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Corded chainsaws, hedge cutters, strimmers, wood chippers etc. are not really feasible for rural parcels or for professional gardeners, but in my opinion for a

Corded chainsaws, hedge cutters, strimmers, wood chippers etc. are not really feasible for rural parcels or for professional gardeners, but in my opinion for a larger suburban plot they really hit the sweet spot and are often overlooked: not nearly as noisy as gas powered (work on Sundays without upsetting the neighbors!), lighter in weight, no maintenance, much more powerful than tools with batteries, you never run out of power, half the price of a cordless tool. Yeah, sure, rolling up a 50m extension cord is a pain in the ass, but in exchange you get tools that actually work. It does look like the California law also applies to professionals (though see jakewins' comment), which probably sucks, but I'm seeing more and more 36V gardening tools pop up, so maybe the transition won't be as hard as it looks.

jakewins 2y ago
The law applies to tiny chainsaws - 45cc or less - no professional fells a tree with a saw that small. The saw they show in the video and claim is banned is well above 45cc and entirely legal to sell in CA. In effect, they’ve banned the tiny saws that were equivalent in power to electrics, and kept the mid-size and up that are needed for professional work.
OvbiousError 2y ago
Switched from corded to cordless for all my tools, for a garden 40mx15m in size. It's so much better. My hedge trimmer for instance feels a bit less poweful, but no longer dealing with the cable makes trimming the hedge virtually twice as fast, especially the "back side". Same for trimmer. Chipper is corded though, that thing is a beast.
bryanlarsen 2y ago
> much more powerful than tools with batteries Battery powered tools can be much more powerful than corded tools. Corded tools are limited to 1500W whereas battery powered tools are not. For example a corded snow blower would never be powerful enough, but you can get battery powered snow blowers that are quite usable. Some of them will run 4 56V batteries in parallel to get the power. Nothing hand-held is going to give you 1500W of course, the batteries would be too heavy.
- stdbrouw 2y ago
  Ah, I guess things are a bit different in Europe with 230V. My corded chainsaw is 2400W (10A) and my corded wood chipper is 2800W (12A). I've also heard that our extension cords are typically thinner (1.5mm2 gauge) and easier to handle for the same reason.
  - bryanlarsen 2y ago
    I was having trouble imagining being satisfied with a 1500W chipper.
  - ewgoforth 2y ago
    In the US we have the option of 220/240 V, but I'm not aware of any corded chainsaw that use that. It's typically used by electric stoves, clothes dryers, etc. We use 110/120 Volts for most appliances for safety reasons.

jakewins 2y ago

The law applies to tiny chainsaws - 45cc or less - no professional fells a tree with a saw that small. The saw they show in the video and claim is banned is well above 45cc and entirely legal to sell in CA. In effect, they’ve banned the tiny saws that were equivalent in power to electrics, and kept the mid-size and up that are needed for professional work.

OvbiousError 2y ago

Switched from corded to cordless for all my tools, for a garden 40mx15m in size. It's so much better. My hedge trimmer for instance feels a bit less poweful, but no longer dealing with the cable makes trimming the hedge virtually twice as fast, especially the "back side". Same for trimmer. Chipper is corded though, that thing is a beast.

bryanlarsen 2y ago

> much more powerful than tools with batteries Battery powered tools can be much more powerful than corded tools. Corded tools are limited to 1500W whereas battery powered tools are not. For example a corded snow blower would never be powerful enough, but you can get battery powered snow blowers that are quite usable. Some of them will run 4 56V batteries in parallel to get the power. Nothing hand-held is going to give you 1500W of course, the batteries would be too heavy.

stdbrouw 2y ago
Ah, I guess things are a bit different in Europe with 230V. My corded chainsaw is 2400W (10A) and my corded wood chipper is 2800W (12A). I've also heard that our extension cords are typically thinner (1.5mm2 gauge) and easier to handle for the same reason.
- bryanlarsen 2y ago
  I was having trouble imagining being satisfied with a 1500W chipper.
- ewgoforth 2y ago
  In the US we have the option of 220/240 V, but I'm not aware of any corded chainsaw that use that. It's typically used by electric stoves, clothes dryers, etc. We use 110/120 Volts for most appliances for safety reasons.