I recently needed a chainsaw to take care of some wood that had found its way to my driveway. I pulled out my 16 year old 16″ Poulan chainsaw that had not been used in over 10 years. I quickly discovered that all the fuel lines had deteriorated. So I bought replacement lines and filters at Lowes, only to discover that the fuel primer bulb had ruptured too. Then I found that Amazon actually sells a Poulan fixup kit for well under $10. When it arrived, I spent a few hours replacing all the lines, filters and primer bulb. I got it running, and it performed OK… it ran a while, bogged down and stalled a while, then ran a while, then coughed… I sharpened the chain and got to work. I cut well for a while, then IT decided IT needed to take some more time off. I had enough. My hands reeked of gasoline, and my work was not done. I decided that for the limited number of times I used a chainsaw, this saw would need more small engine work every time I used it.
16″ Poulan compared to 18″ Black and Decker
I decided electric was the way to go. Simple plug-in electric, no expensive batteries, that would also fail from prolonged lack of use. I conducted a lot of research and settled on the Black and Decker CS1518 electric chainsaw for many reasons:
- Good reviews compared to other models of electric chainsaws
- 18″ bar (longest available in plug-in electric)
- 15 amp motor (most powerful available)
- Oregon bar and chain (a name brand standard bar and chain that I could get replacements anywhere)
- Instant stop chain (let go of the trigger, the chain stops immediately, even though the motor continues to wind down)
- Tool-less chain adjustments/replacements
- Blade guard included
I was expecting that this saw would not be as strong as my gas saw, but figured the ease of operation would make up for its lack of power. I wrong…. so wrong. This electric chainsaw has more power than my gas chainsaw, even when that saw is running at its best, which it rarely does.
Just in case anyone thinks I am just doing light cutting with this saw, I was slabbing (ripping) a very large double stump of red oak. The stump was roughly 40″ in diameter so even with cutting through on each side with the 18″ chainsaw, I still had about 4″ of wood running down the center that I had to cut with the hand saw. I cut 6 slabs out of this stump, I did the first one entirely with the handsaw (just to prove something to myself…. and give the neighbors something to talk about) but the others I cut with the Black & Decker chainsaw. It handled them all very well. It is comfortable to use and is quieter than its gas brother. I was quite surprised that even after running it pretty hard, the electric motor did not get that warm. I figured it would be steaming from everything that I was asking it to do, but it worked very nicely. I only have one complaint, and it is pretty minor. When holding the saw as directed with two hands, the weight of the electric motor adds a bit of twist to the saw. It is easy enough to overcome, but it does take some continual awareness to do it.
I am happy with this chainsaw, much happier than I expected to be.
Disclaimer: This is not a paid endorsement. I paid full price for the saw. Links are Amazon affiliate only.