Customer Reviews

Earthwise CCS30008 18-Volt 8-Inch Cordless Chain Saw

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a terrific tool. I tried two Black and Decker cordless 8" chainsaws and sent both back because they leaked oil all over the chassis and battery. But I did use the first one for an hour and can compare these two brands.

First the cons: The Earthwise is less powerful and lighter, so you have to use more of your own weight to operate it, and it takes a little longer to cut through larger wood (say 6"). Because of the power issue, it's less likely to give you a clean cut without applying some pressure to the cutting edge.

The B&D manual is more informative; Earthwise needs to work on that. If you've never used a chainsaw, you will need some instruction other than the Earthwise manual. These are minor flaws for me, ones I can live with.

We own 5 acres, and are trying to clean up a couple that are full of small, thorny scrub trees and bushes. I'm small, female, and 63 so the larger gasoline saws are no longer usable by me. But most of the wood that needs cutting is in the 3-4" range and this little saw handles it very well. It's light enough for me to be able to cut at all angles. Safety requires that you use two hands always on a chainsaw but in my view, you'd better be ABLE to manage with one hand just in case you get caught on something. This one's light enough that I feel safe using it, a huge issue for me. I will repeat one line from the Earthwise manual because it's so important: Familiarity with a tool should not lull you into a sense of security (I paraphrased there). Even with a saw this small, safety needs to be first on your mind.

Black and Decker vs, Earthwise:

Battery life is longer: The B&D ran out of juice after an hour; the Earthwise was still going strong at 1 1/2 hours.

B&D is manual oil -- push a button to oil the chain before every cut. The oil reservoir was depleted in that time span. The Earthwise is automatic and oil use is much less.

The power switch can be released after the trigger is pulled on the Earthwise. I'm not positive but I THINK you have to hold that button to keep the B&D saw running. I prefer the security of one finger on the trigger while the others hold the handle. However, the B&D chain stops on trigger release; the Earthwise coasts.

B&D comes unassembled; Earthwise is ready to go; just add oil.

Earthwise is a little cheaper; nothing wrong with that.

I can't report on reliability or service life but I love this little guy and highly recommend it to anyone who's cutting jobs are small. Though the manual says you can cut up to 8", that's really pushing it. But for trimming up trees, taking out saplings, or dealing with deadwood, this is perfect. The only reason it got four stars instead of five is due to it's tendency to shred the cut unless you apply some effort -- again, not a big issue for me, but sloppy cuts aren't what you want in landscaping.

Upon opening the box and checking through the packing list I found the oil was missing but was not going to return it because of missing oil. The local hardware store built me a replacement chain and I bought some oil. After charging the battery and then taking it apart to figure out how to put it back together, my chainsaw and I were off to the property line to cut down some 'trees'. The battery lasted just about as long as the chain stayed sharp....about 3 hours....raking & brush clean up in between. The diameter of the trees I was able to cut maxed-out at about 6". The safety push-button start works easily. I was extremely impressed (and empowered) and my husband was most impressed as well. I would highly recommend this product and will most likely be using it again this coming weekend!!

I am a 5'2", 120lb 50 yr old woman and this chainsaw is perfect for me. I have never used a chainsaw before, so this was a little intimidating at first. After purchasing chain bar oil (not included) and fully charging the battery, I attempted to cut up a pretty big branch that fell in my yard. The smaller (<2" approx) branches came off easily. The biggest branch cut was about 4.5" wide. That one was a little struggle, but after several attempts I was finally able to cut through. True, with a more powerful saw, I wouldn't have had trouble at all, but for me this is all the power I'm comfortable with. I recommend this if you are a small woman, and older person, or someone who just wants a small saw to take care of small jobs around the yard.

This little saw replaced a burned-out Black & Decker. Which I had thought had been useful. However, I am pleasantly surprised about the performance of this light-weight saw. Not only does the charge hold a lot longer than the B&D, the automatic oiler works better, the chain stays tight.
I have been using it almost daily since purchased and it has not let me down. Each day it performs like it did the first day. I can highly recommend it.

If you are looking for power and log-cutting you should stick to a larger gas or corded model and do a little homework on what type of chainsaw meets your needs. Cordless are generally for convenience and lightweight work, NOT power. That is what this little machine gives with surprising capability. I have worked with heavy tools in construction and love a good power tool, but what I love about this is that it is so lightweight I can carry it with a couple fingers and do the whole yard without a break. It went through the base stump of a 6 inch live multi-stem shrub in an area that was too small to reach with my other power tools - it took it down in one pass from each side, left a clean edge and it didn't slow down. It went right off to cutting a live 4" branch of a tree and multiple shrub issues that were too big for loppers. It is easy to get into tight areas which allowed me to clean some old leftover branch breaks I couldn't reach before. I spent 4 hours doing this work and the battery was still going strong (keep in mind stops between branches). I'm nearing 60 and if I had a full size chainsaw, the weight would have had me worn out at the first stump. I got a lot more done this way. I found any pressure on it slowed it down, so I had to retrain myself and not expect it to be as powerful as a huge gas chainsaw. It still worked quite quickly and took slightly longer to cut but with so little effort. I had plenty of energy left to get to a lot of unfinished trimming. I love this lightweight machine and consider it one of my best and most useful tool purchases! The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is because I expect it to have a shorter life than I would like - although it seems solidly made, it is still made with lightweight materials and I get rough. That is yet to be seen, however, since I've only had it a short time.

UPDATE: I've had the tool for over a year now and it works as well as when I first got it, so I upped my rating from 4 to 5 stars. I don't use it endlessly since I don't do larger branches that often, but it still zipped through large roots and easily chopped up some unwanted plants that couldn't be cut with large loppers as I cleaned out some unwanted plants this spring. I certainly got my money's worth!

I was a bit skeptical about how well this item would perform even after reading the reviews. I must say I am very pleased! I'm a 52 year old woman and pride myself on being independent. I bought this chain saw for the specific purpose of cutting up small felled trees in the woods behind my house. I didn't want to mess with gas powered ones. I wanted something small enough to be almost maintenance free and easy to use with minimal kickback. Talk about perfect timing ... No sooner did it arrive than did several large branches fall from trees near my patio during a storm. I charged the battery overnight, bought and added the chain & bar oil and got busy. It is easy to operate, works wonderfully for the purposes I need it for. The largest tree I had to cut up was about 6 inches in diameter. I have used it several times and have not yet had to recharge the battery.

Freedom at last ... no more being dependent on my neighbors and friends for these type of favors!

I have had this now for 8 months and if it died tomorrow I would feel like I got my money's worth. I have 2 other Earthwise products that use the same battery, so when the battery gets low I pop in a fresh one! Yesterday I took down a 30 feet pine tree with a 8" truck. I have taken more then 20 small trees down over the last 8 months. As long as the battery is fresh, it cuts pine trees like butter.

I bought this because I had a small tree way in the back that needed trimming and a gas powered machine seemed like overkill. I would recommend this product for the elderly and those not familiar with power tools. If you're used to using a more powerful tool, I would reckon this would be like driving around 8 passengers in a V4 minivan.

Pluses:
Cordless
Very lightweight, can be used with one hand carefully
Just about zero kickback
No assembly required
Safe enough to cut overhead if absolutely necessary
Decent battery life (1.5 hours intermittent use)

Minuses:
Short on engine power
Difficulty cutting anything more than 3 inches diameter
Blade dulls quickly
Not enough power to split firewood

Overall, I don't regret the purchase but this is not a substitute for a real chainsaw.

very Impressed I'm disabled [bad back] not to heavy this chain saw did at last me I had to rest a few times. cut down and cut up a tree over 3" tree at base. never lock up and still running strong when I was done.

This cordless chain saw did not meet my expectations. The speed of the chain (blade) was far too slow, which resulted in snagging and binding on the log being cut. Also, the "automatic" chain oiler failed to work. NO oil was dispersed to the chain, which will cause the bar and chain to wear prematurly. Also, the battery only had enough power for about 50 cuts through small logs. I returned it.