Living in the woods requires some tools that many suburbanites can get away with not having, or having a small version of. I’ve been using a dinky corded Greenworks electric chainsaw with a 12″ saw for the past several years, but if a tree fell across my street or even the front of my driveway, I’d be out of luck. Recently, I decided to upgrade to the Flexvolt 60V Dewalt Cordless Electric Chainsaw for MORE POWER, but mostly for convenience.
A Chainsaw for Every Task
Now, I wouldn’t be entirely out of luck if a trees fell because I could borrow a gas chainsaw from one of my neighbors, but if there were a lot of trees down an extra chainsaw would be a benefit to the community. Even for non-emergency situations it nice to have a robust chainsaw to take down small trees. I’ve used a cordless pole saw with an 8″ chain from Black and Decker to take down small trees that I couldn’t get to with the corded chainsaw, but man it was a hassle. A pole saw isn’t designed to take down a tree, and you can only make it so short – like 6ft, which is an awkward length to try to apply pressure from when cutting through a trunk.
So, I finally bought a legit cordless electric chainsaw, and, my goodness, it is far superior to both gas powered chainsaws and my small electric chainsaw variants.
Gas Vs. Cordless Electric Chainsaw
Firstly, compared to gas – I’m comparing it to my neighbors 18″ Husqvarna – the electric is whisper quiet, as expected. And just the mere fact that the engine doesn’t need to keep ruining when the chain isn’t being used is a miracle of modern engineering. Then there’s the ease of startup – this electric chainsaw just needs the battery popped into it, fill the bar chain oil tank, you depress the safety with your thumb, and pull the trigger with your pointer finger and it’s off to the races. No string to pull, no gas and oil to mix, and no going to the store to get gas. Yes, I do need to plan a few hours ahead to charge the battery, but that’s not a big deal to me.
I took down a few extraneous holly tree trunks that were blocking light from getting to some of my berry bushes and fruit trees, and I probably spent an hour using the chainsaw and another hour using snips on the smaller limbs, so I don’t have a ton of experience with saw, and can’t say how it will hold up over the next several years. If it’s anywhere near as robust as my corded electric chainsaw, I think it’ll be fine for this homesteader.
1 month update
I love this thing. It makes me feel like a ninja lumberjack – it’s so quiet! I don’t even need hearing protection, and it only makes sound while actively cutting because there is not an engine that needs to keep running. I cut up a tree that fell during a windstorm last night, and I could hear some distant neighbors doing the same. They could not hear me :) I plan to eventually have a hedge of willow trees, so eventually they’re never even know I’m here cutting away.
2 Month Update
I helped a neighbor, the guy with the 18″ Husqvarna gas chainsaw, cut up some fairly large diameter logs on his property. The logs were about 2 feet in diameter, and this Dewalt chainsaw made quick work of them. Unfortunately, I had gone there with the batter only 2/3rd full and I think I was only there for an hour and a half before the battery ran out. That was enough for both of us though, as it was tiring work for a Saturday morning – not just cutting the logs, but moving them about too.