Ryobi 18V ONE+ 8" Pruning Chainsaw R18CHS20
VerifiedMPN: R18CHS204 reviews
I purchased this without paying too much attention to the product as I was waiting for a replacement bar to come in for my other electric chainsaw. When I got home I realised that there was no chain oil reservoir. In the instructions they recommend you oil the chain for longevity but without a dedicated chain lube reservoir this is a pain. It may be ok for little twigs once or twice a year but I don't recommend it if you need to use it to maintain a small garden etc. pay a little more and get something better. This is a toy and definitely not worth the price.
Purchased in at Bunnings Warehouse for $249.
This chainsaw is a money sucker. I bought it for tree pruning, however only after 4months of using, the chainsaw became very blunt and can’t cut even very small branches. I called the service support of RYOBI and was told that the although I’ve had the warranty for the chainsaw for 4years(as I stupidly bought extended warranty), the chain only has 3month warranty. So if you buy this chainsaw, you have to keep purchasing the saw every 4 months!! Don’t fall for this trap!!
It's OK for sticks and pruning – This saw reflects the 18v batteries it takes, and is definitely better than the first generation ONE+ chainsaws (friends gave me theirs and they were truly horrible!). The chain goes faster, but it's still slower and quieter than the bigger-battery chainsaws, and also than the plug-in powered Ryobi. This one's quite forgiving, if the tip touches something it doesn't care. So it's good for in-tree pruning, and cutting up prunings on the ground, and for larger kindling for the fire. And this is what I bought it for, my Ego saw is too heavy and too jumpy for close-in work.
Make sure you go through the process to register for the 6 year warranty (it's on the grey loose sheet of paper with the instruction booklet). The lack of oiling is a concern, so that warranty might come in useful. If you want oil, you'll need your own little bottle with an applicator.
It can be a bit rough, and will chew the wood if you let it, when pruning you'll need to be on it so it doesn't mince up the stumps.
I wouldn't use it for anything big, it's not made for that and not powered for it either. I used my 4 AH battery and it didn't seem to draw a lot of power, recharging was very quick so it evidently hadn't taken much.
Purchased in at Bunnings Warehouse for $199.
Jury is still out – I purchased this Ryobi + One chainsaw because I need something like this for the job it is intended for - light work clearing away occasional, small fallen debris from trees etc., that lay across a private access roadway. I owned the previous model, (see my prior review on this one) however it broke down after only two years and it was debatable if I would purchase another - but the batteries already purchased, helped with the decision to go ahead and buy the newer version in any case…. and these are such handy little chainsaws for what I required them to do. Hopefully buying another will be justified.
But herein lies the rub!
This newer model only sports an 8” bar whereas the original model was 10”. The original 10” model also had an oiling system for the chain, whereas this newer model does not…. going under the guise of a chainsaw that does nor require the chain to be oiled, hence there is no need for an oil reservoir to be incorporated into the newer design, like the older version had.
Not having an oiling system for the bar and chain at all is going to be this little chainsaw’s demise in my opinion, simply because any chainsaw will need the chain and bar to be oiled - despite the sales hype that it’s oil free. In fact, Ryobi state in the manual supplied, that applying oil to the bar and chain will add life to the components, (really!) but offer no further advice about how to do this, so an oiling can and manual application will be required if you want the bar and chain to last any time at all!
Other than that, no oil means that once the bar and chain a worn, you will need to throw them both in the bin and buy new ones - which again, is what is suggested by Ryobi according to the pictograms they supply in their instruction manual. More cost!
The price however, remains the same as the old model, so with the newer model you do in fact get a less for the same money - so typical of merchandisers these days!
More to come on this once I’ve used it for a while, but I can't help thinking I've not made a good choice.
Reference the 10" Ryobi One+ Chainsaw. Lost the oil cap for this little saw and replacement cost was $20 from Bunnings - which was better than the $40 wanted by some other crooked enterprise. For an oil cap which likely didn't cost more $2 to make, even $20 is a bit rich, but there you go - Bunnings are happy to keep the inflation cycle going and we as customers, continue to fall into the trap! No sooner received the oil cap and put it on, when the motor of this machine 10 inch saw decided it had, had enough and carked it! It had served it's purpose, but good value....nuh! The Ryobi 8 inch One+ saw I purchased as a replacement isn't worth the cost of the box it came in, so putting that aside for emergency operation only. Now to move onto the 12 inch version which I'm picking up next week. Glutton for punishment is my second name!
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Update and referencing previous model which has a manually operated oil system and 10' bar and chain. This model appears to be discontinued by Ryobi and I cannot locate the previous reviews I did on Product Review, to add to it. The chainsaw I purchased to replace it is the one reviewed above. However, if anyone is still interested in an update for the previous model, this comment may help. I made reference to the the clutch system on the older 10" model failing, which is why I purchased the later model. After dismantling the older model I discovered that it doesn't have a clutch system at all, so the failure of the machine to operate wasn't due to a clutch, but instead, the reason for the chain not moving around the bar was due simply to two small screws coming lose inside the gear box housing! These small screws anchor the electric motor to the gear box and they worked their way lose and had dropped out - which allowed the motor and attached drive shaft to move freely within the gear box casing - thus the cog on the motor shaft did not always mesh with those in the box. This allowed for intermittent operation as the gearbox kept falling away from the motor shaft gear - and then, back in again. Re-tightening the screws allowed for everything to realign correctly again and the chainsaw to work normally. I will say that Ryobi have done a great job designing the gear box- it seems well constructed and there is no sign of wear on any of the gearbox components. Just a pity that the screws appear to have a tendency to work lose - that's if they were properly tightened in the first instance! Now I have two Ryobi 18v One+ chainsaws.... one old one still good and the other yet to be tested. Such is life!