No other tool manufacturing company is as diverse as Dewalt, especially with their cordless powertools, the company has successfully rowed in strides. One such cordless powertool is the Dewalt 20V cordless pole saw. The pole saw has an 8 inch bar to help reach even the highest of branches with the 20V cordless saw. The saw or head of the Dewalt pole saw is angled with the bar in such a way that it is set to the left side to help give the user a better line of sight. The pole or bar has a metal bucking strip to help you grip it effectively, it is also equipped with a tree hook to grab any stubborn branches that may linger about on the tree after they have been cut. There’s even a rubberized grip that lets you hold the pole saw in a variety of gripping angles. This all sounds fantastic, but what are the problems with the Dewalt 20V pole saw? Well there’s quite a few, and here they are.
Table of Contents
1. No Grip For Your Free Hand
Although the Dewalt pole saw does have a handle for grip on your most prominent hand. There’s no grip or handle for your free hand. This can make it very hard for you to properly hold the pole saw, sometimes to the point where your free hand begins to slide on the bare part of the pole or bar. This can very well be the most serious problem on this list because the pole saw’s bar might slide off your free hand, causing an imbalance and then charging the saw head directly to you or anyone who might be close to you whilst you’re sawing (assuming that you will be below it.)
Solution
- It would help immensely to wear rubber gloves whilst you’re working with the pole saw. Rubber has great adhesive properties that would help a lot with gripping on your free hand.
- The pole or bar of the Dewalt pole saw is a telescoping bar, which means it can be either elongated or shortened in length at will. You can adjust this pole to suit your needs. The closer you pull the pole’s head to you, the more the pole saw’s center of gravity is moved towards you and the more control you will have over it.
- You can also use a ladder for the hard to reach (or higher up) places, to make sure that you can handle the pole saw easily.
2. Head Is Fixed
The Dewalt pole saw’s head is tilted slightly to the left to provide the user with a greater field of vision. However this tilt on the tip of the bar that connects to the chain saw is not perfect. In fact for some users it is very restrictive because other than the slight tilt, the Dewalt pole saw’s head is in a fixed position. This can become quite a problem for other parts of a tree or bushes you would like to fit the pole saw through but cannot due to its fixed structure.
Solution
- The pole saw comes fixed with the pole and cannot be adjusted. However some pole saw do offer this capability and can be found if some thorough research is done, it is worth knowing that a pole or bar with an adjustable head is more likely to break. Which can be another problem on its own if the saw (head) falls to the ground where you may be.
3. Pole Saw Won’t Start Up
The Dewalt 20V cordless pole saw is battery powered and that description in itself can say a lot about the pole saw. Battery powered powertools are often more problematic than corded powertools, even more severe are when they have mechanisms that need a lot of power to work. Such is the case with the Dewalt pole saw, because it is in essence a small chain saw with a long pole attached to it, the problem may also be coming from the chain. Perhaps due to damage or a loose part that makes the chain hault.
Solution
- When it comes to battery powered tools the most seemingly obvious solution may be the correct one. Check that the battery is fully charged, if not be sure to charge it immediately.
- Make sure that the battery is installed securely into its placing.
- Examine the chain of the pole saw, make sure to remove any damaged or loose parts on it. Tighten any loose parts with an adequate amount of force on the nuts and bolts.
- Remove any debris or objects that may be caught up in the poles saw’s chain.
- Be sure to remove the safety from off the pole saw’s trigger.
- If the pole saw or any other part gets damaged be sure to immediately send it to a Dewalt repair shop.
- Be sure to regularly run a maintenance check on your pole saw, by removing any dust from the openings and so forth, for at least once a week.
4. Pole Saw Isn’t Performing
This problem can be that the Dewalt pole saw is moving too slow or that it is not cutting through branches and the like properly. This is because of how you take care of your pole saw, if the saw isn’t maintained the right way, a lot of problems (like the previous one) can arise and make the pole saw perform weakly or at a suboptimal level.
Solution
- That being said, make sure that the Dewalt pole saw is stored under the right storage conditions. That’s to say, a cool and dry place, with that battery always fully charged.
- When you’re done using the pole saw, be sure to recharge it accordingly.
- You can adjust the tension of the chain on the pole saw, be sure to adjust it accordingly as pertaining to the type of object you’ll be sawing. You can adjust tension by rotating (with a flat screwdriver) the chain tension tension screw sitting on the front of the pole saw’s housing.
- The Dewalt pole saw needs regular lubrication, be sure to do this correctly via the pole saw’s oil reservoir. Use the recommended oil type (which you can find in the Dewalt pole saw’s user manual.)
- Make sure that the pole saw’s air vents are always clean trough out.
- Be sure to also sharpen the teeth on the chain of the pole saw such that the teeth aren’t so blunt that they do not cut .
Conclusion
The Dewalt pole saw is one of a kind, although it has its fair share of technical problems here and there, I cannot help but admire the ingenuity of the entire pole saw. You can do most, if not all, jobs that require tree cutting or just basic pruning and yard maintenance. It puts power back into the hands of the user and essentially that’s what every powertool should do.
