Oregon CS1500 18-inch 15 Amp Electric Chainsaw Review

Oregon CS1500 is a very inexpensive yet hugely popular corded electric chainsaw. Can an electric chainsaw, let alone this cheap be really that good?

Specs

Oregon CS1500 has 18-inch guide bar and PowerSharp chain. It’s powered by 15-amp 1800 Watt motor. Chain pitch is 3/8” and chain gauge 0.050″. At no load chain moves 48.1 ft/s – almost twice as fast compared to DEWALT DCCS620P1 which is currently best selling battery powered chainsaw in North America.

Cutting performance

Oregon CS1500 is powerful and cuts very well. Maybe your STIHL or Husky gas chainsaw is a bit more powerful and cuts a bit faster but Oregon CS1500 isn’t that far from them in terms of performance and that’s really impressive for electric chainsaw.

It cuts well through all kinds of wood hardwoods included. 12, 16 or 20 inch diameter logs – it cuts through them all well. Chain is sharp too.

Don’t force Oregon CS1500 into wood and let it do its job. It has electric motor which doesn’t respond well to unnecessary load (overloading the motor by forcing the chainsaw into wood can burn it out). Use your equipment with care and it will last.

Lubri-Tec oiling system

Oregon CS1500 features Lubri-Tec automatic oiling system. I would usually write about automatic oiling system in the feature subsection however because many consumers that haven’t thoroughly read manual before using their Oregon CS1500 chainsaw end up damaging it and it’s usually because they didn’t properly prepare the oiling system before using the chainsaw I have decided to devote a separate subsection for oiling system and preparation of it.

According to the manual before you start cutting wood you must make sure oiler is working properly. You have to add oil to the oil reservoir, then take off side cover by twisting side cover release knob counterclockwise and remove chain and bar. Then you run the motor with gear spinning until oil starts to come out of the port. Only then you can put back on chain, bar and side cover and start cutting wood with Oregon CS1500.

Once you have done this and are about to cut you can do a second check. Place the tip of the bar near to the wood you are about to cut and run it at full speed – it the oiler is working properly you will see some oil splatter on wood, if that doesn’t happen then oiler isn’t working and you probably did something wrong.

If the bar and chain aren’t properly lubed the parts are likely to melt due to heat caused by friction and the chain won’t keep its tension as well. This is why it’s very vital to make sure they are properly oiled.

If we are talking about oiling then one thing must be mentioned – this chainsaw seems to use more oil than usual.

When you buy some kind of device you can usually get away with not reading the manual but I would highly recommend you do if you decide to purchase Oregon CS1500.

Features

I won’t gloss over previously mentioned features but Oregon CS1500 has one pretty interesting feature – Powersharp integrated sharpening system. When the chain becomes dull you can sharpen it by running chainsaw at full speed and (lightly without using much force) lifting PowerSharp lever for 3-5 seconds. Cutters will make contact with sharpening stone and you will see sparks coming out. Does this feature work? Yes it does and surprisingly well.

Other features include tool-less chain tensioning system which works well and is simple to use and of course a chain brake too, however once you depress the power trigger the chain is immediately stopped as well.

Oregon CS1500 is CARB compliant.

Cord

Oregon CS1500 is a cord powered chainsaw and it doesn’t come with one so unless you already have appropriate one you will need to purchase it too.

Cords with length of up to 50 feet should have AWG (gauge) rating of no more than 14, whereas cords of length up to 100 feet – no more than 12 AWG.

Since it’s cord powered chainsaw you are limited by the availability of power outlets nearby unless you have portable generator or portable power station with outlet.

Ergonomics

Oregon CS1500 fully assembled (with bar and chain) weighs 12.6 pounds or 5.7 kilograms. Although it’s not heavy compared to gas chainsaws it’s heavier than most electric ones. Despite that ergonomics are good, it’s comfortable to use and easy to handle.

─── Related Article: Best Electric Chainsaws (click here to read) ───

Advantages of electric chainsaw

Oregon CS1500 might be a bit less powerful than some gas chainsaws which cost more even when you factor in the cost of the cord but being electric unit it makes up for it with other advantages. You don’t have to breath fumes or experience trouble starting up, you don’t have to mix oil and gas or warm up your unit. You can take a pause simply by releasing the power trigger, you don’t have to leave your tool idling or turn it off only to restart it later, once you are ready to work again it’s already ready with just a push of a button.

Electric chainsaws usually weight significantly less and are a lot quieter than gas ones. This is only partially true with Oregon CS1500 as it’s still rather loud and is maybe a tad lighter than gas chainsaws (and significantly heavier than most electric).

Conclusions

For the money Oregon CS1500 is amazing chainsaw. It’s quite powerful, cuts well, has many useful features and is comfortable to use. Biggest drawback of Oregon CS1500 chainsaw is that you need a power outlet nearby to use it but if there isn’t one there are solutions for that too (portable generators or portable power stations with outlets).

Is this a chainsaw for everyone? No, especially if we talk about commercial use, but it offers everything most homeowners will ever need.

Oregon CS1500 18-inch 15 Amp Electric Chainsaw Details/Specs:

• Type: Electric (Corded)
• Bar Length: 18 inches (45.7 cm)
• Voltage: 120 VAC ~60 Hz
• Amperage: 15 Amps
• Power: 1800 Watts
• No-load chain speed: 48.1 ft/s (14.7 m/s)
• Chain pitch: 3/8”
• Chain gauge: 0.050”
• Drive sprocket teeth: 6
• Effective cutting length: 17 inches (43 cm)
• Oil capacity: 4.7 oz (140 ml)
• Weight:
  • Assembled dry weight: 12.6 lb (5.7 kg)
  • Dry weight without bar and chain: 10.6 lb (4.8 kg)