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I want to recommend you not to choose a chain saw based on bar length and power alone. If the job requires it, purchase the biggest saw you can safely control but don’t buy a big saw just to stroke your ego. Regular maintenance goes a long way to keep your saw fit for duty. Clean or replace the air filter often. Replace the spark plug annually or according to manufacturer’s recommendations. You should always use a high quality two cycle oil for the gasoline mixture, and a good bar and chain oil to get the longest life out of your bar and chain.
A chain saw should fit you. What I mean by fit is that it should be balanced, comfortable to hold and easy to work with. If you pickup several different brands and styles of saw, you’ll see what I mean. This is a mindless machine with dozens of razor sharp teeth racing around a long steel bar within inches of your hands, feet, legs, and sometimes, face. It doesn’t care whether it’s cutting through downed trees or flesh and bone. It’s vital that the saw fit you. Put on some leather work gloves. Do your fingers wrap around the handles completely? Can you use the throttle trigger while maintaining a good grip? Can you shut it off without taking your hand off the handle? When the saw slices all the way through the limb can you keep the tip from falling to the ground? This might happen if you are cutting up through a limb and the tip of the bar contacts the wood as you begin your cut or it can happen if you are cutting down through a limb that’s supported on both ends and the limb bends and pinches the upper front part of the chain in the kerf.

To prevent kickback, do not let the tip of the bar and chain contact the wood you are cutting. Keep the wood centered on the bar and don’t try to cut trees or limbs that are too large for your saw. Chain and bar designs improve the performance of your saw and can reduce the chances of kickback. Homelier probably has the most effective anti-kickback feature on the market. Vibration control is more than a safety issue. You’ll be able to spend more time cutting if your saw is comfortable to use. Now, if you have lots of money, there are some very high quality (and expensive) saws in small sizes. But if you plan on buying a bigger saw later and just keep the small one for a spare, then you might want to start with a lower priced saw. Whatever saw you decide on, make sure that the saw fits you well, with a power/size range that you’re comfortable with, and that you can operate safely? Then go cut some wood.

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).

It is easy to get confused trying to understand the different styles of chainsaw chain available out there. We know there are 2 basic styles of chainsaw chain and both concern the teeth and how they are shaped. No matter what a saw chain manufacturer calls their chain, it will always come back to these 2 styles. 1 style is the round tooth or chipper tooth and this can be easily seen by the way the tooth is rounded on the backside and then curves over the top. The other style is the square tooth, chisel tooth, or flat top tooth and this style is very square with a flat back and flat top.  Using a chain saw significantly cuts the time and energy devoted to homestead chores. But that’s only true if the saw’s chain is sharp. A dull chain saw is about as useful for cutting wood as a plastic spoon. To cut quickly and safely, saws must be sharpened often. With a few simple tools, here’s how we easily can do it our self. When choosing a chainsaw, one of the first decisions we’ll need to make is whether we want a gas or electric model. The size of our chainsaw is another important consideration. Smaller chainsaws are lighter and easier to control, so if we are only looking to use it around the home a smaller blade will be a good choice. For industrial use, look for a larger chainsaw that will cover more space. To use a chainsaw, hold it chainsaw firmly in both hands, and do not cut above shoulder level. Unless we are a professional, we should use our chainsaw on the ground only, never on a ladder or in a tree. Be particularly careful about young trees which larger trees have fallen on. When the larger tree is removed, the young tree can spring back and kick our chainsaw out of your control. Maintenance is critical, and it’s important to keep your saw chain sharp. A dull saw chain requires you to use more pressure, which is more likely to lead to an injury. It is important to carry sharp replacement saw chains with you so they can be replaced when dull. Always use protective gear when operating a chainsaw, including a helmet with face and hearing protection, heavy cotton or leather gloves, and heavy boots with steel toes. Finally, always read your chainsaw’s operating manual thoroughly and be sure you understand each instruction.