I'm looking to buy my 79 year old dad a small chainsaw.  My mom and dad spend their summers at their lake home that is very remote.  A few weeks ago they had severe weather event that took down close to a dozen trees on their property.  A couple 4-6 inch trees fell across their 150 yard long two-track drive.  They were w/o power and going to a nearby relative to eat dinner.  So before they could get out my dad got the axe and gave my 79 year old mom a saw and they cut their way out.  Now, my dad has an electric chainsaw and a generator so if they trees were bigger he still could have gotten out with a little more hassle.  My uncle nearby has several of the larger models of Husky chainsaw so that need is covered when he goes to take down big stuff.  My concern is the quick little jobs.

I'm looking at the Husky website for a lightweight 12-14 inch gas saw an I noticed they have battery powered saws.  Does anyone here have any experience with these?  I'm looking at the fact they weight 66% of the small gas saws and he doesn't have to yank his guts out to get it going.  Are these worth looking at for my dad's intended use?

(I'm looking at Husky because there is a service center about 20 minutes away.  I think a Stihl service center might be about an hour away.  I will consider any quality brand though.)

I have no experience with the chainsaws. But I love my Porter Cable reciprocating saw. I take it to hang tree stands now. I can see where a small rechargeable chain saw would be really nice. I would rig a power inverter in their car where they could charge batteries.

Check out ego

I've been thinking about getting an 18 volt Ryobi since I already have a couple hi-cap batteries.  From memory it has a 10" bar.

My mom has the 18 volt Ryobi pole saw which has an 8" bar and it works fine for trimming 4"-6" diameter branches on her trees.

I wouldn't want to be stuck with an 18 volt saw for serious work but given the price, I think it is a good option for smaller jobs, especially if you already have the betteries.

I'm very pleased that they are still able to enjoy life as they age.  But, unfortunately, they are aging.  This is why the battery option seems so appealing.  Hopefully, someone that owns one of the Stihl or Husky options will find this thread.  If not I'll report back.

I carry a Stihl battery saw on the ATV back rack for trail work. Great saw. And you can cut a lot of wood on a charge.

I'm trying to choose between an MS180 or the larger Stihl battery powered saw to replace the 021.  Still have an 046 in parts I need to build to fill the gap between the new small saw and the 066 

OST

Why not a ms241. It's not much heavier and has more power.

I think he's looking at their age. Plus older people have a tendency to work a little harder when you give them a nice tool.

It would mainly be for limbing work and very small brush.  My wife wants a smaller saw to use as well.  Considering the battery saw so she doesn't have to mess with mixed gas.  

Yea for the OP I can totally understand the battery option. My response was more to Pavelow

You might check a 241 out and see if it feels that much heavier.  Its a pro saw and will cost more but its a better built saw that has a higher power to weight ratio than the given saw from the home owner category. It also has the M tronic which is automatically compensating.  I can see the appeal of a battery operated tool, but you still have to mess with bar oil. It wouldn't be that much more head ache to dump fuel in it at the same time.

Weight difference is not not as much as I was expecting.  May have to go that route.  Thanks!

OP.  Look at the greenworks 40 volt 16" model.  Very highly rated for people who aren't 6' 200 lb lumberjacks, decently light weight, and still reasonably powerful to be a bit of a workhorse if needed.

All of the new green works outdoor battery stuff seems to be very highly rated as great, reliable, normal homeowner duty stuff.

No matter which brand you go with, make sure it has a brushless motor and lithium ion batteries


ETA-  as mentioned above, a battery recip may also be an option, but that is way better suited to only limbing, and wouldn't really have the necessary oomph to take down a few big branches or trees across the driveway

I was referring to the weight of the MS241 compared to the 170 or 180.  But yes, battery saws are heavy.

MS170
8.6 lbs
1.7 bhp
 
MS180
9.3 lbs
2.0 bhp 

MS241
9.9 lbs
3.1 bhp

MSA120 (smallest battery saw)
8.4 lbs (with large battery)

MSA200 (largest battery saw)
11.0 lbs (with largest battery)

bhp is not not listed for their battery saws

I think the ms241 is available in easy start to. Which doesn't require quite as hard a pull on the rope. The ms170 we have is the most used saw on the place and we've been using it for 10 years or more. I forgot when I bought it.

Edited to add the MS241.

I will probably go for the MS241 and a battery powered sawz all for the wife 

Pro saws should have the elasto start handle (shock absorbing handle) and a compression release. My 261 is pretty easy to start. I normally do not use the compression release.

I wasn't so much looking at the weight of the saw as the ease of use.  I, of course, want a light saw but more importantly when he needs it to cut has way out of the cottage I don't want him pulling his guts out to get it started.  He's going to be 80 this fall and while he is in very good health for his age I can see his age catching up with him.

So...  I just picked up the Husky 120i.  I'm going to gift it to him when we visit the cottage in the next few weeks.  He's got about a dozen trees to take down after the wind storm that caused the original problem so I'll give an after action report after we've had a chance to try it out.  (It won't be the only saw we use. )

Had a good tryout of the Husky 120i.  We took 4 trees that had been blown over and got 3 1/2 of them into the wood shed before I ran out of vacation time: (1) 60' pine, (1) 60' poplar, (1) 40' cedar, and we got a good start on a big maple with multiple trunks.  The contenders:

Husky 120i & 1980's McCullough plugin electric with 3 advertised HP and poor ergonomics.  (I don't believe the 3HP claim based on the cutting tests detailed below since the Husky 55 is supposed to be 3.5HP saw.):



And a Husky 55 Rancher borrowed from my uncle that is about a dozen years old:



(My uncle also has a Husky 357XP, my favorite saw due to the name and it's a little more powerful than the Rancher but it didn't get pulled out because we had more than enough saws with the electrics.)

We used one charge on the 120i to limb the poplar and cut the entire cedar.   We limbed 70% of the maple on the second charge.  My reaction...   WOW!  The saw is very light easy to use and plenty powerful.  Will you ever mistake it for a gas saw?  No.  We tested cut times on a roughly 15" section of the poplar trunk.  Of course, there are variables with each cut but we made enough timed cuts I feel fairly confident the saws were accurately compared in a non scientific manner.  The chain was new on the McCullough and only a few cuts old, the chain on the 120i was new but had already cut up the cedar, and the chain on the 55 was well used but well maintained.

The 120i took about 45-50 seconds to complete the cut.  It was handicapped in this test by it's 14" bar because I had to reposition the saw to complete the cuts.

The McCullough Took about 35-40 seconds to complete the cuts.  It had the advantage over the 120i with it's 16" bar so it could cut straight through.

And the no surprise winner the Husky 55 Rancher.  It took 20-24 seconds to make the same cuts.

It fills my intended need perfectly.  My elderly dad can pick up the lightweight saw and begin working with no need to yank on a cord.  It has enough power and life he could easily cut sections out of multiple trees across his driveway.  I could see this as a great saw for a suburban homeowner that needs to clean up storm damage or take out a problem tree.  It's very handy for limbing so I could see it having some use on a woodlot if you had multiple batteries on hand.  Now for the minor negatives:  The spare batteries are very expensive.  I would almost want to pick up a second saw rather than buy a spare battery.  It turns off after 1 minute.  So frequently after cutting a limb pulling it out of the way and then going back to cut another I'd pull the trigger and get nothing.  Not a big deal I just got in the habit of hitting the ON button every time I thought I had taken too long moving a limb.  Finally, the energy saver button is useless.  It saves power by slowing down the chain.  Why would I want to cut slower?

Overall I'd rate this saw 8.5 out of 10 when used for jobs that are appropriate for it.

Sounds like an excellent tool box saw for people traveling back country. I'm glad you're happy with it I was afraid it would be anemic.

Is anyone selling generic batteries?

They're now very common for cordless tools by DeWalt, Milwaukee, Makita, Ridgid, Porter-Cable, etc., and sell for roughly half the price of their OEM counterparts. Most of them have decent customer reviews.

Ran across this today and seriously thinking of picking one up.  Small and perfect for limbing duties around the house.  Still need to get around to building the 046 I have in parts 

Do it.  

I ordered one the day they showed up for preorder, and am psyched to receive it in a few weeks.  I am already pretty heavily invested in dewalt brushless 20 volt stuff, so have a good bit of batteries around.  I have their 20 volt outdoor tools - brushless string trimmer and blower, and brushed hedge trimmer, and am very impressed with them, and have not found them lacking in power or runtime at all.  Their 20v brushless stuff is very good quality IMO.

Anyhow, the new chainsaw should fit the bill perfectly for me, as I really want something for the light work/limbing/pruning around the house and something that my wife can operate when needed, or my parents, who like to come up to help with yard work at my new home.

Thanks for the review.

I've been needing a small saw for limbing and pruning. Battery may be a good option. I figured they would be gutless and very poor battery life.

Battery packs of the same voltage are interchangeable.  A 20V battery for that chainsaw will work on their 20V drill.  They have some new 60/20 multivolt packs that are even more interchangeable.

Im already heavily invested in Bosch 18V stuff, just wish they'd make outdoor tools as well.  Wouldn't be opposed to running two different systems though.  Post up a review when you get yours!