M18 hedge trimmer

I have. My daily use is a Forge 6.0 on this saw. My most recent video has this saw with a Forge up against my 16” rear handle, and the new dual battery saw.

@MattShinavar oh awesome I'm just about to watch that video now I didn't realize you did a comparison in that video. I really like the dual saw. I used one of them at a show, but it seems like it would be too heavy for daily homeowner use. Because of that I'm looking at something like the top handle for occasional cleanup work. I currently have an echo CS400 that this would essentially replace...

@@MrTom9933 the dual battery really is probably too heavy, somewhere around 24 pounds with 12.0s on it. A more powerful gas saw weighs less. But if you’re deep into M18 batteries and not into gas equipment, there could be a solid use case.

@@MattShinavar I've got a pile of Forge 8 batteries and the M18 hatchet on the way thanks to BF/CM sales at Home Depot. I'm thinking I'll see how that works out along with the CS400. I still would like something to replace that saw, but maybe I need to wait for the next generation of the rear saw, the current one seems so dated. If it were not for the weight I'd already have the dual on order as its a pretty decent deal price wise when you consider the value of the batteries and charger. Thanks for your videos and thoughts!!!

You’re not wrong, $900 felt steep. Luckily I got it during a 15% off pre-order. Then sold the charger locally. I’m into it for $700. Not great, not terrible.

The model number is 20D176E70. It’s a 20” bar and uses an E70 chain - 3/8” pitch, 0.050 gauge. If I was gonna do it again, I would see if I could get a slightly shorter length chain. The current chain takes all the bar adjustment on the powerhead, so if the chain stretches or things wear, it’s gonna get slack. I have another video on my channel going through it all

@@MattShinavar Thank you so much, Could I get it on eBay or Amazon?

@@chiapasjosue145 probably? I got it at Home Depot - if you’re in the US - they sell it as a bar/chain kit. Maybe just search that part number, I would imagine it’s widely available.

The Oregon 3/8lp 20" bar is 200SXEA041, and takes a 68dl chain. I have one on my EGO CS1800, and it works great.

Definitely. The new Milwaukee saws - dual battery and top handle - are 0.325 pitch, everything prior is 3/8”

3/8, or3/8lp?

@@John-cj3ve LP

I have another video where I run the modified 16” saw with a Forge 6.0 and a 12.0, the perform about the same. The Forge 12.0 should give it a slight edge of the circuitry allows

Definitely agree. In previous testing the Forge 6.0 runs about the same as a HO12.0. I definitely thought about what I was gonna run, and was tempted to do a stock 16” saw with HO12.0 up against my modified 16” with a Forge, compared to the dual Forge. The text matrix definitely could have gotten a lot bigger

I’m going to pick up a forge 12.0 soon. Realistically, the 6.0 forge was enough to clog the saw with chips. I have to imagine the 12.0 forge would just do it better. I’m very impatiently waiting for the dual battery 20” to ship so I can test that out. As far as your saw and running a 20” bar, think of it more as an increase in cutting capacity at the expense of cutting speed. If you run the saw hard on a full bar cut, it’s gonna cut out on you. But, sometimes you have time on your side, but really need the cut length, and that’s kinda what I’ve found it useful for. For smaller stuff, I think the top handle with a forge might cut faster - which makes sense for a newer saw design Also, I think- I included the part number for the bar and chain I bought. I’m at maximum tension for the saw, and the chain is more loose than I would like. Probably see if you can get 1-2 less links

I have it on preorder, feels like it’s taking forever to ship

@MattShinavar thank you for the reply I didn't realize they were still on pre-order...

(Camera zooms in on a huge smile) Ryan started the fire!

I really like my Milwaukee and the batteries fit a ton of my other tools. Other people seem to like their Huskies, but the battery is pretty limited in other tool applocations

Do the dogs just bolt on? I ordered a Milwaukee finally and 8.0 forge battery My echo 355t finally broke where it would take a while to fix.

@@PowerThroughMusic yep, you have to pull the bar off, then there's a couple of screws. It's a 5 minute install if you take your time

@@MattShinavarI’m hoping 2 8.0 forges last me a day. I do a lot of removals

@@MattShinavarso I got the saw and put the dogs on. Haven’t had a chance to use yet. What bar oil do you run in the saw? I know some said it doesn’t oil too well so I wanted to try and fix that by maybe running thinner oil? I noticed the Milwaukee bar doesn’t have the little holes for the oil to go through, all my other bars have the little holes near where the chain rides. Maybe if the bar had that it would help with oiling? Are there any other mods I should consider or that are possible?

Same. It was a beautiful specimen. We talked about trimming it to open the space, while leaving it there.

The battery pole saws probably aren’t long enough, a regular pole saw is considerably longer. Cutting with just the nose of the chainsaw bar isnt going to work well

Where’d you get that deal?

You can still get the Husky at the north40 site.

That’s weird, sounds like a defect. Mine have tons of power

My pleasure!

@@MattShinavar I picked one up for $222 last week, and used it a lot over the weekend. It's a great tool, especially at that price.

Palm trees are more like grasses than trees. I haven’t done that with King palms, however Robellini palms do n my experience are unaffected if one tree on a multi-head cluster is removed

You’re not wrong, it feels long when you first pick it up and see it. Use the saw for 4 minutes and all that goes away. It feels fine using it, still looks weird years later.

The Makita 18v is easily half the weight. I’ve had it, the 36v Makita, and all the Milwaukee offerings. The 18v is, really, a homeowner saw. It’ll do work, and I definitely did work, and if you run it hard then it stops. It has a place, but it’s not doing heavy work. The 36v makes up power in a big way, but the trigger always bothered me, and it’s the same or more weight than the Milwaukee. Full disclosure, I sold both of my Makita’s and am running all Milwaukee - and also the Makita saws were the last tools running Makita batteries, where everything else I have runs M12/M18. I hated the trigger on the 36v Makita, but felt it was pretty evenly matched with the M18 top handle across the board.

@@MattShinavar that's unfortunate that it doesn't perform well. Did you ever try it with the 1/4 chain conversion?

I haven’t had an issue overheating an HO or Forge battery. XC, definitely

@@MattShinavaroh good to know, thank you, forge better than H.O.?

Stripping the paint off a dining room table

@@MattShinavar 👍Good Job

I had to trim out a little material inside the saw between the bar and chain brake handle. I covered it in one of my videos showing the saw mods

If falling fronds are a risk, they can be redirected pretty easily with one hand and cut with the other

@@MattShinavar I have same issue where my king is in the corner and I am worried about items falling into my neighbors yard. I can see controlling the palms but after you cut that, what happens to the base around the tree? I would assume those become dead and fall.

They dry up with time but strangely stay attached for a long while, maybe a week or two. The seed pod remainders are similar, dry up and stay attached. Actually, the tree shown at the beginning of this video just started to drop the frond sheath from the ones I cut - the part I think you’re asking about. They have been hanging progressively more towards falling for 3 weeks now. There’s a pretty good warning before they drop.

@@MattShinavar yes, I am afraid those frond sheath will dry up and eventually fall and because my king palm is big, I will have no way to control the fall of the sheaths. I did cut a seed pod down tonight and lost control of it when cutting it with the long rod, it went into my neighbors back yard.

Definitely. Need to decide if I want to change he the chain or sprocket