Added this 12” chainsaw to my DeWalt collection earlier this year and finally had enough time to put it through its paces. Had a large (11” diameter) branch from a hackberry fall in a storm, and this thing helped me buck it up into firewood length for splitting without skipping a beat. Surprisingly powerful and lightweight. A good 5 Ah battery balances the weight in the hand. Light enough to hold at odd angles for best cuts. Is it a big 2 stroke logging saw? Not close. But the best electric saw I’ve used and great for the average home owner

I was a bit skeptical regarding battery operated chainsaws - honestly I thought this would be under-powered having a previous crappy experience with Dewalt's 18v 6.25in circular saw. I decided on this unit after being very pleasantly surprised by the line trimmer and being quite happy with Dewalt's 20v line of tools. I purchased this saw after reading reviews and deciding to further my commitment to Dewalt (for context, I have about a dozen 18v tools that I began purchasing since they're inception - was a GC back in the late 90's and went with Dewalt so the batteries were interchangeable with the various contractors at job sites).

So where to begin? I was considering buying a nearly $400 Husqvarna gas chainsaw. I’ve taken down 75 trees in my yard of varying thickness with a friends 16” and 20” saws. So about after 50, I decided to buy this little guy for the remainder, with intent of using it for cutting limbs and branches. Cue my friend getting forced to work overtime like crazy. So I started to experiment with this saw to cut down the remaining trees. Now I still had some thicker ones that would definitely test this saw, being it’s only 12”. But wow. Super impressed. The saw had plenty of power to slice through not only the branches, but I literally sawed about 15-20 trees down with this and fully cut them up. Oak, Maple, Pine, Sassafras. No problems. Had to change the chain once during this due to dulling but it was a lot of cutting. All I have to saw is wow is this convenient! First it’s light. Very easy maneuvering and one hand cutting is super easy when necessary. Powerful enough to cut through trees bigger than 12”. Though a bigger saw would be easier, duh. But it’s nice to know it’s capable. Most importantly, the battery life. I haven’t been more impressed with a battery powered anything in my life. These batteries power this saw for a long time and I’ve only needed to change the battery once during the day while cutting up multiple trees. It’s a small saw but you could use this all day without too much exertion. Quiet and perfect for thinner trees and branches but won’t disappoint you if you need to cut thicker trees. It does use some oil so make sure you have some. Amazing tool. Would give it 10 stars if I could. I ended up buying the Dewalt 20v weed trimmer, pole saw, and hedge trimmer as well. Very impressed with the battery life and quality.

I chose this saw for trail cleaning work over some others because it was lighter weight. I was not disappointed. It is easy to carry and has cut everything I want to cut (up to about 7-8" diameter). I am not cutting for hours on end, but going out and clearing downed trees (so limbing/bucking about 5 trees at a time), and the battery hasn't ever died on me. I do carry an extra battery which was the point of getting a light weight saw to be able to carry both easily. Some people have looked down on my little battery operated chainsaw until they try it out for themselves. Everyone who has used it has liked it. It's not going to handle big trees or plunge cutting, but with the light weight and easy to use, its a great second saw to carry for limbing and save (your arms and) the gas saw for the bigger stuff.

I own a Stihl 036 as my big felling and bucking saw, and it's what I will still use for trees and logs larger than 10" diameter. However, I've always liked to keep a second, smaller chain saw around for limbing, bucking small logs, and the lighter weight. Over the years, I owned top-handle (i.e.- pruning/arborist) models from Stihl (their 019) and Efco. While this saw is not technically a top handle, it has the balance and light weight to be used for amateur arborist purposes, while also being useful for making cuts on the ground (note, however, that this saw does not have a lanyard loop like any professional, top-handle arborist saw would). I paid cash/regular Amazon price for my saw, and am not being compensated for this review in any way.