Choosing The Best Professional Chainsaw
The best professional chainsaw will be amongst the biggest, meanest, most powerful and capable options on the market.
Being designed for professional use means they’re capable of tackling very tough jobs – Think felling 70 foot trees on a regular basis.
This article breaks down everything you need to choose the best professional chainsaw for your needs – Considerations before buying, and specific product suggestions.
For more advice about these saws in general checkout our main best chainsaw article.
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Considerations before choosing
Usually if you’re a “professional” it means you’re doing some serious work…
And serious work requires a serious chainsaw – A gas powered brute that’ll make short work of even the toughest jobs would be a good recommendation in general.
Of course for certain professionals, a monstrous gas powered option might be overkill. But in searching for a “professional chainsaw”, let’s assume you want the monster.
If you don’t want a gas option, you can check out our article about electric or cordless chainsaws. We also have articles that breakdown the different types of chainsaws and their features, as well as a safety guide for these tools, and also a main article that breaks down the best chainsaw overall and across several categories.
But back to professional chainsaws – most are gas powered and designed for serious work. When choosing one, you should think about these things:
- Performance
- Maintenance
- Ease of use
Performance
When talking about performance, we’ll assume that covers a chainsaws power, cutting speed, and cutting capacity.
All of these three things combined add up to overall how functional a chainsaw is – What can it do, and how well?
Power
When it comes to tackling tough jobs like felling large trees, or any type of cut that involves hard, thick wood, having enough power output is crucial…
And when it comes to a chainsaw, that means you need a gas version.
Gas chainsaws are beasts. They snarl and growl, and are designed to decimate wood day in and day out. Other electric or cordless versions simply can’t compare in terms of power output.
Cutting speed
There’s many chainsaws out there that’ll get a job done eventually (they have the power to do it), but they take a long time.
A faster cutting speed makes your work more productive, so you’ll want to look out for that.
This comes down to having enough power to get the job done quickly, but also to the sharpness of your chain. (You might want to consider a chainsaw sharpener).
Cutting capacity
Cutting capacity is how deep a chainsaw can cut, and it’ll be based on the length of the bar…
Check out our chainsaw feature guide if you don’t know what that is – But, basically it’s the long bit that comes out of the body and holds the chain.
What’s the width of the trees you’ll be cutting?
The larger the trees, the bigger the cutting capacity (and bar length) your chainsaw will need to have.
Try to always have 2 inches more capacity than you need for a cut, and choose the best bar length for you based on that.
The choice of bar length is generally between 10 and 24 inches.
For the most capable and high performance saw, you’ll probably want one with a 24 inch bar that can handle really thick cuts.
Maintenance
Professional chainsaws are likely to be used a lot, and so they’re bound to get a lot of wear and tear.
Wear and tear needs to be combated with maintenance – Which is all well and good, but you’ve got a job to do, and you can’t be wasting time servicing or repeating your chainsaw.
That’s why these professional versions are designed to be easily disassembled and reassembled.
No messing around, no waiting for a service guy – You can just get the problem fixed or replace a part or whatever yourself, and get back to work.
This is another crucial element of keeping productivity high during tough, professional settings.
Ease of use
Some chainsaws have weird balance issues, or awkward uncomfortable handles…
This is not what you want in your professional chainsaw.
Having it be all off balance and pulling your hands this way or that, or handles causing strain on your hands all day long – No thanks!
A good chainsaw that’s designed for professionals will sit comfortably in your hands. It’ll feel centered, balanced, and in your command.
The handles are likely to be rubberized with a comfortable ergonomic design, which is perfect for long hours of use.
These things reduce fatigue, especially during long sessions.
Not only is this helpful for your comfort and effectiveness, but it’s also safer… You’re more in control of the saw, and more aware of what you’re doing (thanks to less fatigue).
Check out our chainsaw safety guide if you ever need a reminder of just how important it is.
Ease of use also comes from performance and maintenance – A high performing saw will make tasks easier, as well a saw that’s quick to maintain and keep running.
Now that you know what to look for in a professional chainsaw, let’s look at some options…
Professional chainsaw reviews
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Husqvarna 460 24-Inch
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The Husqvarna 460 comes in at the top of our list as the best overall professional chainsaw – With a 24 inch bar and a 3.62 HP motor, it’s a big, powerful, beast of a chainsaw.
It’s also pretty pricey! Hey, being the best ain’t cheap.
This will be a great choice for the heaviest of chainsaw users. It’s got a truly massive cutting capacity with the 24 inch bar, and that motor puts out enough power to quickly deal with even the toughest of woods.
If feeling 70 foot trees is common for you, then this is the chainsaw you’ll want – a tough performer to tackle tough jobs.
Click here to read user reviews on Amazon.
Tanaka commercial chainsaw
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Coming in second place is another great professional chainsaw in the Tanaka. It’s smaller with a 14 inch bar, and runs a 1.6 HP motor. At just 7.7lbs, it’s also way lighter than the Husqvarna.
And, it’s generally quite a bit cheaper as well.
You might consider this our mid-range professional chainsaw choice. Certainly not as good as the Husqvarna above, but also quite a bit more affordable.
Some users will also prefer this for the much smaller bar and less power – In the case that the Husqvarna above is overkill for what you need.
Once again, it all comes back to what you’ll be using the chainsaw for – Think about that in the context of all this information, and the best chainsaw for you should become clear.
Click here to read user reviews on Amazon.
Timberpro 62cc 20″
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Lastly, we have our budget option with the Timberpro.
Being the budget option, this one of course won’t compare to the first two in terms of power and overall functionality…
That’s not to say this isn’t a great choice of professional chainsaw though.
It might not compare to the others in outright performance, but those chainsaws are tough competition and this is still a very capable chainsaw in its own right.
And of course there’s the most attractive thing about a budget option – it’s cheaper.
The low price combined with a lot of functionality means great value for money when you choose the Timperpro.
It’s got a lot of power from a 2 stroke engine, and the 20 inch bar provides a massive cutting capacity. You also get a bunch of extras, like spare chains and a carry case.
A great choice for the professional who needs a capable and reliable chainsaw from time to time, but can’t justify investing in one of the beastly chainsaws that we covered above.
Click here to read user reviews on Amazon.
In closing…
All the chainsaws we’ve covered here are very powerful – They’re grunting, fume-spitting monsters…
Just the type of thing you need to deal with felling the biggest of trees or tackling the toughest of jobs.
If your needs are different, one of these beasts might be overkill – You might consider a smaller gas chainsaw, or an electric or cordless option.
They’ll be much less capable tools, but perhaps also more appropriate for your needs.
Whatever the case, good luck in choosing your new chainsaw!