Skil has added a new chain saw to their 20V Max cordless power tool platform.
It features a 6″ bar and chain, and can be extended to a length of 2.8 feet, which is a little over 33-1/2″.
This doesn’t have the reach of a pole saw, but maybe we can consider it a mini pole saw. Skil calls it a “telescoping pruning saw.”
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The saw has a brushless motor, tool-free chain tensioning, and IPX4 water resistance. It also has an “EasyStorage” bracket for storage and organization.
Skil says the pruning chainsaw can make up to 115 cuts per charge with the included 2Ah battery.
The kit comes with the saw, 2Ah battery, and PWR Core standard charger.
Price: $149 for the kit
Discussion
Milwaukee’s M12 and M18 Hatchet compact chainsaws have been popular in recent years, especially for lighter cutting, pruning, and cleanup tasks.
They’re a bit pricey though – the M12 Fuel with a battery is $199 at Home Depot, and the M18 Fuel with High Output battery and charger is $299 at Home Depot.
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For pruning tasks where you need more reach, Ryobi’s 18V pole saw kit is $169 with battery and charger at Home Depot, and their 40V Max pole saw kit is $199 at Home Depot, also with a battery and charger.
What’s interesting is that the Skil isn’t quite a compact chain saw, and it’s also not quite a pole saw. It’s a small chain saw with a short telescoping handle.
Ryobi’s closest competing saw is their 18V HP 6″ chain saw with brushless motor, priced at $189 at Home Depot for the kit with a 2Ah battery and charger.
They also have an 18V 10″ chain saw kit with 1.5Ah battery and charger for $149 at Home Depot.
Craftsman has a V20 6″ cordless chainsaw kit for $99 at Lowe’s, with a 2Ah battery and charger.
There are plenty of compact cordless chain saws, as well as cordless pole saws.
The Skil looks to shoehorn in between all of them, giving you a bit more reach should you need it.
If you’re on the fence about the design, Skil apparently also launched a new compact chain saw. Shown here is the telescoping chain saw (top), and Skil’s also-new compact chain saw (bottom).
The compact chain saw also has a 6″ bar and chain, brushless motor, and IPX4 water resistance, and is kitted with a 2Ah battery and charger for $99.
Skil also has 20V and 40V Max cordless pole saws. At the time of this posting the 20V Max model is under $117, and the 40V Max saw is $149. Both prices are for the kits, with a battery and charger.
Craftsman also has a 8″ cordless pole saw for $149 at Lowe’s with battery and charger.
The telescoping saw isn’t quite as compact as competitors’ one-handed chain saws, and it also doesn’t have anywhere close to the same reach as a pole saw. But the added size gives it greater reach without having to step up to a larger or pricier model.
Personally, I wouldn’t buy the Skil, but I think the design is interesting and worth talking about.
Would you pick the Skil extending chain saw, or go in a different direction?
Michael F
This is such a strange tool. It’s clearly geared towards residential homeowners. In my experience dealing with tree limbs (which has greatly increased from two back to back years of unprecedented southern ice storms) you either need a pole saw or a chain saw. I’m not sure when you’d need a 6” bar only ~3 feet away from you as a pole saw would easily handle that use case as well.
MM
That’s my take on it as well. It’s definitely not geared towards serious use. And while I am no pro landscaper or arborist I have been maintaining a large rural property for many years. I use handsaws, small chainsaws, and a pole saw often. My pole saw telescopes between 9 feet and 13 feet, and it’s rare that I use it in its shortest configuration, I usually find myself extending it at least a little. It is unusual where I’d need to cut something that’s just barely beyond the reach of a hand saw or small chainsaw. Most of the time I find I can either easily reach it with a small saw or I need a lot more than an extra foot-and-a-half.
That said different people have different trees in different climates, this might be perfect for others. If it saves people the hassle and the danger of having to get a ladder or over-reach then that’s great.
Jared
Like you suggest, I imagine this design is trying to carve a new niche. I think the idea is that consumers should see it as a small pruning chainsaw that can also extend for a bit more reach, rather than as a “jr” polesaw (however much it looks more like the latter).
E.g. if you own a chainsaw, polesaw or both, this isn’t something you need.
Instead, it’s for the homeowner who wants one saw – with some bonus functionality.
MM
So I thought about this a little more in the back of my mind and I’m not as critical of it now as I was the first time. This just occurred to me: I often use a Silky Bigboy folding saw for pruning, and sometimes I cut near the tip of the blade. Unfolded that saw is actually a little longer than this tool is when fully extended. So while I don’t use a power saw like this I suppose I do use *a* saw which is capable of that kind of reach. And also, I have the benefit of being over 6 foot tall. A shorter person could use this tool to reach things I’d normally cut with my DCCS623.
The second thought I had was that it might be useful for people doing maintenance on outdoor trails for hiking or mountain biking. It’s small, light, and easy to carry, and you can cut things below your waist from a standing position without having to bend over.
Jerry
Skil is a homeowner brand. This would be the perfect saw for someone with a yard that has a few trees that need pruning, and extended it should reach high enough to cut off any branch that would scratch your car parked in your yard or driveway. It isnt meant to be a pro tool or arborist saw but rather its for the homeowner who only makes occasional cuts and only wants to buy one saw
Bonnie
I’m similar to you, but I can’t say I wouldn’t find a use for it. The pole saw gets a little unwieldy dealing with shorter fruit trees in narrow spaces like against the house. For those it’s a hand saw or the reciprocating currently, but there’s definitely a few branches right in the space between my current selection that this kinda tool would be a nice-to-have, though certainly not necessary.
Definitely seems like it’d be good for those sub-quarter-acre kinda suburban lots with small trees where you have no real need for a chainsaw or even a real pole saw, but you just need to be able to get a few high snapped branches when the apple tree gets overzealous or the wind storm snaps some old flowering cherries.
James
The strangest thing for me is no side handle. Or maybe I’m not seeing it? I can’t imagine wielding that with one hand.
Jared
I was imagining you can steady the grip with your offhand in front of the trigger area – but you raise a good point. Maybe that puts your fingers too close to the blade and would be unsafe.
In “pole saw” configuration you could just grab the pole, but is it one-hand only when fully collapsed?
Michael F
It looks like the hand guard is under the “SKIL” logo very close to the chain. In the extended configuration I’d imagine the off hand would go on the pole while in the compact configuration it appears you’re supposed to grip it very close to the chain with the guard as the safety. Not sure I like that design but with a 6” bar it might be manageable.
Harrison
As a ex-arborist, these are all in the territory of products where I’d really rather have a quality hand pole saw, and be done with it. Yeah, have to move your arms, but weak power pole saws can be physically demanding anyways. Even the best $1000 power pole saws from Stihl, or the hydraulic models that plug in to a bucket truck are frustrating to use, and have compromises. Anything you’re gonna buy for $150 is basically garbage, and if it comes with a tiny 1.5ah battery isn’t even capable of enough cutting to outperform your average person with a manual tool working for 15min.
This kit below is top quality, used by professional arborists, electrical line workers, etc all around North America and will last for decades if you take care of them. The saw blades last for the many months as a professional, and likely years for a homeowner. Replacement saw blades are cheap.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Jameson-13-in-PRO-Pole-Saw-and-12-ft-Pruning-Saw-Kit-PSTP12-K1/323074850
Most people have only tried the mediocre home-grade pole saws with the narrow flexy poles. These 1.5” fiberglass models are light, and allow you to really lean into the blade and put sole power into the cut. The Japanese style tri-cut blades are smooth and sharp, a pleasure to use.
Honestly anything that you aren’t comfortable cutting in the air with a manual pole saw is really better handled by a normal chainsaw from a secure work position- outside of the niches of repetitive orchard maintenance or municipal street tree elevation work.
MM
The other nice thing about the pro style manual pole saws is you can get extra sections for them to get higher reach; in fact you can go well beyond what you can reach even with a high end power pole saw.
Blocky
This is the take I needed to read. And your recommendation, I believe, is the manual saw I frequently see used in nyc by city maintenance crews.
eddiesky
Most branches I need to prune are in the region of needing a towable boom lift. Even my three piece pole saw get’s caught or too much to handle after 13ft. “Never cut a limb of a tree while underneath it!”
Dominic S
Anyone else getting “gears of war” vibes from the skil saw in the retracted position?
Saulac
Another (compact) chain saw + pole saw hybrid form factor is pairing a regular chain saw with a special pole via the battery interface. Searching for Dewalt 20v pole saw returns such saw. Not sure how the on/off trigger work. Using the battery interface as the physical connection could be sketchy. That said, I don’t mine trying such pole with the M12 chain saw or pruncher.
Frank D
I think it could be a great niche tool, depending on the weight and if it is not too awkward to use when extended. I have a variety of chainsaws, pruning saws, pole saws, gas and electric. Last summer did two weeks in a utulity lift bucket pruning trees. But as the bucket or you yourself sometimes can’t reach exactly where you want … you could use an extra foot of reach. This could be a great in-between regular compact and a partially extended pole saw.
MacLean Flood
I like the concept…I could see this theoretically be useful for limbing trees after falling. I like using my 28″ bar on my Husky but it’s heavy. I also like using my 6″ Makita but I have to bend over. A short extension… depending on weight… could be ideal for quickly, lightly, ergonomically limbing a tree
Perhaps it will motivate others to keep innovating.
-Mac