It’s been a while since I noted much other than garden making here, but this has always been the weblog of Peter Donegan who makes gardens for a loving living.
Plants and gardens slightly aside, I guess I have Dad to thank for my other love of the great outdoors and he would have had us in the cubs and scouts from around the age of 5 or so; a love I guess that has never ever left me.
And though I may have a penchant for the extreme outdoors, when it comes to others in my company, it should never be about endurance testing or wild camping. That said, prepared rightly, there is no better way to see the very beautiful natural landscape of Ireland than sleeping right next to it.
Peter Donegan very happily makes fine gardens for a living.
No better man to put something like this to test.
And so:
The following are my thoughts on the Bosch AKE 30Li
Full review, video and images below.
What Is It:
A cordless battery-powered chainsaw.
Before I Get Started:
I was testing this in my own back garden; and under normal circumstances I’d have worn all of the proper chainsaw safety gear – which I totally recommend you do. That said it literally arrived by courier, I phoned my mate Phil and we decided to give it good once over there and then. This is not a Bosch video. It is a Peter Donegan video, made on an iphone, in my own back garden.
I Should Also Add:
As previously noted, I had heard about the Bosch AXT 25TC from my mate and neighbour Phil. I met the Bosch team at Bloom where we recorded a yet to air Sodshow interview. I later paid for and purchased the AXT 25TC.
Weeks later I had a sort of “ye know what I’d love to get my hands on…” type chat with Phil. I asked the lads at Bosch could we road test some other stuff, and they obliged. As noted above, I do not sell chainsaws for a living. Peter Donegan and since 2001, Donegan Landscaping is an award-winning landscape design and garden making practice. Back to it….
What Is The Difference Between It and Other Chainsaws:
It does not take a two-stroke/ petrol mix, as conventional chainsaws would nor does it does not require an extension lead as usual electric chainsaws would. It does however need chain oil.
Good Things About It:
I never bothered reading the instructions and pieced this together in around 2/ 3 minutes. It’ll take longer to recharge the 36v battery of which I should note the ‘how much it has already been recharged’ indicator is, watched kettles boiling department in mind, a pretty nifty addition. As is the chain oil level indicator visible on the outer. Further….
In adjusting the chain, you do not need a socket. Very handy for when you’re up a tree. It is around the same size as a small surgeons saw, pretty lightweight and actually quite a smart piece of kit. I like the fact that you just push the button and it starts – which sort of reminds of the first time I saw a BMW started by pushing a button; as versus by key turn. Or in tree cutting terms – no goofing around with a choke start. Kind of, hard to get my head ’round that still.
What Kind Of Euro’s Are We Talking:
Take a deep breath – SSP €599.99 (inc vat) with battery and charger.
How Good Is it:
The video shows what it can do much better but, we really did try to test this to the max and ran it for about an hour thinning out a fairly scraggy boundary hedgerow. In fairness to it, it was well able to take all that we threw at it. Fair to say I was very pleasantly surprised.
Would I Recommend It:
The usual thing that happens in conventional chainsaws is that some forget [?] to put in the 2 stroke mix and just add straight petrol – which irrespective of cost and age will destroy any decent saw/ investment. Add to that the last saw I looked at of around the same size was around the euro 550 price range. In a case where I don’t take down trees every day for a living (I design and build gardens) but owning a chainsaw is still an essential, then I guess yes is the answer, professional landscaping and my own garden in mind. Further….
It is well able to compete with its counterparts of the commercial market and If you own a wood stove burner and/ or a garden like I do of about an acre, where a) hedgerows need to be managed b) trees require thinning/ pruning/ removal c) logging is essential for winter fuel – then you’ll probably like this little beauty, a lot.
In A Nutshell:
Having only ever used two stroke conventional versions all of my life, it is tough for even this petrol head to type it, but having got my hands on it The Bosch AKE 30Li I can only but recommend it as a genius piece of kit for both domestic and commercial use.
I do not sell Karcher products or repair them. In short, I make gardens. Karcher did not give me kit to try out for them. I simply had one of them days, plural, where it would have been easier to deliver a baby rhino instead of trying to figure out how to get my power washer back to work.
I also thought that this might just help some other brother [or sister] out.
Comment box below an’ all that. Or twitter is grand. Nice one
x Peter
I don’t own one of these but, this is the the Hartnett/ Hart Tools Log Horse. In short it is a sound investment for anyone who has ever tried to cut rough heavy timber, pardon the pun single handed. The video shows how it works pretty well but, you’ll get a better idea also from the images below.
Hart Tools are as a by the way, the same makers of the 7 tonne log splitter and are based in Cork.
Vital stats:
Extremely strong for individual big logs or many small logs being cut together.
Comes with a spring and chain tensioning system that holds the log/s in place while cutting.
This new spring and chain tensioning system allows the operator to mount 1 big log or 3/4 thinner logs and cut them all in one go without having to reposition them. (see demo video)
Can be assembled and dismantled in minutes.
An optional extension for very long logs can also be supplied.
also they note:
This can be packaged and delivered by courier anywhere in Ireland.
Payment options: Paypal, Post, COD
Contact John Hartnett anytime: 087 2538320 / 021 7337081
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