Cordless power tools are improving in leaps and bounds, and they're no longer just for drills. We checked out everyone's favourite outdoor power tool – the chainsaw – just in time for the autumn cleanup across Canada. To level the playing field we tried to stick with 36V or 40V units, with bar lengths between 10" and 15".
With cordless technology improving greatly over the past few years, and manufacturers offering more and more battery-powered products, there are lots of cordless chainsaw choices on the market today. The chainsaws I looked at for this article are aimed at replacing traditional small gas saws in the 30cc size range, and after giving them a try I think they can certainly do that.
Like their gas cousins, these saws look and feel very similar in the hand. Controls and operator stance are the same. Another common thing that these saws all have is an automatic bar oiler. Chainsaw chains need oil to lubricate their travel along the guide bar, and automatic oilers have long been standard equipment on almost all gas-powered saws. These saws have the same feature, and all the saws I looked at had a nice translucent window into the tank so you could see how much oil is left. This is important because you don’t want to run your chain dry. On a gas saw you usually fill up whenever you fill the gas tank, but on these saws the oiler probably won’t run out at the same time as the battery, so being able to see the oil level is important.
One thing that not all these saws have is a chain brake. Chain brakes are pretty typical on gas saws. The Ryobi and the Black & Decker saws didn’t have a chain brake, and this surprised me. This is an option that all the higher-priced saws had. Brake or not, don’t let the batteries fool you. These saws are as sharp and powerful as small gas saws, so they can hurt you if you don’t respect them. Use them with care.
To test out these saws I made a series of test cuts in my fence. Well, not my fence, but what used to be my fence. My fence came down in a windstorm, so I used the old 4×4 fence posts to simulate cuts with the saws. All the saws cross-cut with ease, so for small pruning and limbing, all these saws will do a nice job. But to really test the power of these saws, I made some cuts with the grain, burying the full length of the bar into the wood. This is a bit of a challenge, even for some gas saws to cut with the entire bar engaged in the work, and this test separated the weak from the strong.
One major difference between batteries and gas is the way you refill the tank when it gets empty. Traditional gas saws are easy to refill with gas and restart once they have been running, although gas chainsaws usually have the reputation of being difficult to start if they have been stored for a while. Battery saws are as easy as your cordless drill to start; just pop a battery in, press a “start” button (on some saws), pull the trigger, and start cutting. However, when the battery dies, you have to wait for a recharge, which can be anywhere from 45 minutes to a few hours. Some of these saws came with bigger batteries than others, but all the saws have optional extra batteries available for purchase if you plan to do a lot of cutting. Cordless chainsaws also have the advantage of being able to use them indoors, unlike gas saws. This opens up their use to rough cutting timber in the shop, demolition work, and even carving.
One test I didn’t do with these saws was a runtime test. I tried each saw to compare its power and capabilities, but for a couple of reasons I felt a runtime test wasn’t a fair comparison. Every battery has two ratings, voltage (V) and capacity, expressed in ampere hours (Ah) or watt hours (Wh). Each saw comes with a different capacity battery (Ah or Wh), even though all the saws are very close in voltage (36-40V). These capacity numbers give a fair and easy comparison between the relative runtime of one battery compared to another. For example, the DeWalt saw comes with a 4Ah battery, while the Husqvarna had a 9.36Ah battery. Given identical running conditions, the Husqvarna battery should run just over twice as long as the DeWalt. The critical thing to remember is “given identical running conditions.” Rarely are two branches the exact same size, nor does a chain retain its original sharpness forever. Dull chains and hard wood will work your battery harder than cutting softer wood with a sharp chain. Also, pretty much all the different manufacturers offer different capacity (Ah or Wh) batteries you can purchase if you need more runtime. All the saws came with one battery and a charger, except for the Makita chainsaw, which includes two batteries.
I was very impressed with a number of the saws I tested, and that makes it hard to choose a top tool for this article. Often there are competing perspectives that make one tool ideal for one user, but the last thing a different user should choose. In the world of chainsaws, manufacturers such as Stihl and Husqvarna make gas saws in literally dozens of different sizes and configurations, illustrating how there is not one saw that is perfect for every application. Within the saws I tested for this article, I liked the DeWalt, Husqvarna, Stihl and Makita saws and was very impressed with their capabilities. I don’t think that you would be disappointed with purchasing any of these saws. As I considered the awards for “Best Professional” and “Best Overall” a few ideas went through my mind. For professional use there are two main applications of a chainsaw, either cutting down trees or pruning trees. Arborists usually like compact and lightweight saws that they can climb with, while loggers usually like powerful saws with big long bars. However, professional could also include a renovator or contractor, and many of these people use chainsaws for demolition and rough-cutting big beams and floor joists.
This led me to choose the DeWalt saw as the “Best Professional” saw. While it’s not really big enough to cut down large trees, the DeWalt saw had the longest usable bar, and the most power, and this would make it suitable to cut down smaller trees, cut firewood, or for use in renovations and demolition.
For “Best Overall” I chose the Stihl saw. The Stihl saw actually had the shortest usable bar of all the saws I looked at, but its size is an advantage for a number of jobs. For pruning, you typically are only cutting branches 1–4″ with the occasional branch that’s bigger. The Stihl saw can cut 10″, and its compact frame and light weight make it ideal for manoeuvring in amongst brush and branches where you don’t have a lot of space to work.
For “Best Amateur” I picked the Ryobi. Ryobi offers a modest price point on the saw, but it still has a decent amount of power. My main concern with this saw is the 1.5Ah battery, but if your plans are to only make a few cuts occasionally, then this really should not be an issue.
