WORX WG304.1 Electric Chainsaw, the Perfect Solution for Homeowner Cleanup

This weekend at Tangent Lodge http://tangentlodge.blogspot.com/. During the process of tiring ourselves to exhaustion, we managed to get quite a few things done. With winter rapidly approaching the first order of business was securing a more acceptable quantity of firewood.

Last week, in an attempt to clean up a fallen tree behind our house, I spent a good hour trying to get my gas powered chainsaw to run well enough to manage the task. In the end, with pain radiating down my arm from a pinched nerve, I gave up. It would run for a minute and peter out. I never did get any of the tree cut to stove length, I just made myself tired.

30 years ago, during poor economic times, I heated my home completely by burning wood harvested off my own property. Part of my simple logging operation included a small electric chainsaw. It was cheap, light duty, and not all that impressive, but it was convenient. Instead of repeatedly starting and stopping a gas motor it was a simple matter to pick up the saw and squeeze the trigger. It's weak point was light duty construction and as useful as it was it didn't last very long.

Now, as a cabin owner with a wood stove being the primary source of heat, I find myself back in the logging business. It doesn't make sense to buy my firewood cut, split, and delivered for a ridiculous price when I again have acres of dense forest right outside my door.

As I talked about in recent blog entries, I bought a handy electric log splitter that has taken care of the splitting part of the equation. Now it was time to make the downing and cutting up of the trees easier as well. I researched electric chainsaws.

My previous experience taught me to look for something husky, heavy duty enough to handle the job with ease. After reading reviews and watching You Tube videos, the WORX 18" Electric Chainsaw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv_EGoaaD6A&feature=related looked like the best candidate. Off to Sears I went, as they carried this as well as other brands.

Let me tell you I haven't been disappointed, this is no toy. It weighs as much as a comparable gas chain saw, and cuts every bit as well. It goes through a 12" log in a matter of seconds reducing a large tree to stove fodder with ease.

Now you might wonder how I was able to run a 110 VAC chainsaw on the backside of our 5 acres, well away from any electrical outlet. I also have a portable generator. On the back of my ATV I have a removable rack of the type that slides into a 2" receiver hitch. I secure the generator to the rack with rope, coil up a 25' extension cord, and ride off into the forest to do battle.

After I have decimated enough timber for the afternoon I returned the generator, saw, and power cord to the garage, and made repeated trips back and forth with stove length pieces stacked on that same rack. At some point I will add some wheels to help carry the load because the rack rides close to the ground when loaded and does occasionally drag.

One of the most noteworthy advantages to using a generator and electric chainsaw over a gas chainsaw is safety. You start the generator and it sits in one place. You're not climbing over brush and so on with a spinning chainsaw in your hands. When a gas chainsaw is lacking in proper maintenance, as many are, the chain is likely to be turning most of the time because the clutch is engaged when if won't idle properly.

With an electric chainsaw it's dead, turned off, completely safe, when you release the trigger. You can climb to your hearts content without fear of slipping and causing serious injury.
In a couple hours time I had almost a cord of firewood cut, delivered out of the woods, split and stacked. Not bad for a 61 year old guy with arthritis.