Battery vs petrol chainsaws

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Battery vs petrol chainsaws
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Marionb

Joined: 27 Aug 2006
Posts: 5267
Location: Mid-Wales

Posted: Sat Mar 28, 15 10:37 pm Post subject:
I have a Makita electric saw and love it. Main drawback is, it has to be used near the house for electric supply (or with a extension lead further away but the grass etc needs to be dry...)

Falstaff

Joined: 27 May 2009
Posts: 1014

Posted: Sat Mar 28, 15 11:39 pm Post subject:
Stihl Wood Boss 024 with 16" bar here. Wouldn't be without it - does everything I ever ask of it. £70 second hand

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 15 2:43 pm Post subject: Re: Battery vs petrol chainsaws

onemanband wrote:

Treacodactyl wrote:

So, petrol for £235 or battery for £588, that's over £350 pounds worth of petrol.

That makes it seem a no-brainer for petrol.
OTOH you'll save a service (£60?) every other year and you'll know it will start every time (assuming you remember to charge the batteries)
OTOH batteries have a limited lifespan.

What about getting (for example) a Makita electric chainsaw - that way your investment in batteries can be split over other power tools (like that circular saw)

Yes, it's not an obvious answer when you think about it. With the petrol saw I'd run on Aspen as I'll not use it regularly, so fuel is about £4/l. As you say a service at £30/year.

Then the battery saw does have other advantages, it's quieter and you'll never have to suddenly drive several miles (well about 30 round here) to get fuel if you run out. The batteries can be shared (other saws such as Makita don't seem to have high enough capacity batteries so choice of brand is limited)

The down sides other than a high upfront cost, the capacity of the batteries isn't great so a whole days use would be tricky. The saw would mostly be used during the winter so charging via a complex solar set up may not be possible.

My main worry is the lack of a realistic guarantee. I can't find any mention of it being longer than a year, whereas a petrol saw from someone like Echo comes with a 5 year guarantee for domestic use.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45460
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 15 4:20 pm Post subject:
the other thing you should get at the same time and hopefully never use is a big field dressing and a packet of celox (or similar)coagulant that are always kept in the trousers pocket.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45460
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 15 6:01 pm Post subject:

from experience of very good batteries for the bikes and the milwarkee sds/drill/sawsall batteries are nicer than a wire but they get used faster than the spare charges so work has to be planned around that.

petrol can be stored safely outside in proper cans etc so running out should not be a problem half way through a job .there are regs re fuel in plastic things ,jerry cans etc but the main one that really matters is dont carry fuel in the footwell.

a 50 cc chainsaw should give a days work on about ten litres .(smaller ones need less fuel per hour but probably use more fuel per ton of logs)

re fuel prices im not convinced that paying 4 times as much for aspen as unleaded and 2 stroke oil makes sense

perhaps it keeps better than unleaded but a quick flush and store the machine empty takes 5 mins .

Falstaff

Joined: 27 May 2009
Posts: 1014

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 15 6:46 pm Post subject:

dpack wrote:

.........a 50 cc chainsaw should give a days work on about ten litres .(smaller ones need less fuel per hour but probably use more fuel per ton of logs)

re fuel prices im not convinced that paying 4 times as much for aspen as unleaded and 2 stroke oil makes sense

perhaps it keeps better than unleaded but a quick flush and store the machine empty takes 5 mins .

Oh is that what "Aspen" is ? I thought it was some American wood

Having had a multitude of ; lawnmowers, rotavators, disc cutters, motor bikes and old cars as well as the chain saws, and stood them, sometimes for years on end inside and out may I say that the "aging petrol won't start" advice, is usually wrong ! 95% of the time they start fine and almost universally, a clean of plugs and points in the spring (or whenever) is all that is needed.

My old outboard (Evinrude) used to say in the instructions, to run it on an oil rich mixture before standing it for the winter (so as to oil the surfaces and bearings) - that sounds like good advice.

Or just use your "Aspen" for the last fill of the season if you like the stuff.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 15 9:14 pm Post subject:

Falstaff wrote:

dpack wrote:

Oh is that what "Aspen" is ? I thought it was some American wood

I wouldn't store two strokes for any length of time with fuel onboard. Recent additives in unleaded are corroding the jets & my local garden store are having to do a lot of carb rebuilds/replacements on not very old machines.
Their advice to me was to empty out any unused petrol in the tank & then run the engine till it cuts out through lack of fuel before storing.

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 15 9:22 pm Post subject:

Quote:

STIHL recommends storing a 2-cycle fuel mixture prepared using E10 fuel for no more than 30 days in order to minimize phase separation. In this context, "phase separation" means: the ethanol absorbs moisture from the air and settles to the bottom of the canister. This can cause engines to run roughly or not at all. Phase separated fuel is no longer suitable for use even after being shaken vigorously.

Note E10 is petrol with 10% ethanol.

Falstaff

Joined: 27 May 2009
Posts: 1014

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 15 11:43 pm Post subject:

vegplot wrote:

Quote:

Note E10 is petrol with 10% ethanol.

Oh bleedin' great !

I had idly mused as to how they got the last 5% of water out of the distillate (Ethanol only distils to around 95% purity under perfect conditions) - Apparently they don't bother !

So now the distillate falls apart in the tank - or in the petrol can sitting in my garage !

So now I have to root about for the old man's tun dish - the one which has a filter fine enough to remove water !

Clearly I've not run foul of these problems yet and am still running on 50 years of experience = pre "carbonisation"

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15575

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 15 6:43 am Post subject:
As biodiesel is inclined to grow bugs, I am not totally convinced that the addition of biofuels to conventional ones is really doing a lot for either our way of life or our carbon footprint. When you think about all the new bits of engine that have to be made to replace damaged ones, it must work our less carbon friendly.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 15 8:19 am Post subject:

I am definitely in the camp where making something last longer is possibly more environmentally friendly than updating to the latest technology.
New diesel engines are fitted now with a micro particulate filter. Great for the planet & inner city pollution but if the vehicle has a lot of stops & starts (like the posties van) the filter soon clogs & costs circa £4,000 to replace!!!
Something we don't see when buying vehicles & something that should be advertised IMHO is the amounts of carbon used in manufacture & expected lifespan.
Averaged out & added to the emissions it might not be any less than the ten or twenty year old banger in the drive.
Of course if you want zero emissions, cheap & low energy manufacture & a long (& healthy) life you want one of these.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 15 8:21 am Post subject:
Sorry bit of a thread hijack. Wondering if you could run a decent flywheel & circular saw off the back axle of a bike.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 15 8:42 am Post subject:
For cutting up felled trees into logs or even planks a water powered table saw would be a more likely option for me. A future project possibly but I expect it'll require doing everything yourself rather than finding a suitable, modifiable, kit. On the subject of bikes we're looking at an electric bike as well, but that's for a different thread if I can muster the energy.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15575

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 15 8:19 am Post subject:
It should be possible to set up some sort of pedal powered circular saw, but you would probably have to work it all out for yourself, as I can't see B&Q or even your local agricultural or foresty supplier selling them.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45460
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 15 1:51 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

For cutting up felled trees into logs or even planks a water powered table saw would be a more likely option for me. A future project possibly but I expect it'll require doing everything yourself rather than finding a suitable, modifiable, kit.

On the subject of bikes we're looking at an electric bike as well, but that's for a different thread if I can muster the energy.

re electric bikes we have a pair of whisper se 905's .electric off road ,quite heavy but very strong and go anywhere .1 in 3 up on tarmac no prob ,muddy field no prob,>30kmh easy on flat.comfy ,30kg luggage or load on rack.

i dont know about city bikes apart from our ones are good for city as they dont mind potholes and on good tatmac locking the pneumatic front forks stiffens the ride for extra speed.

ps the 14a/36v batteries are bigger than many and give about an hour flat out not peddling ,far more/further if you pedal

i recon the "cheap"ones look carp compared to these which are very tough.

in five years one has done a lot of distance and the other has done off road and loads and moderate distance,both are still in good nick.

very similar to this

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