Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

WHY does the system delete everything preceding the product link I insert?! ***Edited August 9 2017 to add charging time & other comments. It still works fine. ***Edited 7-11-16 to clarify what size battery was used and a few other things and add images that were missed in the original post. Over a thousand reviews on this thing, and I didn't find a single video; and very few photos. I had an overgrown shrub right outside a window where it was convenient to record video so here it is. This is not an instructional video but rather a "see it in action" video. You can watch the video, study the photos, do some "cipherin'" and form your own opinion. I started with a fully charged 1.5Ah battery (but it had been sitting in the unplugged charger for 2 or 3 weeks). I recorded cuts individually until the battery ran dead and since it is all within Amazon's 10 minute limit I'm splicing in all of them (even the cut that I didn't realize was off camera) except for the first cut that the program didn't save for some reason. Rather than include narrative in the video and risk flubbing the script and having to do it over after all the cutting was done I decided to let the saw do the talking and do any explaining in the text here. The first cut you see in the video is an illustration of using the top of the bar to cut--as you would when making the recommended pre-cut on the bottom of a branch. Since the chain is going out from the saw on the top of the bar it pushes the saw back at the operator, but because the saw does not have a lot of power it's not a bad fight. When I started the first top cut I held the saw back from the branch for a few seconds to illustrate how it cuts in that situation. While it cuts fairly well, you see some "bouncing" back & forth & it seems to not be as efficient when it does that. Then I let the chain pull the saw up against the branch and you see (and hear) it cut more steadily. As other reviewers have said, letting gravity pull the saw down is a good idea. When you are cutting horizontally, however, gravity can't help so you have to exert some sideways pressure in order to keep it going. You can see a couple sideways cuts in the video. A few months later I shredded up the small stuff with the 14 Amp Chipper Joe (ASIN #B007VX11O8) I had just bought (you can see my review there).. I uploaded photos (several times) of the cross-section of each cut, including measuring sticks, so you can do your own calculations and get an idea of how much work got done on a charge instead of taking my word for it. But as for my opinion... The advertising claims that the saw will cut up to 100 pine branches 1.5 inches in diameter on a charge. I calculate that to be 177 square inches total cross-sectional area. A rough calculation from my photos got me 124 square inches. It's hard to tell by sight, but I think this wood might be more dense than pine, and I suspect that cutting a large branch might use more energy than cutting a bunch of small ones totaling the same area, so I'm not upset with the "mere" 124 sq.in.. I bought this locally during a closeout sale last fall and the following items were included in this kit: The saw, in 3 sections; saw on one 3ft section, handle with battery on another 3ft section, 1 "bare" pole section One 1.5Ahr, 20V Li Ion battery pack The battery charger 1 Allen wrench for adjusting the chain 1 stiff flip-top bottle for oiling the chain (a syringe is better) A "scabbard" to cover the bar when in storage & transport The scabbard has a slot to store the Allen wrench and a strap to hold the oil bottle. The slot for the wrench does not, in my opinion, hold the wrench securely enough to be trusted; the thing just does not fit well. I thought I read somewhere that this had a "manual oiler", which I thought meant that there would be a plunger I would press to pump oil onto the chain, but there is nothing like that here. The included "oiler" is a rather stiff plastic squeeze-bottle that you put chain oil into & dribble onto the chain "manually" before you cut with it. This is disappointing, but in a sense it beats the automatic oilers that drain oil out onto the floor or bench while the saw is sitting in the garage. They tell you to oil the chain before each use and whenever replacing a fully discharged battery, or every 10 minutes of use, but I felt like adding oil a couple times before the battery died. On 6-29-2017 I finally paid attention to the battery charging time and it was not done after 3 hours but was done after 3.75 hours. The charger says it puts out 400mA so it is to be expected that it would take nearly 4 hours to charge a fully discharged 1.5Ah battery. I see that B&D sells a 2A charger, which would charge this battery in less than 1 hour, but that is still a long time to wait if you have more cutting to do so it's better to have extra batteries for big cutting jobs. They also have 2Ah & 4Ah batteries and I saw a 3rd party replacement battery rated at 5Ah. Higher Ah ratings, of course, provide proportionally longer cutting time. Summary opinion: All in all I am happy with the saw so far but have not used it a lot--about a dozen black walnut branches the first use, and a bush another time, then this shrub. Since I don't have a lot to cut with it the battery life is not a big issue. It took a few more cuts to completely remove that shrub, but I did that on another day. Other observations/opinions: I find it easier to use a syringe to oil the chain, but I have to be careful not to squeeze too much oil out at once. ...But after reading Mr.Big's comment in the comments here I like his mustard bottle idea; it works very well. Thanks to Mr.Big for that idea. :~) I am disappointed with the plastic bar and am concerned about it's potential lifetime. I'd feel better if it at least had a metal perimeter for the chain to ride in as I suspect that would make it less likely to wear, or melt, especially if I don't keep enough oil on it. It is this and the oil dribbling process that caused me to knock off a star in my rating. The chain became loose after the first few cuts during the first use but has not been a problem since then. The saw has enough power to do the job, but is slower than an AC powered saw or certainly any gas powered saw. The battery is in the handle end of the pole so you must have at least 2 sections connected, making for a 6 foot pole minimum. It might have been nice to make the handle a separate piece so that you could have a 3 foot pole when you didn't need anything longer. The pole is pretty steady at the 6ft length, but is wobbly with all 3 sections together. It has stayed together, though. You cannot rotate this saw on the pole relative to the handle. This might make it awkward in some situations.