On 06/03/2025 17:16, Tim+ wrote:
Has anyone suffered with vibration injuries from petrol chainsaw use? If
so, have you found electric chainsaws better?
I have suffered what I would call a "stress" injury from my Makita DCS
430 with a (at the time) 14" bar on it - prolly a about 6.5kg with fuel,
oil and bar/chain). This was a bout of quite painful tendonitis just
below the left elbow on the outside of the arm. Caused by my left arm supporting the weight of the saw on the wrap around handle in a slightly
bent position.
I don't think the vibration itself made much difference.
I was probably only using it for 30 mins cutting firewood. It took
months to heal. I have since learnt that any prolonged tension on that
part either arm will result in similar results (half hour using a core
drill up a ladder did it for the other one once).
(These days I take care to think about how I am carrying weight, and
swap arms / rest from time to time. Also I found a couple of straps with
a stiff pad on them which you put round the upper forearm with the pad
pushing on the tendon, will prevent the injury in the first place, and
also relieve it quite substantially once injured)
(also have to watch playing badminton for too long!)
TBH I’m not sure if my hand/wrist/forearm aches are chainsaw related or not, I’ve also being doing a fair bit of manual work (hedge laying using a billhook) and I suspect it’s the “billhooking” that’s caused the worst of
the jarring but I have issues in both arms so maybe not…. I have been doing a fair bit of chainsawing and I’m not getting any younger.
Anyhow, I see that I can pick up a 14” electric Husqvarna 225i with two 36V/4Ah batteries at the moment for £369. If they’re easier on the joints it might be a good investment.
A good buy or are there better option?
I have a DUC306 36V top handle saw, and while it is more compact, by the
time the batteries are on it and it is full of bar oil, it is probably
only about 1.5 kg lighter than the petrol one. The vibration figures are
a bit less (quoted at 3.2m/sec^2 for the electric, and 5.2 to 5.9
m/sec^2 for the petrol depending on which handle you measure (higher on
the front), but neither seem particularly noticeable. Compared to
something like a 36V reciprocating saw at > 16m/sec^2 they are both
fairly gentle.
However the really big win[1] with the battery saw is when using it intermittently doing other jobs - that you can pick it up, start, cut,
put it down very quickly and easily. Not only less weight to tote about,
but no starting effort, less noise, there is no temptation to leave it
idling because you know you will use it again in a minute (so less fuel
wasted) and you don't end up smelling like you have been marinaded in
two stroke!
[1] If you ignore the whole "top handle" thing and hence the ability use
when climbing or on ladders etc.
--
Cheers,
John.
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