77 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent first impressions, 1 April 2009
This review is from: Bosch AKE 40-19 S Chainsaw (40 cm Bar Length) (DIY & Tools)
First impressions from cutting down one fifteen foot high laurel bush/tree are excellent.
It's lighter than a petrol chainsaw, and cuts through wood like butter.
The disadvantage is that you have a cable which you have keep moving so you don't cut through it!
Also it was annoying that the box comes with only enough oil to fill the reservoir to the empty level !!! I had to go and buy a litre from B&Q before I could start.
However all in all it seems to have been a good purchase at a competitive price.
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Much better than other makes - UPDATED, 15 Feb 2010
This review is from: Bosch AKE 40-19 S Chainsaw (40 cm Bar Length) (DIY & Tools)
ORIGINAL REVIEW
===============
This is the second chainsaw that I have owned and it is certainly a much better tool that my previous JCB model that had a similar specification.
Although it weighs a couple of kilograms, it is nicely balanced and, as a result, feels much lighter than it actual is.
Assembly was a tad tricky, but nothing difficult - it's just you need to take a bit of care lining up everything. It is useful that no tools are needed to assemble it, nor to adjust the chain when using it (unplug from the main first!).
In terms of cutting performance, I have used it to remove a bough off a tree in the garden that was about 12 inches in diameter, and it had absolutely no trouble whatsoever on this. Turning it into logs for the fire was also very fast and easy. The real beauty was the lack of kickback which made handling it feel very safe.
As other reviewers have mentioned, it is worth ordering some more oil Bosch Chainsaw Oil - Biodegradable (1 litre) (you only get enough to just get up to the minimum mark with the supplied pack) and a spare blade
Bosch 1.1mm Saw Chain for AKE 40/AKE 40-17S / AKE 40-18S Chainsaws ordered now will save you the hassle when you finally blunt the blade (much cheaper and easier that trying to do the sharpening yourself - not recommended).
All the normal caveats apply with usage of chainsaw (protective clothing, etc.) - just be sensible.
Final summary: This is yet another quality garden product from Bosch and, although it is a touch more expensive than other brands, the difference is really worth it.
A well deserved 5 stars.
LONG TERM TEST UPDATE
=====================
I felt it was worth updating this review now that I have had a chance to really use this chainsaw in many different environments.
I'm happy to report that my first impressions were right and this is still an excellent chainsaw. Easy to use, fast cutting and very little in the way of kick-back.
My previous JCB chainsaw packed up when the oiler stopped working - this one seems to be both almost immune from clogging (but do check and cleanout the hole every so often) and to check it is working (put a piece of paper on the ground in front of you, run the saw for a few seconds and you should see a very fine spray pattern of oil in the straight line on the paper).
Still highly recommended and still worth the full 5 stars.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Strong product but shame about the plastic tightening cover, 4 April 2011
This review is from: Bosch AKE 40-19 S Chainsaw (40 cm Bar Length) (DIY & Tools)
I've bought lots of Bosch products over the years and have always found them to be well designed & robust as well as competitively priced so I thought I'd give this electric one a go. I've used petrol chainsaws in the past and found them to be very powerful cutters but noisy, smelly and heavy to use as well as a bugger to start! Great for heavy cutting but overkill for the smaller jobs. As a regular chainsaw user I am well aware of the need to fit the chain the right way round, to keep chain & bar well oiled and the chain correctly tensioned against the bar so I thought the Bosch locking and tensioning system on this one would be fine. How wrong I was. Having followed the instructions to the letter I cut a few logs, left it for about 5 minutes for the chain & bar to cool, re-tensioned the chain and locked it off, I started to cut some more logs and the plastic cover broke around the location slot. Before you could say 'Bosch' the chain went instantly slack, jumped off the bar and mashed the inside of the cover. That was the end of that. The product generally looks strong and well built but the Plastic Cover is definitly it's achilles heel. If Bosch replaced the plastic cover with a pressed steel one, it would probably be safer and last a lifetime.. not 10 minutes as in my case!
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