Ryobi 40V HP Brushless 14" Chainsaw

The Whisper Series 12-inch is the chainsaw distilled to its most convenient form: an 18V ONE+ tool light enough to feel like a big pruner, quiet enough that Ryobi built the marketing around it, and compatible with the batteries half of American garages already own. At $249 for the kit — much less as a bare tool — it exists for pruning, storm-limb cleanup, and breaking down small logs, and owners consistently describe it as the saw that actually gets grabbed because there's zero ceremony: click a pack in and cut. The physics are the honest limit: 18 volts through a 12-inch bar is a light-duty proposition, sustained cuts in hardwood drain packs quickly, and anything beyond ~8-inch wood belongs to its 40V sibling. As a second saw for trim work, or a first saw for a small yard, the convenience-per-dollar is unmatched; as an only saw for real firewood, it's the wrong tool and doesn't pretend otherwise.

The budget path to a big-bar battery saw — $379 at Home Depot buys an 18" bar, a 6.0Ah pack, a rapid charger, and Ryobi's claim of more power than a 40cc gas saw with over 90 cuts per charge. It replaced the well-liked RY40580, and for the homeowner who clears a couple of storm-downed limbs a year and wants zero maintenance, dated Home Depot reviews are full of converts from cranky gas saws. The gripes in those same reviews are consistent and worth knowing: the chain derails and needs frequent re-tensioning more than any other saw in this class, the bar-retention knob works loose mid-session, and sustained cutting heats the 6.0Ah pack enough that it needs a cool-down before the charger will accept it — a real bottleneck if you only own one battery. Power is honest mid-pack: fine for 12" softwood bucking, laboring in big hardwood. You're trading refinement for price, and at $120-250 less than the comparable EGO, Milwaukee, and DeWalt kits, plenty of owners consider that a fair trade.

The Gen II 60V is Greenworks' volume seller — a 2.0 kW brushless saw the company claims out-torques a 42cc gas engine by 20%, sold as an 18-inch kit with a 4.0Ah battery and 40-minute charger for around $310-350 at Lowe's, Tractor Supply, and Greenworks direct. Its 383 Lowe's reviews average 4.6 stars, with owners consistently surprised that a box-store battery saw fells and bucks real trees — the no-prime, no-choke, instant-trigger start is the most-praised feature among gas converts. At 9.5 lbs bare it's manageable for limbing, and the 65.6 ft/s chain speed is respectable if not pro-fast. The complaint pattern in reviews: the chain can come off under hard use, it bogs in very large logs if you rush it, and the 4.0Ah pack is good for about 140 cuts — enough for an afternoon, not a full firewood day. The 60V battery line spans 75+ Greenworks tools, which is a more useful ecosystem than the 80V line for most homeowners.