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MOW & MEADOW

Yard Tools

The tools you buy third and fourth. This is where a platform choice pays off or bites.

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Chainsaw cutting a log in a yard

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These are the tools you buy third and fourth, and they are where a platform decision either pays off or bites. A chainsaw used hard for one afternoon after a storm and then ignored for four months is the worst possible profile for buying a dedicated battery.

Bought bare on a platform you already own, the same tool costs a fraction and runs on a pack that gets cycled regularly rather than ageing at full charge on a shelf all winter. That is the argument this whole section is built around.

It is also the section where runtime is best measured in work done rather than minutes — cuts through a 4x4, not "up to 45 minutes" — and one manufacturer publishes it that way.

In this section

53 pages under Yard Tools. Every recommendation is built from published specifications and arithmetic you can redo — we have not tested these units.

Work per charge beats runtime

The arithmetic — Energy per cut, from published figures
EGO CS1804 chainsaw: 280Wh, up to 300 cuts on a 4x4
280 / 300 = 0.93Wh per cut
EGO PSA1000 pole saw: 140Wh, up to 70 cuts
140 / 70 = 2.0Wh per cut
The pole saw uses roughly twice the energy per cut: a narrow-kerf
chain on a long pole works harder than a saw you can lean into

A minutes figure would tell you nothing here, because most of a chainsaw session is not cutting. Cuts-per-charge lets you plan: 100 cuts of similar stock needs about 93Wh, so a small pack covers it with margin. The chainsaw page works it through.

Check the consumable before you buy the tool

EGO's CS1804 chainsaw uses a 0.050-inch gauge chain. Its PSA1000 pole saw uses a 0.043-inch narrow-kerf chain. Same brand, same battery, two different spare chains that are not interchangeable. If you own both, you need both in the shed.

Chain pitch, gauge and drive-link count decide whether a replacement is a commodity you can buy locally or something you order and wait for — in the middle of a job. The CS1804's 3/8-inch pitch, 0.050-inch gauge, 62-link chain is the most common combination there is. That is worth more than it sounds.

Attachment or dedicated tool

Your situationBuyWhy
Already own a multi-head power headThe attachmentCheapest capable option, runs on packs you own
On the platform, no power headThe combo kitA head that drives three tools earns its place; one bought for a single attachment does not
On a different platformA dedicated tool on your platformDo not buy into a second platform for one tool
One branch, onceNeitherAn afternoon of an arborist's time costs less than a tool you use once

The same logic applies to the edger attachment in the trimmers section. It is the clearest example on the site of a tool whose value depends almost entirely on what you already own.

Pressure washers are the exception

One tool here does not follow the platform logic. Pressure washing is already tethered to a hose, so a power cord is much less of an imposition than it would be on a mower. And the cleaning-power arithmetic is unforgiving:

The arithmetic — Cleaning units = PSI x GPM
Sun Joe SPX3000 (corded): 2030 x 1.2 = 2,436
Greenworks 60V (cordless): 3000 x 2.0 = 6,000
Greenworks 60V in Eco mode: 2200 x 1.0 = 2,200
Run the cordless in Eco to save battery and it falls
slightly BELOW the corded machine that never runs out

That result is only visible because Greenworks publishes real numbers for its Eco mode rather than just naming it. The full comparison is here, including which nozzle does what and the surfaces a pressure washer will happily destroy.

Safety is not a specification

These are the tools in the shed with real injury potential. Two rules are worth stating even though they are not specs: never operate a chainsaw from a ladder — that is what a pole saw is for — and remove the battery before touching a chain, because a cordless tool has no engine that has stopped.