Devon Olsen

I did consider trading my dewalt in for a new one but upon reading reviews I found it is common for dewalt to have the same problem mine had, so not worth the risk imo to get an exchange only to have the same problem shortly thereafter, maybe I'll try battery powered again in the future but not until I can justify the greater investment in batteries, getting 20 ish cuts on pine logs before I had to charge the battery for 3 hours wasnt very efficient for me
By the time I get back into one, hopefully they've improved all the more because I did enjoy using it while it lasted

Definitely a completely different beast to be sure!

"I found the secret of gas engine tools is to drain the gas when you finish using it, even if you plan on using it again tomorrow, then start it up and run it till it quits. Then try to start it a couple more times. Then put it away.  I’ve had a cheap Poulan chainsaw I’ve had for 30 years and I’ve never had a problem starting it. It actually has the same spark plug all those years I’ve never changed it and I’ve used that saw a bunch."

-- Thanks for the quick tip! i can tell you i havent ever done this so likely what my issue is, perhaps this will be invaluable information for me in the future, should i get myself another gas saw, if not, invaluable for others reading I'm sure!

"Devon, it looks like you need to get a Tesla truck.  Plug in outlets in the bed"

Funny you mention that... don't tell my wife(cus shes tired of hearing about it) but I've had a little love affair with the cyber truck already, even wrote a very detailed article on whether or not it shook out to buy one or not, you can find that article here:
https://cackleberryfg.wixsite.com/blog/post/cybertruck-worth-it

found this video on a blade forum looking for billhooks, might interest a permie or two

I've met guys that were quite good with small engines and have no trouble maintaining a gas saw, I'd say if that describes you a gas saw may be the way to go
( I'm not so great with engines myself though)

Im definitely not a gas saw hater and think they make great tools,  but it all boils down to personal context
My solution does come with it's own hazards,  such as dragging a cord behind me as I work,  I need to constantly aware of its location to avoid dropping a tree on it or tripping myself

Plug in saw likely wouldn't compete with gas saw imo so if I were to scale up my firewood sales I would have to find another option I think. Anything over 30 cords a year I think would be worth considering a gas saw or something more efficient than a plug in

But matter of personal context

I personally look for what works best for me rather than looking at net fossil fuel consumption

I have never had a gas saw that didnt give me troubles with maintenance and startup after a long period unused, electric saws work every time without issue as long as the motor is good and for ME that is worth it alone

I also dont have to mix fuel and the same can Is able to be stored for generator, or truck use or to help someone stuck on the highway

I find it easier to contain spilled fuel in the truck bed, rather than wherever I happen to be filling a chainsaw and with the larger opening there is far less spillage anyhow, so though it may not be best for the whole globe, it is a better choice for the localized environment that I am working in, and local is most important to me as it is most manageable to care for.

And honestly, the generator I've been using has been very fuel efficient, I can work all day on pess than 3 gal of fuel, not that I've ever measured but I've never seen much used out of the tank

As with any saw you dont HAVE to use petro bar and chain oil and I've used rancid olive or veggie oils before which is cool, I did think my poulan used an awful lot of b/c oil and I think that may be typical of plug in saws

I do think I'd get out-cut in a firewood yard but when felling and pulling trees from the woods I've kept up with guys using gas saws many times so what I lose in cutting power and speed I FEEL is worth the trade off of convenience and not having a Petro leaking machine in my face and on my hands all day

Thanks for your response! Hopefully good conversation for someone looking to get into a saw for themselves

just wanted to stop by with my experience here.

a couple years back i bought a Poulan ES300 plug-in from someone on facebook for $20 and fell in love with electric chainsaws, much less vibration and noise than a typical chainsaw plus less stink and your typical hippy benefits

well this fall, it crapped out on me after i got on the mountain to cut some wood, no warning, motor just burned up, on the day i hired an extra hand for assistance no less... shut down for the day and paid for someone to hang out with me basically lol

so i replaced it with the dewalt battery powered saw that i had envied for some time and took that saw up the mountain the next day

by starting early morning i was able to harvest nearly 3 cords of wood that day using the saw, it cuts like a DREAM but two things have stopped me from owning one now
first the battery didn't last near as long as i wanted or charge as quick as i had hoped.so realistically, you'd have to spend nearly a grand to get a saw that would work all day
that i could work around, though not ideal, but what really killed it was i was cutting some wood on like the 10th charge, when the saw was still practically brand new, with a newly charged battery, SPARKS FLEW OUT, the saw smoked and NO LONGER WORKED.

After that experience, i have a hard time trusting battery powered saws, so now i am using a craftsman plug-in and when i go to the mountain, i just throw a generator in the truck and bring some extension cords and i find im able to do all sorts of work, not as fast or impressive as the dewalt on the cut, but much more reliable, and at the price point, you can afford to have two plug in saws in case one fails -- Two is one, one is none

lots of beautiful pictures of fencing in this thread, i linked to it in my recent podcast referring to junk pole fencing specifically, but i see now that there are good examples of other kinds of fencing included in this thread, glad i linked to it!

btw, you can listen to that episode here, or by following my signature: https://cackleberryfg.wixsite.com/wyoag/podcast/episode/24858951/episode-6-homestead-fencing

elle, not sure if there is as many honey locusts down there as in Casper, but it wouldn't surprise me, if so, that is one tree that i've found a plethora of viable seeds for, so far i've had no trouble getting them to sprout, but gettign them to survive their first year and really put down roots... thats where i've struggled, i think im going to transition to keeping seedling trees in a nursery area until year 2 or 3 and then transplant

also did you see on another thread that someone says there is a pinyon pine next to the holiday in at the 25/80 intersection? i didn't know pinyons could grow all the way up here, hoping i can check that out for some seeds while im down there

a little more on the update side... check out my blog and website, I've since moved to Casper area and am renting a 10 acre spot north of town, my grandpa has 40 acres just north of me that is very exciting terrain, but I've since learned that money doesn't flow as readily as the wyoming wind, and its hard to justify a whole lot of time and money invested into a property i dont own, so much of my stuff is done with temporary conditions in mind.