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As a counterdatapoint of sorts: I recently chopped down and cut into pieces around 60 pine and acacia trees with an electric battery-powered chainsaw. It was fine. And yes, some of these trees were pretty thick (certainly more than the 30cm length of the chainsaw). It was real forest maintenance, not cutting through a log placed on a stand.

You do need to have the right technique, as you can't just power through your lack of skills. Yes, the saw does stall if you are not careful. But there are advantages: the thing is quiet and doesn't require any hearing protection, if you get kickback it is substantially less severe, you don't have to deal with gasoline, and you don't have to breathe poisonous fumes from what is pretty much the most polluting type of engine on the planet (read up on two stroke engines in handheld tools if you don't believe me).

My take on this is that while I wouldn't want to use this tool as lumberjack felling oak trees every day, it turned out to be just the tool for me. And while I also think YouTube "reviewers" are full of it, I actually ended up liking the tool, even though I bought it as more of an experiment.

For those who would like the details: I used a Ryobi OCS1830 and 2 or 3 5Ah batteries. I didn't need more batteries, because I would normally need to rest after about 1-2h of work. This chainsaw is OK, except for the rather poor range of length adjustments which means you'll be going through chains pretty quickly. Annoying and I suspect it's a business decision as well, but I can live with it.

In other words, I would respectfully suggest that battery-powered chainsaws are not something that should be outright rejected, unless you really have to go through a lot of hardwood.

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While I have long had *some* sympathy for complaints from the countryside about "Washington bureaucrats," I have to admit I've generally viewed them as rightwing-media-reinforced whining.

This is the first good concrete counterexample I have ever seen.

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Thanks for another great post, this was very relevant to me with my electric chainsaw that's been fairly disappointing for my recent move to the country (it was great for the occasional limb in the suburbs).

What's your take on electric farm vehicles? I got an Ego 52" electric riding mower, which is so pleasantly quiet to drive vs a gas that my wife is happily mowing for hours when I expected I'd have to do it all. I'm thinking of also getting an electric utility 4-wheeler for farm tasks instead of the typical gas. The reduced maintenance (cost & time) seems worth the increased cost to me, but I'm curious your thoughts on a situation (like automobiles) where there's a lot more space to fill with batteries. Sounds like electric tractors are coming soon as well!

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Aug 8·edited Aug 8Author

I don't own an ATV, so I can only speculate. Fundamentally, I think the electric ones are nice. I'd be wary only if you're planning to do something where range / battery capacity is a limiting factor - probably stuff like cross-country offroading or using an ATV as a heavy-duty snow plow at sub-zero temperatures. But for hauling firewood or other small errands, why not?

I'm not sure we have enough data to speculate about maintenance, though. Some ICE problems go away, but modern engines hold up pretty well. You save some money on oil changes, too. But then, I have a 25 year old diesel tractor that just works. Most EVs will probably need a complete battery overhaul before reaching that age.

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get those husqvarna's outta here! Stihl only

and gimme gas for a chainsaw.

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For ten years I've used electric chain saws for light maintenance on 10 acres that own me. Mostly I use a Lowes 80 Volt Max. I like the quiet operation, and by the time the battery worn out, so am I. But as the years have gone by the unit has gotten heavier, and lugging it up a tree is a chore. I use regular chains, and for what I do with saws, this is OK right now.

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Aug 7·edited Aug 7

Might be nice to mention only saw under 45cc are regulated, cf: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/sore-applicability-fact-sheet

Edit: just checked the Husqvarna 562 XP is around 59cc.

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Aug 7·edited Aug 7Author

Fair enough; looks like that was a regulatory "amendment" after they actually passed the law, which notionally targeted all chainsaws. You can see the law here:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1346

The first statements from CARB indicated they're going to ban everything except generators and pressure washers:

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/carb-approves-updated-regulations-requiring-most-new-small-road-engines-be-zero-emission-2024

Anyway, I used 562 because it's roughly in the same price range (a bit cheaper); on that stump, I doubt you'd see a significantly worse result with something like 543 XP (43 cc).

I think my real point wasn't to pick some bone with California, and more to comment on the unexpected suckiness of battery-powered tools of a certain size - although I did pick that framing device, so...

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2-stroke’s power to weight ratio is hard to match with electricity.

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The obvious solution is to put the battery into a backpack form, then it can have a lot more storage capacity and the tool itself can have a more powerful (larger) motor. Until you can buy more sensible electric feild tools you could DIY this, give or take any proprietary controller nonsense some manufacturers may inflict on customers. Batteries go in backpack, armoured cable goes to tool, and there is a custom plug that fits into where the battery would go.

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Aug 7·edited Aug 7Author

I think this is done for leaf blowers for large commercial properties. I remember seeing these on the Google campus. That said, the backpacks are typically heavy (20 lbs+) and crazy expensive ($1,000+). As it is, the battery is the bulk of the weight and the cost for most of these power-hungry tools. The motor itself is a lot simpler than an internal combustion engine.

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You could even have the motor in the backpack and have power transmission via a flexible shaft. I can handle the weight on my back better than in my hand and for work with chainsaws that would make them safer too as you can move with more precision. The costs, well hmmm yeah, not looking particularly economically viable are they, even if they are tax deductible.

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I bought an electric chainsaw (Stihl) and it sucks just like you described it.

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