6 Best Small & Lightweight Chainsaws – Top Picks & Reviews 2022

With chainsaws, heavier is not constantly greater.

Sure, it is sometimes. If you’re a lumberjack obvious-cutting a dense spruce stand. Or you are an artist who requirements to carve a two-tale block of ice prior to it melts. Or your obnoxious neighbor just received a chainsaw and you need to have to show him up.

For the bulk of us who are not in any of those positions, there are a ton of rewards to a lighter chainsaw. Light-weight chainsaws are safer, far more portable, a lot more versatile, quieter, considerably less costly, and make a far better entry level into brush-clearing than their overpowered cousins.

We have completed our element to crack the stigma around lightweight chainsaws by putting collectively evaluations of 6 of our favorites. Each and every of these versions is an perfect choice for first-time home owners, brush-clearers with mobility issues, or anyone who would like to prune some tree limbs with out pulling any muscle tissue.

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2022

Rating	Image	Product	Details
Best Overall		BLACK+DECKER LCS1020 Lightweight Chainsaw	Nearly silent Very lightweight Comfortable to hold	CHECK PRICE
Best Small Gas Chainsaw		Husqvarna 440E	Anti-vibration feature Tool-free tensioning Long bar	CHECK PRICE
Best Value		WORX WG305 Small Chainsaw	Very light Capable 14-inch bar and chain Great for smaller jobs	CHECK PRICE
		Oregon CS1500 Lightweight Chainsaw	Self-sharpening Long bar Good cutting power	CHECK PRICE
		Poulan Pro PR4016 40cc Small Chainsaw	Low noise and exhaust Cuts through limbs and trunks Durable construction	CHECK PRICE

The 6 Best Lightweight Chainsaws

1. BLACK+DECKER LCS1020 Lightweight Chainsaw – Best Overall

The Black Decker LCS1020 is the greatest yard chainsaw we’ve analyzed this 12 months. Featuring a 10-inch bar and powered by a 20-volt lithium-ion battery, yet weighing only seven.two kilos, this cordless chainsaw is a satisfaction to use everywhere all around your house or yard.

The truth that the battery effortlessly lasts for a entire workday would be enough to get Black Decker into the leading 3 all by by itself. But there are other characteristics we enjoy nearly as much. The oiling system is consumer-helpful, with a window for monitoring the fluid amount, and the resource-free of charge chain tensioner labored wonderful each time we tried it.

The battery is suitable with numerous of B D’s other cordless electricity tools, so you may well have a spare lying about previously. And did we mention the ergonomic deal with? You may possibly not even feel it soon after dicing up a limb with the LCS1020.

One capture, if you can contact it that, is that you have obtained to spend added for the battery and charger. The only other point we can complain about is that the oiler is not automatic, which can lead to a great deal of confusion — it is not damaged, you just have to drive the button a lot.

All in all, we believe that this is the best light-weight chainsaw of the yr.

2. Husqvarna 440E – Best Small Gas Chainsaw

The Husqvarna 440E is our favored gas-powered lightweight chainsaw. That is right– not all lightweight chainsaws are electric. If you have constantly imagined the positive aspects of gasoline (portability, electrical power, less difficult to have substitute gasoline) outweigh the negatives (loud, smelly, demand far more upkeep), the 440E is your go-to electrical power observed.

It is got a 16-inch bar and an motor that idles at 2900 RPM, providing it the chopping electricity of a much more substantial chainsaw. Nevertheless, you can still have it deep into the woods with out straining your again, get it around tight corners, and management it much more effortlessly for your personal protection.

This is a correct ideal-of-the two-worlds chainsaw. Husqvarna even sweetens the pot with tool-free of charge tensioning and an anti-vibration attribute that truly operates. Chopping with this noticed is downright comfortable.

Regrettably, there are also some downsides. We will not complain about a gasoline chainsaw acting like a gas chainsaw, but we will complain that the engine is much as well easy to flood, at times resulting in the 440E needing repairs the 1st time you use it. It’s also distinctly more expensive than other chainsaws of a equivalent excess weight and good quality.

3. WORX WG305 Small Chainsaw – Best Value

A good deal of our audience are drawn towards lightweight chainsaws because they are much more reasonably priced as a rule. If that’s the scenario for you, we existing the WORX WG305 fourteen-inch chainsaw, the very best light-weight chainsaw for the income.

The WG305 is compact and mild, weighing only 6.six lbs, nevertheless its fourteen-inch bar competes very easily with the largest canine in the light-weight classification. It’s acquired most of the issues we search for — first rate raw cutting electricity, resource-free tensioning, and a comfy rubber manage.

At 8 amps, the motor achieves an superb stability of energy and silence. We had been able to minimize by means of several tiny and medium limbs in document time with no fuss. The WORX WG05 is so tranquil that your household in the house may well not even observe you are employing it.

The trade-off with this saw is evident from a solitary search: it’s corded. This signifies no battery to charge and no gasoline to mix, but also signifies you are going to in no way be able to go very significantly from an outlet. This is a backyard observed, pure and straightforward, and it’ll delight you as extended as you really don't anticipate it to be something it’s not.

4. Oregon CS1500 Lightweight Chainsaw

Oregon CS1500 Self-Sharpening Electric ChainsawWith its eighteen-inch bar and fifteen-amp motor, the Oregon CS1500 is one particular of the far more effective corded electrical chainsaws on the market. Its primary claim to fame is its self-sharpening technique, a constructed-in characteristic that can sharpen the blade in a handful of seconds (it works).

Even though utilizing the CS1500, we received the powerful perception that it is an electric chainsaw that needs it was a gasoline chainsaw. Unfortunately, this often means it has the flaws of both kinds. It’s as weighty as a gasoline saw, weighing twelve.six lbs ., but as a corded electrical noticed, its mobility is minimal.

That said, it is also a fantastic solution if you’re unwell of mixing fuel but really do not want to give up the electrical power you get from a gas observed. Even though it’s not very portable, the CS1500 is an absolute tank, cutting quickly by way of branches way previously mentioned its excess weight class. It’s tranquil, reduced-upkeep, and way far more environmentally friendly.

Other than the excess weight, our principal issue about the Oregon CS1500 is that making use of it wrong can cause the chain to drop off. If you overlook to rigidity it often, or if the oiler stops operating and you really don't recognize, the chain will broaden and occur loose.

5. Poulan Pro PR4016 40cc Small Chainsaw

The Poulan Professional is an additional of our preferred fuel-powered lightweight chainsaws. Poulan is a subsidiary of Husqvarna, and follows in its father or mother company’s footsteps with chainsaws that aim to be the two robust and gentle.

The Poulan Professional PR4016 will get near to that mark in some approaches and flies wide in other people. The greatest downside is that it is a nightmare to start off: even folks who like it in any other case report that it normally takes a good deal of yanking to get it likely, and that it regularly dies. The engine also overheats very easily, forcing you to wait around for it to great down if you fall short to commence it as well many moments in a row.

If you can maintain the PR4016 likely, though, you are rewarded with a potent yard observed built with strong components. It is a main improvement on a good deal of gas saws, with significantly less noise and exhaust on common, and it performs constantly for several years on finish.

One particular other warning: at 13 kilos, this is nearly not deserving of inclusion on a record of light-weight chainsaws. It is light-weight relative to other gas saws, but heavy in contrast to almost everything else

6. Greenworks 16” 40V Cordless Chainsaw

Greenworks’s 16-inch cordless chainsaw, which runs on a 40-volt rechargeable battery, is one particular of the more high-priced possibilities on our record. It is up to you regardless of whether it’s value its top quality cost — we’ll do our greatest to assist you make a decision.

This chainsaw is totally totally free of gasoline fumes, and operates quietly. It weighs ten.six kilos, significantly from the heaviest on our list, a fat you can use all day with out aching as well a lot by the stop. Receiving a 16-inch bar to weigh that little is a excellent promoting point, but creating it this effective is a accurate accomplishment. We took it on the trail and experienced no trouble turning oak into firewood.

Now for the negative. Other than the price tag, the bar oil leaks constantly, to the level exactly where you can not store the chainsaw with any oil in the tank. You’ve obtained to set it in appropriate prior to you use it, which is a significant soreness.

Wonderful battery existence and a moveable weight are well worth a whole lot of income, but for this price, we anticipate to see known flaws mounted. Alternatively, Greenworks has adopted a troubling “what are you gonna do” frame of mind about oil leaks.

Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose the Best Small Chainsaw

In this segment, we’ll attempt to answer as a lot of queries as possible about when and how to acquire a light-weight chainsaw. If you believe we have skipped one particular, permit us know in the feedback!

When Should You Buy A Chainsaw?

The very first accurate chainsaw was patented in 1905, and was supposed to be used for slicing down huge redwoods. You’ve almost certainly acquired your eye on a somewhat more compact process, but is it so modest you don’t even need to have a chainsaw?

If you are not sure, reference this helpful table to see if you have received a chainsaw-worthy process on your palms.

Chainsaws are not precision devices, and they are not specifically functional. They do one particular point – generating plenty of rapid cuts on logs and trees in the field – and do it nicely. Bottom line, if you really do not own trees, you don’t need a chainsaw.

Lightweight vs. Heavy Chainsaws

If you have thought about it and decided a chainsaw truly is the proper instrument for your occupation, the subsequent phase is to decide whether you want a lighter or heavier model. Gentle chainsaws generally weigh in the range of eight to 13 lbs ., whilst weighty chainsaws can attain 22 kilos.

The takeaway: if the trees or limbs you want to cut are tiny, if you are on a price range, if you have neighbors near by, and/or if this will be your 1st chainsaw, you want a light-weight selection.

Light Chainsaws: What to Look For

When venturing out on your very own to get a lightweight chainsaw for the very first time, these are the most critical elements to evaluate.

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  Gasoline supply. You have acquired 3 choices here: corded electric powered, battery-driven, and fuel-driven. One is not essentially greater than the other individuals as an alternative, it is down to your demands and needs.

  • Corded electric chainsaws never need to be refueled, BUT you can’t take them far from an outlet.
  • Battery-powered chainsaws are quiet and fully portable, BUT they’re useless when the battery runs out of charge.
  • Gas-powered chainsaws are portable, powerful, and can run for as long as you have properly mixed fuel, BUT they give off fumes and the engines need a lot more work.

Left-handed?

Sorry, you are out of luck! There are scissors for lefties, but all chainsaws are made to be operated by righties. Though all you southpaws are probably used to navigating a world developed for proper-handed people, it does elevate further basic safety considerations when a chainsaw is concerned.

How To Use A Lightweight Chainsaw Safely

1. Understand that just because it’s light, doesn’t mean you cannot be seriously injured.
2. Always follow the instructions in the manual to the letter.
3. Always wear goggles, gloves, eye protection, earmuffs, chaps, and solid-toed boots.
4. Never operate a chainsaw while intoxicated, distracted, or sleepy.
5. Under no circumstances should you put your hand anywhere near the chainsaw’s blade while your other hand remains on the handle. Set it all the way down first.

Conclusion

We try to have one thing great to say about each noticed in our testimonials, but with the Black Decker LCS1020, we experienced the reverse issue: how to find anything to criticize so it didn’t appear also much like we have been on their payroll. Outside of the problem of manually oiling the blade, their noticed is nearly extremely hard to dislike.

Our choose as the very best mini chainsaw for the income is the WORX WG305. We assure you will be surprised at how a lot it can do with only 6.6 lbs . of equipment. The honest price is a wonderful reward.

Light-weight chainsaws can be a obscure and even contradictory merchandise class, so we hope we’ve been able to help you locate the best little chainsaw for your requirements.

Now it’s time to minimize via anything else: all people logs in your yard. Good luck, and satisfied sawing!