Chainsaws

Chainsaws — Gas, Battery, and Electric Chainsaws for Tree Cutting and Logging

Chainsaws are the primary cutting tool for felling trees, bucking logs into manageable sections, limbing fallen trees, and cutting firewood — tasks that manual tools cannot accomplish efficiently at any significant scale. Gas chainsaws provide the high power-to-weight ratio and unlimited runtime needed for professional forestry, land clearing, and sustained firewood production. Battery-powered chainsaws have transformed homeowner and occasional-use chainsaw applications, providing sufficient power for pruning, limbing, and cutting small-to-medium diameter wood without the fuel mixing, engine maintenance, and noise of gas alternatives. Matching chainsaw type and bar length to the actual cutting tasks minimizes equipment cost while ensuring adequate capability for the intended application.

Bar length selection determines the maximum diameter of wood the saw can cut in a single pass — a saw with a 16-inch bar can cut through trees and logs up to approximately 14 inches in diameter by cutting from both sides. Most residential chainsaw users cut firewood from trees under 20 inches in diameter and prune branches under 12 inches, making 14-16 inch bar saws the practical sweet spot that balances cutting capability with manageable saw weight and handling. Professional loggers and land clearers cutting large-diameter hardwood trees need 20-25 inch bars and correspondingly larger engine displacement to power them through large cuts without bogging.

Chain selection affects cutting speed, cut quality, and the type of wood being processed. Full-chisel chains cut aggressively and quickly in clean, dry wood but dull rapidly in dirty wood or when contacting soil or rock. Semi-chisel chains cut more slowly but retain sharpness longer in abrasive or occasionally dirty cutting conditions that would rapidly dull full-chisel chains. Low-kickback chains have additional safety geometry that reduces the probability of kickback events — the sudden rotation of the saw bar that causes most chainsaw injuries — and are required or recommended for novice users and general consumer applications. Chain pitch and gauge must match the drive sprocket and bar to ensure proper chain tension and wear.

Chainsaw safety requires PPE that is specialized for chainsaw use: chainsaw chaps or chainsaw pants that protect the legs from contact with the running chain, cut-resistant gloves, chainsaw-specific helmet with face screen and integrated hearing protection, and chainsaw boots with cut-resistant upper material. Standard work clothing provides essentially no protection against a moving chainsaw chain — even brief chain contact at operating speed will cut deeply through fabric and flesh. The ANSI/ASTM chainsaw protective equipment standards define the performance requirements for each PPE type. Regular chainsaw operation without proper PPE is statistically the primary cause of chainsaw-related hospital admissions.

Our chainsaw collection covers gas chainsaws in 14-25 inch bar lengths for professional and residential use, battery-powered chainsaws for homeowner and occasional use, and corded electric chainsaws for small residential applications, with bar and chain accessories and chainsaw sharpening tools.