BLACK+DECKER 20V MAX Cordless Chainsaw with Lithium Battery 2.0 Amp Hour (LCS1020B & LBXR2020-OPE)

I love this little chainsaw! Its not super expensive, the batteries last decent for this unit. Great controls, design, bar chain oil functions, chain tightening control, has bar sheath, cuts great. The build quality is great. Have another one of these I used for couple years at home. Got another one for cutting wood in other locations. Its only a 10 inch bar, but works great for smaller pieces of wood. I would only buy Black and Decker batteries for it though. The knockoff batteries suck!

Last week, I hired a tree surgeon to cut down an elm tree (30 foot tall, 16 inch trunk at base) close to the house in the front yard, leaving the material as it fell in order to save a couple of hundred bucks on the job by doing the haul off myself. Since my gas powered Stihl had been stolen earlier this year, and thus being chain saw poor at the moment, I decided to order the Black & Decker LCS1020 20V Max Lithium Ion Chainsaw, 10-Inch for this job. I had previously purchased a B&D 20V drill, and had been impressed with its performance using a 1.2 Amp Hour battery, and since I thought it would be nice to have a smaller chain saw on han for odd jobs, pruning, and such, I figured I couldn't go wrong with the purchase of the LCS1020. I am glad to say that I didn't go wrong with this purchase..........I wish I would have bought this a long time ago!!! It took me about 5 1/2 hours to do the job outlined above, making what I would estimate to be around 100 cuts tota , and a total cutting time of about 30-40 minutes on q single full charge of the saw's 2.0 Amp Hour battery (supplied with the saw). I almost finished the job in totalnwith just the one battery charge, but alas, it abandoned me at the end. But then, I simply hooked up the other battery I had on hand (1.2 Amp Hour), and used it for another 5 minutes of cutting time to finish off the job, with the smaller battery still have a lot of charge left to it. Now, the largest size cuts that I was made were small, the biggest being 4-5 inches in diameter, I could tell that the LCS1020 would have been up to the task, but likely without as much battery life time. The light weight of the LCS1020 at 7.2 pounds definitely made the job easier; my other saw at twice the weight would have wore me out! Other things I liked about the LCS1020 were 1) the tool-less chain tensioning mechanism was very easy and held very tight, and 2) the optional notes to use plain vegetable cooking oil for the bar lube that was stated in the instructions. They recommend the option of using vegetable oil as the lubricant especially for use with pruning off limbs from live trees. I went with the vegetable oil largely because I couldn't find my regular chain lube in the garage, and it worked quite well. It does make sense that it would likely be a little more environmentally friendly, I suspect. The manual priming for the lubricant worked well, but I must confess that I wish that it had automatic oiling. Eventually I will wind up replacing my larger Stihl that was stolen, but I am definitely going to hold off on that until I had a definite need for it. I think the LCS1020 will satisfy all the planned needs I have for a chain saw in the coming future. My days of cutting down trees for firewood and blazing 4 wheeler trails through the woods have long since passed to my youth! Updated on 3/22/15: Still quite pleased with the LCS1020. Last weekend I had the chance to use the LCS1020 for the second time, taking care of tree branches that fell from a recent ice storm. Prior to starting the job, decided to do a quick sharpening touch up on the saw, and realized I did not have the correct specified size file for sharpening, which is 4.5 mm. I did have a 5 mm file, used it, and it seemed to do the trick nicely and I got the job done with no problems, but I will get the correct size file soon. I have used Oregon's file guide previously, and it works well to maintain correct angles. For the LCS1020, the correct 4.5 mm size file is found in their produt number 31692 at http://smile.amazon.com/Oregon-4-5mm-Chain-Filing-31692/dp/B0002VFEYE/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1427062221&sr=1-1&keywords=oregon+31692

I was amazed how much power this thing has -- from a battery pack. I like the power, the weight, the balance, the feel, and the functionality of this saw. The only thing I can say I don't love, and it's not a huge problem, is when I cut into a larger piece of wood, the saw really seems to throw the chips and pull the wood into the housing on the front of the saw. I'm used to gas chainsaws that have the "steel fingers" that come out from the front of the saw to grip the log while it is being cut. I think this saw was created for the casual user moreso than the lumberjack, so the designers probably decided if a person wanted a heavier-duty saw, they would buy one, which I have. This saw is really good for trimming up small pieces of firewood, for example: I cut some firewood for my woodstove, and I neglected to trim a small branch off of a piece of wood, and that piece won't fit into the stove unless I cut it off. This saw to the rescue! Just put a battery in it, check the chain tightness (easy with the adjusting wheel) check the bar oil, and away we go. Actually, if I had already done the checks at the beginning of the day, I would just pick it up and use it. I have not used up an entire Lithium 20vMax battery in one sitting with this saw, so I cannot say for sure how long a battery lasts, but I will say I made numerous small cuts and still had plenty of battery. I will report back if I have any problems. I believe B&D now has a 40v chainsaw, and I imagine that is an absolute beast... One thing I haven't done yet is to try to cut framing lumber with this saw. I may attempt to cut some 2x4s or similar with this. I imagine it would be a much rougher cut than using a chop saw or sliding circular saw, but it could be a quick fix to trim down an area where cosmetically the cut is not a big deal. I think I gave about $125 for this saw (with a battery worth $45ish included), so it was no-brainer for me. I use this saw primarily out at my cabin as I mentioned above to trim pieces of wood so they fit better into the woodstove. If you have an occasional use for this saw, or small branches to trim around your property, and especially if you already have some 20vMax devices, I believe this is a good buy. UPDATE 2/21/16: I am changing my rating from 5 stars down to 4 stars. After just a little bit of use, say 5 minutes, the chain loosens up on my saw, and I have to stop an re-tighten it. I'm hoping this is just the case with my saw. I have not read any other reviews recently to check. Overall, still a great little 20v saw, and a decent price. No other complaints at this time.

This little chainsaw has worked very well for for 7 years now. I've used it mostly for small (15' to 20' ) trees or limbs that are blown down in storms. It has handled everything I've asked of it. The trick is you need to be patient and let it do its job. It is not a high power gas driven monster and if you treat it like it is, you will be disappointed. This is easy to handle and has a trigger guard, similar to most power cutting tool, to protect against unwanted starts. The batteries match with all my Black & Decker tools so I'm never running out of power and having to wait for recharging time. This tool has truly paid for itself and I consider it a "good buy".

I'm 74 years old, male, retired Engineer - got a bad back. I bought the 10" chain saw. I'd buy this chain saw again. It's 'no toy'. I bought this chain say exactly a month ago. I have found it to be reliable, maneuverable -as a chain saw can be. It's lightweight enough to not be tiring. Follow direction to let the chain saw cut by its own weight and it makes a pile of wood shavings almost as fast as its gasoline-powered, big brothers. = = = = = = = = = I like it. I just finished dropping a dead, 30'-35 foot tree in my front yard. I just measured the base of the dead tree at 34" across just now. The old tree had 4 major branches ranging from 14" to 16" in diameter. Now it took a month to cut all the branches off and then drop the stump. But I followed the directions Black and Decker provide on how to properly drop a big tree - followed them, and dropped all four 25'-30' branches within inches of fencing ... in a tight, front yard. "Nice directions ... but I used a rope to guide the drop. What do I wish I would change: Well, I should have bought the 10" electric chain saws bigger brother ... the 12" blade saw. But I'm retired, on a tight SS budget. The battery that operates this chain saw is great. The battery is not underpowered. It "Cuts". The chainsaw's chain has stayed 'shart' all this cutting. But, I wish that I got more than 45 minutes worth of cutting out of a battery charge. (Should have bought a spare battery.) It takes quite a while waiting to recharge a battery, to cut again on a big project such as this. Surprise: The battery takes right at 5-1/2 - 6 hours to recharge. The battery also appears to have an internal heat sensor within it. It won't immediately recharge ... gives a red, blinking warning light upon the transformer. I put it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes - to cool it down. Then it's fine. Blinking, green light on the transformer as it charges. For one battery charge - I can cut about a child's wagon worth of wood chunks ... out of the trunk; or two wagon-loads of wood if it is small-medium branches. I went and bought a 2-1/2" mason chisel...then cut 3" deep horizontal/sectional cuts into the trunk ... to start getting the trunk down to ground level. (Another good investment ... that mason chisel and a hammer.) Overall though, I'm really happy with my chain saw. It's done what I asked it to do ... even taking 9" deep cuts into that tree, without binding the chain.

The saw is slightly rugged, easy to use, and it works very well on cutting thick dry wood. I love that it isnt noisy like its petrol powered cousins! I used corn oil in the lubricant tank and it works great, is cheap, readily available at the grocery store, and environmentally friendly. You need to know that this thing leaks like crazy so set it down on a piece of cardboard because it will leak oil! BTW, it's supposed to leak oil since the oil goes to the chain not the motor. The safety devices are good and read & follow the safety instructions, this thing will kick back on you and the chain will change your face if you let it. The battery works with other 20v tools from B&D but it is likely the first thing to break since the batteries ARE NOT RUGGED, so be careful to not crack the battery casing using this saw. It is an excellent tool for the residential once-in-a-while use by a dandy dad trying to clean up the yard. It has very good battery life but slows noticeably before powers out so be sure to have a charged battery to replace the one in the saw if you have a medium sized job to be done. No need to wear a flannel shirt while using this one but it does make it more fun.

First off let me say that I am in no way, shape or form a professional. I just managed to purchase a home with land that had been neglected for decades at a time, so I am left having to bring it back to its former glory. I currently own a 12” Husqvarna saw, and in the past had an older Stihl 021. This saw seems to cut nearly as well as my Husky, and with much less noise, and no thrown out backs due to pulling on a starter cord. I personally did a few modifications to the saw to make it perform slightly better. First was cutting some plastic to allow it to work with my Porter Cable 20v batteries, however you only have to modify it to accept the 4.0 packs, the 2.0, 1.5 and 1.2 amp hour packs will all fit without modifying the saw. Next I cut off some of the plastic at the bottom of the chain guard, this area had a “lip” that stuck out towards the body of the saw by approximately half an inch. My guess is that this portion of plastic was added for safety, but all it ends of doing is getting the wood chips stuck inside the chain cover. After removing it the chips essentially never get stuck. Lastly, and this requires taking the entire saw apart, was to drill out the nipple that the oil tank hose attaches to on the body of the saw. I removed the hose and drilled the plastic nipple out with a 1/16” drill bit, you might be able to enlarge it even more however even at 1/16” there wasn’t much plastic left. After doing this the saw now oils like it should! A few primes is usually just right, and I now find that five or more pumps is often way too much oil. Definitely a recommended mod if you are confident in taking out some screws, and using a drill. You could in theory also buy the oil pump out of the Black and Decker LCs1240 chainsaw, which is essentially this saw with 40V, and auto oiling. Our saw even has a spot for it, they just decided to skip out on installing it. I thought about doing it myself but have been unable to find a oil pump online. All in all, the saw does what I need it to. It’s convenient for doing work on ladders, or in trees as the tool is fairly light and compact. It has a decent amount of power, however it would be nice if the chain had a slightly faster speed, would eliminate some of the “skipping” some have complained about. The saw has a decent run time with my 4.0 Amp Hour battery packs, and is all around just a great tool, especially considering the cost.

This saw just doesn't have the power like an electric 10" pole saw I have, it run twice a fast. Disappointed have tried new battery, but cordless does not work for me I was trying to do 5-7 inch limbs and it just doesn't have the power. Small little branch ok but I don't recommend much over 3"-4" limbs