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Cuts per charge: what was cut, and with which battery
Updated
A cut count only means something if you know two things: what wood was cut, and which battery was on the saw. Of the seven saws on this site, four print a cut count. One names the wood. The battery behind the number is not always the one in the box.
How each maker words it
| Saw | What the maker says | What it leaves out |
|---|---|---|
| EGO CS1613 | Listing: "up to 220 cuts per charge" in the headline, then up to 130 cuts on a 4x4 with the included 4.0Ah battery. EGO's own page: up to 130 cuts on a 4x4 with a 2.5Ah battery | Which battery gives 220. And the two pages tie 130 cuts to two different batteries |
| Greenworks 40V 16 in | Maker page: up to 120 cuts per charge | The wood |
| DEWALT DCCS621P1 | Listing: up to 100 cuts per charge | The wood. DEWALT's own product page, as we read it, shows no cut count |
| Milwaukee 2527-20 Hatchet | Maker page: power to cut 3 inch hardwoods, and up to 120 cuts per charge. Names a 4.0Ah battery that is sold separately | The wood behind the 120. It is a 6 inch pruning saw, so think branches |
| Husqvarna Power Axe 350i, WORX WG322, BLACK+DECKER LCS1020 | No cut count on the pages we read | Nothing to decode |
Why the wood matters so much
A 4x4 post is 3.5 inches square, or 12.25 square inches. A 10 inch round log is 78.5 square inches. That is 6.4 posts' worth of wood in a single cut. So 130 cuts on a 4x4 is roughly 20 cuts of a 10 inch softwood log, and about 13 if it is hardwood, by our estimate.
Claimed cuts per charge10 in hardwood log cuts (our estimate)
- EGO CS1613130 cuts13 cuts
- Greenworks 40V 16 in120 cuts12 cuts
- DEWALT DCCS621P1100 cuts10 cuts
The claims do not line up with battery size
Divide each cut count by the watt-hours in the kit battery (label volts times amp-hours) and you get claimed cuts per watt-hour.
| Saw | Claim | Kit battery | Claimed cuts per Wh |
|---|---|---|---|
| EGO CS1613 | 130 | 56V 4.0Ah, 224 Wh | 0.58 |
| Greenworks 40V 16 in | 120 | 40V 4.0Ah, 160 Wh | 0.75 |
| DEWALT DCCS621P1 | 100 | 20V MAX 5.0Ah, 100 Wh | 1.0 |
The smallest saw with the smallest battery claims the most cuts per watt-hour, by a wide margin. A 12 inch 20V saw is not almost twice as efficient as a 16 inch 56V saw. The likelier reason is that the makers did not cut the same thing the same way. That is the whole problem with this number: you cannot compare it across brands.
How to shop around it
- Use a cut count only within one brand, and only when the wood and battery are named.
- Buy for bar length and chain speed first. Those are physical facts. See bar size and chain speed.
- Plan on a second battery for firewood. The calculator shows why.
Run your own wood through the bar length and cuts calculator, or compare all seven picks on the roundup page.