(ET) Using Homelite appliances on Elec-Trak

[Chris Zach <czach computer org>]

Quick status report on using a Homelite chainsaw on an Electrak:

Works fine. The Homelite line of devices are selling on Ebay right now 
for $15-$20 each. They include a pruner, weed whacker, chainsaw, and 
hedge trimmer. I bought the chainsaw on a lark and tried it with the 
Elec-Trak.

The design of the chainsaw is nice, if a bit basic. 10 inch shaft, so 
it's not really that big. Running it on 18 volts (a cable attached to 3 
Elec-trak batteries) made it run somewhat slow. So I tried it with 24 
volts and it seems downright perky.

The trick I think is to use a 50 foot extension cord of 12 or 14 gauge 
wire. This will provide a bit of voltage drop, and keep the device from 
nuking itself. I run it off the back 4 batteries on my tractor, and have 
a 60 amp fuse in series to keep things safe (24 volt DC rated). I'll see 
how it works long-term and report on it. However one can take apart the 
chainsaw, and replace the battery connectors with a nice AMP style DC 
plug with a minimum of body modification.

Still concerned about unbalancing the battery pack, but to be honest I 
don't think you could use them long enough to do much to the pack. These 
devices used a 1ah or so battery pack (12 1.2 volt AA size NiCDs) so 
they are not going to suck down a 100+ah set of T105's unless you're 
running around all day with them (in which case you really need to think 
for awhile about this: These are not heavy duty tools).

But for generic yardwork they look like a nice cheap win.

Chris