There is nothing as tiresome as picking the best out of the best. Imagine having a task of choosing between Stihl vs Husqvarna chainsaws. That would be hectic, wouldn’t it? Stihl and Husqvarna are the world’s best sellers of chainsaws. Most of those who dream of owning a chainsaw from these brands usually find themselves stranded. However, that should not be the case henceforth.
In the next 5 minutes, you will have a brief knowledge of the best sellers of chainsaws. Besides, you will be enlightened on features of chainsaws that Stihl and Husqvarna can avail to you. From the pros and cons, it will be easier for you to own a chainsaw from either of the companies. Let’s start reading.
A brief history of Stihl and Husqvarna
Husqvarna
Husqvarna is a Swedish company with factories in the USA, China, Brazil, and Sweden. The company sells online as well as offline through retail stores. The company was started in 1680 by a Swedish royal family under Charles XI.
History states that the company became state-owned in 1689. Henceforth, the company started operating deeply and widely. By then the company manufactured rifles. However, in 1890 the company started producing power tools. Years later, the company manufactured cast irons, sewing machines, bicycles, and cookware. They became the 2nd company to manufacture motorcycles, after Peugeot.
Today, the company produces high-quality chainsaws (although history quotes that they started the production of chainsaws in 1959). Besides, the company manufactures heavy-duty machines. On top of these, the company has some of the best eco-friendly chainsaws in the world. For about 30 centuries, the company dominated the saw processing industry. That was before the major competitor, Stihl, was started.
Stihl
Started in Virginia Beach in 1926, Stihl is a German company. The company was started by a young entrepreneur, Andreas Stihl. He is considered the pioneer of the modern chainsaw. Since it was founded, the company has been privately owned. It built its first gas-powered chainsaw in 1929. It was the first company to build a single-operator chainsaw in 1950.
From the 1970s onwards, Stihl has been producing leaf blowers, mowers, line trimmers, and many more products. The company now boasts of having factories in various parts of the world. It sells through dealership; a customer buys commodity through registered dealers.
Features of Stihl and Husqvarna Chainsaws
If you consider buying a chainsaw from either of these giant manufacturers, then you have to read the features below:
-
Power
Let’s have a look at the power rating of Chainsaws. This is crucial since power drives the motor of the chainsaws. More power output by a chainsaw means a better ability to drive the blade while cutting. Consider homeowners and professionals. Professionals demand chainsaws with more power than homeowners. Meaning a high rating on the side of the professional’s chainsaws. In this case, the engine becomes the determining factor.
Nowadays, the two companies use Chinese parts when making chainsaws. This trend enables them to produce chainsaws at reduced costs. Nevertheless, a lot of reviews favor Husqvarna. They prefer Husqvarna chainsaws to Stihl. This is because Husqvarna produces more power for professional users of chainsaws. Conversely, most homeowners prefer Stihl to Husqvarna. In this case, Stihl chainsaws deliver a lot of power. For instance, compare Husqvarna 555 and Stihl 362. Here, both weigh 12.3 lbs.
Again, each of them possesses an engine of 59 cc. The Stihl 362 will deliver up to about 4.69 horsepower when supporting a bar of 25 inches. On the other hand, Husqvarna 555 delivers the power of 4.3 horsepower and supports only a bar of 20 inches. In addition to this, Stihl’s low-end torque makes it better in cutting old logs and knots.
-
Durability
Under good maintenance, Stihl chainsaws will last for several years. The brand has been striving to manufacture long-lasting as well as powerful chainsaws. Nevertheless, Husqvarna chainsaws still last longer than Stihl. This dates to their long existence in the business of manufacturing chainsaws. As a result, Husqvarna gives Stihl quite a gap in terms of durability.
Again, on durability, Husqvarna has earned a reputation that will take Stihl quite some time to achieve. In as much as Stihl has been consistent in quality, it requires more years to beat Husqvarna on durability. Related to durability is the warranty. Stihl gives its users 1 to 2 years of warranty on all its models. On the other hand, Husqvarna offers a warranty of up to 4 to 5 years.
The 4 to 5 years warranty is dependent on two factors. First, it depends on the model of a chainsaw and the place that you have bought it. Secondly, if you use their oil brand exclusively. Still, many homeowners are poor in taking good care of their chainsaws. Unlike professional users, they ignore detailed care while using chainsaws daily. Let’s consider this in terms of the warranty. For instance, if your chainsaw gets damaged after 2 years, you will still be advantaged if you are on Husqvarna’s plan. This is because their 4 years warranty will still be running.
Stihl, on the other hand, will charge for any repairs or replacements you seek after the 2 years expiry of the warranty. On this ground, most people would opt for Husqvarna. Additionally, Husqvarna models are generally cheaper than those of Stihl. For this reason, many buyers— both homeowners and professional users— run for Husqvarna instead of Stihl, in the long-term.
-
Safety
You want to avoid unnecessary injuries, don’t you? Accidents happen. For this reason, many chainsaws come with features that help you minimize the risk of sustaining an injury while you are using a chainsaw. Some of these safety features are described below. They are available on both Husqvarna and Stihl chainsaws. Ensure you utilize the safety features since chainsaws can sometimes expose you to dangers. The features include:
-
The Noise & Vibration Absorbers
Husqvarna as well as Stihl chainsaws come with the noise and vibration absorbing dampers. These dampers have two main functions. First, they minimize the vibration that reaches your body. This becomes important when it can enable your body to withstand lots of vibration. For this reason, you can control the usual fatigue and “the vibration white finger.” Secondly, the dampers keep your hearing intact. They do so by drastically reducing the noise.
-
Chain Brakes and Kickback-Resistant Bars
The two are another set of important safety features. In a scenario where you encounter an abrupt kickback, chain brakes and kickback-resistant bars will help to minimize the damage caused. Furthermore, they prevent the chain from running when an emergency occurs. Again, both brands, Husqvarna and Stihl, feature these safety measures. However, the Husqvarna comes with an inertia-activated chain brake. This kind of chain brake detects sudden movements in the bar then automatically stops the running of the chain. This extra feature makes it safer than the Stihl.
Apart from chain brakes and kickback-resistant bars, Husqvarna, as well as Stihl, have all-in-one switches. Nevertheless, Husqvarna has a manual shut-off that offers an easy thumb down movement. On the other hand, Stihl requires you to counter-intuitively push the thumb upwards for shut-off. This makes the thumb of Stihl less of an organic movement. This down-vs-up switch motion is a huge determining factor when choosing between Husqvarna and Stihl. The extra kinetic effort required wastes a precious amount of time. Meaning, dealing with 9,000 RPM can be a potential damage-causer in a dangerous situation.
-
Cutting Quality and Handling
We need chainsaws to cut wood. For this reason, the chainsaw’s cutting quality would be a top-of-the-list factor to consider before you buy a chainsaw. Meaning, review of the two brands, Husqvarna and Stihl, would be incomplete or quite irrelevant without considering cutting abilities of the brands. Each part of the chainsaw plays several roles in cutting. The type of blade, the motor, blade quality, and its power rating, remain the huge determinants of the cutting quality of a chainsaw.
Surprisingly, many users consider the cutting quality of the two brands as almost the same. Again, both brands come with powerheads that are designed to maximize their cutting efficiencies. Therefore, the cutting quality doesn’t pose a huge challenge when deciding on the brand of a chainsaw to purchase. Closely related to cutting quality is handling. In the case of handling, many a user prefer Stihl to Husqvarna. This is shown by online feedback user patterns.
Stihl chainsaws have better bumper spikes for felling. The Stihl brand is also better suited to trickier jobs. This arises from the fact that Stihl chainsaws have more low-end torque. However, Husqvarna’s anti-vibration makes it a better choice. It has a larger gas refueling tank. Besides, Husqvarna has better self-lubrication leading to cleaner and smoother quality cuts, when you are subjecting it to the logs. Additionally, it is possible to easily and cheaply replace bumper spikes of Husqvarna. Consequently, ranking favors Husqvarna in a situation whereby you consider ease of use between the two brands.
-
Price
The functionality, as well as the power of Husqvarna, are similar to those of Stihl. Despite this similarity, Stihl offers lower prices than Husqvarna. This they do without reducing the quality of their chainsaws. If we are to consider price and price alone, many other brand sellers of chainsaws would compete Husqvarna. But they don’t. Stihl remains to be the chief competitor of Husqvarna.
-
Why is this so?
Other brands offer cheaper prices than Stihl. Again, most of such a brand’s chainsaws are powered by gasoline. However, these brands lack quality in their chainsaws. Stihl shines on quality and that makes the difference. For this reason, Stihl has been the main competitor of Husqvarna in past years and that is not likely to change soon.
-
The Fuel Tank and Efficiency
It is critical to pay attention to the fuel tank of a chainsaw. This is because it directly influences tool weight and usage life. For instance, it would be a huge bother to keep adding fuel if you are to use a chainsaw for a long duration of time. This means a bigger tank is necessary. Husqvarna brands possess bigger tanks than Stihl. This means Husqvarna, unlike Stihl, enables you to work for a longer time without being disrupted. Bigger tanks have their pros and cons.
For instance, the bigger the tank, the more the fuel you will require for the chainsaw to operate; a big blow to the Husqvarna brand of chainsaws. Fuel efficiency is another factor to consider when deciding on the brand to own. Fuel efficiency means the rate at which your chainsaw consumes fuel. Keep in mind that fuel efficiency does not directly relate to the size of a tank. For example, a very big tank can have the worst fuel efficiency. In terms of time, Stihl chainsaws are not very efficient. This is because these types of chainsaws run on battery. They have a run time of about 300 seconds between charges. For this reason, they are best suited to small jobs. Also, loss of power would render Stihl chainsaws useless.
On the contrary, Husqvarna is quite good at fuel efficiency. This is derived from their unique engine system. Their engine helps to minimize the overall emissions as well as reduce fuel consumption. Again, irrespective of price range or unit, every Husqvarna chainsaw that is powered by gas, possesses this unique type of engine.
-
Availability of The Chainsaw
One of the selling points of any consumer good is its availability. In buying a chainsaw, many people rank this feature as the third factor to consider when you need a chainsaw. As soon as you have decided on quality to look into, you may need to pay attention to the price. What next?
“Is it available?”
You will want to now have your chainsaw. Meaning, you should find the product. Under this category, Husqvarna takes an early lead. Not only will you find Husqvarna chainsaw online, but you will also find it in most of its offline retail stores. On the contrary, Stihl chainsaws are harder to find. What worries most is the fact, it is even difficult to access the chainsaws from their website. Instead, they require you to buy their chainsaws via licensed dealers. This may be too much a struggle for most people, you included.
-
Maintenance
Maintenance involves the use of time and money on a chainsaw. If you rarely use your chainsaw, you will not feel like maintaining it regularly. Likewise, it is true for someone who uses chainsaw quite often. Again, in case you are to take your chainsaw for maintenance, it becomes even more important that you have a low maintenance chainsaw.
Stihl chainsaws have the best preference when you are to consider maintenance. They are easier to maintain because they are light in weight. Also, Stihl’s simplistic design enables homeowners and beginner loggers to easily take care of them. Husqvarna chainsaws, on the other hand, are considered the worst as far as maintenance is concerned. Their heavier construction as well as sheer power demand for frequent servicing.
-
Size of the Chainsaws
Finally, on features, we shall focus on the size of the chainsaws. Besides, we shall see how size relates to the type of job that suits a chainsaw. Both Husqvarna and Stihl produce chainsaws with wide arrays of bars and different engine sizes. Wrapped on the bar is the chain. The bar occupies the largest mass of the saw. In most cases, the bar is a very long piece of metal.
The bars come in various sizes. The size of the bar depends on the function in which the chainsaw is suited to. That’s, long bars are meant for most powerful chainsaws. The long bars require a lot of power to pull the chain around them. For this reason, you will find chainsaws of 18 inches or less on saws whose engines are run by battery. On height, the gas-powered chains can be as high as 24 inches.
On a length, the maximum size is 20 inches. This length is appropriate for those chainsaws that undertake fair tasks. However, chainsaws that are meant for commercial jobs may need more length than 20 inches. An example of such chainsaw is the 24-inch Husqvarna. Examples of chainsaws with short lengths are the Stihl Chainsaws. Such saws are designed to handle little work, most homeowner’s tasks. For instance, Stihl chainsaws are meant for lumber cutters. The Husqvarna, on the other hand, are long and compact. This compactness on Husqvarna chainsaws makes them suitable for professional jobs.
Final Thoughts
You don’t have to be stranded on the type of chainsaw to purchase. In any case, you feel undecided on the type of chainsaw to own, just switch the button. Consider the above knowledge as a button to guide you before choosing a chainsaw. A chainsaw that suits your needs.