Chainsaws

Buying a chainsaw

There are plenty of uses for a chainsaw around the garden including pruning, limbing, tree surgery, felling and sawing up logs for the fire.

This guide helps you with your options when buying a chainsaw

In this guide we take you through the options when buying a chainsaw and reviews of websites where you can buy chainsaws.

Where to buy?
Electric chainsaws
Petrol chainsaws
Safety
Guide bar length
Power
Alternatives

Where to buy chainsaws

Websites selling chainsaws online
Merchant	What we think
	Mow direct offer some of the lowest prices we've seen on the internet and have a very easy to use website. They stock a large range of both electric and petrol chainsaws and offer free delivery.

Electric chainsaws

Electric chainsaws are cheaper than their petrol cousins with several decent cheap electric chainsaws in the £70 to £100 range. Electric chainsaws are also quieter, less polluting and much easier to maintain. The dangling cord can be limiting and dangerous but there are cordless models on the market if this is a problem. Electric chainsaws can lack power but this is not usually a problem in most domestic settings.

Cheap chainsaws for as little as £70!

Petrol chainsaws

Petrol chainsaws are more expensive, require more maintenance, are noisier, more polluting, heavier and require the mixing of oil and petrol to feed their 2 stroke engines. So why on earth would you buy one? Well, they don't have a limiting electricity cord and don't constantly need charging up. They also have a lot more power allowing you to cut through wood, including hardwoods, a lot easier.

If you don't fancy a cord start look out for electric ingition

Safety

Chainsaws are dangerous! You are going to need to be prepared and have cut resistant trousers, helmet, ear defenders, eye protection, gloves and heavy duty boots.

Chainsaw safety gear is essential!

Look out for safety features on the various chainsaw models too. Some have features like chain snap protection that locks the chain immediately the chain should snap (Chain snapping you say... Yikes!)

Guide bar length and engine power

The metal bit the chain goes around is known as the guide bar. The cutting length of a chainsaw is twice the length of the guide bar implying that you really need the length of the bar to be longer than half the diameter of the thickest logs you want to cut. Typical bar length for domestic usage is between 12 and 18 inches. The length of the bar goes hand in hand with the power you need. Having a long bar with a tiny engine is not going to be any use. Pay particular attention to the power of the engine if you are going to be cutting hardwoods.