Battery Power for Lawn equipment -- is it time?

that is a wonderful feature, i never heard of it before. i used to always sharpen my own, but last time, i took it to the garden center. $25.

 

I have the attachment for a Dremel rotary tool for sharpening the chain. Works with the chain in place. Needs a steady head, but it has guide marks to help with getting the angle right.

 

Homelite?

Have you used a chainsaw file guide to control these?:


(Note that I am not one of the family chainsaw users or maintainers. I left the parent's home at a time when dad still didn't allow anyone else to use certain hazardous equipment. A younger and more headstrong child broke that mold after I left, then dad forget that he never fully trained me.)

 

homesite h o m e l i t e

 

Yeah, AFAIK Oregon electric chainsaw (corded CS1500 and cordless CS300) are the only saws that have this feature right now. Cordless version CS300 is a bit too pricy for the size (16-inch bar), but the battery and charger are compatible with other Oregon 40V power tools. I may look for a good price on the string trimmer first. If it works, then get chainsaw next.

CS300 Cordless Chainsaw | Oregon Products

 

that's crazy

 

It didn't disappear from our store. I was kind of hoping it would go down from the slightly surreal $2.7K to maybe $2K towards the end of the mowing season, but the one in the store is still $2.7K and the ones that can be ordered online are $2.4. Lowes now has an electric Craftsman lawn tractor, too, @2.5K. Still a little too expensive IMO ... need to be around $2K.

Other than the riding lawn mower, our other garden equipment is now 100% electric, whether it be corded like the chain saw, the hedge trimmer and the log splitter, or with batteries.

 

Never tried bar-mounted manual file. I jumped right to the electric chain sharpener. It works great, only thing is that I have to remove the chain from the bar. This in-saw sharpening system supposed to finish sharpening right on the saw in 3 seconds or less. The only drawback is that it can be used only with Oregon's PowerSharp chain, but the price of the chain is about the same as any other chains I have used.

 

Obviously, because of the spark the sharpening produces, the gas chainsaw can not be fitted with a sharpening system inside of the housing. Instead, they sell special chain and bar that can be attached to a gas chainsaw and use a sharpener on the tip of the guide. The special PowerSharp chain has a totally different shape and cutting edge than regular chainsaw chain, and requires the special Oregon PowerSharp bar, so it will cost bit more initially, but if you already have a chainsaw and needing to replace a chain (and bar), you can try without buying a new chainsaw. Next time I have to buy a chain for my gas chainsaw, I will definitely be looking for the PowerSharp bar and chain.
PowerSharp Saw Chain and Guide Bars | Oregon Products

 

the website says it can be sharpened 5-15 times. that doesn't seem like much, what does a new chain cost?

 

I think I spent $14 on a spare for mine. Of course, it was a completely generic one with no special concession for autosharpening.

 

~$19 for 14", ~$25 for 16" chain, comes with the special grinding stone that need to be replaced when the chain is replaced.
Oregon POWERSHARP - Walmart.com

I don't know how well the chain hold the sharpness, but 5-15 times sound plenty for the life of the chain. Of course, if the chain gets dull every three cuts, and I have to sharpen 5-15 times per use (provided I do 15-45 cuts per use), then this system is total waste. But if the chain lasts as long as my usual chains I have used, then I only need to sharpen chain, once or twice a season at most. How often do you sharpen your chain?

 

still cheaper than my $25. sharpening charge

 

That's about what I pay at my local shop for the annual tune-up which includes sharpening chain. I think sharpening chain only is about $10. At $25, you could just buy a new chain.

 

A simple sharpen on a chain is not much of a deal. But, you also have to hit the rakers now and again and the specs on those can differ depending how technical you want to get (one standard for hardwoods, a different one for soft).

 

OK, ended up purchasing an Oregon ST275 Cordless String Trimmer with 40V 4.0Ah battery. I wanted EGO trimmer for its high reviews I read online, but they were bit too expensive for my budget. This particular model was on sale and about half the price of EGO model with equivalent battery size. Spare batteries are also more affordable on this line. Also after having purchased Oregon corded chainsaw (CS1500) mentioned above, and very impressed with the PowerSharp feature, eventually I want to try their cordless version of the chainsaw (CS300). Keeping within the same 40V tool line will save more money on the batteries and chargers.

I tried using it for a short time yesterday, and so far it feels far more powerful than the Ryobi 18V cordless trimmer or Toro corded trimmer I have used before. Of course it's no contest against my Stihl brush cutter, but no gas is needed for this unit. Good ergonomic and I really like extremely easy Gator SpeedLoad trimmer head. The string line is a bit more expensive than regular ones, but it is suppose to last much longer than regular ones. The loading the string is a breeze, and can be accomplished in less than 20 sec as advertised. Overall, I really like it.

ST275 Cordless String Trimmer | Oregon Products

 

Being impressed with more than adequate power and very convenient self sharpening feature on recently purchased corded chainsaw from Oregon Tools CS1500 shown on my previous comment Battery Power for Lawn equipment -- is it time? | Page 10 | PriusChat, I decided to purchase the cordless version CS300 from Oregon Tools. The corded version was good tool to have for around the house especially for a stationary job on a pile of tree limbs, but was just not practical for working on trees and logs in my back woods.

Well, as it turned out 40V battery operated cordless version Oregon CS300 chainsaw was a major disappointment. Even with a fully charged battery, it just did not have enough power to cut throw a real log. It struggled and stalled on a soft poplar tree of about 12 inch diameter which fell after last storm. After struggling to cut through a single piece, I switched to my old trusty gas operated Husky chainsaw. It took less than 15 min to cut the entire length of the three into 18 inch pieces.

Then, I tried to compare the corded CS1500 and cordless CS300 side-by-side on the same piece of poplar log. Again, cordless chainsaw could not even cut through the log without stalling, while corded one had no problem despite much slower than the gas chainsaw.

At least for this brand, battery operated chainsaw is not yet time to replace good old gasser one. Bummer!

 

Not too surprising to me that the battery powered one couldn't "cut it" when it came to wood. That takes considerable power. Going out in my father-in-law's back woods to cut firewood is one of the things I miss about living in Ohio.

Glad to see that you like the string trimmer, though. I'm guessing it'll be a while now before you need it again.

 

I don't know about the Oregon gear, but other 40V lithium tool sets are set up with ~150Wh batteries. To match the power of an ordinary corded chainsaw they'd be discharging at nearly 10C if I counted it right. Not out of the question but that's pretty steep.

 

Yeah, having tried much cheaper corded chainsaw and finding it to be satisfactory for light limbing work, I was expecting far more power than what I got out of this battery-powered saw. Oh, well, it will be light enough to swing around for trimming work, but certainly not for a serious wood chopping.

Spec on the cordless said it has "No Load Chain Speed 2796 FPM" while more capable corded chainsaw has "No Load Chain Speed 1600 FPM", I was expecting more out of the cordless one, especially when cordless one came with 16" bar vs corded with 18" bar. I guess, the word "No Load" is the key. That number is probably meaningless in terms of the cutting power under load.

BTW, the battery pack I got has a capacity 6.0 Ah / 216 Wh, with Nominal Voltage 40V. According to the product site, it can make ≤600 cuts of 2-3 inch cuts on a full charge. Yeah, 2-3 inch limbs, not a 12-inch tree, dah!