Electric Tools
Where electric tools genuinely earn their place in our kit, and where petrol still wins.
Why We Choose Electric Tools
Hedge trimmers are where electric genuinely wins for us, quieter, no fumes, and we reach for them on most hedge cutting jobs now.
Chainsaws are a different story. We do carry a battery chainsaw, useful for a night emergency call-out where the noise and the fumes of a petrol saw matter more, or for a quick job where getting a petrol saw running isn’t worth the hassle. But for most tree work, petrol chainsaws still do the job, they’re lighter to swing all day and the power’s simply there in a way battery hasn’t quite caught up to yet, especially on anything substantial.
Why the Noise Difference Actually Matters
A lot of our work is on residential streets, close to windows, driveways and neighbouring gardens, not out in a field. Starting a petrol hedge trimmer at 8am next to someone’s bedroom window isn’t a great way to begin a job, and it’s the neighbours who notice as much as the client. Electric trimmers cut that right down, no engine roar, no fumes drifting over a fence, and we can get started earlier without it being a problem.
It’s a smaller thing on a chainsaw job since most tree work isn’t happening right outside a window in the same way, which is part of why we haven’t made the same switch there yet. Noise at work is also something we take seriously for our own team, not just neighbours, the HSE’s guidance on noise at work is part of why we’re moving toward quieter tools wherever the power trade-off makes sense.
Common Questions
Do you use electric tools on every job?
No. Hedge trimmers, yes, most of the time. Chainsaws, not usually, petrol still does most of our tree work, with a battery saw kept for emergencies where the noise or fumes matter more than raw power.
Will an electric hedge trimmer do as good a job as petrol?
For the hedges we’re cutting, yes. Where it struggles is on very thick, overgrown growth that’s been left for years, that’s more of a job for a petrol trimmer or saw first, then electric to tidy up and maintain from there.
Are you planning to switch chainsaws to electric eventually?
Possibly, as battery technology improves. Right now the power and runtime on a petrol saw still beats what’s available in battery for a full day of tree work, so it’s not something we’d switch for the sake of it before it’s actually ready. We keep an eye on new models as they come out and test the ones that look genuinely capable, rather than switching on a promise.
This Sits Alongside Our Wider Green Promise
Using electric tools is one part of our Green Promise, alongside our Treeapp partnership, which funds a new tree for every job we complete. Get in touch if you’ve got questions about how we work.
