REVIEW – If you have a house with trees and/or large shrubs, you know how much upkeep it can be to keep things properly trimmed. If you’re like us, you have been too busy and/or poor to tackle the pruning or hire someone to do it. The Saker multifunction mini chainsaw is exactly what we’ve been needing: my regular chainsaw is too large an unwieldy for the smaller branches, volunteer trees, and shrubs that desperately need pruning, and doing it with loppers is time consuming and impossible on the higher branches.
What is it?
The Saker multifunction mini chainsaw is a small battery powered chainsaw, with an optional ~2 meter/yard pole attachment. It can cut through branches up to 3.5 inches thick.
What’s in the box?
There are several packages to choose from on Saker’s website, but the one they sent me to review included:
- Saker multifunction mini chainsaw
- Pole attachment
- AC charger
- Extra chain
- One battery
- Safety glasses
- Gloves
- Manual
Hardware specs
Click to view
- Motor speed: 30k RPM
- Motor power: 400 W
- Chain material: Highly quenched alloy steel
- Pole length (optional): 2 meters maximum
- Pole cutting angle adjustments: 90 degrees range (45 degrees each way from 0)
- Safety switch: on both mini chainsaw and pole attachment
- Chain tightening: Manual
Design and features
The Saker multifunction mini chainsaw is the first mini chainsaw I’ve reviewed, but it operates similar to the larger chainsaw that I’ve used for years: you pull the trigger and the chain spins, which then cuts what you’re pushing it against. The handle and weight feel very similar to a power drill.
A plastic guard keeps the user from getting a face full of dust and debris, though you’ll also want to wear at least safety glasses (and maybe a full face shield depending on what you’re tackling). I used safety glasses and got lots of wood chips and bits in my hair after long pruning sessions.
The chain came well-tensioned, but if it loosens over time you unlock the black knob on the side, and then spin the yellow tension adjustment dial to loosen or tighten it.
The safety button (small yellow button in the picture above) must be pressed in before pulling the trigger to turn on the chainsaw. The trigger must then be held down while using the device, if you drop it or let off it will shut off.
The battery lasted longer than I expected, I didn’t have to recharge it during the multiple pruning sessions over a few weeks of testing. I tried to run it down, but the best I could do was drop it one LED light (out of 3).
Speaking of, the battery has nice status indicator lights.
Setup
Setup is as simple as charging the battery (which came fully charged for me), and then plugging the battery into the mini chainsaw. If using the pole attachment, see the image above for that process (or refer to the manual).
Performance
The Saker multifunction mini chainsaw saws through ~3.5″ or less branches pretty quickly. As you can see in the GIF above, a 1.5 inch branch was no match for it at all. I had quite a few branches I tackled during the review period, and as long as I didn’t try to cut a branch larger than the maximum rated (3.5″), it did great. Even after quite a lot of cutting, the chain remains tight and I didn’t have any issues at all.
I did use the pole saw attachment for higher branches, and it is a lifesaver for those. I’d previously been using a manual pole saw for high branches, and using this takes a fraction of the time and effort, I’ll never go back.
What I like
- Seems to have more than enough power for small branches.
- The battery is long lasting
- Brushless motor should last longer and be less prone to failure
What I’d change
- At full retail price, it seems higher than other mini chainsaws (and pole saws), but it seems like they’re probably running frequent sales – which makes it a much better deal.
Final thoughts
The Saker multifunction mini chainsaw has become an integral part of my pruning routine (which was near nonexistent before this review). I have many trees and shrubs to tackle still, but it’s much less of a hurdle now knowing that the Saker multifunction mini chainsaw will make quick work of them.
Price: $233.32 as reviewed (on sale for $139 at time of review)
Where to buy: Saker and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by SmartSaker
