When I first moved to my place 9 years ago, it didn't have any central heat except a 20 year old catalytic fireplace. I had literally scrounged every dime I owned to buy my farm, so that first winter, I heated the house with wood. I have 130 acres so finding enough dead fall was not a problem.
The real problem was, I couldn't handle a gas chain saw, because I couldn't pull start it. And most of my dead fall was far from the house, so a regular corded electric saw wouldn't work either. So I cut all my firewood that first year with a handsaw. And since the fireplace was an old one, it consumed a LOT of wood. Not surprisingly, that was the last time I seriously tried to heat the house with wood.
Last month, I got a 40V Oregon PowerNow, 14" cordless chainsaw to try. I had a medium sized tree go down in the yard and got a $200 quote to remove it. The Oregon was able to cut that tree, even though it was above the advertised size limit for the saw. I've also been able to clean up the remains of a couple of oak trees that an arborist left behind this summer. (We've had some bad oak die off here, and they were overhanging the house, so I had to hire a professional to climb the trees and take them down in pieces.) Some of those limbs were in the 8-10" range. I've also used it on some 6" osage orange, and that wood is about the hardest thing I've ever come across. I understand that osage makes great firewood, I'm looking forward to trying it after it seasons.
The batteries last quite a while. Much better than most cordless tools I've tried. They don't fade noticeably, and charge relatively quickly. Under an hour for the standard battery and under 2 hours for the endurance battery. The self sharpening feature is very nice, because I'm not that good with the file method.
The saw is much quieter than a gas saw, with no exhaust, gas, or oil to deal with. Of course a gas saw is going to have more power, but this saw is more than enough to do what I need around here. If you get a chance to try one, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I had tried a couple of rechargeable saws before this and they were little more than toys in comparison.
This saw has made it possible to clean up around here as well as cut my heating bills off at the knees. It's almost solely responsible for my decision to go back to wood burning. Although it is an expensive saw, I think it will pay for itself very quickly, both in free firewood and a reduced need to hire someone to take care of downed trees. The only real problem is that after cutting down a few of my dead trees, now I want a wood chipper.
The real problem was, I couldn't handle a gas chain saw, because I couldn't pull start it. And most of my dead fall was far from the house, so a regular corded electric saw wouldn't work either. So I cut all my firewood that first year with a handsaw. And since the fireplace was an old one, it consumed a LOT of wood. Not surprisingly, that was the last time I seriously tried to heat the house with wood.
Last month, I got a 40V Oregon PowerNow, 14" cordless chainsaw to try. I had a medium sized tree go down in the yard and got a $200 quote to remove it. The Oregon was able to cut that tree, even though it was above the advertised size limit for the saw. I've also been able to clean up the remains of a couple of oak trees that an arborist left behind this summer. (We've had some bad oak die off here, and they were overhanging the house, so I had to hire a professional to climb the trees and take them down in pieces.) Some of those limbs were in the 8-10" range. I've also used it on some 6" osage orange, and that wood is about the hardest thing I've ever come across. I understand that osage makes great firewood, I'm looking forward to trying it after it seasons.
The batteries last quite a while. Much better than most cordless tools I've tried. They don't fade noticeably, and charge relatively quickly. Under an hour for the standard battery and under 2 hours for the endurance battery. The self sharpening feature is very nice, because I'm not that good with the file method.
The saw is much quieter than a gas saw, with no exhaust, gas, or oil to deal with. Of course a gas saw is going to have more power, but this saw is more than enough to do what I need around here. If you get a chance to try one, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I had tried a couple of rechargeable saws before this and they were little more than toys in comparison.
This saw has made it possible to clean up around here as well as cut my heating bills off at the knees. It's almost solely responsible for my decision to go back to wood burning. Although it is an expensive saw, I think it will pay for itself very quickly, both in free firewood and a reduced need to hire someone to take care of downed trees. The only real problem is that after cutting down a few of my dead trees, now I want a wood chipper.
