Chainsaws

I've been using a Makita top handle, it works great for pruning on cuts up to 5" diameter. beyond that, it will do it, but takes getting used to. you need to push just enough, leaving time for it to clear chips. mind you, I am running the 18v saw!! there is a 36v (two batteries) top handle as well. the weight difference is about 7 lbs, to 10 lbs, so I chose the lighter and cheaper one, bringing a bigger saw up when needed.

For me it works, as I already have the batteries, and am able to borrow top-handle gas saws when needed on a job. I also have the 36v makita ground saw, and a husky 562 for removing major limbs.

The elimination of pull starting the saw is really amazing, just make sure your ground folk know when you are about to cut (no audible chainsaw warning). The little 18v will handle one or two cuts up to a 10" branch, but the battery will start overheating and refuse to work for a minute or two, and that is a royal pain. One battery has lasted all but a few climbs where it conked out while making final cuts on a large limb. I generally swap it out mid-day.

Overall the saw is decent, when you understand its limitations. Very interested to see how the 36v acts, would love to try it. For basic deadwood, structure and disease prunes, the 18v is awesome. for those times where the work is mainly moving around the tree.
 
dspacio said:
I've been using a Makita top handle, it works great for pruning on cuts up to 5" diameter. beyond that, it will do it, but takes getting used to. you need to push just enough, leaving time for it to clear chips. mind you, I am running the 18v saw!! there is a 36v (two batteries) top handle as well. the weight difference is about 7 lbs, to 10 lbs, so I chose the lighter and cheaper one, bringing a bigger saw up when needed.

For me it works, as I already have the batteries, and am able to borrow top-handle gas saws when needed on a job. I also have the 36v makita ground saw, and a husky 562 for removing major limbs.

The elimination of pull starting the saw is really amazing, just make sure your ground folk know when you are about to cut (no audible chainsaw warning). The little 18v will handle one or two cuts up to a 10" branch, but the battery will start overheating and refuse to work for a minute or two, and that is a royal pain. One battery has lasted all but a few climbs where it conked out while making final cuts on a large limb. I generally swap it out mid-day.

Overall the saw is decent, when you understand its limitations. Very interested to see how the 36v acts, would love to try it. For basic deadwood, structure and disease prunes, the 18v is awesome. for those times where the work is mainly moving around the tree.
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I would agree with this. I have the Makita 18 V and 36 V. The 18 V weighs just under 7 pounds with all parts + oil and is my favorite for pruning.

The 36 V has plenty of power but lugging around an extra 3.5 pounds isn’t nearly as fun. This being my first oak pruning season using the battery saws, I have had to use the 36 V to remove some large lower limbs and then swapped out to the 18 V.
 

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dspacio said:
love seeing those with the swapped out bars.
How does the 36v handle those oak limbs? I am wondering what the reasonable upper limit of the 36v is.
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It has plenty of power. My only complaint is the weight - 10.5 lbs.

I'm betting Makita will make a single 40V battery saw with more power and lighter weight now that they have the single battery platform.
 
I bought one of these Ryobi P515 One+ 18V 7/8 Inch Stroke Length 3,100 RPM Lithium-Ion Cordless Reciprocating Saw with Anti-Vibration Handle reciprocating saw last year. With a 90-day money-back guarantee for $82 bones.
 
Been climbing with my Echo CS-271t for years. Good saw. I think Echo has some newer models by now.

I know we are talking mainly about smaller pruning saws but while on the subject, I also have two other Echo saws, one with a 24 inch bar and one with an 18.

I think Echo is an underrated chainsaw brand in this industry in my opinion.

Echo saws and some of their other power equipment in general I noticed start very easily. No screwing around with 4-5+ pulls, etc. 1-2 easy pulls pretty much every time and you’re good to go.
 
I've only run one Echo, it was a 355T with a muffler mod and I remember being impressed with its performance. I'd certainly be interested to try out some of their other pro saws, I've just never come across them and they don't have much of a dealer network around me.
 
27RMT0N said:
I've only run one Echo, it was a 355T with a muffler mod and I remember being impressed with its performance. I'd certainly be interested to try out some of their other pro saws, I've just never come across them and they don't have much of a dealer network around me.
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Having people to service your equipment is worth way more than the small performance and price differences between brands, but I am not sure that applies to chainsaws. I've never had warranty work done on one.

The new wave of echo/shindaiwa saws is all-around impressive.
The company I work for bought a bunch of shindaiwa stuff recently, and I like the 600sx so much that I got one for playing with. I didn't know at the time that echo recently released a 70cc beast or I would have gotten it instead, since I already have one of their 50cc saws.
They're all very torquey.
I can't speak for the older ones. The few I have handled seemed very heavy.
 
27RMT0N said:
I've only run one Echo, it was a 355T with a muffler mod and I remember being impressed with its performance. I'd certainly be interested to try out some of their other pro saws, I've just never come across them and they don't have much of a dealer network around me.
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The big saw I have is a CS-620P able to go up to a 27 in bar I believe. I’m running a 24 in right now. With the right chain and sharpening it cuts great in my opinion. I usually try to get the Pro chains without the kickback protection features more geared towards homeowners.

I’ve never done any mods on the saws.

I actually ordered all my saws online when I first bought them.
 
SomethingWitty said:
Having people to service your equipment is worth way more than the small performance and price differences between brands, but I am not sure that applies to chainsaws. I've never had warranty work done on one.

The new wave of echo/shindaiwa saws is all-around impressive.
The company I work for bought a bunch of shindaiwa stuff recently, and I like the 600sx so much that I got one for playing with. I didn't know at the time that echo recently released a 70cc beast or I would have gotten it instead, since I already have one of their 50cc saws.
They're all very torquey.
I can't speak for the older ones. The few I have handled seemed very heavy.
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The old ones sucked. They were heavy and underpowered. I hope echo has upped their quality. I bought a CS 8000 myself early on. It would not stay together more than a couple of months. Warranty does you know good if its constantly apart at the saw shop for weeks or more at a time while you fight with echo over whether or not your saw thay has come apart again is warranty. That kinda thing tends to leave a bad taste when it spends more time at the shop than on the truck.
 
Fivepoints said:
The old ones sucked. They were heavy and underpowered. I hope echo has upped their quality. I bought a CS 8000 myself early on. It would not stay together more than a couple of months. Warranty does you know good if its constantly apart at the saw shop for weeks or more at a time while you fight with echo over whether or not your saw thay has come apart again is warranty. That kinda thing tends to leave a bad taste when it spends more time at the shop than on the truck.
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I think the changeover point was when shindaiwa was acquired.
I know that the 600sx will give my old 036 hell and we ran two hard through hurricane clean up and they really handled it.
climbingmonkey24 said:
The big saw I have is a CS-620P able to go up to a 27 in bar I believe. I’m running a 24 in right now. With the right chain and sharpening it cuts great in my opinion. I usually try to get the Pro chains without the kickback protection features more geared towards homeowners.

I’ve never done any mods on the saws.

I actually ordered all my saws online when I first bought them.
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The 620p is identical to the ones I've been playing with and I'm starting to mess with the one that's mine.
There is a notable difference between running the 20 and 27 on them, but it doesn't bog down with a full chisel chain on the long bar.
 
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