Battery Outdoor Power Equipment 2022 edition

[jeepinmatt]

Well I let my mom borrow my Milwaukee battery chainsaw and she refused to give it back, then I went to crank up my Stihl BR600 blower and had to pull the carb apart to get it to crank and run, so once it was running it hit Craigslist and went away because that seems to happen every time I need to use it, even though I exclusively use ethanol free gas in it. So now I'm in the market for a battery chainsaw and blower. I really liked the Milwaukee saw, but the reviews online seem to rate it mid pack, and I find having battery interchange between the chainsaw and other tools/equipment to be less important since it's almost always in the truck.

I'm entertaining the following, but would like to get feedback from youpeople since your opinions are probably better than random internet people.

Chainsaw (w/charger and battery):
-Echo 56v, gets great reviews, wins or podiums in every shootout, $300
-Ego 56v 18", gets good reviews, batteries seem to be the best out there, toolless bar adjustment looks dumb, $370
-Ryobi 40v 18", not too many comparisons, looks good on paper, I like the traditional bar nuts and screw adjuster, $350
-Milwaukee M18, known entity and I already have the batteries, but still $250


Blower:
-Ego 56v 765cfm, wins every comparison, $330
-Ryobi 40v 730cfm, podiums in every comparison, by far the quietest (this is important to the wife) one out there with real power, $300
-Echo 56v 500cfm, not really in the same class as the others, $200
-Milwaukee M18 600cfm dual battery, still not on par with Ego or Ryobi, and louder, $280

Eventually I will probably sell my M18 string trimmer and replace it with whatever saw/blower I end up going with, and also pick up a pole saw. So while those two are not in the current consideration, making sure they are available down the road is important. I really like the Milwaukee shop tools and chainsaw, and the string trimmer was fine, but have been less than impressed with the blower. I was waiting on the next revision, it came out last month, and to me it's a letdown. The Ego is 26 Newtons blowing force, Ryobi is 22 Newtons, Echo is 16 Newtons, and the Milwaukee is only 17 Newtons with 2 batteries! Since the blower is THE most used piece of equipment around here (multiple times a day, my wife likes to blow ), it is a heavy driver in this decision.

Anybody have any hands on experience with these tools? I also wouldn't rule out the Kobalt 80v or Greenworks 80v stuff. It seems easy to find 80v Kobalt stuff cheap, and my parents have the 21" mower, blower, and weedeater and they seem decent from the little bit I've used them.

 

[LT1JEEP]

I have all dewalt battery power chain saw & blower & grinders and drills love mine and they do what i need from them.

 

[jeepyjman]

I have all the above from milwaukee and like them. Havent used the other brands so cannot compare. I value having 1 battery platform though.

 

[Pless]

I have the greenworks 80v chainsaw, backpack blower, and hedge trimmers. I really like the saw and the trimmer and runtime is great, but the run time on the blower is pretty low. I only have the 2ah battery. The build quality is pretty decent on the stuff too, but I wouldn't rank it as nice as the Milwaukee stuff.

 

[LBarr2002]

I have the ryobi 40V stuff. The chain saw I bought at one of these road side tool sale truck guys. It was obviously an open box return but I was basically buying it for the battery. With zero expectations on the saw, it actually is decent.

The blower I have is amazing. It's similar to this one, but must be an older model.

RYOBI 40V 110 MPH 525 CFM Cordless Battery Variable-Speed Jet Fan Leaf Blower (Tool-Only) RY40408BTL - The Home Depot

The RYOBI 40V Jet Fan Blower uses Gas-Like Power to make yard cleanup a breeze. This leaf blowers jet fan design increases air flow, delivering 525 CFM and 110 MPH of clearing power. The variable speed

www.homedepot.com

 

[drkelly]

I'm surprised at the trouble you are having with your Stihl backpack blower. I bought mine 17 yrs ago and it still runs great. I don't think I have ever touched it with a tool. I use it every time I mow the lawn to blow out the garage, blow the driveway, front porch and back porch. I use it almost year round.

I posted this before, but will post again. My wife bought the Greenworks 80v hedge trimmer and pole trimmer combo from Costco. The trimmers work great. My Stihl MS192T died, so since we already had the Greenworks battery, I decided to buy the Greenworks saw to replace it as my limbing saw. It works OK, but the chain has come off a few times. I thought it was plenty tight each time. I think I over heated it a few times and it stopped cutting, but started working again very quickly. Overall it doesn't compare to the Stihl MS192T, but I do like the fact that I don't have to 'start' it every time to cut up limbs when I am cleaning up and loading them up or whatever. I can one hand it OK, but I would really like a true top handle/one handing saw. Not sure I would buy again if I could go back.


My wife's parents bought this blower about a year ago and they have been very happy with it. They had the 40v model before and didn't like it.

80V Brushless Cordless 150 MPH/605 CFM Blower - Tool Only

Amazing deals on this 80V Brushless Cordless Blower at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[Pless]

I'm surprised at the trouble you are having with your Stihl backpack blower. I bought mine 17 yrs ago and it still runs great. I don't think I have ever touched it with a tool. I use it every time I mow the lawn to blow out the garage, blow the driveway, front porch and back porch. I use it almost year round.

I posted this before, but will post again. My wife bought the Greenworks 80v hedge trimmer and pole trimmer combo from Costco. The trimmers work great. My Stihl MS192T died, so since we already had the Greenworks battery, I decided to buy the Greenworks saw to replace it as my limbing saw. It works OK, but the chain has come off a few times. I thought it was plenty tight each time. I think I over heated it a few times and it stopped cutting, but started working again very quickly. Overall it doesn't compare to the Stihl MS192T, but I do like the fact that I don't have to 'start' it every time to cut up limbs when I am cleaning up and loading them up or whatever. I can one hand it OK, but I would really like a true top handle/one handing saw. Not sure I would buy again if I could go back.


My wife's parents bought this blower about a year ago and they have been very happy with it. They had the 40v model before and didn't like it.

80V Brushless Cordless 150 MPH/605 CFM Blower - Tool Only

Amazing deals on this 80V Brushless Cordless Blower at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I'm not sure which greenworks saw you have, but switching to a semi-chisel chain on mine helped it alot. I have several gas saws of all brands, but if I'm cutting something under about 12" in diameter the greenworks is my go to. I do wish it was a little lighter.

 

[jeepinmatt]

I'm surprised at the trouble you are having with your Stihl backpack blower. I bought mine 17 yrs ago and it still runs great. I don't think I have ever touched it with a tool. I use it every time I mow the lawn to blow out the garage, blow the driveway, front porch and back porch. I use it almost year round.

Back when I used to use it every couple of weeks, it wasn't an issue. Once I got the battery blower, the wife took over blowing duties and so I mainly just got the backpack blower out to blow off the trails in the late fall and again in the spring.

My Stihl MS192T died, so since we already had the Greenworks battery, I decided to buy the Greenworks saw to replace it as my limbing saw. It works OK, but the chain has come off a few times. I thought it was plenty tight each time.

My Milwaukee did the same thing when it was new, but after a few uses, never happened again.

 

[drkelly]

I'm not sure which greenworks saw you have, but switching to a semi-chisel chain on mine helped it alot. I have several gas saws of all brands, but if I'm cutting something under about 12" in diameter the greenworks is my go to. I do wish it was a little lighter.

80V 18" Pro I believe. I use my Stihl MS290 Farmboss for most stuff and just use the Greenworks saw for limbs.

 

[drkelly]

I'm not sure which greenworks saw you have, but switching to a semi-chisel chain on mine helped it alot. I have several gas saws of all brands, but if I'm cutting something under about 12" in diameter the greenworks is my go to. I do wish it was a little lighter.

This is the one I have. It has plastic felling dogs.

Which one do you do have?

 

[Pless]

The one I have has an 18" bar and steel felling dogs.
1Greenworks Pro 80V 18-Inch Brushless Cordless Chainsaw, 2.0Ah Battery and Rapid Charger Included GCS80420 https://a.co/d/eABKRYc

 

[shelby27604]

I think the DeWalt chainsaw always does well in head to head comparisons. I have nothing DeWalt, and every other DeWalt tool I use, I hate...so I wouldn't buy one.

I have told myself my battery powered chainsaw will either be the Makita (the small one looks perfect for truck use, and small enough my wife wouldn't be afraid of it)....OR the Stihl battery saw, because I am so impressed with my gas saw and BR800 blower (with side pull....buy it and never look back).

We have the Milwaukee string trimmer/pole saw combo, I was going to convert to all Milwaukee outdoor tools, but have discovered we rarely if ever use a full battery per use, so interchangeability isn't that important to me anymore....best bang for the buck is.

Wood working and jobsite tools is a different issue.....it is nice to have half a dozen batteries on hand.

 

[Tom@Hilltop_Machine]

 

[ManglerYJ]

I have the ryobi chainsaw. It's good for trees up to about 6-8" in diameter, which is all I will ever need. If I ever was in a true tree-down-across-the-road-and-I-have-to-clear-it-to-be-the-hero scenario, I'd kick my own ass for even showing up with it. Looks like a Fisher Price toy compared to a gas powered saw. it was very useful the other day when I was digging 4x4 posts for a fence. Was able to pull it out and cut the posts in half quicker than running 50 feet of drop cord to plug in the circular saw.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Yeah, I've watched both of those about a dozen times, and also the Toolbox Buzz one, and a bunch of others.

 

[Bogleparsons]

Something to think about, I have all Milwaukee cordless tools except the DeWalt chainsaw.
I bought an adapter so I can run the chainsaw with my existing Milwaukee batteries.
There are adapters to make just about any battery fit any brand tool.

 

[JSJJ388]

The stihl battery saw is a beast. Got to use one out on a call the other night and it didnt even flinch at 12" oak trees. I dont know battery life or anything, but it cuts good.

 

[cranbiz]

I have one of the 10" 18V Ryobi saws that I keep in the Jeep. It works really well for what it is. I wouldn't make it a primary saw but for around camp, on the trail or doing a bunch of small shit at home, it's really good.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Something to think about, I have all Milwaukee cordless tools except the DeWalt chainsaw.
I bought an adapter so I can run the chainsaw with my existing Milwaukee batteries.
There are adapters to make just about any battery fit any brand tool.

That's why I went with all Milwaukee stuff to begin with. And it's was more of a one-at-a-time progression on the OPE, so I just bought the Milwaukee option because I already had batteries. But all of my Milwaukee "shop tools" are down the hill at the shop, and the blower/trimmer/chainsaw are up at the garage, so I have 2 batteries that live at the house, and the rest at the shop, and they basically never change places. Which is what sent me down the rabbit hole of buying the best tool ecosystem for OPE, since the shop tools and OPE already live separately anyway. Honestly, I think if the Milwaukee blower wasn't so inadequate for my needs, I'd probably just replace the M18 chainsaw and move on. But researching and buying new tools is fun

 

[jeepinmatt]

Long post alert...

Had a chance encounter this week. Stopped by Lowes at lunchtime Tuesday to look at the Ego stuff, walked up to the blower aisle display, went to pick up the 765cfm blower, and started bitchin to myself about how am I supposed to get a feel for a blower when it's strapped down to the shelf and I can only pick it up 2 inches! Girl about 10ft from me says "yeah, this is my least favorite store in this entire territory" (southwest Charlotte Lowes on South Tyrone St). She's wearing a shirt that says "FLEX" and has on a name tag. Means nothing to me, so I ask her "What is FLEX?" Turns out she works for Chervon brands who represents Flex, Ego, and Kobalt power tools. She actually had a pretty good tech knowledge and we chatted for about a half hour and I learned a lot. It was great that she was there because she had a charged battery and I was able to actually run the blower and string trimmer. My big concern with the Ego blower was noise, but I was pleasantly surprised at how it sounded. Certainly not quiet, but completely reasonable, even on turbo, and not as shrill and harsh as the noise my Milwaukee blower makes. She also showed me some cool features on the string trimmers (carbon fiber shafts, Line IQ automatic outfeed as your line wears, etc), but the coolest one is for loading line onto the spool. Pull 10ft of line straight through the head (it's a pass thru straight hole that threads super easily), then push a button on the shaft down near the head, and the trimmer motor winds it for you in about 10 seconds!

So, based on all this, I was sold. Went down the aisle to look at chainsaws, because that's a pretty straightforward design and I already did enough research to know the power and runtime are good on the Ego, so it should be a no brainer. And boy was I wrong. The 18" saw has some Fisher Price looking adjustment knob that sticks out nearly 2" and clicks when you turn it like a toddler toy! Here are comparisons between the Ego 16" and 18":

The 16" also has a toolless easy adjust, and sticks out a little more than a normal saw with bar nuts, but its still a reasonable ~1" stickout from the bar. The 18" version sticks out near 3"! Not only does it look super goofy, but they compensated by moving the chain closer to center, so it just feels weird in your hand. I was sold on this Ego stuff, but this all took me aback and made me reconsider everything.

My first thought was hmm, I like the fact the Ryobi blower is quieter, and nearly as powerful, and their chainsaw has a conventional bar nut setup, so maybe I'll go that route. Did some research, and found this thread about how their batteries have gone to crap since 2020 and they are using chinese cells instead of Samsung/Sony/Panasonic/LG/etc

But they have the same 3yr warranty as the Ego, so does it matter? I dunno.

So I had the day off today and went to both Lowes and Home Depot, and spent some more time looking and evaluating and comparing. I realized I was too focused on a powerful blower, and had sort of neglected the weight side of the equation. The reason my wife uses the Milwaukee blower regularly is because it is light, at 7.5lbs with a 9.0ah battery. The Ego and Ryobi blowers are both pretty darn heavy, in the neighborhood of 10-11lbs. The Echo one is in that sub-8lb range like the Milwaukee. I deliberated about an hour total at Home Depot, between the Ryobi and the Echo stuff.

Here's a side by side of the Echo and Ryobi saws:

They both have a decent form factor, but the Ryobi battery mounts crossways, and the Echo drops in vertically, which makes a very nice handling profile. Also, the Echo just felt like more of a "real" saw. I think thats the problem for me with the Ego/Ryobi/Kobalt stuff, its too focused on pretty colors and soft touch and features, but loses sight of the sturdy, functional aspect. Regardless, either seemed fine from a function standpoint, EXCEPT the Ryobi's safety switch requires you to move your thumb up to the top and pull the switch back. It's not terrible, but is a bit unintuitive, and more importantly requires you to loosen your grip and take your thumb off. The Echo is the typical round button in the grip area like any other tools I've used. So that got me leaning back towards the Echo.

Then I spent some time looking at the string trimmers. The Echo string trimmer is leaps and bounds better than all of the others. And all of the Echo stuff just seemed better built and higher quality. Plus their PAS attachment system for the interchangeable shaft looks really good and is well established.

I was still a bit hesitant on the blower since it is so much less powerful, but they have a 30 day return policy on this stuff, so if it really sucks, I can just take it back.

All of this was made even easier by the fact the Echo stuff was cheaper. On the saw, the Echo was $300, vs $370 for Ryobi or Ego. On the blower, the Ego and Ryobi were $330, whereas the Echo was only $200! To be fair, Echo has 2.5ah batt, Ego has 5.0ah, and Ryobi has 2x4.0ah, but the 2.5batt is also a big part of the reason the Echo is so much lighter.


So I decided to pull the trigger on the Echo stuff. Too bad it was all locked in cages and I had 2 impatient kids with me (they had actually been very patient, but we had been there an hour at this point, so they understandably had no patience left). But all the cages had combination locks, and of course there were no associates to be found. But I had noticed the lock was laying on the shelf open at the Makita bay, so I got that code and tried it, and BOOM! Were in business.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Curiousity got the best of me. After searching quite a bit, I still couldn't figure out who made the batteries for Echo. So I decided to take the battery pack apart on my brand new tools

I was able to see JUST enough of one cell to make out the model number "25P" and a quick search confirmed these are the same Chinese cells Ryobi is using. Downside is Echo has a 2 year battery warranty, Ryobi is 3 years. They seem to test out as a pretty decent cell, but not great. This guy on reddit seems to know his shiz:
EVE 25P chinese 18650 test:


Samsung 25R 18650 test:


(If anyone know how to shorten or eliminate these stupid reddit embeds, lemme know!)

Since the Echo stuff is priced quite a bit lower, and the tools themselves are solid, I kind of expected this. I feel like I got more for my money with the Echo than I would have with the Ryobi. Now I just have to figure out where they are on the value equation in the next 30 days.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Got some time with both tools today. First impressions:
Chainsaw looks great, feels great, works great. With a few caveats. It's a pound or two heavier than the Milwaukee. Not a big deal, but you feel it. Throws chips everywhere, in a good way, but also in an inconvenient way. I was running it without my normal helmet/face shield, but it seemed to be throwing a lot of chips toward my face, which I found odd. But the big thing I did NOT like is the reaction time. Probably only a second or less, but it feels like an eternity to an impatient person like me. And it's both when you pull the trigger AND when you let off. Maybe I will get used to it, but im not sure. I grabbed the Milwaukee just to reality check myself and there's a very noticeable difference. The Milwaukee saw responds and cuts off basically instantly, which is what I would expect for electricity.

On the plus side, it cut great, the chain speed is awesome, tons of power, and only used 1 bar of battery (out of 4) to convert this 10" oak from tree trunk to firewood.

So far, I'd rate the saw about a 7 out of 10. Take the trigger delay away, and it's a 9 outta 10, only because of the weight. I could also run it with the 2.5ah battery to save some weight if I wanted.


Now let's talk about the blower. I'm sure it's not as powerful as the 730&765cfm versions from the other guys, but it seems to have nearly twice the power of the Milwaukee I have. And quieter, and weighs about the same. The low speed modulation on the proportional trigger is absolutely amazing. You can run it so gently that I could probably use it to blow salt off a sheet of paper and not move the paper. On full speed (non-turbo), it's about 30-40% stronger than the Milwaukee. On turbo, it absolutely blows the Milwaukee away, and it will blow the packed down gravel away on my driveway too. Its extremely quiet below half throttle, and still fairly quiet at full throttle. Id guess the decibel rating is on par with the Milwaukee, but its much less shrill and obnoxious to the human ear. On turbo, it sounds like an electric blower on turbo.

Handling is good, though I slightly prefer the Milwaukee. The battery on the Milwaukee is inline with the grip, whereas the Echo is a few inches below the grip. When you rotate the blower up to blow dust off of cars or similar motions, it takes a bit more force and grip to rotate it up. This is because the center of mass on the Milwaukee is basically inline with the grip, whereas the Echo's is quite a bit lower, so it takes a lot more torque from the operator to overcome the rotational inertia.

This is a very minor complaint, and overall I'm exceptionally pleased with the blower. I'd rate it 8.5/10. Give it more power, less noise, and get that mass centralized to bring the rating up. But honestly it does everything I need, and for only $200 with battery and charger.

 

[CasterTroy]

Handling is good, though I slightly prefer the Milwaukee. The battery on the Milwaukee is inline with the grip, whereas the Echo is a few inches below the grip. When you rotate the blow up to blow dust off of cars or similar motions, it takes a bit more force and grip to rotate it up. This is because the center of mass on the Milwaukee is basically inline with the grip, whereas the Echo's is quite a bit lower, so it takes a lot more torque from the operator to overcome the rotational inertia.

So Milwaukee to exclusively dry off black cars after washing them?

 

[jeepinmatt]

So Milwaukee to exclusively dry off black cars after washing them?

Depends. You want it to be easy, or you want it to blow like a champ? (Did we just change threads? )

 

[CasterTroy]

Depends. You want it to be easy, or you want it to blow like a champ? (Did we just change threads? )

I use a pretty old Black and decker electric right now (which is a real MF when trying to dry the suburban off).
Not sure of the CFM's but it taint much, even on 2. The water beads up nicely because I'm anal and keep the proper paint protection on most of my vehicles (cept the dumptruck) so it's not like I need to Monica Lewinski anything, as I have a Stihl backpack blower for actual WORK. This would SIMPLY be to dry off the cars. So I would SAY....easy, and less awkward to hold up over the top of the cars and high on the burb