Battery chainsaw

[maineshops]

Starting to slow down a bit. Just cutting dead and down in the woods,and an occasional sawlog. What is a good battery saw o tha stop and start work. Light weight. I use an 80v kobalt and it is getting heavy. Tx dan

[Southside]

I have a 40V Kobalt and an 18V Milwaukee we use around the mill.  The Milwaukee is by far a much better saw. 

[upnut]

I have a Stihl MS 200c, shown here with my son's DeWalt saw for comparison...


I bought a Stihl MS120 c-b originally, it has been a good little saw. The MS200 c is a couple steps up in power, battery life, and features like variable speed throttle and metal dogs. I put the same size bar/chain on the 200 just to simplify the spare parts issue, and the 14" bar does all I need in a battery saw. They have been good saws...

Scott B.

[John Mc]

I have used some surprisingly good battery chainsaws, but none of the good ones are light weight, at least not as compared to a similar-powered gas saw.

[maple flats]

For years I stayed away from battery powered chainsaws, but at 77 I jumped in with both feet. I now have 2 DeWalt 20V cordless a 14" saw and a 16" saw plus a DeWalt 60V 9A 20" saw. That last one bucked all of my firewaad this past year. I also have a 14" Kobalt 20V saw, a 16" Kobalt 24V saw and a Kobalt 40V polesaw. The last 2 were used mainly in my 4.5 acres of blueberries for pruning and removing a never ending fight with unwanted trees growing in between the bushes. 
None of those saws cut as fast as my Husky 543XP, nor are they as loud. I've come to like these "toy" saws, but I've learned they are no longer just toys. Today's batteries for cordless tools have made huge gains in their ability. 
I do still tend to use my Husky 543XP or my Husky 359 or my Husky 65 when felling trees, unless maybe a dead ash for firewood often falls to the hum of the DeWalt 60V saw. The hemlock coming down for the sawmill still get one of the 2 smaller Huskies, the 65 is only used to buck huge trees, it wears a 34" full skip chain, and it' too much to start and handle when not absolutely needed. 
In fact the 65 has only been used 5-6 times in the 10 yrs 'ive had it. It came with a 24" bar, but I had one log on my old Peterson that wanted a 36" bar, but when I went to buy it, the dealer gave me the price as well as the price he had on some 34" bars, ($50) and I got the 34". It seems he got them by mistake and the vendor gave him a very special price if he kept them. He wanted just under $120 for the 36" bar. Both were roller nose bars.

[OddInTheForrest]

My 2 cents are these : 

I've looked for light saws for years. I do a lot of TSI work, thinning and in general selective thinning or clearing. In poorly managed woodlands. This often leads to day after day of slinging a saw. This has led me to test a MS 192, 193, 200, and eventually a MS151. 

This then led me to batterysaws. I think I tried them all. But never found the rigth one. Ofcourse, price also matters. I run a one-man part time show, and dont want to spend too much. 

I concluded with a Ryobi. 1830, cheapes one with a 00.43 chain. It runs on my chipper, just for the occational use. Not a saw I'd use for felling. The chain speed is just too slow. 

I am however more than willing to try new saws, and think you should too ! Try a MSA 70, or the MS151, at least I know the 151 is worth the money. Saw runs long on a single tank, and after 5 years of cutting with mine 90-120 days a year, I know what its capable of. 

Best regards
Odd
Norways westcoast