ALDI Ferrex 1100W 2-in-1 Chainsaw with Telescopic Pole

Aldi Ferrex electric chainsaw (2024) leaks oil, too heavy & unmanageable as a Pole-Saw – Fully electric ALDI FERREX 1100W 2-IN-1 CHAINSAW WITH TELESCOPIC POLE purchased May 2024 for $99 AUD. It is 230-240V mains powered - NOT rechargeable. It is a 10" (25cm bar) chainsaw. There are many similar models sold by Aldi over the years. See 5 photos including receipt attached. I would NEVER recommend it to anyone as a pole-saw for pruning… Read more

trees. Its too dangerous, heavy and uncontrollable as a pole-saw. But if you need a small 10" chainsaw for use without a pole then this is GREAT VALUE. I would buy it again at this price. There are better (although much dearer) brands out there that don't leak bar oil like a sieve and perhaps more worthy of the maintenance costs. Even small chainsaws require regular maintenance to remain safe and operable and for many people its too difficult. If you are too lazy or incapacitated to read and follow a user manual don't buy it, or don't buy it for someone who is.

WARRANTY Comes with 36 month warranty. Manual indicates repairs and maintenance (apart from basic maintenance) must be carried out by service agents familiar with this type of product. It doesn't say if the chain is covered but I guarantee if the chain is not sharpened regularly or replaced when worn you won't be covered for most damage. If you don't inspect/clean/replace a bent, damaged or worn chain guide you won't be covered for any damage.

THINGS TO BEWARE OF 1. You will also need to buy: * Chain & Cutter Bar Lubricant (Oil). It holds 120 mill. Oil costs about $20 for a 1 Litre. During normal use it uses up 120 mill of lubricating oil every 12 minutes of continuous cutting (per the user manual). This is a lot. Most Gas stations/Servo's don't stock Chainsaw oil. It also leaks all the oil when stored. * Grease plus Grease gun/dispenser to lubricate the bar sprocket on a regular basis. * Chainsaw sharpener jig ($30 AUD) or a single chainsaw sharpening file (takes more time and skill) to regularly sharpen the chain 2. Maintenance. Chainsaws can be a maintenance hassle even for the mechanically minded. 3. Service Cost. The cost of paying a shop just once to service and sharpen a small cheap chainsaw can easily exceed the purchase price of this unit.

GOOD POINTS 1. Great value - the saw without the pole is worth the $99 AUD I paid for it. That's the only reason I haven't returned it. Also I'm mechanically minded so it costs me very little to maintain. 2. It works well without the telescopic pole - so far.

TEST CUTTING It cut through an 8cm diameter H3 treated pine copper log and some 3-4 inch thick gum-tree branches like butter. It also TOO EASILY cut through a 4cm thick table-top slab of Camphor Laurel (a low density hardwood). DO NOT USE AS HEDGE/BUSH TRIMMER. Its tempting to use this small pole-mounted chainsaw like a hedge-trimmer to cut back bushy trees, especially if you are trying to get at the thicker branches deeper inside the tree. Do not buy it for this. Chainsaws are not designed to use this way. I pushed the saw into some bushy Syzygium (Lilly Pilly) but it wouldn't cut the finer branches very effectively, instead the chain dragged them under the engine cover where they nearly jammed up the chain and guide bar. It was very dangerous.

THE BAD 1. LEAKS OIL BADLY WHEN NOT IN USE. Refer photo of chainsaw with pool of leaked oil on the black lid. After one week in storage it leaked half the oil in the reservoir creating a COMPLETE MESS in my garage. Within 4 weeks all the oil completely leaked out. When I stored it, I disconnected the saw from the pole and stored it with the reservoir up, on a flat surface. The user manual doesn't specify the position to store it. User manual says to empty the oil tank "before storing the chainsaw for an extended period" but it leaks immediately after use, was half empty within a week. These FERREX units must have a cheap valve/vent and need to be drained after every use before storage. All chainsaws leak a little, especially with the pressure of a full reservoir, but they are NOT supposed to drain completely.

2. POLE NOT USABLE - POORLY DESIGNED Don't think about using this saw on the end of a pole to prune trees. Its far too heavy, poorly balanced and hard to control making it DANGEROUS when extended above your head.

You could rest the pole-mounted saw on a small tree bough if that's all you need to cut above your head. Otherwise you will not be able to hold it up for any length of time (minutes) without a lot of strain on shoulders and arms. And that's with the pole un-extended. It gets worse if you extend the pole. You won't be moving this 5kg saw around nimbly on the end of a pole to prune smaller branches over your head - it's too heavy and imbalanced. I struggled and I'm the opposite of a puny guy.

In the photo you will see a USELESS neck/shoulder strap (harness) attached to the telescopic pole via a sliding collar that is meant to slide up and down the pole as you change your cutting height. You need to slide the collar as far forward on the pole as you can to balance/support the forward weight of the saw using the harness. But you can't clamp the collar in place (unless you modify it). You can adjust the length of the shoulder strap and the telescopic pole but nothing I tried made the saw even remotely manageable when fitted to the pole. It is inherently unwieldy and the harness makes very little difference to the balance or holding weight. And you can't shorten the pole enough to balance it better. The trigger for the saw is fixed to the rear end of the pole and you have to have your fingers on it at all times ... so you're limited in how far forward you can grab the pole with your other hand to support it. The saw is 5kg but it feels like 20kg on the end of the pole and you just can't control it or support it well enough above your head.

3. HIGH MAINTENANCE (per user manual) If you are a newbie to chainsaws and think this cheap little chainsaw will be so convenient and save you a lot of time and money... think again. Chainsaws are a high maintenance pain-in-the-butt tool whether they are for small jobs or for big jobs. Before & after each use you have to: * drain/refill the bar oil, * clean the chain, clean the wood-dust/debris off the guide bar rails and sprocket hole, * check & retension the chain even during use After Every 5 hours of use you have to: * remove the chain then remove and flip the guide bar so the top becomes bottom * lubricate/grease the bar sprocket (you'll need a grease gun) * you'll need to sharpen the chain much sooner (requires sharpening kit). Small chains work harder than big chain-saws. A blunt chain is dangerous on a chainsaw due to binding and bucking, especially on the end of a pole you can barley support ! If you don't maintain and sharpen regularly the saw becomes dangerous ....and very short-lived. It costs more than the purchase price to get it serviced/sharpened 'in-store'.

Advice: Take time to read the manual in the box at Aldi's before you buy anything like a mower, whipper snipper or chainsaw to find out what maintenance is involved. Aldi's is one of the few retailers who will let you open a box to read the manual.