Chainsaw 2022 Test: Which Brand Wins?

claims up to 120 cuts per charge, power to cut 3in hardwoods, auto oiler, brushless motor, best build construction of any saw tested (metal dowel and metal collar), onboard tool storage, tested with M12 4 amp hour battery, made in China

comes assembled and ready to use, brushed motor, all-plastic construction, no automatic oiler, made in China

2.1 amp hour battery with battery life indicator, ambidextrous safety switch, brushed motor, mostly plastic construction, 4in bar, no automatic oiler, made in Germany

kerf blade, made in Japan, weighs just over half a pound; introduced as a baseline to test whether a manual hand saw can compete with battery chainsaws

comes with two 2 amp hour 21V batteries and two chains, metal sprocket but plastic bar-mount collar (light duty), ambidextrous safety switch, no automatic oiler, made in China

average build construction (metal stud and dowel, automatic oiling), 24V Max brushless motor, made in China

high efficiency brushless motor, tool-free chain tensioning, low kickback, mostly plastic press block with metal stud and dowel, automatic oiler, made in Mexico

brushless motor, very good build construction (metal press block, stud, and dowel), separate power switch plus safety switch on top of the handle, adjustable automatic oiling, made in China

system, automatic oiling, plastic press block with a steel stud and dowel, brushed motor, made in China

automatic chain oiling, low kickback 10in bar and chain, single safety switch on the left side, 20V system, tested with a 5 amp hour battery, made in China

push-button oiler, onboard tool storage, brushed motor, all-plastic construction described as less durable than some other brands, tested with a 4 amp hour high-performance battery, made in China

tested with a Milwaukee ax blade and a 4 amp hour battery

(4x4 non-pressure-treated)

stalled on first attempt (saw pushed too fast); second attempt 6.9 seconds, best of all 5 small saws

almost twice as fast as the SHQDD and the Stihl PS 70 handsaw despite its compact size

(4x4 non-pressure-treated)

one-tenth of a second slower than the Stihl PS 70 handsaw

first pass / 3.5 seconds second pass (non-pressure-treated), by far the fastest of the 10-12in category; 2.3 seconds with 10 lb added weight on pressure-treated lumber, again fastest

(non-pressure-treated); 3.5 seconds with 10 lb added weight on pressure-treated lumber, second fastest

(non-pressure-treated), second fastest of the 10-12in category; with 10 lb added weight the saw shut off twice on the first attempt but still completed in 6.1 seconds, then completed a repeat cut (with less weight held back) in 3.6 seconds

(non-pressure-treated, tied for third with Bauer); 4.7 seconds with 10 lb added weight on pressure-treated lumber

(non-pressure-treated); 4.3 seconds with 10 lb added weight on pressure-treated lumber

(non-pressure-treated), about half a second slower than Bauer; 5.3 seconds with 10 lb added weight on pressure-treated lumber

(non-pressure-treated), slowest of the 10-12in group on this test; not included in the pressure-treated weighted retest since that retest was chainsaws only

best of all 5 saws in the 8in-and-under category

stalled on first attempt after being pushed too hard; second attempt 8.2 seconds (transcript recap renders this as "8.1"), second best in category behind Milwaukee

about half a second slower than HART

faster than the SHQDD but a lot slower than HART, the Stihl GTA 26, and the Milwaukee

worst (slowest) of all 5 saws in the 8in-and-under category

by far the fastest of the 10-12in category

second fastest of the 10-12in category (behind Kobalt), described as having a great combination of chain speed and torque

on the first attempt (saw pushed too hard and stopped); 8.8 seconds on the second, completed attempt, described as still not making enough torque to perform ideally in hardwood

third fastest in the 10-12in category, helped by about 20 percent faster sprocket speed than Bauer and Black and Decker

stalled twice on the first attempt but finished in 9.9 seconds; stalled again about halfway through the second attempt but also finished in 9.9 seconds, described as quick to recover with little delay

worst (slowest) of all saws in the 10-12in category, over 7 seconds slower than Bauer, with a lot of handle vibration despite the high-output battery

finished in last place among all saws tested on the hardwood test (explicit statement in the transcript); no specific time given for this result

89.9 decibels

(transcript as given); 90.4 decibels

93.8 decibels

lightest saw in the video, 99 decibels

heaviest of the 10-12in category at the time it was tested, 100.4 decibels

(same as Kobalt), 97 decibels

about 2 lb less than DeWalt, 104 decibels, the loudest saw tested

90.7 decibels

95.1 decibels

94.2 decibels

heaviest tool in the video, 96.1 decibels

of downward force to stall the chain, second best in the 8in-and-under category (behind HART)

of downward force to stall the chain, best (highest torque) of the 8in-and-under category, attributed to its low sprocket RPM

of downward force to stall the chain (on back-to-back attempts), worst torque of the small-saw category, attributed to its very high chain speed

bogged down at 6 lb, stalled at 7 lb on two separate attempts (consistent result), worst torque of the 8in-and-under category besides the Stihl GTA 26

of downward force to stall the chain, described as impressive given its very high chain speed

of downward force to stall the chain

of downward force to stall the chain, weakest torque of the 10-12in category, attributed to its very high chain speed

of downward force to stall the chain, third best in the 10-12in category

of downward force to stall the chain, performed about the same as HART

of downward force to stall the chain, second best in the 10-12in category, described as 'a torque monster'

of downward force to stall/stop, not directly compared against the chainsaw torque recap since it is a different tool type

slowest no-load RPM of the 8in-and-under saws

fastest of the 8in-and-under category by a wide margin

second fastest in the 10-12in category (behind Makita)

faster than average, third fastest in the 10-12in category

fastest of all 13 products tested, almost twice the Kobalt's speed

about the same as Ryobi, tied for slowest in the 10-12in category along with Ryobi

slowest no-load sprocket speed of all 13 products in the video

close to the same speed as the Milwaukee (a different category saw), tied for slowest in the 10-12in category along with Craftsman