass often. It was quiet etc.

The key is keeping oil up to them and a sharp chain.

Also sticking too - small stuff - the temptation is to tackle things bigger than you should because they can - but eventually that is what killed it.

Theres a certain inherrant danger of cutting your own chord of course (make sure you have earth leakage fuse trips switches on the genny).

I would think as a camp firewood device its work fine!

Just remember that in order to take the saw to the wood if you have to gather it from any distance - the genny has to go along too - so ut can't stay back at camp running the firdge etc - while you are out cuting down dead mulga trees for firewood.

Possibly in that case - it'd be better to carry a small petrol one on the roof in aventillated box?

I.e are you going th darg / carry 20 foot long dead saplings back to camp with the 4wd in order to be able to use the electric in camp to cut them up or take the saw and genny away from camp and come back with neatly cut trailer full of short pieces?

If you want to cut smallish saplings in camp - then the quietness of the electric can't be beat - I'd set up some sort of "rest/clamp" on the back of the trailer to rest the saplings over to cut them so your not bending at ground level all the time.

This saves the back and it keeps the saw chain outta the gravel rocks and dirt which will blunt it real quick.

Also you have to learn NOT to pick wood of the iron bark / Jamwood variety thats hard as steel and will blunt the chain in one cut - likewise avoid ALL timber with any sign of termites - who line their channels with sand which again will blunt the chain in 2 seconds.

Basically and dead wood fouldlying on theground wll have the termites so you have to cut standing dead saplings to get clean wood that won't wreck the chain.

Keep th chain tension adjusted (it gets longer as it warms up) - and you shouldn't go wrong.

IF you had to travel say 100 miles of a track where small saplings had fallen over it say every 1 mile on average you'd likely soon get sick of setting up the genny 100 times to use the electric saw - in that case the small petrol might be more convenient to use.

Its horses for courses...but electric chainsaws are frequently underrated by those who havent owned & used one.

I was fortunate in having a good stihl petrol chainsaw as well, so didn't have the problem of being stuck with just ine type and could use whichever seemed most appropriate.

In defence of the petrol saws Joff, that stil 032 farm boss i bought new for about $900 when we lived in Narrogin in the wheatbelt in about 1980. I used t to cut mallet firewood for say 6 years, then moved to Nannup in the deep south Jarrah Forests, where I had a lumber business for 20 years - the saw used weekly on average for those 20 years, and now a few years later it is still working like new - becauise i look after it- and service it.

It has had a new bar a couple times and numerous new chains and drive sprockets, howeverr still has the original air cleaner (coz I keep it clean - which is crucial on chain saws).

28 years hard use Joffster and still starts second pull like new and cuts anything I've ever pointed it at! Probably the best $900 I ever spent but as a forester I am very particular about my chainsaw and would loan you my missus before I'd loan you my stihl chainsaw! ;o)

Whateber you spend on a good pertrol Stihl chainsaw WILL end up lasting you a lifetime of you look after it.

At the Forestry where I worked we had probably a dozen new saws a year - of all brands (coz they came on tender) but the ONLY ones that stood up were the Stihl.

Our mechanics hated working on anything else, one othe rbrnad (Husky) had more HP and for a short time won favour woth commercial fallers, but the unreliability became an issue - they get paid on the wood they fall and brand and you can't fall treesif your in town getting your saw fixed!

Stihl wins hads down,and a 032 farm boss - would do all you could ever ask of it and more, probably till your ready for thebig trip outta here!

Your call.

I still have the Stihl - the electric died a natural death eventually, but more thru abuse than use!

Either beat and axe except then they get stuck in a tree! ;o)

Cheers

Have a rethink and consider a small hand saw........no noise, no storage problems, no fuel problems etc

I have a couple of different size chain saws on the farm and wouldnt dream of taking one bush with me

I carry a small coarse toothed jack saw and it cuts the hardest of wood with ease........the secret is to only tackle around a max of 150mm dia and to make sure the saw is short...much safer, as you keep the strokes short to match the blade length and then you dont bend it....cut the logs into twice the length you want and then start the fire in the middle so two logs burn each other in half

I hardly use the axe these days

Bunnings have a Talon (GMC) 2000w chainsaw @ $89

must admit I'm tempted - I was thinking of running it through the inverter from my aux battery in the back of the ute.

Trouble is my inverter is only a 600w continuous 1500w peak - if I bought a 1000w cont (2000 peak) would that do the trick???

advice appreciated

Yep,
I had the same thought a while ago when we were at KFC in the gulf while using a Panasonic cold cut cordless circular saw to cut some firewood, worked ok but the batteries ran out fairly quickly.

The only problem that I can see with using the genny is keeping it accessible & having it close to where you need it, mine lives inside the camper, under the dining table when travelling!

Had mine for over 15 years now and I have simply worn it out...so I am buying another one soon....easy to use and simple to pack....already have the genny and leads on board anyway.

Just spray the bar and chain with CRC or WD40...it even cuts dirt lol.

Very handy and useful.

I recently purchased a Ryobi 18v electric drill for general around the house work. It is part of the ONE plus series of cordless tools. There is about 30 different tools in the series and all use the same battery. So buy just one battery and charger and all the actual tools are cheap cos you dont have too buy more batteries etc.
The idea was that I will take it in the van for winding down the legs. Anyway, seeing as I am already carrying the battery and charger, today I bought a 18v chainsaw that is part of this series of tools. Very small, 25cm blade, lightweight. Have no idea how good it will be, probably wont be, but at $67 worth a try. Tonite I cut up a length of dry Sugar gum around 4inch thick, hell of a lot easier than a hand saw, but took about twice the time that a small 2stroke would have. I feel the battery will last about 20 to 30 similar cuts before draining.
So who knows? 20 to 30 logs is a fair amount of firewood, price allows it to be dumped if no good, and it can be charged in the car or 240v. also have camping flouro lantern and torch in the range which may be interesting too. The more items that can use interchangeable batteries saves on having lots of different chargers and batteries.

Ian

sthil 026
No more to be said. Look after it and it will last you a lifetime! Had to cut down 10-15 tree's just to get out of a bog not long ago, try doing that with a electric :)

My thought:
For the small amount of fuel they use they are worth their weight in gold
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Great idea.

If I'd had a genny at the time I would have done the same.

Petrol chainsaws are messy things. My little $160 Talon is a beaut, but it stinks, gotta carry another drum (small) of fuel etc.

Jim.

Thanks for the feedback.

Might give it a shot, what have I got to lose? LOL

was in a van park recently and the guy next to us in a motorhome got out his electric chainsaw and started carving up firewood,only lasted a few minutes and she caught fire,shorted out the entire park for awhile...

just stating what happenned... Cheers.. Rod