Battery Beats Gas: Milwaukee Cordless Chainsaw Video

Performance

Runtime

Feature Set

Value

Final Thoughts

With the 16-inch Oregon bar and chain, this Milwaukee 18-volt chainsaw is the real-deal. It will run with it's gas counterparts and provide plenty of runtime, without all the cranking, fuel, and fumes.

Overall Score 4.5 Final Thoughts

It’s been a few months since we first laid our hands on the M18 Milwaukee cordless chainsaw. That was just for a few minutes while at Milwaukee’s new product symposium. Now, we have the saw for realsies. So, with all the claims out there about battery-powered chainsaws and their gas equivalents, why not put it to the test?! And that’s exactly what we’ve done.

First, we used the Milwaukee M18 Chainsaw to fell a fairly large Central Florida oak tree. Right off the bat, we were impressed, again, but more so this time, since we were cutting a real tree, out in the woods. Using this same tree, we notched out some larger trunks and cradled a large portion of the oak upon them. Setting up the camera, we captured on video the Milwaukee cordless chainsaw up against the Husqvarna 460 Rancher.

10-Second Summary

More than 103 cuts in oak – on one charge
Gas-like power from an 18V 12.0 battery
Pro Features – No electronic buttons to push
16-inch Oregon bar and chain
Double-stud bar retention
On-board scrench
Large sight-window for bar oil level
Metal bucking spikes

SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS

Milwaukee M18 FUEL Chainsaw – Through the Woods

We really were not setting out to choose a winner. We were just trying to get a baseline test with the Husqvarna, in order to compare the M18 cordless chainsaw against. Our test was to perform 2 cuts going down and 1 cut coming up (down-up-down). To our surprise, the Milwaukee M18 FUEL caught and passed, the Husqvarna. Full disclosure: the Milwaukee M18 chainsaw had a new blade, and the Husqvarna had a sharpened blade.

M18 Battery-Powered Chainsaw – Felling a Tree

With both saws, we tried to put as much pressure as possible on the chain, using the metal bucking spikes, without bogging either. The Husqvarna seemed to like cutting down faster, but the Milwaukee really made up time in the up-cut. Furthermore, we also runtime tested this Milwaukee cordless chainsaw by cutting 100 6-inch oak discs. We still had 2 bars on the battery after this, so we moved to the larger 14-16-inch trunk where we made 3-2/3 more cuts before the battery died.

Check it out. We definitely recommend the M18 cordless Chainsaw for anyone looking for a battery-powered chainsaw.

Milwaukee Cordless Chainsaw