Battery powered Recipicating saw

[Wow]

I just bought a new battery powered Recipicating saw.
I NEVER thought I'd need one in the Woods.
When I ATV trails the faithful Echo 352 goes along.
My Brother, who can buy a dozen of any saw he desires dropped by to see the Woods I've been underbrushing.
He said I'd enjoy the battery powered Recipicating saw to go along with my small gas chainsaw.
Today my Hitachi repicipating saw arrived and I already had a couple Li-Po batteries charged so to the woods I went.
One thing I liked is, no pulling a rope, much less noise, instant sawing and removing small stuff to get the ATV between the big trees was a snap. BUT, we all know you can't get a chainsaw bar tip in the dirt so we'll were limited.
The Wood cutting (Pruning saw) is probably 10 inches long and cuts right in dirt. No bar oil needed and by using the tip I was able to cut roots at or beneath the ground. If it dulls, buy another, these blades are cheap and no filing necessary.
Saplings as big as a bleach bottle top were easy to remove. Dangerously harp stobs left from the Bush hog that destroy tractor and ATV tires were cut flat near ground level.
This saw DOES NOT cut as fast as a chainsaw but I was able to cut a 2 inch Gum sapling pretty quickly.
I'm going to prune some small limbs with it.
Also I may cut some top limbs after felling a big tree. 1.5 inch stuff is fast and easy and green limbs are easy.
One thing I'm thinking is when the gas saw (and it will if you underbrush often enough) gets pinched on small stuff this saw may be able to clear the chain without hacking with an axe.
I got my saw online at Wallyworld dot com. Two day shipping was free. Less out of pocket than buying at the Jungle river store, no joining nothing. Placed order Under 75 bucks and two days later I'm ready to go cut stuff.
I think a battery powered Recipicating saw may be something to go in my trailer along with a chainsaw. It's to enhance not replace.
Comments appreciated by anyone who actually tries one out in brush.
I'd be interested to know your results.
I have a bunch of corded saws-all's in the shop and my opinion has been they belong in a shop no place for them in the woods. However, the battery powered one with pruning blade may change my opinion.
Good day.

 

[rmihalek]

Is this what you bought?

 

[Wow]

Is this what you bought?

Same type different brand. I bought the Hitachi. I already have the charger and two 3.0 amp hour 18 volt DC Lipo.
Walmart sells a Hyper brand with battery. Compared to Hitachi it's much lighter weight. Harbor freight sells the same kind but it's much lighter. The Hitachi has a solid built saw. For taking small brush like sweetgums roots and all im very pleased

 

[Jason Douglas]

Great for SGR removal

 

[ATH]

I've got that same Milwaukee... it is nice and small. Good for one handed cutting.

Batteries are getting old though. Gotta decide if I buy new batteries or might switch to Rigid and get new tools....

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I have some m18 batteries that are 6 or 7 years old, still work fine.

 

[Wow]

I have some m18 batteries that are 6 or 7 years old, still work fine.

I have 2 ,18 volt, 3 amp hour batteries that are good and 1, 18 volt 1.5 amp hour battery that is bad. I'm thinking about buying a cheap 18 volt Lipo of any brand as long as it's cheap and trying to put the insides in my Hitachi battery case. I'm seeing some cheaper brands for sale.

 

[ATH]

I have some m18 batteries that are 6 or 7 years old, still work fine.

I have 2 that are probably +/-7-8 years old and 2 that are probably 5-6. They just don't hald the charge like they used to. They still work...but not as well.

 

[Jason Douglas]

Have a new Dewalt. Good enough but it's also brand new.

 

[redlawn 78]

I've been using a reciprocating saw for years for pruning and cutting up smaller stuff. I prefer battery, but I have used electric which on the up side doesn't lose power or have the added battery weight.
I was introduced to the Ugly blade close to 15 years ago from a former roommate, and of course I had to ask why they are called ugly blades......when you get through the cut and hit your leg it's pretty ugly..... ha! But really, I think that's what Skill calls the arborist blade.
I have used it for bigger stuff too, like a couple weeks ago I used it on an alder log that was 8 -10 inches across. It was pretty punky so it was pretty easy and quick make the cuts to get it to a manageable size to drag out. And easier than getting a chainsaw goin too.

 

[Wow]

I've been using a reciprocating saw for years for pruning and cutting up smaller stuff. I prefer battery, but I have used electric which on the up side doesn't lose power or have the added battery weight.
I was introduced to the Ugly blade close to 15 years ago from a former roommate, and of course I had to ask why they are called ugly blades......when you get through the cut and hit your leg it's pretty ugly..... ha! But really, I think that's what Skill calls the arborist blade.
I have used it for bigger stuff too, like a couple weeks ago I used it on an alder log that was 8 -10 inches across. It was pretty punky so it was pretty easy and quick make the cuts to get it to a manageable size to drag out. And easier than getting a chainsaw goin too.

Exactly, and about the leg cut possiblity, chaps probably won't work well with the Recipicating saw. I've been told that chaps arent good even with Electric chainsaws because of torque differences. A corded saw can run of an inverter. Ive been thinking about rigging a Ford Alternater up on my ATV charging a deep cycle battery for the 4,000 watt inverter.

 

[beastmaster]

I use my dewalt 18 v for trimming small palms sometimes. Does a pretty good job.

 

[Wow]

I use my dewalt 18 v for trimming small palms sometimes. Does a pretty good job.

I was thinking, unlike chainsaws it's not easy judging which is best. I mean all they do is recipicate about 1 inch and I've never bogged mine and how fast they cut is mostly the blade so what would make one better than the other. Blade stroke maybe?
Most stroke length varies from just under 1 inch to just over 1 inch. So, what effect would a 2 inch stroke have? Would there be times when a 2 + inch stroke would be more or less effective?
Why do manfactures build in that range? What are the advantages or disadvantages? Are the blades cutting equally on the stroke forward and backwards?
I'm using an Hitachi with LiPo while someone else uses a cheap Horbor Frieght with Nicad. The Nicad will slow down as it discharges while you never see any drop off with LiPo until suddenly it stops. Would an increase in the applied voltage mean a faster cut? Is an 18 volt DC actually cut faster than a 12 volt or slower than a 20 volt DC in the cut? Does working time increase with higher voltage batteries rated for the same amp hours as a lower voltage rated battery?
Watts is power used or power demanded for work performed.
The formula is P=E x I.
P is Watts, E is applied voltage and I is current flow during work.
Therefore, it seems possible to get more working time by reducing load demand upon batteries by doubling the E or voltage thereby reducing the amp load to achieve the same wattage.
Wallyworld is selling a very light and cheap looking Recipicating saw. I'm thinking it's 20 volts DC with a LiPo with a not so impressive Amp rating.
Im using 3.0 AH LiPo 18 volts. I'd think saw design would greatly effect Amp load (demand) as the blade and the material stress. In my opinion there are so many variables it seems to me comparing one saw against another would be difficult. In the long run I'd suspect the best judgement would be how much satisfaction each person got out of his saw judged for himself based upon his results with said product. In my case my rather expensive all metal gears saw may out last 2 or more cheap saws and if so maybe spare me the headache of using a cheap one. However another person may never have any problem with his Harbor Freight or Wallyworld saw. Did I miss anything?

 

[LegDeLimber]

I can't speak about the battery powered units, I'm still running my old corded saw.

I think the stroke length is a reflection of the typical work place/usage for the saws.
A lot of locations won't have room for a blade to travel two inches.
Think of making cuts inside of building walls or machinery cabinets and frames.

I've used my corded Milwaukee saw for trimming old large holly bushes where even a hand held pruning saw blade wouldn't fit.
Short stroke and much narrower blade allows for not tearing up adjacent limbs.

Edit: Oh and if the Li-po batteries are that tricky to tell how close to flat they are? I guess that's gonna keep me dragging extension cords or using gasoline powered tools a while longer.

 

[LegDeLimber]

Oh and what are the manufacturers saying about how to power the battery chargers now?
Waaay back when I bought my last Ni-Cad powered tools,
We were just getting away from those 2 & a half pound transformer type chargers.
Inverter prices were beginning to drop under a $Dollar per watt of output.
So there was a growing opportunity to have warranty problems.
Seems many of the tool manufactures were warning NOT to use inverters to power them.
The inverter output wave form didn't play well with the new chargers.

 

[Wow]

Oh and what are the manufacturers saying about how to power the battery chargers now?
Waaay back when I bought my last Ni-Cad powered tools,
We were just getting away from those 2 & a half pound transformer type chargers.
Inverter prices were beginning to drop under a $Dollar per watt of output.
So there was a growing opportunity to have warranty problems.
Seems many of the tool manufactures were warning NOT to use inverters to power them.
The inverter output wave form didn't play well with the new chargers.

Wow, my charger is very light. I've never been aware if the inverter was damaging my charger or not. So far it's working well. I'm charging one battery off-the-inver while using another. I installed a 12 volt accessory plug on the ATV and plug the small solidstate inverter into that. Ironically the inverter is a cheap 120 watt Wallyworld special. I paid like 10 bucks. I'm amazed it actually works. The 4000 Watt inverter runs my electric chainsaws but drops a 12 volt deep cycle battery pretty quickly.

 

[oldfortyfive]

The battery saws get used in elk country for butchering too. Great for all kinds of quick dirty work.

 

[Philbert]

I have used both corded and battery recip saws for tree and shrub work. The short stroke and narrow pruning blade fit easily into large hedges to cut specific limbs without damaging others. Like you said, they are great for cutting roots, where a $2-$3 disposable, coarse tooth wood blade can be used. I have also used one for disaster clean up, where building materials (roofing, dimensional lumber, corrugated metal, wiring, etc.) are mixed in with the tree debris. A quality, carbide, demolition blade worked well there, as well as for limbing up to 8" branches. Cleared things out enough to use conventional chainsaws on the main parts of the tree.

Philbert