Battery Chainsaw?

[Macpherson]

1 hour ago, petercb said:

MSA220 and AP300S are available but £950 for it with two batteries and a charger is quite an investment if you're not sure it's going to do the job.

 

Yep, when I bought mine a few years ago, the 200, I felt the same and only paid £500 so there's been a hefty price rise.

 

The best price I can see atm for the ap500s battery is £319, the al500 charger at £108 and the saw £680... so with only 1 battery very costly.

 

tbo no matter how good it is and how often I go to it first I still need a petrol saw with me as well for peace of mind particularly if felling anything bigger than a wee stick, but for everyday tidying and firewood I think you'd enjoy using the 220👍

[Dan Maynard]

I was messing around volunteering in the woods on Thursday and used 4 tanks of fuel in my 261, you'd need more than 2 batteries for that.

 

I love climbing with battery saws but switch to petrol when it gets to the bigger cuts. I just don't think there's enough energy in a battery to compete with petrol.

[Macpherson]

This gives you a fairly good idea of what the saw's like and battery life.

 

 

[AJStrees]

Battery stuff is pretty pricey. The idea that it only costs a couple of quid per charge and the rest doesn't make too much sense in the end. If a decent battery is £300 how much fuel can you get for that and how many times will you need to charge the battery to get the job done... Don't get me wrong, I have battery saws, but trying to use them to get jobs done isn't very productive in the longer term IMHO. 

 

If you can buy a 550xp for 600 and a less efficient battery saw for £900 with the batteries and chargers, seems like the petrol saw is a better option. additionally batteries do not always last forever and battery chargers can also be pricey when they fail. Additionally where do the dead batteries end up when they don't charge anymore..... 

 

I suppose the more diplomatic view is that everything has it's place. 👍

 

[pleasant]

Correct. Battery performance actually drops off with each charge and is noticeable  from around years two to three onwards.

 

I don't know many users who would consider throwing out a two or three year old petrol saw, but i certainly know quite a few who would consider buying a new 'bare' body cordless machine if theres an issue with it compared to a repair..assuming their batteries and chargers are still fine, OR replacing the whole machine if it needs a new couple of batteries.

 

Added to the fact the re-sale price of a used cordless saw is a lot lower than a similar  priced and specced petrol saw, as buyers are put off buying used cordless stuff due to the uncertainty of performance or reliability.

 

At least with petrol kit you can see hear and smell issues, so you do have a better chance not buying a pup. Not so with battery so much

 

I rarely sell used stuff retail, but if I did I wouldn't sell a used cordless machine.....I have to offer a warranty, and I couldn't guarantee there wouldn't be an issue. And if there were, generally cordless issues tend to be expensive compared to petrol and that's my profit gone....and reputation.

 

Edited December 31, 2022 by pleasant

[petercb]

1 hour ago, AJStrees said:

Battery stuff is pretty pricey. The idea that it only costs a couple of quid per charge and the rest doesn't make too much sense in the end. If a decent battery is £300 how much fuel can you get for that and how many times will you need to charge the battery to get the job done... Don't get me wrong, I have battery saws, but trying to use them to get jobs done isn't very productive in the longer term IMHO. 

 

If you can buy a 550xp for 600 and a less efficient battery saw for £900 with the batteries and chargers, seems like the petrol saw is a better option. additionally batteries do not always last forever and battery chargers can also be pricey when they fail. Additionally where do the dead batteries end up when they don't charge anymore..... 

 

I suppose the more diplomatic view is that everything has it's place. 👍

 

550xp is a better option unless your shoulder is giving you grief! That's why I'm considering a battery saw, productivity/running costs don't come into it for me. I agree £600 for a 550xp against nearly a grand for a lesser performing and probably battery saw wouldn't normally make a lot of sense.

[AJStrees]

I do use battery strimmers and mowers and hedge cutters, I am quite impressed by their performance, mostly use EGO stuff. Batteries are pretty good, although I have to replace a 2.5ah one that I got in 2019, it doesn't hold charge at all anymore. 

 

top handle battery saws are pretty good, though pricey on the repairs like you say. I have the husky and makita top handles and they are good for doing hundreds of small cuts on hedge reductions, I have to admit. But sawing up trees is best done with the right saw. 

 

So all in all, I think there is general agreement on what saw is best for what, batteries do have their use. More fun using a Stihl 881 and a 41" bar to buck big trees. 👍

[Macpherson]

3 minutes ago, AJStrees said:

More fun using a Stihl 881 and a 41" bar to buck big trees

 

Aye, and as I was commenting on the price of the msa300 all I could think about was.. feck that's well more than an 881 which puts it into a bit of perspective 👍

 

Happy New Year to you and yours.

[AJStrees]

20 minutes ago, petercb said:

550xp is a better option unless your shoulder is giving you grief! That's why I'm considering a battery saw, productivity/running costs don't come into it for me. I agree £600 for a 550xp against nearly a grand for a lesser performing and probably battery saw wouldn't normally make a lot of sense.

Hi Peter, Sorry. I re-read your original post. 

 

Do you already have any battery tools, I bought the makita top handle 18v because I use the makita tools. So it makes sense financially. Makita have brought out the 40v option and I believe the chain speed is better on their new 40v platform. Saying that, yes I would imagine husky and stihl battery saws are going to be up there with the best, but they are costly. Additionally if something goes wrong such as the on/off switch gets wet and blows the circuit board then you are looking at about £200 at least to replace that part. Husky batteries are a lot of money and so are the stihl ones. And as others have said you would need a few batteries to make it worth while. 

 

I have used ego battery tools since 2019 and they do well. Their older chainsaws are quite slow chain speed so I would go for their newer models with a faster speed if I was going to go with EGO. The good thing with ego is they have lots of options with their batteries and chargers and they are bringing out better stuff all the time. 

 

Machinery Nation (Hayes Machinery) on youtube recently did a comparison video on battery saws that are out on the UK market, you might find something useful there. 👍

[scbk]

2 hours ago, AJStrees said:

Battery stuff is pretty pricey. The idea that it only costs a couple of quid per charge

 

I've never properly worked it out, but I would think a 36v 9.4ah would cost less than 20p to charge? If you've ever bought aspen, battery power seems ridiculously cheap.

Also can be more convenient to refuel at home than have to drive via a petrol station - even more so in remote places. One place I've worked would be an hour round trip to a petrol station, but they have mains electricity!

 

Battery tools get more useful and cheaper the more of it you buy, you can just keep adding bare tools.

Don't do it on the cheap, get good tools and plenty of large batteries

 

All decent brands of batteries cost fairly similar to buy new when you compare watt-hours.

Obviously cheaper chinese stuff is at a lower price but you're taking more of a gamble on the cells and battery management.

I think worldwide the price of lithium is going up?

 

I will always pick up the tool most suited to the job - often that is battery powered