Do gas chainsaws make any sense for a homeowner?

[SupremePossum]

I have the Milwaukee M18 Chainsaw, and my neighbor has an Echo gas chainsaw. Both have 16 inch blades, and both get a similar number of cuts out of a tank of gas or charge. The M18 saw with my upgraded bar and chain is equally, if not slightly more effective.

One of my M18 FORGE 12.0 batteries cost $0.02c to charge up on grid power, or $0.006c to charge up if the sun is shining and I fill it on solar, or, $0.0000 if I were to charge it up via a solar panel connected to one of my Ecoflow batteries

He is buying the pre-mixed fuel from Home Depot, so a tank costs him a whopping $1.30. If he mixed his own gas, it would cost about $0.40

Gas needs to be purchased, and is hard to find in a hurricane. Electric on the other hand can be made for free via the sun, or via natural gas, etc

What am I missing here? Why do people keep telling me that battery saws are stupid?

 

[Rmay635703]

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What am I missing here? Why do people keep telling me that battery saws are stupid?

Up in the UP where you drive in the woods past the back 40 with a permit to collect 5 cord of fallen wood on public land they don’t.

I have an ancient electric saw that can attach on a long extension to cut trees and branches from a roof, I honestly have no idea how old it is and I’ve definitely cut excessively large stumps and trees it was never designed to handle .

I can guarantee if it had a battery it would have been trashed repeatedly, it has a cord and even though very worn it keeps working.

 

[SupremePossum]

Now I will say, if I had a battery specifically for the saw, I would say its stupid. I don't cut enough wood in a year to make keeping dedicated batteries wothwhile

But, I have all M18 tools, so I just always have batteries on hand anyway

 

[MNgopher]

I don't find battery saws stupid. I have both - a dewalt battery powered saw and a stihl MS250.

For smaller projects, etc... I prefer the battery powered saw.

For cutting trees down, and working all day - I'll take the gas saw all the time.

For me, they fit different roles. And if you have a gas saw, you'd be a fool to not have bought gas prior to an emergency type event.

My example is for our cabin the northwoods, we normally have a gallon of saw gas ready to go and multiple 6 gallon jugs on hand - all the time. You don't wait to go buy gas after the event...

 

[spasm3]

I have 3 gas chainsaws. But i've said before, for a homeowner that cuts little, a few times a year, a battery saw makes sense.

Especially if you can use the same battery system as your drills. Don't have to worry about fuel going stale in the saw and taking apart a carb.

Now if you heat with wood, and cut a lot, gas is the way to go. Faster, don't have to worry about charging in a power outage. Bigger cutting capacity.

But again, for the infrequent cutting home owner, battery is less fuss.

 

[i6pwr]

I have the Milwaukee M18 Chainsaw, and my neighbor has an Echo gas chainsaw. Both have 16 inch blades, and both get a similar number of cuts out of a tank of gas or charge. The M18 saw with my upgraded bar and chain is equally, if not slightly more effective.

One of my M18 FORGE 12.0 batteries cost $0.02c to charge up on grid power, or $0.006c to charge up if the sun is shining and I fill it on solar, or, $0.0000 if I were to charge it up via a solar panel connected to one of my Ecoflow batteries

He is buying the pre-mixed fuel from Home Depot, so a tank costs him a whopping $1.30. If he mixed his own gas, it would cost about $0.40

Gas needs to be purchased, and is hard to find in a hurricane. Electric on the other hand can be made for free via the sun, or via natural gas, etc

What am I missing here? Why do people keep telling me that battery saws are stupid?

There's a place for battery/electric chainsaws, as well as a large place for gas chainsaws.

An electric saw isn’t going to buck 100 linear feet of a 20" oak at the base down to about 10" diameter and last...or get done in any reasonable amount of time.

 

[Rmay635703]

I have 3 gas chainsaws. But i've said before, for a homeowner that cuts little, a few times a year, a battery saw makes sense.

Especially if you can use the same battery system as your drills. Don't have to worry about fuel going stale in the saw and taking apart a carb.

Now if you heat with wood, and cut a lot, gas is the way to go. Faster, don't have to worry about charging in a power outage. Bigger cutting capacity.

But again, for the infrequent cutting home owner, battery is less fuss.

I would say infrequent use is best for a corded saw.

Batteries need to be used and charged moderately often, so unless you have an ecosystem of battery powered tools,
Batteries die sitting as well

 

[4WD]

I own all 3 types in this discussion - used a corded and cordless yesterday cutting 2”-10” limbs … I do need to pull out the Stihl and freshen it up - getting used less and less … Enjoy quiet cutting I guess …

 

[DemoFly]

Homeowner is too broad a term. You need whatever you need depending on your property.

 

[facility1]

just have both battery and gas.

 

[billt460]

I have 2 gas chainsaws. I also have one of those battery / electric "one hand job" type saws. My Homelite gas saw was purchased in the mid 70's, and is still running strong.

The biggest thing to keep a seasonal gas chainsaw running, is to use a good fuel stabilizer. And enough of it. Mine have never failed to start.

 

[Lubener]

For heavy duty cutting of large trees, gas is the only way to go. Electric is fine for smaller jobs.

 

[wpod]

Buying premixed fuel is a foolish thing to do. I owned a home that for 17 years heated it 100% bu wood and I cut and split lots of wood so as a home oner a gas saw is nice. For lots of work a battery saw is convenient , quiet and handy.

 

[skyactiv]

I have a gas chainsaw but have rarely used it. I've had to cut a few fallen limbs this year and used a bowsaw and an 18" pruning saw. I'm not messing with a chainsaw for a few cuts.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I heated a home for 7 years with wood here in Kentucky. Nothing beats the feel of wood heat. It's just a lot of trouble and prep. I had an older son that cut with me and a younger one that carried what we cut. Have a Chopper maul for splitting it. I now have a battery saw and a battery sawzall with an aggressive blade. Also have 4 gas chain saws and 2 electric saws. My Husquavana Rancher 40 is my favorite gas saw. Stihl is next and an old Poulan Counter-Vibe which is the first saw I bought. It still runs good and cuts fast. I am getting old and don't cut trees down anymore since I get tired to soon for that. I find I use the battery saw as my first choice. It is just so convenient.

 

[shortyb]

Sounds like you've discovered why there are different types of saws available .

 

[cptbarkey]

I own the M18, it’s nice but eats batteries. I just upgraded to forge batteries which I would never recover in gas costs, but won’t have to deal with the smell or unreliability of 2 stroke either.

 

[kballowe]

The easy button for "homeowner" chainsaw is electric. Battery or corded. If you can get by with a corded saw, then that's going to be the cheapest way to go.

If I were worried about a disaster situation, then I'd have a generator to go along with that corded chainsaw. If my area was really prone to disaster, then gas.

More than 150 feet ? Battery or gas.
Always cutting a lot ? Gas.

 

[BISCUT]

Depends on the work load you need to complete. 90% IME gas Trumps electric, especially cordless.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I had a Poulan gas chain saw and it I sold it to buy a Dewalt 20 volt chain saw. My fingers would get sore try to start the finicky two stroke chain saw only to cut a few small branches. One time we had a bad ice storm and it worked great to cut a bunch of branches from my daughter's trees that had broken limbs. The only gas rig I have in lawn and garage tools any longer is my Honda pressure washer and my JD riding lawn mower. Love my electric ice auger.