Greenworks 60V 18" Brushless Chainsaw

The long-running 80V kit that made battery chainsaws credible for cheap — an 18-inch bar, brushless motor Greenworks rates as 42cc-gas-equivalent, and a 2.0Ah battery with a genuinely quick 30-minute recharge. Lowe's buyers rate it 4.6 stars and repeatedly describe dropping and bucking 18-22 inch trees on a charge, and the price is the hook: it lists at $380 but routinely street-prices at $210-250, an absurd amount of saw for the money. The honest caveats from owner reviews: the 2.0Ah pack is good for roughly 110 cuts and fades fast in big hardwood, the chain works loose and derails more than it should (check tension often), it's thirsty on bar oil, and the saw bogs if you lean on it in oversized logs. Note that Greenworks now also sells a newer 2.5kW Gen III 80V 18-inch (CS80L417, ~$430 with 4Ah) with more power for considerably more money — this classic kit remains the value pick.

Greenworks' 12-amp corded is the floor of the credible chainsaw market — usually $70-90, light, simple, and exactly adequate for the pruning, storm-limb, and small-log work that most suburban saws actually see. The 16-inch bar is honest about the 12-amp motor behind it: this is a saw for wood under a foot, cut patiently, and owners who treat it that way report years of service from a tool that costs less than a nice dinner. Tool-less tensioning, an auto-oiler with a view window, and Greenworks' 4-year warranty round out a package that undercuts even the Worx on price. The compromises are proportional: the 12A motor bogs where 15A saws push through, the oiler can be inconsistent enough that owners check it religiously, and the build is unapologetically light-duty. As a storm-kit saw that lives in the garage until needed, or a first saw for a small lot, the price makes the argument by itself.

Ryobi's 40V HP 14-inch is the chainsaw for the enormous crowd that already charges Ryobi lawn batteries in the garage: brushless, genuinely capable in the 8-12 inch wood that suburban trees actually produce, and rated 4.8 stars across a couple hundred reviews on Ryobi's own site. Home Depot's ecosystem makes it the path of least resistance — tool-only around $149-189 if you own packs, or roughly $299 with a 4Ah battery and charger. Owners praise the instant starts and the HP brushless motor's refusal to bog in moderate cuts; the honest limits are the ones the class shares: the 14-inch bar and 40V platform top out around small-tree felling, the plastic-heavy build reads homeowner-grade because it is, and Ryobi's stock chains and bars are mediocre enough that enthusiasts upgrade both. Within its lane — cleanup, limbing, occasional small felling on a shared battery platform — it's hard to spend less and get more.