Trail chainsaw

[Jim]

It's been a low burn project for a while now... to have a somewhat lightweight, somewhat compact saw to cut downed trees for easy removal.

It came to be a project after dealing with a few trees - and how long it can take to chop or saw one down to removal size*. The bow saw is good for limbs, but beyond that size, it (and the operator, me) is lacking.

A cordless electric chain saw is produced but it has a cost prohibitive price.

I kept thinking of making an electric unit from an old starter motor (12vDC readily available) and a broken gasoline chainsaw. That idea just stayed in mind for a while until family wanted to remove several trees from their yard. We looked at renting a chainsaw as well as to buy a saw. In the end we decided a small electric unit would fit the bill (it did, perfectly) and be a better value than renting. Two electric units were available and I chose the smaller of the two with the thought I could use it in the jeep with an inverter. The Homelite 14" chainsaw motor is rated 9.0amps / ~1050watts. With the motor's startup load in mind, I kept looking for a suitably sized inverter.

The last piece of the puzzle, the 1500watt continuous / 3000watt surge inverter, fell into place this week and today was an initial test. The inverter didn't beep/complain when the saw was turned on nor did it beep/complain cutting through a simple 2x3. So far so good but a full scale tree test is yet to happen.

* DrOldUnit / Rob cranked with crazy good endurance on a large tree on Rock Creek a few months back.

Getting ready for spring runs through deadfall tree'd forests...

http://www.jimwilliamson.net/automobile/frontrange4x4-pix/chainsaw-inverter.jpg

[Patrolman]

Nice setup! My buddy does something similar with an electric in his Subaru. Plugs into the 110v when at home, plugs into the car when he camps.

[Hypoid]

That is pretty slick, Jim! No fuel to worry about, no spark arrestor to worry about, I like that.

Are you running it off a second battery?

[Brody]

That is pretty sweet, Jim!

[glacierpaul]

Nice Jim! My Jeep has a 110v outlet, though it does not have enough juice to run my compressor(tankless). I need to see if it will run either my Milwaukee Sawzall, or my electric chainsaw. I am thinking not, probably just for a laptop or similar. I have thought about your idea though, good job doing it! As for a test, no need to wait, come on up to Yankee Hill or Chinn's and test her out on a larger tree :thumb:.

[Java]

Very cool! :thumb:

[Jim]

Are you running it off a second battery?

No plans to add complexity with a second battery, so simply using the main battery with the standard jumper cables. [edit: It also draws significantly less juice than an at-work winch motor. If needed, I could always pull the vehicle's batt and carry it to the work site if needed.] I'm only adding weight and volume for the saw, a 1-quart bottle of chain oil (optional), the inverter, and a not-too-long or bulky 110v extension cord.

With 12vDC items, voltage drop over distance is an issue (and adding larger cable doesn't really help but keeping cable short does). My jumper cables are longer than what I'd like but they give me option to get the saw closer to the work area if I can't get drive a vehicle battery right to the work area. No telling if I will make a custom set of cables (3' perhaps) for the device.

I thought about "mounting" the inverter in the jeep but have not found a suitable location. At this point I plan to keep it portable though I am eyeing a spot between the hood hinge and windshield as a place to put it when it's being used. The unit has three fans to cool the unit so I am considering use locations to be not-too-dusty (can't put it on the ground as two fans are located on the bottom and suck in air), not too hot (it likes to be cool - no underhood mount location or by the heater vents), dry (under the dash is about the only location or perhaps re-make my between seats console and have it "under" the console).

For now, I'm thinking keep it simple. I might make some mount or container so that when it's in the jeep it's secured and stable or I'll have some mount location it gets screwed to when in transit. It'll get pulled out for use and placed on the space between the hood and windshield (enough space when the hood's open for jumper cables to the battery). In that location I could use some short, custom made "jumper" cables to power it (the batt's on the pass side right in that location).

If anyone has some comment or recommendations for improvement, I'm all ears!

[Tom]

Heck I just bring my Stihl 041AV with a 20inch bar (TIC)