What to do with a broken 346xp?

[woody paul]

From you video I can not see the point of not cutting lower to start with. You will run out of battery power soon cutting that way. 

[MikePepler]

16 minutes ago, woody paul said:

From you video I can not see the point of not cutting lower to start with. You will run out of battery power soon cutting that way. 

Yeah, you can't see the curvature in the tree there, and there wasn't much in this one. Anyway, I made the video to show a battery saw felling a tree, rather than as a tree felling demo. 

 

Battery life has been very good actually, I've got two 9Ah batteries, and not yet managed to empty them both while coppicing, though that's allowing for time spent splitting and stacking wood, moving brash, etc. Logging is probably a better test, and I've found filling a 1m3 trailer uses about 3/4 of a battery - sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on log length and how hard the wood is.

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, MikePepler said:

Yeah, you can't see the curvature in the tree there, and there wasn't much in this one.

That's why we tended to make 5'6" stakes from the first length as the point could take in any sweep. Mind we wouldn't risk losing a rail as a consequence.

2 hours ago, MikePepler said:

 

 

Anyway, I made the video to show a battery saw felling a tree, rather than as a tree felling demo.  

Understood and they are already handy things for higgling about or just kept by the chipper to sort the odd awkward bit to feed plus they're getting better all the time.

[MikePepler]

2 minutes ago, openspaceman said:

Understood and they are already handy things for higgling about or just kept by the chipper to sort the odd awkward bit to feed plus they're getting better all the time.

I coppiced about 40m3 (stacked volume) using the battery saw this winter, and it stood up to that OK. I do look forward to the day when they can get a bit more power out of them though. I think the limitation at the moment is the battery - there are plenty of compact electric motors that can deliver several kW, but they'd drain the battery too fast and reduce its cycle life too. Maybe the battery tech will move on over the next few years, seeing as the electric car sector is growing so fast.

[Stubby]

51 minutes ago, MikePepler said:

I coppiced about 40m3 (stacked volume) using the battery saw this winter, and it stood up to that OK. I do look forward to the day when they can get a bit more power out of them though. I think the limitation at the moment is the battery - there are plenty of compact electric motors that can deliver several kW, but they'd drain the battery too fast and reduce its cycle life too. Maybe the battery tech will move on over the next few years, seeing as the electric car sector is growing so fast.

Needs looking at by Tesla .

[scbk]

I've no doubt that in 20 years time we'll all be running about with battery chainsaws, hedge cutters, etc, and we'll be trying to explain to youngsters what 2 stroke was.

 

Ps just fitted an ebike kit to my bicycle, wow, great fun! 

[MikePepler]

1 minute ago, scbk said:

I've no doubt that in 20 years time we'll all be running about with battery chainsaws, hedge cutters, etc, and we'll be trying to explain to youngsters what 2 stroke was.

 

Ps just fitted an ebike kit to my bicycle, wow, great fun! 

Yes, I think so. Tesla cars are already faster than any petrol car for the same money, and are coming down in price. I've driven a BMW i3, and the experience is great. E-bikes are potentially even better though, you feel like you have bionic legs! I had an early model 10 years ago, would like to buy one again soon... All these developments should fed through to the chainsaws - e-bikes are quite similar in terms of batteries and motors. I guess the chainsaw manufacturers might take a while to do new models though, I guess they'll want to earn some cash from the existing designs first.

 

For the chainsaw, the only points that annoy me are the lower power (I'd rate it equivalent to a 30cc saw) and the low-profile chain/bar they sell it with. But for me these are outweighed by the plus sides most of the time.

 

I realise this thread has gone quite some way off the original topic! ?

[peatff]

2 hours ago, MikePepler said:

E-bikes are potentially even better though, you feel like you have bionic legs! I had an early model 10 years ago, would like to buy one again soon... All these developments should fed through to the chainsaws - e-bikes are quite similar in terms of batteries and motors.

 

So you could be looking at chainsaws with pedal assist  Brilliant idea. When battery prices come down and technology gets good enough they will be a better proposition, storage needs to go up and charging times need to come down before they can replace just slopping another pint of fuel in and away you go again. I know the price of fuel is high compared to electricity to charge a battery but you don't need to buy £120 of fuel at one go and it's there straight away not in 30 or 40 minutes or whatever time an AP200 takes to charge.

[MikePepler]

11 hours ago, peatff said:

 

So you could be looking at chainsaws with pedal assist  Brilliant idea. When battery prices come down and technology gets good enough they will be a better proposition, storage needs to go up and charging times need to come down before they can replace just slopping another pint of fuel in and away you go again. I know the price of fuel is high compared to electricity to charge a battery but you don't need to buy £120 of fuel at one go and it's there straight away not in 30 or 40 minutes or whatever time an AP200 takes to charge.

My view is that charging time isn't too important, it's the cost. I can't charge a battery in the woods anyway, so have two, then charge them at my leisure at home. But you then end up spending quite a bit on batteries. Maybe if there's ever a reasonably priced electric 4x4 then charging from it in the woods might be feasible. Charging from an inverter on a petrol/diesel engine would be very inefficient.

[peatff]

9 minutes ago, MikePepler said:

My view is that charging time isn't too important, it's the cost. I can't charge a battery in the woods anyway, so have two, then charge them at my leisure at home.

So you can look at the battery as a very expensive fuel can that takes a long time to fill with fuel which is cheap but not available everywhere. Depending on the charger it can take between 45 minutes and 3 hours to charge to 100% so you need the AL300 charger at £60 as well so for 2 batteries and a charger you are in for about £300 plus the saw which is "equivalent to a 30cc saw" it's not sounding very tempting yet.