Top handle cordless saws.... Is there a good one?

[Oldsawnut]

Hey guys its been a while.... Long story short..... Yea I know that never happens. My dad is in his Mid 70's now. Has/Will always cut firewood for winter heat. I have always kept him supplied with saws and maintained them. Stihl 011T 026pro and 365 husky right now. Been the same setup for years. The little 011 has been getting used more and more and is now his go to saw. He brought it over the other day not running. Sounds like a crank seal to me. L out several turns to idle and still idle a touch lean and H at about 1/2 turn - and still rich. Anyhow I'm sure I will fix it eventually but was thinking about a newer gas top handle since his was so old. After looking around I came up with a 201T or 360t as replacement ideas.. So I went to looking and missed out on a couple local deals. During my searches I came across the Dewalt 12" top handle 20v 5ah kits for 200bucks new. Hmmm I thought to myself that might be just right for him. On a side note all my cordless tools used to be dewalt but they pissed me off when they changes the battery style during the upgrade process a few years ago. So I went back to Ryobi since they upgraded the batteries and are backwards compatible. Had a bunch of Ryobi tools from before I went to dewalt. So now have tons of Ryobi cordless stuff/batteries.
Whew ok now the question is the dewalt the best battery top handle electric? Ryobi now makes a good looking little electric non top handle saw but my dad really prefers the top handle saws so the Ryobi is out for now. I prefer to stick with the major brands with easy replacement for parts/batteries. Any thoughts? Am I crazy for looking at the electric saws? Will anyone actually fess up to owning one of the little cordless saws one here and say they liked it

 

[Bobby Kirbos]

I think your level of insanity depends on your dad's physical abilities.

Battery and motor technology has come a long way in the past 10 or so years. If a battery saw gets the job done, why not. Who knows, your dad may like the battery saw - no fuel to spill, no exhaust smoke to inhale, etc. Then again, he may hate having a battery saw because of the LACK of the fuel spills, exhaust, etc. After all, those things go with running a chainsaw.

OTOH, My grand father turns 90 in a couple of weeks and still wields his MS362 all summer cutting firewood. If your dad can handle a gas saw SAFELY, I don't see a reason to not put him into a newer gas saw.

As for what brand of battery saw to get, I have no idea.

 

[Franny K]

I have the Husqvarna 536 maybe T536LIXP. Since you asked best at least this one is direct drive and 36 volts. 18=20 and 36=40 depending on when you take the voltage measurement absolutely full of charge or nominally whatever that means. By the time you buy the saw, charger, and a couple of batteries multiple times the $200 mentioned in post 1. The rear handle Makita double battery saw can be had mail order with 4 batteries and charger for about $400. xcu03 or something like that. Not sure if their top handle is as powerful, they also have single battery chainsaws, and I think one with a dedicated 36 volt battery instead of 2 18's

 

[Oldsawnut]

More voltage can be better but not necessarily.. I look at the voltage x AH rating to see what the power actually is.. a 20v 5ah battery has more power than a 40v 2ah... I am trying to stay away from stihl/husky for this since the battery/charger/electric motor is as important as the saw and the oiler in this case. And try as I might I just cant believe they (sthil/husky) have spent the money on electric/battery R&D as a lot of the other major cordless manufactures. Gas oil emissions R&D they are tops for sure..

 

[andy]

I use a ton of Millwuakee M18 tools in my work.
6 1/2" and 7 1/4" circular saw. Jigsaw, Hacksaw, SDS Rotohammer. String trimmer, Hedge trimmer.. blower.... Lots of power hungry tools.
They recently brought out a chain saw... you might check it out.... I don't own one. Yet!
They are all Brushless and make better use of the battery system.
It's more than just a power thing these days.
Millwuakee seems to be in the front on cordless tools.

When you buy into cordless tools your buying into an "ecosystem".
The batteries are the base of this. M18 batteries now come in 9AH and even 12AH versions.
All the tools use the same power. Even if you only buy one or two items it's good to get it right.
I use the 9AH for 3 days on the 6 1/2" saw doing siding.... unbelievable steady power.

 

[oldfortyfive]

I've got both Makita top handle saws, 36v (2 x 18 volt batteries) and their newest 18v. Both work well. If you are into the Makita battery tools that's probably the way to go then.