EGO Chainsaw

Took the EGO summer tool plunge and see they have a chainsaw in the lineup. Ha - the video they post is terrible. I'm not very experienced with the chainsaw but I don't think the video technique is correct nor safe - plus seems like they hit the ground a few times.

Anyway, I'm a woodturner and I use a 20" gas Husky for big work but then use my Makita electric at home and in my garage to cut the log sections into bowl blanks. The Makita is an excellent saw but would be a big plus to not have a cord.

I see some like the chainsaw the best out of the EGO lineup but don't know how the use it. Just wondering if EGO would be a good choice as a replacement for my Makita.

Thanks

Michael G

8,810 Points

Posted 3 years ago

3 years ago

Egocentric

6,328 Points

I know very little about chain saws, but I love my 14". Quiet but it chews through 8 inch hardwood like butter.

I will say this though, the 16 inch is a far better deal. When I bought mine, the 14 inch with a 2.0 aH battery was $249. The 16 with a 5.0 aH battery was $299. A lot more battery for 50 bucks more with a bigger saw to boot. Unfortunately, it was my first Ego tool and I was buying a saw not a system. Now that I have 4 Ego tools, I could kick myself for not going with the 16 inch and have an extra 5.0 aH battery. Just checked, what I said about pricing and batteries is true at Home Depot. The 5.0 battery can be used in all Ego tools (except maybe the snow blower). Much better deal.

(Edited)

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3 years ago

Blue Angel, Champion

180,008 Points

Michael, if you spend some time reading the reviews on Home Depot you'll get a feel for what the saw is capable of. Though I don't know anything about your Makita saw, I'd say there's a very good chance the Ego would outdo it. It compares favorably to small gas saws in power, from what I've read.

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3 years ago

Dave .

21,736 Points

I've used gas chain saws. The Ego 14" in no way approximates the power of them. My 14" stalls a lot, has low chain speed. I can only get it to work half-way decently by putting in the 7.5 A battery from the mower. That doesn't increase chain speed, but at least it won't stall.

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2017-05-29T18:28:34+00:00

Blue Angel, Champion

180,008 Points

The newer 14" saw is the same under the hood as the 16" saw, which is an upgrade over the original 14". If yours is the original it's out of date! :-)

Agreed there will be gas saws much more powerful than the Ego, but from what I've read the Egos compare favorably with SMALLER gas saws. I'm just passing on information, I'm no chainsaw expert. I've only used chainsaws a couple of times and that was so long ago I couldn't begin to tell you even which brand they were.

A buddy of mine who bought an 85 acre wooded property bought himself a big Stihl gas saw, I didn't bother telling him to try the Ego. One, he'd already bought it and two, he's got some big trees to deal with.

2017-05-30T02:45:54+00:00

Sid Parish

1,412 Points

Other than having to adjust a tension a few times I absolutely love my 14-inch ego 56 volt chainsaw

2018-01-04T13:59:09+00:00

scooba padi

60 Points

I've used my 14" ego clearing honeysuckle and dead ash trees on a small lot. I probably have over 150 hours use. I work a couple hours at a time using batteries from my ego trimmer, blower, and lawnmower. The saw works great when kept sharp. However, I just used it in our zero temp winter and the motor seized up. Looking 4 replacement now.

3 years ago

(a)Typical Engineer

26,632 Points

Summary: Gas (Poulan 16") vs. Electric (Ego 56 gen 1 14", Echo 58v 16", Kobalt 80v 18").

A little more than a year ago, I was cutting down the forest behind my house. I was using a 16" Poulan gas saw. I soon got tired of all the gas and pull starting. At that time, Home Depot had the 16" Echo 58V, and Lowes had the 80v Kobalt. So I purchased the Echo, but was soon unimpressed with the lack of power, as well as the long time it took to charge. So I ordered the gen 1 14" Ego, which took 4-5 weeks to arrive since they had to ship it by boat. In the mean time, I continued to use both the Echo and the Poulan. When the 14" Ego arrived, it included a 2.0 AH battery; it was very light, but the performance was about on par with the Echo 58v. I found that I had to adapt my technique to match the 0.043" chain, compared to what I was used to with the 0.050" Poulan; specifically I had to watch my technique carefully because the Ego/Echo would not power right though an improperly setup cut. What I learned from that was that technique was more important than raw power. In those times that I jumped back on the gas Poulan, my improved technique made cutting with that saw even more productive.

At this point I was at a dilemma, I had two electrics, and when I did research I found the Kobalt 80v 18" had good reviews. So since I already had two, I went to Lowes and bought the 80v Kobalt for a three way shoot off. In the end, I returned the Echo 58v because of the lack of heat management in the battery system. I also returned the gen 1 Ego 14" w/ the 2.0 because of a lack of power and battery longevity. And I kept the 80v Kobalt, which continues to impress me to this day.

Now, at some point, I do want to try the gen 2 chainsaw with at least a 2P (4.0/5.0) battery because I feel that the performance will be much improved over the gen 1. This is based on my experience with the other Ego product lines:

12" -> 15" trimmer
20" -> 21" mower
480 -> 535 blower

Ego has consistently improved their product and I have no doubt the gen 2 is better than the gen 1.

Conclusion:
Electric chainsaws have come a long way, and I am very happy with their performance. What people seem to forget is that you are trading one feature for another; in this case you are gaining lower maintenance, and NOISE, for slightly less raw power, and you also have to be a little more precise in your technique.

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2 years ago

Ed Bangle

132 Points

A COMPLEX SITUATION BUT THE EGO 16" DID THE JOB
Scenario - Trimming down a California Pepper Tree on a hilside.

TOOLS USED
1. Telescopic Ladder
2. Ego 16" Chainsaw
3. Just Myself and Prayer

If you do not know what a California pepper tree is, Google it. It is one of these type of trees that grows on no water and can't our is large is redwood trees. They are very self-contained. In my backyard there is a hill next to another person's house and there is a California red pepper tree. Every 6 months I need to trim it down. This time I needed to catch some tree trunks that are three times my height. I am 6 foot 1 in. I needed to use the telescopic ladder to climb to these towering tree trunks and cut them down. The benefit of using the ego chainsaw is this. I simply press a button and instantly the chainsaw moves. I can Target in an angle with one hand and cut down a massive tree trunk. This is impossible if I use a gas chainsaw and I have to pull the ripcord every time I start the chainsaw. This is a tremendous benefit for trimming down trees and having a chainsaw activate at your command. I was able to get three giant size trunks taken down with just me, the telescopic ladder, the ego 16 inch chainsaw and prayer. Yes prayer because I was concerned that some of these massive tree trunks were going to fall right on me and knock me down. I was already 6 feet above the ladder from the floor leaning on a massive tree trunk. I thank ego for making a 16" chainsaw. It took me sometime to work on using it. Many times the chain would snap off and I'd have to re- connect it. Perhaps it was the overuse of the chain because now I have placed a new chain and it works terrifically. This is one powerful tool to help in complicated situations like this California Pepper Tree on a hillside.

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