Best climbing electric chainsaws?

[billpierce]

This is a good camparison vid

[scbk]

On 24/06/2020 at 10:31, Dan Maynard said:

Once you've got Makita batteries then the 36v is very good, maybe not quite as fast as Husky. Saws and genuine batteries are half the price so for me Makita price/performance is absolutely brilliant.

Remember though you're buying the cells, 36v is double 18v.

So the Husqvarna bli300 (36v 9.4ah) is nearly equivalent to 4 Makita 18v 5ah batteries, and the prices look fairly similar?

[Dan Maynard]

Yeah that's a good point I hadn't looked at the cost like that.

On reflection I think there is a problem with the OP question, best saw depends on the situation. Most powerful isn't always best as sometimes a lighter less powerful saw is easier to handle, otherwise no MS150 or 2511 would ever have been sold. The smaller Makita is really nice and small but looks like may have competition from that Echo Don is testing as that also looks nice and slim.

[allseasons]

I would be interested to hear your feedback once youve used the machine for a bit. 
 
Going by sales and customer enquires the new T540I is looking like it will be a popular battery saw.
Be advised, you do need to use the BLI200X or the BLI300 ( a bit heavy for the top handle) to get the full performance, ATM Husqvarna are out of stock of the BLI200X and judging by the number of calls and emails so are a lot of dealers including us. Middle ish of July before further stock of the battery will hit the shelves. If it truly has the power of the T540XP then is has to be a cracker of a machine!
 
 
 

Evening mark,

So used the husky today for a confider hedge reduction and silver birch removal and i have to say after first impressions and first use its amazing and i am very very pleased with it and has tremendous power for a battery saw.

[WALK3R]

Been using husky T540i for a couple months now... it's great!

Got 2 batteries with it and they usually last me all day, and i charge one up on way home in the truck.

It has good power, definitely on par with petrol equivalent.

Only gripes are the safety trigger is a bit awkward, the saw feels quite heavy, and quite a lot of shite builds up behind the side casing.

Appart from that it is my new favourite topper, they are deffo the future.

That new echo 2500t will be one to look out for, if it is as small, light and as powerful as the 2511tes then it's a winner.

[Mark_Skyland]

22 hours ago, allseasons said:

Evening mark,

So used the husky today for a confider hedge reduction and silver birch removal and i have to say after first impressions and first use its amazing and i am very very pleased with it and has tremendous power for a battery saw.

 

2 hours ago, WALK3R said:

Been using husky T540i for a couple months now... it's great!

Got 2 batteries with it and they usually last me all day, and i charge one up on way home in the truck.

It has good power, definitely on par with petrol equivalent.

Only gripes are the safety trigger is a bit awkward, the saw feels quite heavy, and quite a lot of shite builds up behind the side casing.

Appart from that it is my new favourite topper, they are deffo the future.

That new echo 2500t will be one to look out for, if it is as small, light and as powerful as the 2511tes then it's a winner.

Appreciate the feedback.

 

It does sound like it is a game changing battery machine. 

 

Are you both running the BLI200X battery?

 

 

 

[monkeybusiness]

I was looking at battery saws a few months ago as a client required us to use them on a particular contract. We ended up investing in the Makita system (bought a saw, double battery charger, 4x 18v batteries, and an angle grinder and big impact driver) for less than the equivalent Stihl chainsaw and a couple of batteries. Have since bought the Makita hedge cutter and little top-handle for peanuts and they are all brilliant. I picked up the 18v tyre inflator recently along with the DAB site radio too, and will buy the new grease-gun when it becomes available (and replace my drill etc with Makita when they die). 
The Makita battery gear is easily as good as the equivalent Stihl and Husky kit, costs less, and the expensive battery/charger investment is much more adaptable. It’s a no-brainer imo.

[allseasons]

Appreciate the feedback.
 
It does sound like it is a game changing battery machine. 
 
Are you both running the BLI200X battery?
 
 
 

Yes running the x battery

[Mark_Skyland]

31 minutes ago, monkeybusiness said:

I was looking at battery saws a few months ago as a client required us to use them on a particular contract. We ended up investing in the Makita system (bought a saw, double battery charger, 4x 18v batteries, and an angle grinder and big impact driver) for less than the equivalent Stihl chainsaw and a couple of batteries. Have since bought the Makita hedge cutter and little top-handle for peanuts and they are all brilliant. I picked up the 18v tyre inflator recently along with the DAB site radio too, and will buy the new grease-gun when it becomes available (and replace my drill etc with Makita when they die). 
The Makita battery gear is easily as good as the equivalent Stihl and Husky kit, costs less, and the expensive battery/charger investment is much more adaptable. It’s a no-brainer imo.

No offence but that is a fairly bold statement and I would be very interested to know how it does stack up to the other brands.

 

Is the Makita as powerful, ergonomic and as nice to use as the Stihl and Husky machines? How reliable are they and are spare parts easy to get hold of. If im honest battery machines are no good for us dealers as for one the profit margin is even smaller than petrol machines and they hardly ever break so spare part sales and repairs are more or less non existent!

 

[monkeybusiness]

59 minutes ago, Mark_Skyland said:

No offence but that is a fairly bold statement and I would be very interested to know how it does stack up to the other brands.

 

Is the Makita as powerful, ergonomic and as nice to use as the Stihl and Husky machines? How reliable are they and are spare parts easy to get hold of. If im honest battery machines are no good for us dealers as for one the profit margin is even smaller than petrol machines and they hardly ever break so spare part sales and repairs are more or less non existent!

 

We turned up on the site that forced our hand into battery investment with our 36v Makita (which feels like a toy compared to petrol saws) and another contractor had the top-of-the-range Stihl equivalent (which was what I was going to buy, and which I expected to be miles better than our toy Makita tbh). I used both and they were much-of-a-muchness - the Stihl was definitely no better.
They aren’t petrol saws, they are all just motors running chains. Makita have been building that sort of kit along with the associated battery technology for a lot longer than Stihl or Husky so they are bound to be good at it.

One of the main reasons I was initially considering Stihl over husky (before Makita was even on my radar) was that the Stihl battery hedge cutter is apparently very good, and I thought that once I’d taken the plunge with a couple of big batteries and a charger for the saw the electric hedgecutter investment wouldn’t be massive. Obviously I wanted the biggest hedgecutter available. It transpired that the Stihl chainsaw battery system doesn’t fit their battery hedgecutter without an additional £150 lead - at that point I did a few reely difffucalt suumms and realised that Makita offered massively better value for money. I’ve since invested in the big lithium ion Makita hedgecutter (for about 60 pence) and it is the dog’s danglies! 

Stihl and Husky are one-trick-ponies when it comes to battery kit imo.