Considering battery chainsaw

[dwasifar]

A gas chainsaw has a service life of 30-40 years easy. Then can be recycled easily as well. Even if a few parts need to be replaced over the years...better than 90% of homeowners who will just toss the lithium battery in the garbage can headed to the landfill.

I'm just sick and tired of people thinking that gas = emissions = bad, and electric = no emissions = all peaches and cream.

I don't think anyone here has taken that position. Everyone has acknowledged that neither technology is 100% clean. But I think you could make the case that, over the life of the tool, electric is probably cleaner because it doesn't keep generating hydrocarbons as you use it.

As you pointed out, what happens to the batteries when they get used up is a big variable. But batteries can be recycled, and if a buyer's top criterion is what's cleaner, that buyer will probably recycle. And even if they don't, waste contained in a landfill is not as bad for the environment as waste vented to the atmosphere.

The other unknown here is whether the emissions cost of manufacturing an electric saw overbalances the emissions savings of the saw in use. I don't know the answer to that; if you do, please share. But it's hard to imagine that electric tool manufacturing is so much dirtier than gasoline tool manufacturing that it outweighs the emissions of all the gasoline and oil the gas saw will burn over its life.

That said, I've decided not to buy an electric saw for now. If I had no saws at all I might start with a battery saw tomorrow, but I already have the gas saws and they suit what I need to do with them. Clearly there are use cases where the battery saw is the better choice, but I don't think it's worth it for me.

 

[F-22]

My 90's Stihl is a wonderful saw, but despite that it needed to be overhauled every 10 years. Most homeowners won't afford a Stihl, and cheap saws very likely won't have much spare part supply in a decade or two. Besides being built much much worse than a 90's Stihl, so it'll probably need fiddling a lot more often. Cheap petrol garden appliances really don't last.

 

[CHRIII]

Most everyone I know who has a corded hedge trimmer has cut at least one extension cord. I could see that happening with a corded chainsaw too. My neighbor has a corded chainsaw and loves it.

I've done that more than once! Years ago I found a coiled 'extension' cord (maybe 6 feet long overall) that connects between the 'usual' extension cord and trimmer and has a clip (I put the carabiner on it) on the cord that attaches to your belt or belt loop or ... The coil keeps the cord close to you and out of the way of the trimmer. Haven't cut a cord since.

Unfortunately I don't remember where I got it or the product/company name. I would be surprised if something similar was not still available.

 

[Firebrick43]

Yes, the DeWalt is the most powerful - the Makita trimmer took 80 seconds to cut the swath of grass, vs 68 seconds of the DeWalt. But there is more to a tool than just speed.

To bring up the again: It is 33% lighter than the DeWalt, and had 87% less vibration, yet only took 15% longer to cut the same swath of grass. For people who care about operator fatigue or are sensitive to vibration, those are significant advantages to the Makita for only a slight hit in cutting speed.

I'm not saying the DeWalt is bad either, but other tools are better in certain areas. For some people, those things may be important.

It slices, it dices, it Julienne's for just 3 easy payments.

 

[whateg01]

The emissions that went into making the lithium batteries, plastic housing, and copper windings of the motor far exceeds a gas saw under homeowner use. Please don't let the greenies brainwash you into thinking gas anything is bad and electric anything is good. That's not how it works.

The battery manufacturing obviously does produce waste and pollution, but so too does making an ICE. Adding in the pollution from the plastic case, etc, is stupid because the gas powered saw has those parts too.

 

[ATC]

The battery manufacturing obviously does produce waste and pollution, but so too does making an ICE. Adding in the pollution from the plastic case, etc, is stupid because the gas powered saw has those parts too.

ICE does, but at a much lower rate of destruction to the planet. And yes, higher end saws have metal cases, clutch covers, and handles....vs. plastic on every battery saw.
Aluminum is already mined and produced in huge numbers...damn near every ICE engine is aluminum, car bodies, wheels, soda/beer cans, electronics, powerlines, boats, etc, etc...
Creating a false demand for more lithium-ion batteries is unnecessarily increasing the amount of fuels burned to mine yet another rare element, the chemical wastelands required to extract the lithium, fuel burned to transport it. the processing factories, and the chemical waste and massive energy requirements to recycle it (95% of li-ion batteries end up in the landfill as of now). Processing centers are few and far between.

Tell me how easy it is to convert a used Prius battery pack into M18 batteries?
It's very easy to recycle aluminum back into other aluminum products (beer cans into a chainsaw engine...a boat into a car wheel...). It's the second most commonly recycled metal behind steel. If I throw a chainsaw engine into the woods and leave it, it's not going to leak chemicals that can affect drinking water and kill animals that come in contact with it. It won't spontaneously combust and start a fire.

I'll happily keep using my gas powered equipment, where the metal is infinitely recyclable, and the exhaust fumes are turned back into oxygen by the trees naturally.

 

[ATC]

The other unknown here is whether the emissions cost of manufacturing an electric saw overbalances the emissions savings of the saw in use. I don't know the answer to that; if you do, please share. But it's hard to imagine that electric tool manufacturing is so much dirtier than gasoline tool manufacturing that it outweighs the emissions of all the gasoline and oil the gas saw will burn over its life.

The emissions from burning gas is naturally cleaned by trees, plants, and oceanic plankton (Scientists estimate that 50-80% of the oxygen production on Earth comes from the ocean. The majority of this production is from oceanic plankton — drifting plants, algae, and some bacteria that can photosynthesize)

"Trees help reduce the potential adverse health and environmental effects of CO by removing it from the air. Gaseous air pollutants are taken in primarily through the leaf stomata (pores), though some gases are removed by the plant surface. Once inside the leaf, gases diffuse into intercellular spaces and may be absorbed by water films to form acids or react with inner-leaf surfaces. The removal of gaseous pollutants is more permanent than the removal of particulates because the gases are often absorbed and converted within the leaf interior. Healthy trees can remove significant amounts of air pollution in cities, where it is often concentrated."

 

[F-22]

Tell me how easy it is to convert a used Prius battery pack into M18 batteries?

Aren't they practically the same cells inside? 18650 probably... A "bad" battery pack will still have loads of usable cells inside, so reusing them is actually very trivial (but this is not recycling...). The pack goes bad when different sections of cells have wildly different voltages, but that does not mean all cells are bad, it only takes a few...

 

[ATC]

Aren't they practically the same cells inside? 18650 probably... A "bad" battery pack will still have loads of usable cells inside, so reusing them is actually very trivial (but this is not recycling...). The pack goes bad when different sections of cells have wildly different voltages, but that does not mean all cells are bad, it only takes a few...

We're not talking about some backyard mechanic that is going to dissect a car's battery pack, remove some cells, and solder them back together on his workbench.

We're talking about what a large scale recycler would do, to convert the used battery pack into raw materials that would be sold to the plant that manufacturers other batteries. It consists of shredding the battery pack to a powder, then dissolving it in massive vats of acid to start.

 

[mike93lx]

Most everyone I know who has a corded hedge trimmer has cut at least one extension cord. I could see that happening with a corded chainsaw too. My neighbor has a corded chainsaw and loves it.

I love my corded chainsaw. I've dropped a few big trees with it and love that no matter how long it sits for or how cold it is out, I can trust it to work. And I've run it off 200' of 12g cord

That said, my next one will be a battery one.

 

[u3b3rg33k]

I'll happily keep using my gas powered equipment, where the metal is infinitely recyclable, and the exhaust fumes are turned back into oxygen by the trees naturally.

LOL. I'd hate to see you program a PID controller. or a thermostat.
"the heat is still on and it's 85F in here"
"yeah but the readout says 72, stop your whining"

 

[American Locomotive]

Trees and plankton are not magically things that convert unburned aromatic hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxode and carbon monoxide into clean breathable oxygen .

Chainsaws are not "inert" made only of metal, without a single plastic, rubber or synthetic component. Neither do they magically purge themselves of all accumulated residual fuel, oil, and grease moment you stop using it and chuck it in the woods.

Recycling and aluminum is far less energy intensive than making new from ore, but it's not "free". Neither is re-casting, forging and machining those reclaimed metals back into a usable device.

Many studies have been done, and electric devices always have net less energy consumption than their ICE counterparts.

 

[u3b3rg33k]

Many studies have been done, and electric devices always have net less energy consumption than their ICE counterparts.

must be a reason stationary equipment is almost always electric. can you imagine a 2 stroke coffee grinder/blender/dough mixer?

sorry I'm cranky today, my 2 stroke coffee grinder wouldn't start, and when it did it leaked oil all over my beans!

I forgot to treat the gas in my 4 stroke air conditioner, but that's OK I can't afford to run it anyways.

 

[mike93lx]

The emissions from burning gas is naturally cleaned by trees, plants, and oceanic plankton

I'll take a hit of whatever you are smoking if you think trees can magically absorb all the pollutants emitted by a gas engine.

 

[finn]

I'll take a hit of whatever you are smoking if you think trees can magically absorb all the pollutants emitted by a gas engine.

You can get it here at one of the dispensaries that popped up in most any small town since they legalized it a couple of years ago.

30- 40 years out of a gas chainsaw is laughabl. I had trouble finding pistons and rings for my 049 SP Jonsered tnorth years ago, and that was a popular saw new in the mid eighties.

Ever try to get parts for a Stihl 041? Most were obsolete twenty five years ago.

My old Stihl 460 cost over $400 to rebuild. Probably not cost effective. Shop labor rates were $125/hr four years ago. High maintenance gas ope isn’t cost effective to repair, unless it’s a current model with good parts availability and you have the time and talent to DIY.

 

[decableguy2000]

I have a large selection of gas saws from 40-95cc's. I cut wood for my dad as it is his primary heat source. How ever I also have a Dewalt 20v. For yard clean up it is my go to. I also keep it in my truck in the winter. I have reached more for this little saw lately than any of my gas ones. You have the know the limits of the saw. I may get the 60v flex volt one day if this little dies.

 

[dwasifar]

must be a reason stationary equipment is almost always electric. can you imagine a 2 stroke coffee grinder/blender/dough mixer?

My wife could use one of those. Time to Tim-Taylor the Krups.