Sawzall: Milwaukee vs Hitachi vs ?

[Eric]

I'm looking to get a Sawzall type saw. My immediate use will be lots of tree trimming and cutting branches into small pieces to go to the curb. After that it will be diy around the house stuff. I'm not a professional contractor but I do like to get decent tools that will last and peform well.

So far I'm looking at:

1. Milwaukee 6509-22 which is the lowest Milwaukee model. Locally I can get it for 9. This has a 3/4 inch stroke

1. Hitachi CR13V which is Hitachi's lower end. Local price is . this has a 1 1/8 inch stroke.

I've looked at a Bosch but didn't see the need for the rotating collar (although the saw was comfortable to hold) The collar seems a gimmick that is more likely to break than be useful.

I've also looked at the 6 amp Makita JR3000 which I think costs about the same as the Milwaukee and thus didn't seem to be a good deal (I could be wrong).

Any opinions on what I should get? Are there others I should consider? Is the Milwaukee that much better than the Hitachi? Thanks in advance.

Eric

[Leon]

Low Vibration and ease of changing blades are what you are looking for regardless of brand. Personally I would go for the Milwaukee.

[Buck Turgidson]

I bought a Milwaukee about 3 years ago. I considered a chainsaw, but decided a Sawzall was more versatile for other stuff around the house. I've been happy with the brand, and my logic about it being more handy than a chainsaw seems to be right. One annoyance is that the elec. cord easily detaches from the saw, but I think that is a safety feature.

[Lew Hodgett]

A power cord will be a total PITA for that kind of work.

A battery powered unit would make a good fit for trimming trees, brush, etc.

Milwaukee has been king of the hill when it comes to the Sawzall, for a long time, but I'd give the 24 VDC Bosch a real hard look if it were my money.

Lew

[LRod]

Is there any reason you haven't considered the Porter-Cable Tiger Saw? I have one (9.5 amp motor) and I think it's terrific. I've used the crap out of it on my house remodel.

[J]

For tree trimming and cutting branches get a chainsaw. The sawzall will merely shake the branches back and forth. Sawzalls are good for stationary items like walls, floors and electrical wires, but not so good for other stuff.

-j

[John DeBoo]

[luv2cmwork]

Assuming you are cutting branches that are ALIVE, a sawzall is not a good choice at all. The green wood almost glues itself to the blade and it'll knock you around pretty good.

If it's dead wood, then it isn't quite as bad.

A sawzall will work..and is better than doing it by hand, but your marbles may still be bouncing around for awhile after the cut!

I have an old Makita I've had for a long time. It's OK, but I MUCH prefer the Milwaulkee, which I've used on occasion.

[Lee Gordon]

[Ken Yee]

Lew Hodgett wrote in news:b8vee.7306$BE3.2973 @newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net:

Milwaukee is the first to release lithium ion powered cordless tools AFAIK. It's relatively new. They sent me a flyer about 2 months ago...

ken

[Ray_Manor]

collar

gimmick

consider?

I have done pruning with both a 3/4 inch and 1 1/8th inch stroke. The longer stroke makes a very big difference. When I had the 3/4 incher, I had given up on purning with it, too slow. When I move up to a 1

1/8th machine, I needed to cut something just to familiarize myself with the tool. Did some pruning and was very surprised at how good it was. Wish that I had considered pruning in making the purchase. Had I done so I would have looked long and hard at something like Milwaukee's Hatch. It cordless with a 1 1/8" stroke. And, to really get things moving it has orbital action. That's a combination I'd like to have.

FWIW, I have couple of chain saws, and will use them to cut anything over 3". So my batting order is, loppers to 1", the PC for 1-3 and chain saw over 3. Don't know how far the "Hatchet" would go, but would like to have one to put through its paces.

Good luck ray

[Knotbob]

Buy an electric chainsaw. It always starts with the first pull on the trigger and you don't have to mix gas. It's light weight and easy to handle too. I did have to wait until the power was restored to use it after the hurricanes we had in Florida but I cleaned up some 12" diameter limbs with a little grunt work. The smaller stuff was easy to clean up with it. Robert Smith

[woodworker88]

Try the Ryobi corded model. It is fairly light and still very heavy duty. No frills, but keyless blade change and rubberized grip makes it easy to use outdoors. Did a bunch of root cutting with it and a 6 tpi blade and it worked great. Got it from Home Depot for 60 bucks. Comes with unbreakable case and variable speed.

[Robatoy]

Cord detaches easily? It has a twist-lock on it, no? My cord is a bear to take off. Goes on easy. Is the plug that fits into the saw shaped like a triangle?

[patrick mitchel]

Lee; I'd like to know when the lithium battery gives up and no longer holds (takes) a charge. From what I've read on the electric airplane groups, it seems that lithium batteries get about 150 cycles before they no longer take a charge.The nimh cells were better at up to 500 cycles and the nicads were better yet at up to 1500 cycles. Perhaps as lithium tech gets better , the # of cycles will get better.

[Lee Gordon]

I'd like to know how long it lasts too. I hope I'll still have the tools (Sawzall, circular saw, hammer drill & flashlight) long enough to run both batteries through 150+ charge cycles each. One interesting thing about the Lithium ion batteries is that they don't run down; they basically just quit. Then they need to be re-charged in order to have ernough oomph to power the tools. There are "fuel gauge" lights on the batteries so you can check their status before setting out to work. Fortunately these batteries don't have a memory so it is not necessary to wait until they poop out before recharging. It's OK to top them up whenever you have a chance.

Lee

[Eric]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I went ahead and picked up the Milwaukee. The Hitachi seemed fairly solid too but the Milwaukee was more comfortable to hold (Hitachi was rather bulbous where one holds it near the blade end) and the Milwaukee had the added bonus of being the consensus pick for best.

A chainsaw may be in my future as well but I decided the Sawzall was the most versitile tool (and I thought of 3-4 immediate uses beyond the initial pruning).

Aga> I'm looking to get a Sawzall type saw. My immediate use will be lots of

[Eric]

My main reason for not considering the PC is that the only locally-available (at least where I've visited) was the $199 variety with the swivel head.

[arthur.moore]

Get some ugly blades for it to do pruning. They are made by Skil. I use them quite often. Could be others out there but these are the only ones I have seen. Can't remember if I got them at Lowes or Home Depot. I mostly use them for cutting roots and stuff when doing post holes.

[mac davis]

All the borgs have large blades, I think I got mine at lowes.. I have a couple of really ugly yellow "nail and wood" rating or something... anyway, they're mean looking, 7 or 8 inched long and made for cutting fast with no finesse or clean cuts.. *g*

I find that I use them a lot for trimming bowl blanks, (where I'd normally use the small chain saw), notching things, flush cutting old fence posts, etc... It's the kind of tool that you might not need very often, but the job pops up now and then that I used to say "damn, I should have bought a recip saw!"

mac

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