The latest battery chainsaws have large battery packs that give you an amazing amount of portable power with little maintenance.

Battery chainsaws are quieter than gas, don’t need yearly tune ups and aren’t affected by stale gas.

What to consider when buying a battery chainsaw

Do you already own battery power tools?  If you get the same brand of power tools you already have you may not need to invest in new batteries or chargers.  If you like a power tool brand I recommend staying with them.

What size wood are you looking to cut?

Most of the time bigger is better with battery chainsaws.  However, if you’re going to be pruning trees you don’t need the biggest, and heaviest, model available.

Battery Chainsaw Samples

Below are my favorite videos showing battery chainsaws in action.  These videos start where the battery chainsaw is cutting to give you a feel for what the saw is capable of.

Skip to the next video if you don’t like what you see.

The video below compares a gas chainsaw to a battery chainsaw.  In a 6 inch log the battery chainsaw keeps up with the gas.  This video was published over a year ago, before Milwaukee and Dewalt came out with newer  models.  I think the gap has been closed when cutting a 10 inch log too.

Below a logger buries the 16 inch bar in what looks like Sugar Maple.  Folks, that’s not pine or cedar but hard maple.  The saw never bogs down and steadily chews through a 13 inch diameter tree.

The Dewalt 40v Max Series of cordless tools is designed for landscape professionals.  The Dewalt 40V Max chainsaw has similar power to the Milwaukee chainsaw above.

Makita makes battery chainsaws that use one or two batteries.  I’m considering the saw below for my first battery powered chainsaw.  With the bar buried the saw never slows down.

Husqvarna makes the 536Li XP battery powered chainsaw.  It’s available in both a top handle and rear handle version.  Husqvarna just released the BLI 300 battery that provides 9.2 amp hours at 36 volts.  That’s a lot of portable power!

If I were going to run battery powered tools full time I would look hard at the the Husqvarna Battery Series.

The truth about Battery Chainsaws

While battery chainsaws have come a long way they can’t match a professional gas chainsaw.  Professional gas chainsaws have lots of power at the cost of added weight, noise and hassle.

Recommended Battery Chainsaws

Here are some battery chainsaw recommendations with beefy batteries and lots of power.  When buying battery chainsaws look for a kit that includes a charger and the largest battery, or batteries, you can.  Having too much battery is always better than too little.

The following saws can be purchased on Amazon.  Verify the kit you purchase includes what you need before purchasing.

Makita XCU03PT1 Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless Chain Saw Kit with 4 Batteries, 18V/14 – This kit includes a 14″ chainsaw, four batteries and a two battery charger.  The description of the kit is here on the Makita website.  Makita uses two batteries working together in this chainsaw.

Milwaukee – M18 FUEL 16″ Chainsaw Kit – MIL 2727-21HD – This kit includes a 16″ chainsaw, 12 ah battery pack and charger.  The description of the kit is here on the Milwaukee website.  If you want pure power this is the kit for you!

DEWALT DCCS690X1 40V Chainsaw 7.5AH – This kit includes a 16″ chainsaw, 7.5 ah battery and charger.  The description for the kit is here on the Dewalt website.

Husqvarna 536LI xp Battery Chainsaw – Husqvarna makes both homeowner and commercial duty equipment.  Husqvarna battery equipment can use a battery pack or backpack batteries to extend run times.  They have backpack batteries that last 14.4 and 26.1 ah.  Translation, that’s a lot of run time.

In Summary

Battery powered equipment is a rapidly changing market.  It seems every manufacturer is coming out with a new model, or new battery, every year or two.  All we can do is stay up to date on what’s out there and enjoy the ride.