# Has anyone used the Ryobi battery chainsaw?



## TheMachinist (Feb 24, 2007)

Sometimes trail work needs to be stealthy. I have a Ryobi sawzall with a Skil Ugly blade that cuts through anything under 10" good and quick. When the trees are a bit bigger than that, a chainsaw becomes necessary. Two stroke engines revving in the forest tend to bring unwanted attention. Is there a good stealth chainsaw?


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## Biker_Scout_Sparky (Sep 5, 2005)

i believe a stealth chainsaw is also known as a hand saw. for larger jobs, its called an ax.

dude, if your cutting logs bigger than 10" thick on a poach trail that is that close to civilization then i think you may be better off talking to the local ranger (as a concerned local hiker) about moving the log off the trail. If i were you, I'd be worried about cutting something that big and whether or not it's gonna shift and end up crushing me. 

If your cutting down trees to make illegal trails, on the other hand you may want to seek the aid of local law enforcement because doing so is illegal, immoral and makes the rest of us bikers look really really bad.:madmax:


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 1996)

ahh, it's even bike related. Koo. I want a lithium powered portable saw. There's a lot of debris out there.

I think it's got to be lithium if you're gonna ride with it. 3x longer power (with more punch) for the equivalent weight.


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## heythorp (Aug 12, 2005)

the chainsaw is worthless. just move to the their sawzall. that is a really good tool


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## ARider (Feb 28, 2005)

My buddy got one for Christmas, but I don't think he has really used it on the trail yet. I will checj and let you know.

I am with you, this may be the best trail building tool ever!! Easily will cut many hours out of trail construction over using hand saws. Lots of trees been dropping since the storms.

I am all about asking the local law enforcement agency to help build trail. Can you pay them in donuts?


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## TheMachinist (Feb 24, 2007)

It is not a hiking trail. It's a trail that doesn't exist. There are quite a few trees that fell across the trail in the last set of storms. They are lying on the ground already. I have a hand saw. It wouldn't be so bad if it were only one tree. A buddy and I already removed a bunch of downed trees using up three batteries with my sawzall and finishing up with hand saws.

Speaking of asking rangers for help, we cleared a multi-use trail that gets heavy traffic. The trees had been down for a couple weeks. One trail user (mountain biker) that came by stopped to help. Gotta do our part.


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## TheMachinist (Feb 24, 2007)

francois said:


> I think it's got to be lithium if you're gonna ride with it. 3x longer power (with more punch) for the equivalent weight.


I read mixed reviews on the LI batteries. I was about to go buy a couple, but they have a high failure rate.


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## Fiskare (Sep 5, 2008)

The battery powered saws that I have used or seen used were basically useless for anything more than stuff that can be hand cut anyways....so I say a foldable/packable hoop saw. Those things will rip thru the bigger stuff just fine and are light, small (when packed), and stealthy in all respects. Even if the battery powered chain saw worked it is heavy and won't fit in your typical water and gear pack. My 2 cents.

P.S. Just because the hoop saw doesn't say 'foldable' or 'stowable' doesn't mean it won't work. The nature of the design lends itself to stowage - like a hacksaw.


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## Biker_Scout_Sparky (Sep 5, 2005)

icantdrive65 said:


> Speaking of asking rangers for help, we cleared a multi-use trail that gets heavy traffic. The trees had been down for a couple weeks. One trail user (mountain biker) that came by stopped to help. Gotta do our part.


:thumbsup: 
Pardon the remark, i shouldn't jump to conclusions.


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## Trailseeker (Aug 18, 2005)

I watched someone trying to use one for trail work and it looked like a joke. Hand saw seems much more effective. The operator went through 2 batteries (which he carried on his bike) in a few minutes and accomplished very little. I must admit it was very quiet!


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## TheMachinist (Feb 24, 2007)

That's what I was afraid of. I'm sure it's especially quiet when the battery dies.


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## cmon4day (May 16, 2007)

*Predator Chainsaw*

Not so good for stealth, but it'll do the job


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## JasonM.E (Jan 9, 2010)

x2x


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## JasonM.E (Jan 9, 2010)

I have the Ryobi chain saw,great paper weight. Don't waste your time or money


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## Zener (Oct 30, 2008)

This may seem unrelated, and maybe not. I have an old Ryobi weed whacker. The OEM SLA battery died. I have some Lithium Polymer RC airplane motor batteries and wired one up in place of the SLA. The weight of the unit is now about 1/2 at most. It is a little over-voltage and weed-whacks like a demon making the original set-up look pathetic by comparison. I thought about modifying a saw, but a good folding saw is so light and easy to carry and lasts as long as someone has the arms. The battery unit is sooo likely to just run out of juice half way through an ambitious cutting project.


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## ctownposse (Mar 9, 2008)

I tried the cordles chainsaw thing befor and it sucked. The cordless sawzall sounds good though,although the folding saw has never given me problems.


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## Xc California Scorpio (Feb 24, 2005)

*Slightly o/t: another reason to carry chain saw > defend against hungry mt. lion*

OK in the 07/09 news article below it was a camper in Wyoming and he was already "armed" with the tool in operating mode, but still this cat was in serious No Fear mode:

Man uses chain saw to fight off mountain lion attack
Story Published: Jul 17, 2009 at 8:36 AM MST

Story Updated: Jul 17, 2009 at 12:01 PM MST
By Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A Colorado man used a chain saw to fight off an apparently starving mountain lion that attacked him during a camping trip in northwestern Wyoming with his wife and two toddlers.

Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Colo., said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the 100-pound lion staring at him from some bushes.

The 6-foot-tall, 170-pound Britton said he raised his 18-inch chain saw and met the lion head-on as it pounced - a collision he described as feeling like a grown man running directly into him.

"It batted me three or four times with its front paws and as quick as I hit it with that saw it just turned away," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Wildlife officials said Sunday evening's attack about 27 miles west of Cody was highly unusual because mountain lions are reclusive by nature. Only eight cases of mountain lions acting aggressively toward humans have been documented in Wyoming over the last decade.

"It's very, very rare" for lions to attack, said Wyoming Game and Fish spokesman Warren Mischke. "We're still trying to investigate why this lion would behave this way."

The wounded animal retreated after Britton inflicted a six- to eight-inch gash on the lion's shoulder, leaving him with only a small puncture wound on his forearm.

"You would think if you hit an animal with a chain saw it would dig right in," he said. "I might as well have hit it with a hockey stick."

The mountain lion was shot and killed Monday after it attacked a dog brought in to track the animal, which was 4 to 5 years old. Authorities say it was in poor physical condition and appeared to be starving.

After Britton's confrontation, he and his wife, Kirsta, decided to spend the night in their pop-up camper with their two children rather than risk packing up with the lion still on the loose.

Wildlife agents were called the next morning after Britton told a passing U.S. Forest Service employee about the incident.

Tests for rabies and other diseases came up negative, but officials said they were continuing to analyze the animal for other potential diseases.

BTW, I don't have any experience with battery chainsaws.


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## TheMachinist (Feb 24, 2007)

Zener said:


> This may seem unrelated, and maybe not. I have an old Ryobi weed whacker. The OEM SLA battery died. I have some Lithium Polymer RC airplane motor batteries and wired one up in place of the SLA. The weight of the unit is now about 1/2 at most. It is a little over-voltage and weed-whacks like a demon making the original set-up look pathetic by comparison. I thought about modifying a saw, but a good folding saw is so light and easy to carry and lasts as long as someone has the arms. The battery unit is sooo likely to just run out of juice half way through an ambitious cutting project.


If the LI batteries get better, they will be the way to go. Three SLA batteries really weighed me down.

We used up our arms and all three batteries on Saturday.


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## CactusJackSlade (Apr 11, 2006)

Bowsaw and folding saw will do wonders from 1" to 8"... even bigger if the situation is right. Light fast and EZ....

I also use a cordless hedge trimmer for black berry bushes, works excellent, about 20 min per battery.

Yes, lots of trees down this year in the NorCal area...


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## Darkstar (Oct 13, 2005)

TheMachinist said:


> Sometimes trail work needs to be stealthy. I have a Ryobi sawzall with a Skil Ugly blade that cuts through anything under 10" good and quick. When the trees are a bit bigger than that, a chainsaw becomes necessary. Two stroke engines revving in the forest tend to bring unwanted attention. Is there a good stealth chainsaw?


I have the Ryobi Battery Chainsaw and I love the thing. I have used it on some serious sized logs with no issues. Thing is awesome. It makes noise but no where near chainsaw noise. ANything under 10 inches is nothing to cut. Over 14 you really have to work it but still gets the job done.


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## TheMachinist (Feb 24, 2007)

Darkstar said:


> I have the Ryobi Battery Chainsaw and I love the thing. I have used it on some serious sized logs with no issues. Thing is awesome. It makes noise but no where near chainsaw noise. ANything under 10 inches is nothing to cut. Over 14 you really have to work it but still gets the job done.


Ten years later...I actually bought an 18v Ryobi chainsaw and used it a few times for trail clearing. It was barely worth the effort of dragging it out into the forest.

I have since retired that one and bought a Ryobi 40v chainsaw. Now that gets work done! It wasn't fun to drag out on a trailer and one battery didn't last long. I now have a second battery with more capacity. Now I'm looking for another excuse to use it.


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## tom tom (Mar 3, 2007)

TheMachinist said:


> Ten years later...I actually bought an 18v Ryobi chainsaw and used it a few times for trail clearing. It was barely worth the effort of dragging it out into the forest.
> 
> I have since retired that one and bought a Ryobi 40v chainsaw. Now that gets work done! It wasn't fun to drag out on a trailer and one battery didn't last long. I now have a second battery with more capacity. Now I'm looking for another excuse to use it.


18 volt or 40 volt?


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## roughster (Dec 18, 2017)

80 volt 18" Kobalt will get through just about anything that you should reasonably be sawing. I took out a tree that had fallen across the trail the other day that was larger than the 18" blade. It dropped the battery one unit ... I ended up doing a ton of trimming of other branches and debris on the hike out one a single battery with a little juice still left in it when I got home. Haven't regretted the purchase once!


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## Trail Ghost (Feb 2, 2021)

I have two of the 18volt Ryobi chain saws. 

The smaller one (P546) is not a whole lot faster than my bow saw and I have already replaced the motor in it.

The brushless one (P548) is still pretty light, but gets through substantially tougher stuff.

They both have their place. 

The P546 is really easy to pack. I just had to get used to the idea that the saw needs breaks long before I do. I have learned to sequence the work to make that happen.


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## TimWebber (Jan 29, 2016)

TheMachinist said:


> That's what I was afraid of. I'm sure it's especially quiet when the battery dies.


I have an old black and decker POS 20v LI electric chain saw. I can do about 5 cuts of logs 18-20" pretty quickly. Slower and less cuts if the wood is really dry (ie fallen deadwood). I keep my blade sharpened which is KEY. If you let the blade get dull, it cant get slower than a good hand saw. I use hand saw's wherever i can but sometimes after a good windstorm....its just not gna be good for my arms. LI batteries are fine. You just need to get good batteries. There are lots of terrible batteries out there (china....alibaba ect...)


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