How to choose the best chainsaw for your needs

Big capacity for big trees – Husqvarna’s biggest models have enough muscle for the heaviest jobs in the forest, but at the same time they are built to be easy to start, handle and service. With powerful engines and LowVibe vibration damping system, Air Injection and well thought out user-friendliness, they are some of the market’s largest, but at the same time handiest, machines. Once considered a widow maker because of its propensity to maim its operator, in the 1960s, the chainsaw came into its own as a farm and ranch tool – still considered dangerous, but safe enough for the general public. Improved safety features and accessories have made the chainsaw ever more popular today. If you fell trees for any reason a few times each year or have serious tree trimming to do, it might just be time to take this power-tool plunge and choose the best chainsaw for your needs.

But with all the models, brands, power sources and cutting capacities out there, how do you choose? If you are at all like me, you might be drawn to the high horsepower, heavy-duty rating and long cutter-bar length when considering a new saw. While those cream-of-the-crop cutters might make sense for professional loggers charged with felling trees all day, every day of the year, they don’t make sense for a professional tree trimmer, much less the average homeowner – even if you have 10 acres of woodlot to maintain. Sometimes the smaller, lighter saw is more than adequate for clearing brush or trimming trees around your place. Sometimes you don’t really need a chainsaw at all. The chainsaws that most folks consider for home or farm use will fall into three general power head categories: corded electric, battery electric and internal combustion engine. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. In general, electric chainsaws tend to be less expensive and lighter than their gas-engine-powered counterparts. Corded electric saws cut a little slower in most cases and tend to max out with an 18-inch-long cutter bar. Electric saws are quieter, simple to start (assuming you have a long enough extension cord or a well-charged battery), and they don’t require that you fuss with gasoline, oil and other maintenance issues associated with internal combustion engines.

Battery-powered chainsaws tend to have short cutting bars (less than 10 inches), but that can be useful for light pruning. With ever-changing battery technology, the outlook for increased capacity in battery-powered saws is good.

It is important to keep your chainsaw running it’s best, and you can use chainsaw maintenance kit for that. Preventive maintenance is the smartest course to take if you care for your equipment and want to get the longest lifespan out of the investment. Give your saw a quick tune up with these handy maintenance kits from Husqvarna. Each kit includes an air filter, spark plug, fuel filter and 2.6 oz. bottle of synthetic fuel mix (for 1 gallon of gas).