Good Saw

This is a good chainsaw. I have only used it about 3 hours so any reliability or wear issues are moot at this point. The best feature -- trivial but you can see how much bar oil is remaining through the side of the saw.



My first chain saw was an antique McCullouch with a 24 in. bar that weighed about 20 lbs. I learned a lot from it especially that light weight chainsaws are safer than heavy ones.



My second chain saw was a HomeLite E-Z 16" that was recommended by someone who once rented chain saws. It weighed about 10 lbs and cut fire wood for my stove for 15 years. I literally used this saw up but it would still crank and cut wood when I got rid of it.



What I learned from these two saws is that the most dangerous thing to do is to try and cut a limb or log above your head. The saw will fall onto your thigh. The lighter the saw the less likely it is that this will happen in an uncontrolled fashion.



My next saw was a saw that a professional tree cutter took up a 90 foot tree and topped it with the saw supported by his fully extended arm. I won't name the brand because it was a real mess on the ground leaking bar oil all over the place in spite of repeated attempts to have it repaired.



Now I have this Poulan ES-350. I got it because I am too old to go deeper than an extension cord into the woods and I am tired of the hazards and frustration associated with cranking the gas models. The electric is light weight and I have been able to easily saw through 12 in. green maple logs. It isn't as fast at cutting as the above three saws but it is light enough that one can safely cut at extended arm lengths (if one is careful).



A word about chains. The Poulan comes with a "low kick back" chain. I don't know why they make them probably some regulatory-liability thing because no chainsaw is kick-back proof so Beware!. At any rate I have read reviews of the replacement chain for this saw saying the the chains don't last. I have been unable to identify a chain that isn't "low kick back" for this saw so I will use the Poulan replacement chain (after sharpening the original for a year or so). The main reason a chain goes dull is that it hits dirt sand rocks or wet wood. You can feel the sharp edge of a cutter blade just as you can feel the sharp edge of a knife. If it feel smooth instead of "grabbing" your finger it needs sharpening.



A word about extension cords. The hidden cost of this saw is a 100 ft. 14 gauge extension cord (most of the ones you have at home are probably 16 guage - not big enough). This brings the total cost of the saw to around $125 compared to $250 or even $350 for the gasoline saws I mentioned above. I don't recommend the following but I have heard that this saw can run with 150 ft of 14 ga. extension cords. I REALLY don't recommend this but I have heard that the saw can run with a 100 ft. 12 guage cord plugged into the wall and 150 ft. of 14 guage exetension cords plugged into the 12 guage cord. (The longer the cord the more likely you are to cut through it.)



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It is 100 W 0.8 A for 5 minutes only

It is 100 W 0.8 A for 5 minutes only all the rest of the time is 80W 0.65 A. Consider this when buying it.

It is made by a company called XANTREX in china for DURACELL.

On the picture is looking better than actual.More detail ...

Good enough for twigs and leaves -- excellent value

Summary:

Works well for my purposes which include a lot of twigs leaves brush and ½" to ¾" sticks. The mulch produced is much finer than I expected and is really smaller than your typical double-shredded commercial mulch. Assembly took 1½ hours and was pretty straightforward but no thanks to the instructions supplied with the unit. For the price this is a very good unit.



Shipment:

Unit came 2 days after I ordered. Surprised at the speed for free shipping but I noticed Amazon used 2nd day UPS air. I don't know if this was expedited shipping because of the nearness of Xmas but I was very pleased with the timeliness.



Assembly:

Instructions that came with the unit were very sparse and provided very limited illustrations and narrative to help the consumer. A clear and detailed picture or diagram would help a lot.



However after staring at the photo on the box and looking at the various parts that came in the box assembly was simple enough for my son and I (you really need 2 people). Thinking back on it here is the sequence that should be followed (little of this is in the instruction manual):



1. First start with the leg axle and wheel assembly. Look at the axle and you will see two hex bolts with no apparent purpose screwed into the axle: one at each end. These are adjustment blanks that should be moved in order to properly align the leg axle and wheel assembly to accept the body of the shredder. You will notice an empty threaded hole immediately adjacent to these hex bolts each a bit closer to the ends of the axle. Unscrew the hex bolts using the provided hex-key and move them to the adjacent holes that are closer to the end of the axle.

2. Place one wheel on the axle and secure with the supplied large flat washer followed by a cotter pin. Bend the end of the cotter pin around the axle end to secure the wheel. Do not put the other wheel on the axle yet and don't put on the McCulloch wheel covers on either wheel yet.

3. Thread the end of the axle through the opening on one leg (it doesn't matter which one - they are symmetrical) and then use the supplied long hex bolt lock washer and flat washer to loosely secure (hand tighten) the part of the axle closest to the attached wheel against one leg. The lock washer should be placed on the bolt first (closest to the bolt head) followed by the flat washer then thread the bolt through the outer curved part of the leg into the threaded hole in the axle which is closest to the wheel that you put on in step 2.

4. Take the other leg and attach it to the other end of the axle using the remaining long hex bolt lock washer and flat washer -- hand tighten.

5. Take the remaining wheel and secure it on the remaining axle end with the supplied large flat washer followed by a cotter pin. Do not put either wheel cover on until the end (just in case you did something wrong or you aren't quite satisfied with the alignment).

6. Insert the solid aluminum barrels (each with two smooth-bore holes) into the end of the leg axle and wheel assembly that will mate with the shredder body. Line up the barrel holes with the leg holes. This provides strength at the connection point to the body. Put the leg axle and wheel assembly aside for the moment.

7. Now let's work on the body. Using two persons to lift stand the shredder body up on the flat pieces of cardboard supplied in the box. Unscrew the three black plastic-knobbed hand bolts that retain the yellow metal hood onto the black shredder assembly. Remove the yellow metal hood and put it aside. You have now exposed the heads of the four hex bolts used to secure the shredder body to the leg axle and wheel assembly.

8. Using the stronger person to lift place the black shredder assembly over the leg/axle/wheel assembly and line up the two holes on either leg (four holes total) with the four hex bolts on the black shredder assembly. Have your partner guide the bolts through the holes. From the underside secure the bolts using the supplied flat washers followed by lock washers followed by nuts -- hand tighten. Don't put the hood back on yet.

9. Eyeball the entire assembly to see that is aligned vertically and horizontally. Since you only hand-tightened the axle-leg and leg-body hex bolts it is now pretty easy to adjust the alignment by simply moving the body relative to the legs or moving the legs relative to the axle. Don't worry the set-up is pretty sturdy it would be difficult to harm anything by pushing or pulling to gain proper alignment.

10. Once you are satisfied with the alignment tighten the two leg-axle hex bolts and four leg-body bolts using the supplied hex wrench. Use rotation tightening like you would when working on your car. Half tighten bolts on opposite ends then ¾ tighten and then full tighten.

11. Snap on the McCulloch wheel covers on the wheels.

12. Place the yellow metal hood back on top and tighten the black plastic-knobbed hand bolts.

13. Place the black plastic leaf and twig receiving chute on top of the yellow metal hood and line up the five small bolt holes. The ribbed side of the receiving chute should be facing toward the wheels. Insert and tighten the five bolts to secure the chute.

14. Turn off the switch before you plug in the shredder.



Operation:

1. For brush and sticks under ¾" this unit rocks! I am quite pleased how quickly this shredder takes the little stuff and spits out very finely shredded mulch.

2. For brush and sticks 1" to 1½" - be careful! It is very easy to jam this unit by feeding big twigs too quickly. After jamming the unit you need to turn it off unplug it remove the yellow metal hood by undoing the three black plastic-knobbed hand bolts and then clearing the debris from the cutting blades or the large stick feeding tube on the yellow hood. I have found that the best approach is to feed twigs of this size using a feed a little pause a little feed a little pause a little approach. You can actually do this pretty quickly once you get used to what the machine can handle as far as pace.

3. Leaves mixed with sticks seem to shred finer than leaves by themselves through the top chute.

4. Twigs by themselves regardless of size are consumed most quickly through the side feeder tube versus the top chute.More detail ...

Great Products

I was previously using all gas powered yard tools blower hedge trimmer string trimmer great products but loud smelly and sometimes difficult to start. I had been looking at electric powered products to get rid of those trips to the gas station however pulling an electrical cord around my yard did not appeal to me at all. Then i came across this kit on amazon. The Black & Decker is a good one IMO so i took a chance and ordered from amazon.



I have been highly satisfied the battery power last well enough on my 12000 square foot lot. The tool are nice and quiet and i can do my yard work early in the morning without disturbing the neighbors. I must say all 3 products work great for their intended purpose. The bonus IMO is the batter charger mount that can charge all three included batteries at the same time. Also the mountable storage station is great and makes storing the equipment easy. My father came over and was hooked on these and placed an order the next day great products at a great price from amazon what could be better lol.......More detail ...

Better than the rest

I like to do a lot of research before I purchase items like this and I found that Karcher is one of the best brands for pressure washers out there. Spotted this unit on clearance at one of the local wholesale clubs and quickly bought it. I've since cleaned my tractor cars patio and concrete porch with it. Haven't had a chance to clean the house yet but will give that a shot next spring. When I used it on my porch and patio this washer worked great with no detergent necessary. Tried it on my tractor and it worked great there as well. When it came to the cars I'd give it "B". You definitely need a brush attachment or you're just spraying water and soap but even with the brush you're not going get your rims super clean or all of those bug stains off.



I would definitely buy this washer again but here is my wish list if I can change some things. First it would be nice if there was a drain plug for the onboard soap dispenser. There's no good way to empty it now other than use it all up. Second the hose needs to be another 5-10' longer to get around a full size vehicle without having to move the washer. I know a 25' hose is standard for all washers so this is not a criticism against Karcher. Finally the pressure for the soap sprayer seems pretty weak and am concerned that I won't actually be able to use it on my two story house next year.



Having said that I'm still happy with my purchase. The Honda motor starts with one pull all the time...hot or cold. The brass pump is top notch and the quick connects are great. More detail ...

Not Too bad

I have traditionally found that B&D lawn tools are pretty good and this weed wacker works just fine. It trims well the "rotating head action" helps with edging and it is reasonably powerful. I only gave it three stars (I would actually give it two and a half if I could) because 1) It does use a lot of string. I would also suggest wearing long pants when using this thing because the string advances automatically during use and the piece that is cut off goes flying. I got a couple of "wacks" on my legs from this. My daughter got hit once too so keep your kids out of range. I also found that it works better if you buy the replacement spools rather that buying string and winding it up yourself. I consider myself somewhat handy but the line advancement never worked right when I purchased the string seperately (much cheaper) and wrapped it through/around the spool myself. The replacement spools get pricey after a while. Also 2) I think this thing is a bit noisy. Especially when the string advances. It whacks against the string cutter in quite a loud fashion (in my opinion). However it does work and will do the job. I have no need or desire to replace it at this point. However when the time to replace it does come and if improvements are not made I will look hard at other models.More detail ...

Very pleased with the trimmer

I decided to buy this trimmer after reading all the reviews for the Ni-cad one. I was hoping the Li-ion battery would give me extra run time. So far I haven't been able to run it down! I haven't had enough trimming at one time to see how long it will go.



I have a friend that recommended this trimmer (although he has the ni-cad one). I must say that I'm pleased with it. I previously had a 24 volt one from Sears. It was a good trimmer but heavy. The Worx is much lighter. It doesn't have as much power as the Sears but plenty for normal yard work. One of the first things I noticed is that it actually cuts better than my old Sears model. If you're expecting a full blown replacement for a grass trimmer you will probably be disappointed. It doesn't have near that much power. But if you're realistic in your expectations and have normal yard work I think you'll like it. If you go to the Worx web site you can get your string for just the cost of shipping. I ordered six spools and it cost me about $6.00 for the shipping. That's very reasonable in my book. The quality of the unit appears to be very good too. I am very satisfied with my purchase.More detail ...

Nice Unit

The saw comes detached from the pole in the same box. I needed to use it as a pole saw so I attached the saw to the pole with the four philips head screws provided. It took me about 10-15 minutes by myself but it would be much quicker and eaiser if you have a helper.

I filled the chain oiler with oil and pumped it as stated in the directions but it didn't pump any oil out onto the chain. I have a small oil can and just manually put a drop or two on the bar before cutting each branch as desired in the directions. I wanted to use the thing and not wait another week or so for another one.

I trimmed the branches up 17 fir trees in one day to a height of about 12-14 feet high. The pole saw is about 10 feet plus your height is approxamately how high one can reach limbs. I'm an older guy but was able to do this because the pole saw works very fast and most of the branches I was cutting were under 3 1/2 inches in diameter. The motor has adaquate power and did not slow down even on the larger branches I cut.

I would not recommend using the saw separatly from the pole as it lacks safty features of the gas powered ones. So I just shortened the poles length to its shortest setting and cut the downed limbs that way.

I really like this unit and would recommened it to anyone. For the price it is hard to beat.

It may require a long extenion cord to reach your trees but like most electric tools it requires no preperation before storage and it will be ready when you are for the next use.



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cordless or cord

I had my heart set on a cordless but now I am glad I purchased this model. Two things sold me on it. The first was the extra reach. I needed it for some of my bushes that are over six feet high. The second was those hardened blades. I knew they would last longer.

The design and being able to hold it with one hand also helped as did the fact that it could handle thicker branches.

I do not understand the reviewer that needed two passes. For the thicker branches you hold it there and it eventually chews thru them. I comes down to taking your time. The longer blade also makes it easier to shape large bushes.

This hedge trimmer has cut everything I threw at it and hardly missed a beat. It easy to balance with one hand but it does become heavy although still manageable with only one hand.

Like many I was not a fan of B&D products. I bought this because of the combination of features that were not available on other brands. I don't like having to use a cord but that is balanced out by how effective it is in doing it's job. Having the extra power is the tradeoff.

Usually I review every purchase I can on Amazon but this was more of a spur of the moment decision. The current price ($70) plus the free shipping makes Amazon the place to buy it from.

I could not find a better hedge trimmer. This time B&D got it right. Minus one star from not being cordless. More detail ...

Saved our sanity during travel

We bought this to power our laptop and cell chargers while on a road trip to the Grand Canyon. This unit was compact and easily packed in with the laptop. It worked flawlessly and saved our sanity by giving the kids power to "entertain" for some of the less senic drive times. The only minor complaint is the cooling fan it just added a little white noise noticable at less than cruising speeds. On the plus side it also reminded us that it was sucking power when we would shut down the car. Overall we are very pleased with this purchase.More detail ...

Overall very pleased

Received this from Amazon yesterday and have spent the day doing a number of projects with it (driveway vinyl siding engine compartment of a car I am working on etc...). Overall I am very pleased. The pressure is pretty impressive for an electric unit and the nozzle allows for easy adjustment of the stream width.



The quality of the device is similar to what you would get from a residential vacuum cleaner which means that it seems like it will hold up ok but there are parts that could easily be broken if you were careless. The water input is probably the most likely thing to break as it is plastic and someone tripping over the hose could break it off. Also you have to push pretty hard the first time or two to get the quick-connect to catch. That said for a non-commercial unit it is not bad at all and seems as good as anything else in the price range if not better.



The biggest complaint I have is with the instruction manual. It tells you nothing. I could not figure out how to get the detergent dispenser to work and called their customer service number. I mentally prepared myself for the multiple phone prompts and broken english but I was pleasantly suprised as person with an American accent picked up the phone immediately was friendly and had the information to help me (the detergent only works on low pressure - again something that should be in the manual but isn't).



If you are looking for an inexpensive around-the-house pressure washer and need something a little more powerful than the baseline units this one would be a good consideration.More detail ...

Very decent for basic use

I think this is perfect for someone who really:
1) dislikes the noise and smell of the gas trimmers
2) wants something fairly light
3) does not want a cord to always worry about
4) already has firestorm or B&D 18 volt products (batteries are interchangeable)

I have used all 3 types of trimmers gas 120 wired and this cordless one and I have to say the convenience is great. Instant on with a press of the switch is great. The plastic is a bit cheap feeling but it seems to do the work. I think it could've been much better constructed but the battery life is pretty impressive and the speed/torque of the trimmer is also pretty impressive on a well grown/groomed lawn. It did have a bit of trouble instantly tackling a thick busy section of grass but after going over it 2-3 passes...it took care of it. This same spot has given me trouble even with the corded 120 volt version from Toro so this was expected. The gas one I had chewed through it easily but that's gas...

I think for light to moderate work it's fine. If you have thorny and thick undergrowth or even small plants with a fibrous stem it'll take more work to get down than a gas.

Oh..if you even TRY to 'bump and feed' this unit you will find the spool falls off VERY easily with a solid thump to the bottom (THAT was a pain in the as* as it flew off and unwound a ton of filament that I had to rewind by hand and figure out how to put it back on!

If you have 18 volt black and decker goods like I do then you'll REALLY like having the two extra batteries and one extra charger. I have 4 batteries and 2 chargers amongst all the goodies now so I know i'll always have more than enough juice for anything around the house.

I would vote 5 stars but the plastic has a cheapy feel.More detail ...

Powers a large Karaoke machine for five+ hours

I needed a powerful but sealed power-pack (sealed battery + converter) for poolside use to power a large 110-volt karaoke machine for five hours a day. The Xatrex 1500 is the only power-pack I've found that meets this requirement.



It was a pleasant surprise to find that the wheels have rubber rather than (noisy) plastic treads.



The first 1500 stopped working with a bang after two hours. When I phoned the Xantrex company the technician I soon was talking to quickly concluded that my 1500 had malfunctioned and recommended that I return it. I was pleased with this candor. The second 1500 has worked for about a month now.



Not obvious is that the 1500 has a small storage cabinet in which I store an extension cord.



Both 1500s arrived undamaged. A disclaimer is that I bought my 1500s from costo-dot-comm which is relevant because perhaps Costco uses different packaging for shipping.



The "large karaoke machine" is a MegaStar CM-K1100 and its average draw has been 30-something watts.



9/18/06 Update: Around July the charge time dropped to under four hours. When I called Xantrex the technician told me that battery life is about 200 charges.More detail ...