Cordless tools, the next level

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Tozguy

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Most of us have been using cordless hand drills and drivers for many years now. Many of us have experienced the leap in performance and durability from NiCad to lithium-ion batteries. Moreover, with the recent proliferation of battery powered bikes and cars, we are facing developments far beyond the traditional light portable tools from Bosch, Dewalt, Milwaukee, etc.
In my case the next level has been a cordless lawnmower and chainsaw from Greenworks. There are other new brands too that seem to be pushing the cordless envelope but we know little about them. The reviews that are available on the internet are not always reliable nor detailed enough for some of us.

So anyone with questions or who wishes to share their experience with us on new products and brands please join in. It could be interesting.
 
Only yesterday I was looking at the box with collection of now unusable battery powered drills etc. sans batteries. A new drill + Li-ion batteries from B&Q DIY store can be had for less than the cost of replacing NiCad batteries.

I now know about what happens to NiCads, the reverse current through the first to discharge, the capacity memory effect, the crystal growths, the rejuvenation stunts. Battery wise, my Makita has been the most long-lived, and I could get "me too" batteries and chargers for the Li-ion type.

I agree about the new technology batteries. Having had the "Tesla" experience of being taken hundreds of miles to an air show, and brought home again by a thing that seems to mostly drive itself!

NiCads were a poisonous, and blighted technology. They taught us the convenience of cordless tools, but I don't regret their passing. Maybe I should just dump the (quite nice) old hand drills. I can't even recycle the chucks!
 
Still have my little 6 volt ni-cad Makita and a couple of the 9 volt ones I bought used later. Done a lot with them.
I do wish I had an electric chainsaw to replace my little Mac- easier to start and quieter
-Mark
 
A couple of years ago, my NAPA dealer was making a great offer on DeWalt cordless tools. I'm sure it was sponsored by DeWalt; the deal was bring in the old NiCad tools/batteries/chargers and get a credit on replacements with the new Li-Ion tools. Not all tools qualified but enough to make the offer appealing. I had a boatload of tools and batteries and took them up on the offer. I never looked back, the new stuff is so much better. Much good discussion on the subject between us and others on this thread:

www.hobby-machinist.com

Covid

It has my family shut down . :rolleyes:
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com

I'm getting very interested in a battery powered chainsaw. It's pretty much a guarantee I'll end up with one, but I'd love to hear from others who have experience with them.

Regards,
Terry
 
I have a several year old ryobi chainsaw. It's a credible tool for homeowner, but nothing that you could use for real work. I have a harbor freight electric plug in saw with more capability. I agree that real powerful chainsaw would be great. I have a gas chainsaw, but never use it enough to keep it in tune for next use so it's always a project when I need it. Plus think of safety of a dead man or even accelerometer throttle you could have on electric chainsaw.

I bought my teenage daughters a used Chevy Bolt Premier this summer. Collision avoidance, limited self steering for lane departure, "helicoptor mode" cameras, android auto, etc all for about 16k. 230 mile range. 8 year /100k mile battery warranty. A budget tesla? Maybe not. But it is a safe car, with almost no maintenance, and no fill ups. There's a video on u tube showing the drive train has 3 moving parts and can be serviced in the vehicle. Amazingly simple. Bolt Traction motor

I'm very interested in Chevy's ecrate motor program coming out next year using the same components.
 
I have an Ego Powertools hedge trimmer. Don't use it for trimming hedges but rather for cutting the smaller brush down that is too small for the chainsaw. It is the power head version so I could add a pole saw, edger, string trimmer and such to it.--->Ego Power Tools Combi Unit<---
It does its job very well. Only complaint is that it is a little heavy. I plan on getting an aftermarket shoulder harness and make an attachment for it.
I thought about getting their chainsaw but decided that my old Stihl 036 does a great job, and now with Stihl's slikr-than-snot chain filer, --->Stihl Chainsaw sharpener<--- coupled with their yellow chain, it cuts like a beast.
My good friend has pretty much all of the Ego Power tools except the lawn mower. He loves them. He uses his pole saw quite a bit and he is the one that got me interested in the Ego tool line up. I looked at Stihl's battery powered chainsaw, but their system uses too low of voltage in my opinion. Their system also costs at least as much, if not more, than a new gas powered one from them. My Stihl 036 has been to hell and back and it keeps running.
If you have a battery platform already (Milwaukee, Makita, Dewalt, etc.) one might be better off staying with that same mfg. I do like Ego's total system though. Interestingly, Home Depot carried that line until this fall, but now it is sold at Lowes. Not sure why HD did that because I know for a fact that it was a hot seller.
The new electrics (drill, chainsaws, whatever) are very powerful, as previously mentioned. I fly large Radio Control aircraft and helicopters utilizing Lithium Polymer batteries (a whole 'nother animal compared to Li Ion). The power is significant with an instant on. Electric devices can be more dangerous than their gas powered counterparts.
As a side note... He also owns a Tesla Xd. I have rode in it and driven it. Super fast. Super techie. A lot of gee whiz stuff in their rivaling or exceeding what we had in the airplane. However, that 250 mile range is just something I cannot get past, especially if going on a trip and possibly traveling to areas where charging stations are few and far between. Also, the fit and finish, for an $80k car was, in my opinion, subpar. It seems like they went for a minimalist approach (or maybe European) but I find it lacking. The road noise is terrible too. My Ram Laramie is significantly quieter believe it or not.
 
After going through a few craftsman drills, that had the batteries die in a year or two, and not able to get replacements for less then buying a new drill, , I started getting the Ryobi tools. They were ok, with the nicads, but had the only affordable setup back then, that had many tools that used the same battery. A few things like the angle grinder, were poor on nicads, but when the LIon batteries came out, they really woke up the old tools. Since they have been using the same battery setup, you can find many older Ryobi tools cheap at yard sales. The chain saw is ok for what I do, but I only paid $15 for it at a yard sale. The weed whacker is the only one that I bought the higher powered one, the old 18 volt did not cut it. Been happy for going on 20 years now.

I bought a 2020 Pacifica hybrid, with the sate and federal tax rebates, it brought the price down to a reasonable level. For around here in the mountains, the hybrid idea is great. A few months back, I drove up to yellow stone, for a few days. through the mountains, it averaged 40 % in electric, and regen (charging while going down hill), and 60% on gas. For around town, we hardly ever get past the electric plug in mode, where we then use the hybrid mode. One of the selling points on the Pacifica, is it has essentially the same gas engine as the gas only version, plus the 150 or what ever HP from the electric. Many others use a 4 cyl for their hybrid, and a 6 cyl for their gas version, which makes it hard for the gas on the highway. The switch between electric, and gas, is seamless, you do not feel a thing, unless you are heavy on the go pedal, such as entering a highway, where it uses the power from both the gas, and electric.

These electric & hybrid cars are getting to be great vehicles.
 
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My introduction to cordless tools way back in the NiCad days was limited to drills. As others have mentioned the batteries would die way too soon. The batteries were always too expensive to replace so often. We kept buying new sets because they were cheaper than buying just batteries. It did not make sense but a new set always looked better than the last so we kept trying.
Lithium-ion batteries transformed the game and impressed me tremendously. So gradually my gas powered tools (hedge trimmers, weedwhackers) and some corded tools got replaced with lithium-ion battery powered ones. I never looked back.
Lawnmower designs seem to have come a long way in a short time. Last spring we bought a 21'' 80v version by Greenworks. It beats our old gas mower by a country mile. Not sure how much a new blade will cost when the time comes but I am bracing myself for a nasty surprise.
Then came a Greenworks chainsaw because my old 12'' pruning saw (not a Stihl) needed too much work to keep it going. My gas Stihl is stihl the one for heavy work but the Greenworks chainsaw is awesome for most of what has to be done around home.
My neighbour bought a used electric bike last year for $300. It was worth $2000 when new but it needed a new battery so he got the bike cheap. He bought a refurbished battery for $700 which is much less than the price of a new one.
I can't help but think that battery powered stuff is going to keep getting better and less expensive. Is it going to be a challenge to identify and avoid the junk stuff? Sharing your experiences here, good and bad, should be quite interesting.
 
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I sold outdoor power equipment for about 5 years, carried gas, corded and battery powered tools (one of my old customers just called while I was typing this).

Best bang for the buck were definitely the GreenWorks tools but there are plenty of other good brands out there.

One of the hardest, and most frightening, things I encountered was when an older customer would bring in their chainsaw for a "tune up". We would change the plug, clean the filter, sharpen the chain, etc. and test it before calling the customer for pickup. More often than I would have liked they would bring the saw back complaining it wouldn't start. I'd prime the carb and start it right up and we both realized the saw wasn't the problem....

Battery powered or electric was the recommendation, and definitely one of the pole versions to keep them off ladders too :oops:

Be safe out there, sometimes it's better to pay someone else than risk injury. We all want to be healthy to work in our shops....


John
 
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