Black & Decker Alligator Lopper 4.5-AMP Electric Chain Saw #LP1000
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend The Alligator Lopper's wide 4-inch jaw capacity easily chews through small trunks and logs. Because the Alligator Lopper cuts side-to-side instead of up and down, the chain won't bury itself in the ground when the cut is completed -- saving wear and tear on the cutting surface. The Alligator Lopper's controlled, smooth cutting action makes clean-up from storms or simple pruning easy, safe, and fast. Black & Decker's… Product details and pricing info |
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226 Customer Reviews Posted
- Nearly perfect for the job
- I've owned one of these babies for nearly two years and have made many hundreds of cuts with it. Mostly I cut tan oak, madrone and some redwood. I'm stunned by the bad reviews here. I don't know what the complainers expect. I've never had the chain jump off and although the chain has bumped the guards a few times because of the way I was putting pressure sideways against my work piece this has been a minor issue and hasn't dulled the blade. I've never sharpened the blade once and it's still sharp because it's never cut into the dirt or a rock due to the design of the jaws. I cut about 5 cords of wood a year, mostly with my trusty Husqvarna gas saw. However, I have lots and lots of small branches 4" and under to cut up, some of them quite long. They are big enough for firewood but too small to safely cut up with the gas saw. Enter the Alligator. Now I can easily and safely cut up this smaller wood without the work piece spinning or otherwise getting out of control. It can be dangerous dealing with the small stuff. The Alligator makes it safe. The blade did stretch some after a hundred or so cuts and I had to retension it, but I think I only have done that once and I've cut up mountains of seasoned wood. The chips easily clear themselves so I don't know what those complaints are about either. I have had small chunks of wood jam the blade a few times but that can happen with any chainsaw. This is a very trouble free saw!
I've only given four stars because it is a somewhat awkward tool to use because of its size and weight, takes some getting used to, and the oiler completely sucks. This tool deserves a better oiler by far. The oil bottle included automatically closes itself when you try to oil the tool! Who thinks of these things? Do the engineers actually try out the tools themselves? Also, it would be nice if there was a device to clamp the extension cord to the tool so it wasn't constantly falling out. I did purchase a clamping device at Harbor Freight real cheap, but it should be built into the Alligator cord. Shame on all these electric tool manufacturers for not thinking of that.
Extra points to Black and Decker for including vegetable oil as chain lube and for suggesting the customer use vegetable oil. I now use veggie oil in my gas saws as well. Cheaper and environmentally better than petroleum.
It's a great tool but I have to buy a new one. See, I cut down a tree with the Husky and it fell on the Alligator and broke the case. It looks like enough of a hassle to dismantle I imagine it will cost as much to repair as buying a new one. I'll try to get it repaired anyway and then I'll have a backup.
Great tool at a great price. By the way, I don't recommend it, but I've made quite a few cuts through ten inch logs with my Alligator. You have to roll the log to do it and I'm sure Black and Decker would never suggest it, but it easily cuts through seasoned wood as long as you don't push it too hard. Overheating of the motor could easily happen by overworking it so let it cool down if it seems to be getting hot.
Thanks for reading. - 2008-09-26, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- I love it!
- i bought this for my husband for his birthday and while he wasn't thrilled that I was giving him a hint to do some yardwork, he did use it and has come to LOVE it! In fact, he was a bit overzealous with the pruning in one area in my yard - he sawed some of my favorite bushes down to nothing. Once you start, you can't stop and it really makes a large branch/small tree pruning job so much easier. I am reluctant to use heavy gas powered garden tools, myself, and prefer electricfor the light weight. I would definitely recommend this.
- 2008-09-08, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Does The Trick
- I had a lot of overgrown, tall bushes around my house. They were impossible to trim, without a ladder. I decided to cut them down to waist high, where they would easier to trim. I started with a handheld by-pass lopper. This worked fine on smaller branches.However I needed something for the larger ones. I read about the Electric Black and Decker Alligator Lopper. I ordered it, and when it arrived had it up and running in about thirty minutes. It cuts larger branches in a few seconds, and saved a lot of time for me. It was reasonably priced too.I highly recommend it.
- 2008-09-06, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Fish Trader
- Product works well, it is heavy but has performed well. The safety triggers are very good.
- 2008-09-06, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Handy tool but it needs a better instruction manual
- If you are a potential customer for the Alligator and want to know how reliable it is, I've had one for two years now. I've found it to be very usefull around the yard and it certainly feels safer to use than a regular chainsaw. But it just threw the chain and I found that the instruction manual doesn't show how to remount it. The Black and Decker web site didn't help either. It's now waiting for a new chain and I hope it comes with instructions. (Update Sept 4, 2008; I just received the replacement chain and there is a well illustrated set of instructions included in the package.)
I used to live in hurricane country on the Gulf Coast and after every storm the chainsaws would come out to clear away the downed trees and branches. Since the electricity always goes out after a big storm, the Alligator isn't the best choice for those kinds of situations. But for everyday light duty use, the Alligator can't be beat. - 2008-08-31, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
