The Best Chainsaws for Homeowners

The 80-volt platform is what makes this saw feel like a gas saw. Voltage is a rough proxy for how hard a cordless motor can pull, and 80V sits at the top end of homeowner gear. Greenworks pairs it with a brushless motor, which wastes less energy as heat and holds torque when the chain gets buried in oak. Owners who came from gas describe it working through small and medium trunks without stalling out.

The kit matters more than the spec sheet here. Buy a tool-only cordless saw and you'll spend a good chunk again on a battery and charger before you can cut anything. This one shows up with both, plus a spare bar-and-chain combo. If you don't already own a cordless outdoor platform, that's the difference between cutting the day it lands on your porch and waiting on a second order.

The 18-inch bar is longer than most homeowners strictly need, and that's not a complaint. You can run it into a 14-inch trunk without leaning around the far side, and limbing gets easier because the tip reaches. It does add weight over a 16-inch setup — call it a pound or two — which you'll notice by the end of a long cleanup session.

It's quiet enough to run on a Saturday morning without irritating the whole street. Greenworks claims the saw is roughly nine times quieter than a comparable gas model and shakes about five times less. Independent reporting supports the vibration side: Family Handyman found gas saws generate eight to ten times the vibration of equivalent battery models, which starts to matter once you're past a couple of hours of cutting.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The included battery is a 2Ah pack, which is on the small side for an 80V saw. It's fine for a session of limbing. If you're bucking a whole downed tree into rounds, you'll want a second, larger pack sitting on the charger, and that's another purchase.

Greenworks doesn't have the dealer network that Husqvarna and STIHL do. If something fails, you're working through phone and mail support rather than dropping the saw off across town. Owner feedback on this specific model is also thin compared with the long-running gas saws here, so there's less of a track record to lean on.

Most people who buy this saw already have a pile of red packs on a shelf. That's the point. It runs on any M18 battery, and Milwaukee says plainly that higher-capacity packs yield higher performance — a big high-output battery makes this a noticeably different saw than a small one does. If you're already in the system, you skip the most expensive part of going cordless.

The 16-inch bar is the sweet spot for homeowner work. This Old House puts a 16-inch setup at roughly 90% of homeowner jobs — limbing up to 8 inches, bucking logs under 12, felling trees under 10 — while weighing a pound or two less than an 18-inch saw. Owners report cutting 14-inch hardwood with this one, which is already past what most yards ask of a saw.

Small things add up. A variable-speed trigger lets you feather the chain into a cut instead of slamming it, which helps when you're notching a limb that's under tension. The automatic oiler keeps the bar fed without you thinking about it. And it comes with an Oregon bar and chain — the same brand that stocks replacement chains at most hardware stores, so you're not hunting for a proprietary part.

Quiet is the underrated part of going cordless. Owners consistently note how much less punishing this is than a two-stroke screaming next to your ear. You still want hearing protection. But you can clear a fallen limb early on a Sunday without the saw announcing your project to everyone within three blocks.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It's a bare tool. No battery, no charger. If you're not already on M18, the real cost of getting this saw cutting is a good deal higher than the box suggests, and a complete kit makes more sense.

Owners run into two recurring gripes. Batteries drain fast under load — a smaller pack can get warm in a single cut through a thick log — and the chain occasionally jumps the sprocket when tension drifts. Neither is unusual for a cordless saw. Both mean checking tension before every session and keeping a second pack charged.

The self-sharpening system solves a problem most homeowners never get around to. Oregon's built-in PowerSharp restores a dull chain in about three to five seconds, with no tools and no removing the chain. A dull chain is what makes a saw feel weak and underpowered, and sharpening is the maintenance step people skip for years. Here you pull a lever mid-job and get back to work.

Corded has real advantages if your cutting stays near the house. There's no runtime limit, no pack to remember to charge, and no fuel stabilizer ritual before the off-season. Storm cleanup in the front yard, pruning the maple, bucking a limb into fireplace lengths — all fine on a cord. Just buy a heavy-gauge outdoor extension cord, because a thin one starves a 15-amp motor.

It arrives pre-assembled, with tool-free tensioning and an automatic oiler. That's about as low as the barrier gets for a first chainsaw, and owners buying their first saw generally describe an easy first afternoon. The chain also stops the instant you let off the trigger. The 18-inch bar is more saw than a beginner needs, but you won't be stuck when a bigger limb comes down.

Against the cordless saws here, it's slower into thick hardwood and heavier than its size suggests at about 12.6 pounds before you add the cord. But it's the least complicated tool in this guide by a wide margin. Nothing to prime, nothing to charge, nothing that refuses to start after a long winter in the shed.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The cord is the obvious limitation. You're tethered to the house, and stretching much past a hundred feet of extension means voltage drop and a motor that bogs. Back-lot work is out.

The PowerSharp system is also what owners complain about most. It works when it works, but the sharpening stone wears out and the proprietary chain costs more than a standard one. A fair number of long-term owners end up running ordinary chains and sharpening by hand. Motor failures also show up in owner feedback, usually under repeated heavy use the saw wasn't really built for.

The CS1500 comes with a two-year Oregon warranty.

Nothing battery-powered in this guide keeps up with it over a long day. The 50.2cc X-Torq engine puts this saw a class above everything else here, and Husqvarna rates the 20-inch bar for trunks up to 18 inches in one pass. If you're putting up a cord of firewood, you refuel in about ten seconds and keep going. There's no charging break, and no second pack to buy.

Starting a gas saw is where most people give up on them. Husqvarna's Smart Start takes much of the resistance out of the pull cord, and the combined choke/stop control makes flooding less likely while you're still learning the sequence. Owners routinely report first- or second-pull starts. It's not as simple as squeezing a trigger, but it's a long way from the saws you may remember fighting.

Ergonomics get real attention here. LowVib dampeners sit between the engine and the handles, the asymmetrical rear handle and soft inlay keep your grip from cramping, and the balance is good for an 11-pound saw. That matters more than it sounds. Family Handyman reports gas saws produce eight to ten times the vibration of comparable battery models, which becomes a health issue past a couple of hours.

The dealer network is part of what you're paying for. Husqvarna saws get serviced at outdoor power equipment shops in most towns, so a fuel line or carburetor problem three years out is a drop-off rather than a mail-in. Air Injection helps too — the centrifugal cleaner spins larger debris out before it reaches the air filter, which stretches how often you're cleaning it.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It's loud, it's heavy, and it demands maintenance you can't skip: mixed fuel, a clean air filter, stabilizer before the saw sits for a season. Skip those and you'll be shopping for a carburetor kit instead of cutting. Fuel use is noticeably higher than smaller saws, too.

Owner feedback isn't spotless. There's a cluster of reports about chains jumping the bar and units that choke out and won't restart, plus at least one spark plug torqued down far too hard at the factory. Most of it is dealer-fixable. Still, check chain tension and the plug before your first serious cut.