Makita electric chain saw.

[The Heron]

I am thinking of purchasing a Makita DUC353Z Li-lon battery chain saw is this a good buy or is there something better for the money £250 from screw fix I will not use it much so I do not feel it worth buying  a Stihl.

[Okrang]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if this is the saw you are looking at, it seems you could get it for a lot less than £250!

I know this is 'Body Only' but so is the one on Screwfix by the look of things!

https://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/makita-duc353z-twin-18v-lxt-brushless-cordless-chainsaw-body-only?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6vqA0aiu3AIVybftCh02sw8DEAAYASAAEgJl8_D_BwE

[simonm]

I just got a titan £50 electric one from screwfix to cut down a few trees - it's fine if they're not several feet thick trunks! 

[Ultrastu]

I have a makita double 18v  battery chain saw ..its great .easy to use light and very quiet for a chain saw .

I can use mine in the garden at 9 pm or early doors and not disturb anyone .

It cuts well and is reliable ..

I wouldnt buy a petrol unless i was a tree surgeon .

 Im not .

[oowee]

Good to keep in the boot to collect the odd fallen limb ?

[Cant hit them all]

£250 for a battery chainsaw you can buy a good brand petrol saw likes of stihl and husqvarna for £160 that will outperform the battery saws 

[scotslad]

Wot are u going to use it for??

Do u really need it to be battery powered?

If ur heavy on the trigger u won't get a lot done on a charge (mibee fine for logging small branches trimming trees but not for ringing/logging larger dia timber)

 

Generally with power tools i'll buy cheapy brand corded tools but tend to buy better brand battery or petrol tools, i think u need a better quality of tool for the better battery life/petrol engine  so u can do something with them, get parts and it starts/has charge when u need it after sitting in the shed for a while

[Walker570]

2 hours ago, simonm said:

I just got a titan £50 electric one from screwfix to cut down a few trees - it's fine if they're not several feet thick trunks! 

I have one of those Titans and it has done a load of work for me. Keep the chain sharp like any other and it will amaze you how large a limb it will cut through.

The Makita with battery is also a good saw and useful/handy to keep in the truck in case you find an obstruction.  I also think that is just for the saw not inc the battery.

[chrisjpainter]

14 minutes ago, Cant hit them all said:

£250 for a battery chainsaw you can buy a good brand petrol saw likes of stihl and husqvarna for £160 that will outperform the battery saws 

There's no point though. Electric has massive advantages over petrol chainsaws in a domestic setting:

Noise level. It's nicer for you and your neighbours as it's nowhere near so intrusive. A pal of mine tested one for giggles. He waited until it was 2am, then set to with his electric one. His next door neighbours never woke. Try doing that with even a small petrol one.

No need for fuel. You don't need to have lots of fuel just sitting around in a garage - never the best of ideas if you can help it, especially as petrol degrades reasonably quickly, meaning your fuel rate goes up in the chainsaw and the 2-stroke mix gets more oil rich than it should be - not great for your chainsaw. Also cheaper to run

MUCH better for the environment. Modern petrol saws are better than they used to be, but even so they're pretty bad for the atmosphere - and bad for your lungs.

The power issue I don't buy for domestic use. Yes, my Husky 550XPG will knock the socks off electrics. But for the vast majority of domestic cases, you just don't need that power. If it's not going to be used for big felling stuff, it's not an issue at all. Even for the odd fell of close to bar length, it's fine. fully charged saw, and take your time (which you'd be doing anyway) and they do the job. 

I wouldn't be getting that Makita actually, it's remarkably heavy! The Stihl ones are lighter, so more convenient for firewood and small branch/sapling jobs

Eventually, Electrics will take over from petrols. Stihl are working on them. The power output's fine, it's the batteries that are holding them back. Somewhere out there, in the darker, murkier parts of Germany, Stihl have got an electric chainsaw, designed to out perform their mammoth 91cc MS660. It's a prototype, but it cuts faster, straighter and with FAR less weight than the 660. The problem? it drains the battery in 30 seconds!!! They made it as a technical exercise to show the potential of the power of electrical saws, once the battery life catches up.

[Ultrastu]

1 hour ago, Cant hit them all said:

£250 for a battery chainsaw you can buy a good brand petrol saw likes of stihl and husqvarna for £160 that will outperform the battery saws 

There is a vid on utube .comparing a battery makita the the equivalent petrol husky .by a guy who uses chain saws for a living .the makita beat the petrol hands down .for speed and every thing else .

 

Just saying .

[SpringDon]

1 hour ago, chrisjpainter said:

There's no point though. Electric has massive advantages over petrol chainsaws in a domestic setting:

Noise level. It's nicer for you and your neighbours as it's nowhere near so intrusive. A pal of mine tested one for giggles. He waited until it was 2am, then set to with his electric one. His next door neighbours never woke. Try doing that with even a small petrol one.

No need for fuel. You don't need to have lots of fuel just sitting around in a garage - never the best of ideas if you can help it, especially as petrol degrades reasonably quickly, meaning your fuel rate goes up in the chainsaw and the 2-stroke mix gets more oil rich than it should be - not great for your chainsaw. Also cheaper to run

MUCH better for the environment. Modern petrol saws are better than they used to be, but even so they're pretty bad for the atmosphere - and bad for your lungs.

The power issue I don't buy for domestic use. Yes, my Husky 550XPG will knock the socks off electrics. But for the vast majority of domestic cases, you just don't need that power. If it's not going to be used for big felling stuff, it's not an issue at all. Even for the odd fell of close to bar length, it's fine. fully charged saw, and take your time (which you'd be doing anyway) and they do the job. 

I wouldn't be getting that Makita actually, it's remarkably heavy! The Stihl ones are lighter, so more convenient for firewood and small branch/sapling jobs

Eventually, Electrics will take over from petrols. Stihl are working on them. The power output's fine, it's the batteries that are holding them back. Somewhere out there, in the darker, murkier parts of Germany, Stihl have got an electric chainsaw, designed to out perform their mammoth 91cc MS660. It's a prototype, but it cuts faster, straighter and with FAR less weight than the 660. The problem? it drains the battery in 30 seconds!!! They made it as a technical exercise to show the potential of the power of electrical saws, once the battery life catches up.

Not to completely disagree, but...

use aspen (other brands are available).  It has a 5 year shelf life and a fraction of the emissions.

battery saws have their place but life at full power (which realistically you need to get a decent chain speed) they don’t last long and (even more so than a petrol saw)  it’s crucial they’re kept sharp, if not battery life drops again.

that said, one of our customers swears by his husky battery saw for hedge work because of the lack of fumes. I wouldn’t wee on the stihl battery saw if it was on fire. (No, really I wouldn’t, it would be extremely dangerous)

[scotslad]

46 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

There is a vid on utube .comparing a battery makita the the equivalent petrol husky .by a guy who uses chain saws for a living .the makita beat the petrol hands down .for speed and every thing else .

 

Just saying .

 

Would be interested to see how he decided that or wot tests he done?

 

The biggest problem with batteries is wot happens when u run out of battery power, theres only so many spare batteries u can carry into the woods.

When u can get a battery saw that will do the equivalent of 4-5L of petrol every day (and all batteries can be recharged for next day) then i'd agree with u. (Most forestry workers will do 5L most days)

Or when u take it out back off motor and battery has drained?

Possibly in the future but battries are nowhere near that stage yet

 

For other saw uses they may have there place but really all to do with the ammmount of time saws at full revs.

I could see for Arb/climbing saws the battery saw will just about be good enough for all but the biggest takedowns as ur generally a short blast on trigger to cut a few branches then a few minuates while u reposition or groundy clears the branches below.

 

I think it will be a long time before a battery comes anywhere near a petrol saw for logging/ringing or boring into bigger timber.

To be fair logging i probably as hard on petrol use as anything as throttle going full tilt all the time.

 

Must admit no matter how good battery saws get i wouldn't have 1 to sit in the motor as an emergancy saw for once a blue moon, u'll prob find the battery would have drained itself.

if thats wot u want it for u'd be better with a bushman or more expensive silky saw, surprising wot u can cut with them in not a lot of time and u know they wil work/start 100% of time.

 

Ps If ur a hobby user and don't use ur 2 stroke up quickly or empty ur saws fuel tank after use (the way ur meant too!!) u might be better switching to Aspen fuel, can be left in saw with no damage and doesn't really 'go off' the same. The extra cost won't really affect u as a hobby user.

[chrisjpainter]

12 hours ago, SpringDon said:

Not to completely disagree, but...

use aspen (other brands are available).  It has a 5 year shelf life and a fraction of the emissions.

battery saws have their place but life at full power (which realistically you need to get a decent chain speed) they don’t last long and (even more so than a petrol saw)  it’s crucial they’re kept sharp, if not battery life drops again.

that said, one of our customers swears by his husky battery saw for hedge work because of the lack of fumes. I wouldn’t wee on the stihl battery saw if it was on fire. (No, really I wouldn’t, it would be extremely dangerous)

Yeah, Aspen's great stuff and we do use it at work, but it's still emissions that you don't get with electricity. I have assumed the OP is only using domestically, so I'm guessing this isn't forestry work or felling trees much. For forestry work, no Electrics aren't there yet. But for domestic stuff, they're practical now. I'm not sure about the Makita, but the Stihl saws with a pretty basic battery can do 40 mins. and that's 40 mins of cutting time as you can turn it off and on as there's not faffing with a pull cord. 

You're right about weeing on them - the basic Stihls don't have a waterproof battery casing! We looked at one for our reserve, because some stuff, like coppicing, can be easily done with very little power. But useless if you can't use them in the rain and the price jump to a waterproof unit was prohibitively expensive.

Heron, we all seem to have got carried away; we never actually asked what it's going to be used for and what sort of land! any clues?

[old man]

Stating the obvious maybe, protective clothing more important than the saw. Seen a few nice lumps out of knee caps, plenty of wailing then.

[Mungler]

I am a massive fan of the new Makita battery range - once you bite the bullet and buy a stack of the batteries the sky’s the limit.

I bought the kit bag containing the usual suspects and then over time got the twin battery hedge cutter & the sliding compound mitre saw and bought the Mrs the hand held hoover - the bare bones hoover without the battery (which I already have) was £30 odd and about £500 cheaper than the Dyson that she wanted - when you look at it like that you’re actually saving money ?

[Cant hit them all]

i use saws every day to make my living I'm a Arborist , i have tried the stihl top on the line msa161t with there best battery and it definitely had less power than the petrol equivalent ms150t. the battery one was heavy with the battery in only plus side was noise. there is emissions with electric and battery tools you can't make electric without some form of emission cost as you got to make something to produce even free electric like wind turbine.  for pure freedom of movement and use in locations where power is not easy or none at all petrol all the way 100% 

[HW95J]

Have used an electric chainsaw a few times (can't remember the brand) and was impressed by how light and quiet it was. It had a cable rather than a battery however and that really got in the way. It also struggled with ticker sections. I think there's a place for both electric and petrol though if I had to choose one it would be the latter. Batteries are improving quickly though and I could imagine electric saws becoming more standard. 

[scotslad]

Can't hit is there any extra safety implications with a battery saw either climbing or ground work??

 

Normally if u were repositioning or laid the saw down u'd switch it off so an extra safety element above just the chain brake and double triggers, with an electric is there an additional on'off switch or just pull the trigger and of it goes?

Normally with the double trigger it should be safe enough, but i know i'm running a smaller saw (353xp) and i've never got round to fixing the 2nd trigger yet, just got to be that bit more careful, but when its off i know it is well and truely OFF

[Cant hit them all]

i know the husky and stihl  both have have an on of button for there battery saws. the husky one also have a turbo mode button to give it a bit more power and  speed. but for me rather use the mini climbing saws i have the echo 2511tes the worlds lightest chainsaw  and also the stihl ms 150t unless it's a big heavy wood job over  6 inch in diameter then its the big climbing saws of ms200t