Milwaukee Sawzalls - corded vs battery

[Ultradog MN]

The discussion about battery powered tools the other say prompted me to make this video.

The set up:

Corded Milwaukee Super Sawzall vs
Milwaukee battery Sawzall - Fresh battery
Both saws are fairly new.
Both with identical New blades.
Cutting a piece of 4"X 12" Douglas Fir.
Guess which one wins.

PS
Yes I cheated.
Notice that when the corded one made the cut Much Faster (and easier) I dropped that saw on the ground and gave the battery one an assist and used both hands to help it get the job done.
I understand that for many here the battery tools meet their needs. And they are portable.
But when you need to get a job done it is still best to pull a cord!

 

[CEP ACB]

My sister bought a battery Milwaukee , mainly for trimming branches on our trails.
I must say it works great for that.
One time I used it to cut up an overgrown bush , a chainsaw would of been better but it wasn't nearby.
It cut a lot but the battery died so I dragged out an extension cord and My corded Sawzall to finish up.
There was no comparison the corded one was much stronger.

 

[Tony in SD]

Thank you for the video. I probably won’t buy a corded saw any time soon though based on your video. My cordless Milwaukee does everything I need it to do. Most of the time the cordless saw is faster than a corded saw when you considered; pulling out an extension cord, rewinding rewinding the cord, finding available 120VAC, duration of the job, and a few other factors. The total time for any given job is measured from the time you open the tool box to start the job until you close the tool box after the job is done. My sawsall, drill, driver are in a tool box in the back of my Gator most of the time. Seems I use them all a lot on the farm in places where extension cords would be needed and at places with no 120VAC available without a generator. So in my case the cordless may cut slower but total job time is less.
If my situation was different, where I was in a shop most of the time, with heavy usage I might reconsider.

 

[Briar Hill Brittanys]

"PS
Yes I cheated."

I like how you went up on your tip toes to finagle a little extra angle on the cut.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Thank you for the video. I probably won’t buy a corded saw any time soon though based on your video. My cordless Milwaukee does everything I need it to do. Most of the time the cordless saw is faster than a corded saw when you considered; pulling out an extension cord, rewinding rewinding the cord, finding available 120VAC, duration of the job, and a few other factors. The total time for any given job is measured from the time you open the tool box to start the job until you close the tool box after the job is done. My sawsall, drill, driver are in a tool box in the back of my Gator most of the time. Seems I use them all a lot on the farm in places where extension cords would be needed and at places with no 120VAC available without a generator. So in my case the cordless may cut slower but total job time is less.
If my situation was different, where I was in a shop most of the time, with heavy usage I might reconsider.

Don't get me wrong Tony.
I'm retired now but still think in terms of being a remodeler - cutting out 10 feet of wall to open a kitchen into the dining room. Opening a roof to add a dormer so you could have an egress window for an attic bedroom, or relocating a stairway to the basement.
I understand how handy cordless tools can be around a home or farm.
All I'm saying is for raw cutting, sawing and drilling power - plus longevity - there is no comparison between corded and cordless tools.
The battery saw in the video is not mine. I borrowed it for the video.

 

[Tony in SD]

Don't get me wrong Tony.
I'm retired now but still think in terms of being a remodeler - cutting out 10 feet of wall to open a kitchen into the dining room. Opening a roof to add a dormer so you could have an egress window for an attic bedroom, or relocating a stairway to the basement.
I understand how handy cordless tools can be around a home or farm.
All I'm saying is for raw cutting, sawing and drilling power - plus longevity - there is no comparison between corded and cordless tools.
The battery saw in the video is not mine. I borrowed it for the video.

I understand what you are saying. The scope of work we use our saws for are 2 different types of work. I could see using multiple batteries on a job like yours and taking much longer to do. The weed whacker is the only battery tool I have that I completely use up a 12ah battery before I’m done.

 

[GChief]

We wil still use cordless 99% of the time when cutting steel on ships, pretty much for all the reason @Tony in SD mentioned.

Edit: I should also add that what we buy is a step above the "same" tool from a big box store.

 

[Texasmark]

On comparative cordless tools on things like weed wackers and saws of different types, the battery powered is usually equipped with a shorter working surface.....as my shopping has revealed. However I like the battery powered equipment for 2 reasons.....fooling with fuel-starting problems, and not having to drag long extension cords around the yard.........brings back memories of electric 115VAC powered lawn mowers that some of my neighbors had when I was growing up.....we had a gas and neighbors could start their mowers with the flick of a switch.

 

[DanielW]

Thank you for the video. I probably won’t buy a corded saw any time soon though based on your video. My cordless Milwaukee does everything I need it to do. Most of the time the cordless saw is faster than a corded saw when you considered; pulling out an extension cord, rewinding rewinding the cord, finding available 120VAC, duration of the job, and a few other factors. The total time for any given job is measured from the time you open the tool box to start the job until you close the tool box after the job is done.

I agree completely. Both may have a place for certain people, and I think I have the same (or nearly the same) models of saws as those in the video -I have two cordless and one corded. While other folks may have different uses and applications that make the corded one preferable, I haven't touched my corded one in at least a year. Wheras between 3 houses (one of which is currently fully gutted and being fully renovated and another is seeing several milder renos) and two farms with several out-buildings going up, the cordless ones get used at least a couple times each week.

And that video actually shows why I prefer cordless: The there's a 31 second difference between the two in that video. I can't imagine any scenario where it takes less than 31 seconds to grab, carry out, string out, then coil up and put away an extension cord. Maybe if you're doing milder renos inside a house in-town with the cords hanging in a workshop/garage 20 feet away. But that's seldom the case in reality land. Then there's the irksome aspect if you're working on a roof like I often am - catching the cord on the sheeting boards and pulling the plug loose. Or being nowhere near an outlet (which is most of the time on the farm). Plus I have several high amp-hour Milwaukee batteries, so I always have at least one charged spare to hand. Those Milwaukee sawzalls have seen some pretty awful abuse over the years. The cordless circular saw and impact drivers have seen even more abuse - I hate to think how many roofs they've been dropped off. But all still functioning dandily.

Mind you, I've been a little unimpressed by some of the newest Milwaukee batteries. I think Milwaukee may have finally fallen from grace a little. My brother has all higher-end Dewalt stuff, and I feel their newer commercial 20V stuff (especially the batteries) is now better than Milwaukee.

 

[Watthour]

When your 18V NiMH flashlight saw lasts this long, come back to discuss it:

http://www.wwdsltd.com/files/MilwaukeeSawZall.jpg

This one still runs like it was 1967.

 

[Non-farmer]

prompted me to make this video.

For a few reasons, I no longer feel moved to post here - but I happened to pull up this thread and I had to sign in to say:

Your youtube user name is overflowing with wisdom

As for the topic and how it relates to me: I have owned a corded DeWalt for quite a while. Being a non-farmer, and no longer deer hunting (so no blind to maintain), I've never felt the need for a cordless sawzall. I've got power to my unattached garage, my machine shed, and a couple of my random assorted sheds. As a result, I've always just been able to plug in, rarely needing an extension cord. So my corded saw covers my needs.

 

[GChief]

For a few reasons, I no longer feel moved to post here - but I happened to pull up this thread and I had to sign in to say:

Your youtube user name is overflowing with wisdom

Yet he is using Google

 

[Non-farmer]

Yet he is using Google

I'm well aware of who owns youtube. Doesn't even slightly change my take.

 

[Ultradog MN]

For a few reasons, I no longer feel moved to post here - but I happened to pull up this thread and I had to sign in to say:

Your youtube user name is overflowing with wisdom

About 6 months ago I downloaded Adobe Acrobat to view a PDF file.
I don't know what I did but google got ahold of my phone and I could NOT get out of it without giving it a name. I've always both loathed and feared google and was kinda at wits end so I entered that name.
After I did it gobbled up a bunch of info on my phone - all my texts, contacts, phone history, etc and uploaded them to the cloud and turned on a couple of google apps that I intentionally disable.
If there was a button that would wipe google off the face of the earth I would gladly push it and it wouldn't matter if the button was corded or cordless

 

[scootergmc]

I don't know what I did but google got ahold of my phone

So what kind of phone do you have?

 

[Ultradog MN]

So what kind of phone do you have?

A cheap Samsung android.
I guess Im stuck with that name too.
I tried using google's Gemini Ai for the first time yesterday and realized it signed me in.
Here's a screen cap of how it greeted me.
Lol.

 

[scootergmc]

A cheap Samsung android.
I guess Im stuck with that name too.
I tried using google's Gemini Ai for the first time yesterday and realized it signed me in.
Here's a screen cap of how it greeted me.
Lol.

Hahahha. Google didn't recently get ahold of your phone. Your phone was born google. Android=Google.

 

[Russ from MN]

I have quite a few corded tools over 50 years old that still run well, how many replacement batteries would you have to buy in 50 years? I have a couple of cordless drills, the drills are over 20 years old, but the batteries have been replaced many times. the originals maybe last 7-10 years, but the replacements only 5, but I don't buy oem.

 

[GChief]

how many replacement batteries would you have to buy in 50 years?

@ 60 (Soon to be 61) one I am not concerned what the answer is

 

[DanielW]

I don't think anyone's going to claim that batteries will last 50 years. But does that really matter? And is that really the best metric to judge by? For me (and I'm sure all the contractors and millwrights I work with), 95% of the time the advantages of cordless exceed the disadvantages of having to buy new batteries every 5-10 years and the extra 20-30 seconds it might take to make a cut.

Not saying that's definitely the way to go for all people and applications: One is not necessarily better than the other. If your applications and work is such that you prefer and can conveniently use corded, you're probably better off for it. Just probably not the way most people would lean. Go look at any millwright's tool trailer or contractor's kit - the folks who are using this stuff day-in, day-out. And you'll see 95% of their kit is cordless.

While I like and appreciate the robustness and longevity of all old, no-nonsense tools, longevity itself is not necessarily the deciding factor. We still (for some reason) have my great-aunt's old ringer-washer sitting in the porch. It must be 80 years old and still works dandy (I assume so anyway - she used it right up until she died a couple of years ago). Whereas even our higher-end newer Speed Queen washing machines need a few new seals and discharge pump after a decade or two, and are very unlikely to last 80 years. If longevity was your only metric for assessing the viability and worth of tools/equipment, then we should still be using those old ringer-washers. But I'd still rather replace a newer washing machine every 10-20 years rather than use an old ringer-washer. And for me, I'd rather replace a few batteries every few years and be able to throw my tools in the tool trailer and know I'll be able to pull up anywhere and go, without stringing out cords and finding outlets.