Product name: LIDL's cordless chainsaw PPKSA 40-Li B2, 40 V (and B1)
Price paid: €90
Score (out of 10): 10
Review: OK, it's not directly EMTB related, but many of us also do trail clearing and for that cordless chainsaws make life a lot easier.
I have three versions of this, the latest B2, the older PPKSA 40-Li A1 and the normal none "Performance" PKSA 40-Li B2.
For the older ones, the only difference I could tell between the Performance version and the none performance one were the colour of the plastic.
I also have the equivalent Makita saw and the Husqvarna one. Both are great, but the Makita turns it's power off in seconds which is annoying and the Husqvarna oiler doesn't work very well + the batteries are stupidly expensive. The Husky and the LIDL's saws both run 1.1 kerf blades whilst the Makita runs a 1.3.
The LIDL's saws I run on either the lighter twin 4ah batteries or more normally 2 * 8ah batteries. You can also now buy a 4 battery backpack with cables to the tool (though not much use when you backpack the saw when riding).
The main issue with the first gen LIDL's saws is that if the chain clamp is at all loose, the chain has a habit of running wide and deforming the washer at the end of the drive sprocket. Then the chain drops into gap and isn't driven. You can pratt about making/changing the washer, but I was hoping the washer would be thicker on the latest version as it's the saws main downfall.
Sadly, it isn't, but it does seem much tigher fitted to the circlip with zero movement, unlike the older ones - so hopefully that will ease the problem. Just remember to frequently check the clamp with these saws.
As you can see, there's not a huge difference in this evolution :
The main physical differences seem to be :
New coloured bar.
Modified clamp and tension screws.
New oil cap screw which is easier to remove when tight.
Modified clamp plate with considerably improved chippings exiting.
Increased casing protection bumps/anti slip on the front of the saw.
New felling/aiming line on the case :
In general operation, all the saws work really well. I generally use them in "slow" speed as proportionally it doesn't make that much difference to cut time and seems to lessen the heat in the batteries if you're doing multiple cuts - so you can get them on a charger sooner !
There do seem to be some changes on the electronics side.
The new version seems to have a slightly higher cutting speed (though on paper it doesn't).
It's also more sensitive with it's auto stop if it thinks it's hit resistance, trapped, cutting a leg off.
The new version also has slightly more over run and then a very sudden stop, so it's slightly easier to keep the blade spinning up if you're trimming branches off. The older version winds down softly as soon as you're off the power.
General performance wise, they all work well and I pretty much always use them over the Makita or Husqvarna saws !! They'll happily do quite a reasonable number of cuts with the 8AH batteries.
In a few minutes this afternoon alternate cutting with the two "performance" versions :
I know, I know .. that was really really boring .. so here's a weather forecast instead :
Price paid: €90
Score (out of 10): 10
Review: OK, it's not directly EMTB related, but many of us also do trail clearing and for that cordless chainsaws make life a lot easier.
I have three versions of this, the latest B2, the older PPKSA 40-Li A1 and the normal none "Performance" PKSA 40-Li B2.
For the older ones, the only difference I could tell between the Performance version and the none performance one were the colour of the plastic.
I also have the equivalent Makita saw and the Husqvarna one. Both are great, but the Makita turns it's power off in seconds which is annoying and the Husqvarna oiler doesn't work very well + the batteries are stupidly expensive. The Husky and the LIDL's saws both run 1.1 kerf blades whilst the Makita runs a 1.3.
The LIDL's saws I run on either the lighter twin 4ah batteries or more normally 2 * 8ah batteries. You can also now buy a 4 battery backpack with cables to the tool (though not much use when you backpack the saw when riding).
The main issue with the first gen LIDL's saws is that if the chain clamp is at all loose, the chain has a habit of running wide and deforming the washer at the end of the drive sprocket. Then the chain drops into gap and isn't driven. You can pratt about making/changing the washer, but I was hoping the washer would be thicker on the latest version as it's the saws main downfall.
Sadly, it isn't, but it does seem much tigher fitted to the circlip with zero movement, unlike the older ones - so hopefully that will ease the problem. Just remember to frequently check the clamp with these saws.
As you can see, there's not a huge difference in this evolution :
The main physical differences seem to be :
New coloured bar.
Modified clamp and tension screws.
New oil cap screw which is easier to remove when tight.
Modified clamp plate with considerably improved chippings exiting.
Increased casing protection bumps/anti slip on the front of the saw.
New felling/aiming line on the case :
In general operation, all the saws work really well. I generally use them in "slow" speed as proportionally it doesn't make that much difference to cut time and seems to lessen the heat in the batteries if you're doing multiple cuts - so you can get them on a charger sooner !
There do seem to be some changes on the electronics side.
The new version seems to have a slightly higher cutting speed (though on paper it doesn't).
It's also more sensitive with it's auto stop if it thinks it's hit resistance, trapped, cutting a leg off.
The new version also has slightly more over run and then a very sudden stop, so it's slightly easier to keep the blade spinning up if you're trimming branches off. The older version winds down softly as soon as you're off the power.
General performance wise, they all work well and I pretty much always use them over the Makita or Husqvarna saws !! They'll happily do quite a reasonable number of cuts with the 8AH batteries.
In a few minutes this afternoon alternate cutting with the two "performance" versions :
I know, I know .. that was really really boring .. so here's a weather forecast instead :
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