EGO Power+ CS1805E

Cuts like butter – Just press the trigger and it's going used on a cut piece of maple which was full of knotty and it was effortless used on large trunk and wow it cut it very well

Fantastic storm recovery machine – I bought this as part of my replacement of all things petrol to battery powered. I replaced a McCulloch Cabrio 300 from many years back. That had never failed me and short of the usual stinking petrol and maintenance it was a good machine. I had chosen EGO based on all the reviews I watched and researched plus I had invested in an EGO whipper snipper earlier and loved it too (see review). I had not had a chance to use this machine prior to the massive storms in June 2021 that smashed half of Victoria and brought down thousands of trees. BIG trees too. Our property lost at least 20 and an entire garage with it. So the day after.. and for months now I have been using this EGO chainsaw in absolute earnest. I doubt the manufacturers thought their machines would be put through paces like this in such a short time. I've been cutting constantly... big things and small. Things twice the width of the blade in some cases, mostly hardwood, Messmate and Mountain grey gum plus the occasional Acacia. This machine has barely missed a beat. The 56V batteries (i'm using 5 at once some days, in sequence) just to clean up give me plenty of time. Note here that having a few batteries has been essential in an exercise like this. The 2 x 7.5A ones are the backbone of my time.

Anyone who has done chainsawing of Australian hardwoods know it can be a struggle with weak machines but i'm happy to report this CUTS it. I did have quite a few pinch moments where I jammed it inside of logs and had to extract it but it was much better than a usual chainsaw to remedy because you remove the battery and lessen the weight by a LOT. The machine isn't left hanging or suspended upside-down in the breeze and the weight threatens to bend the bar.

The chain seems to have lasted quite a while before sharpening and I purchased a machine to help with that after I bought 4 more to make sure I don't have to stop often either.

I really like the chain tensioning mechanism. A big dial that you use your hands to tighten. No tools needed. Love that. It also makes it very easy to open up the chainsaw workings to replace the chain and clean out the housing where sawdust and bark collect. I did notice that I was doing this quite often however. I don't know if this is because that housing is too tight or whether it's the type of trees that i'm cutting so I won't mark it down because of it.

The oil reservoir for chainbar oil is visible and easy to fill, swapping chains is simple, the chainsaw guard works with an easy flick forward and above all, it's so much less noisy! We have chainsaws going constantly here in the Dandenongs with all the trees down after the storm and they are so so much louder by comparison.

I did have one issue that was bothersome. At one stage the chainsaw housing became so full that it stopped the chainsaw brake from working. It was stuck on and the chainsaw wouldn't start. I had to remove the housing (easy) and then 5 screws to reveal the mechanism that performs the brake process. It was full of grit. It was very easy to remove, clean and replace. So whilst it was annoying, the process was simple and any DIY Person can do it.

All in all, an excellent machine. Well made, powerful, quiet and proven hard in the heat of battle.