DeWalt battery chainsaw

[rarms]

Like you, I use mainly dewalt power tools, so I bought the dewalt 18v chainsaw. Great bit of kit, very useful to not mess around with petrol etc.. if it's just a small job.

Only issue with it, and seems common online, the oil tank is prone to leaking. I find it only really happens if the chainsaw is left sitting upright. I tend now to store it on the side with the blade, so the blade is flat on the storage surface.

As suggested above though, it is easy to not use PPE when the chainsaw is ready to go as it were!

 

[GNJC]

Another vote for Makita; I got one to keep and use from a vehicle for random jobs around the place, now I use it for everything but the biggest work, it's just so much more convenient.

I took down a big sick ash a few weeks ago (about 2'), it took a couple of sets of 5ah batteries to do it, but it did; the cutting up took some time but I did it over a couple of afternoons.

Only drawback is you have to be more attentive to the chain's sharpness than with an ICE, since the it will really hit the batteries if dull.

 

[Dave Budd]

Lack of power isn't a problem with my little one and I've never had any problem with oil leakage (unlike several of my petrol saws). Keeping it sharp isn't an issue since you should do that anyway, also the chain is short and small gauge so takes very little time to touch up.

Only thing to keep an eye on is to check the oil when you change the batteries over. I've noticed its normally a top up every 3 battery changes or so. I did once not remember and the chain actually bound in the middle of a cut!

 

[Kadushu]

I have 3 battery chainsaws and while I'm not advocating dangerous practices, in my experience the chain is moving much slower than on a petrol saw and the bar has a fairly pointy nose so kickback is very unlikely. The worst experience I ever had was with an 'old fashioned' bar with a blunt nose and that b*gger was always itching to kick back at the least opportunity.

 

[Stew]

I have a Makita 18v (actually 36v as it uses two batteries) chainsaw and use it for most of my work. I've just taken down 30cm spruce with it - that's about the limit I would suggest.

I have 4 batteries, so, 2 in use and 2 on charge - that tends to keep me going without much need to wait for charging. Down in the wood I use a small 800w generator to charge - it's much quieter than a petrol chain saw!

The batteries appear expensive (I use Waitley, they may not be quite as long-lasting as Makita but I've not managed to objectively find a difference and they are half the price) but I'm not convinced that it works out a lot more expensive than the 2-stroke I would have used in the petrol chainsaw.

I can't recommend the Makita enough; it's a very useful bit of kit, but I'm sure other makes are just as good. However, a word of warning, don't drop your safety standards - it's easy to treat these machines with less respect than petrol ones but, in my opinion, they are more dangerous because of how easy it is to just pick them up and wield them.

No, these saws are not as powerful as a petrol one but I manage about 80% of my work in the wood with one without the noise .

Can I ask what model of makita you’ve got please?

Is it the DUC353Z?

 

[Broch]

Can I ask what model of makita you’ve got please?

Is it the DUC353Z?

Sorry Stew; I completely missed this

No, it's the DUC355