Last weekend my wife, Anita, and I were cutting down a tree in our back yard when I dragged out my 16″ chainsaw and tried to start it up. I’ve owned the the thing for 15 years and it has worked well in the past, but the last few, it’s been a real pain in the ass to start. I had to keep pumping the primer button, pull the choke and yank the cord several times before it started. Then, when it did start, anytime I held the chainsaw on its side to make a cut, the saw would shut off. It’s my fault for never winterizing the thing and keeping up with the maintenance, but I would only use it once or twice a year to trim up tree branches around my yard.

Anita seeing me frustrated asked if we should just buy a new saw instead of fighting with this one. I told her what I really wanted was a battery operated one so I wouldn’t have to deal with the bullshit anymore. I knew DeWalt made a 60V version as I talked to DeWalt rep a couple of years ago at a contractor’s luncheon at Home Depot. He told me at the time, that they had a hard time keeping them in stock as they were so popular.

Anita looked online to see how much the saw was and where it was stocked. She told me that Home Depot now has them so, we decided to take a look at it at the store. Sure enough, they were on the shelf for $299 so, we bought one.

The saw has incredible power despite of it being battery operated. I was amazed how well it cut through the tree limbs that were 14″ in diameter. Even Anita got caught up in the action as she started to use it. She loves the thing too. We ended up spending the whole afternoon trimming a bunch of trees and burning them in the fire pit. Even though it’s electric, the saw is no toy. In fact, I would consider this saw more dangerous than a gasoline one because as soon as you pull the trigger, the chain spins. If you’re not careful, you can easily misfire the saw and accidentally cut yourself. A gasoline saw, you have to at least start it up first before the chain ever spins.

I posted a picture of the chainsaw on Instagram last Sunday saying how well the saw worked and one of my woodworking buddies told me he was going to buy the saw. Today he posted a picture of the same saw on Instagram his wife bought him for Fathers Day.

This saw would be perfect for bowl turners who need to whip out a chainsaw for a few minutes to cut a slab of wood to throw on a lathe. I’m going to use the trunk of the birch tree we cut down for that very reason.

I don’t have a video of me using the saw as I was too busy to whip out my phone but, you can see a video of the chainsaw in action here.

As far as how well the DeWalt stacks up to other makers, I have no idea. I know Makita, Stihl and even Greenworks make battery operated chainsaws nowadays.  If you’re in the market for a new chainsaw and hate the priming, choking and the two cycle gas of regular chainsaws the way I did, take a look at the new evolution of battery operated chainsaws.  Happy Fathers Day everybody!