Citation: Neri, F.; Laschi, A.; Marchi, E.; Marra, E.; Fabiano, F.; Frassinelli, N.; Foderi, C. Use of Battery- vs. Petrol-Powered Chainsaws in Forestry: Comparing Performances on Cutting Time. Forests 2022, 13, 683. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050683 Academic Editor: Raffaele Cavalli Received: 15 March 2022 Accepted: 25 April 2022 Published: 28 April 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Article Use of Battery- vs. Petrol-Powered Chainsaws in Forestry: Comparing Performances on Cutting Time Francesco Neri 1 , Andrea Laschi 2, * , Enrico Marchi 1 , Elena Marra 1 , Fabio Fabiano 1 , Niccolò Frassinelli 1 and Cristiano Foderi 1 1 Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry—DAGRI, University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy; francesco.neri@unifi.it (F.N.); enrico.marchi@unifi.it (E.M.); elena.marra@unifi.it (E.M.); fabio.fabiano@unifi.it (F.F.); niccolo.frassinelli@unifi.it (N.F.); cristiano.foderi@unifi.it (C.F.) 2 Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences—SAAF, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed, 4, 90128 Palermo, Italy * Correspondence: andrea.laschi@unipa.it Abstract: The use of battery tools is very common in many fields of work. In fact, the electric engine and batteries have several advantages over traditional endothermic engines, including low emissions, in terms of pollutants, vibration and noise. In this context, the chainsaw market started producing electric models powered by batteries. These machines can be useful in forestry, but information on their performance is scarce. The aim of this work was to compare the performance, in terms of cutting times, of three Stihl chainsaw models: the MS 220C-B (battery powered), and the MS 201 C-M and MS 261 C-M (both petrol powered). The study was carried out on five different wood species, also taking into consideration the presence/absence of wood defects in the cutting. More than 800 cuts on 15 m × 15 cm wood beams were video recorded, and the cutting times were later obtained to a resolution of 4/100 of a sec, using video-editing software. The results showed a poorer performance of the battery chainsaw than the petrol chainsaws, especially on certain wood species. However, this difference has been reduced when compared with older models. In conclusion, battery chainsaws need some additional improvements to be introduced into forestry, but their high potential is evident. Keywords: forest operations; forestry; cross-cutting; batteries; health and safety 1. Introduction Chainsaws are still the most commonly used tool in tree pruning, felling and tree processing in many areas of the world, and they are also used in several other work sec- tors [1,2]. In fact, chainsaws are used in households and gardens, agriculture, arboriculture, construction, rescue and professional forestry because they are extremely versatile and require little investment [3,4]. Unfortunately, however, chainsaw use has been related to a number of accidents at the workplace and can lead to occupational diseases, in both professional and non-professional areas of work [5,6]. Moreover, motor-manual operations using traditional chainsaws (those with internal combustion engines) expose workers to several hazards, such as noise, hand– arm vibrations (HAVs), exhaust gases and wood dust [7,8]. On the other hand, workers’ exposure to noise, HAVs and exhaust gases are minimised or negated by using cordless electric chainsaws [8–10]. However, the cutting performance of battery-powered chainsaws are commonly con- sidered to be too poor, in terms of cutting speed and battery life, for professional use in forestry. In fact, one battery pack only allows a relatively short cutting time, i.e. about the same of a tankful in petrol chainsaws, and several battery packs would be required for a full working day [9]. For these reasons, petrol-powered chainsaws are currently commonly used in forestry, even though electric and battery-powered models have become Forests 2022, 13, 683. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050683 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests