The Best Lightweight Chainsaw For Women

We live in modern times, the idea that only men should be using power tools is out-dated. Every day women are doing exactly the same jobs as men across the world. I would even hazard a bet that some women who are reading this, are more than capable of keeping up with any man.

Electric chainsaws are becoming more popular

However, gas-powered chainsaws are notoriously dangerous and heavy. If you are looking at buying a lightweight chainsaw for yourself, or perhaps as a present for a wife or daughter, then these are the best chainsaws for women.

Quick Guide Check out our top picks

If you don’t want to read our in-depth reviews and just want a quick guide as to which chainsaw you should purchase for which situation, this is a quick guide. If you scroll further down, I will go into depth more on our review process and review each individual chainsaw in-depth.

Fortunately, as the newer generation grows up, we’re bringing our gender equality views with us. This means a shift in the ideology used in the power tool industry.

This is great, as companies are creating chainsaws for users of all shapes, sizes, and strengths. You no longer have to be a 7-foot lumberjack to use these new tools!

The chainsaws we review here are going to be based on a user who may find it hard to use a full-sized chainsaw. Smaller lightweight chainsaws are an excellent choice for part-time users and people purchasing a chainsaw for home and DIY use.

If you are a woman or a man who needs a full-sized commercial chainsaw, this isn’t an article aimed for you.

A much more powerful, very popular gas-powered saw can be found here

All the chainsaws we recommend here are electric, there are several reasons behind this. A gas chainsaw has several components that need regular cleaning, such as the oiler holes. We have reviewed a small gas chainsaw here which may suit some people.

You need to check the spark plugs regularly and the oil has to be mixed with fuel in the right ratio. This is on top of plenty of other maintenance which is messy and time-consuming.

For the average home and DIY user, you’re not going to be felling mighty oaks. So you’re not going to need a fuel-guzzling, ear-deafening 100cc gas chainsaw. If you are looking at buying a chainsaw for light to moderate yard work, such as pruning, firewood cutting, and small tree removal, electric is the way to go. And to top it all off, electric power tools are way less polluting to our planet; not a big factor to some, but it is to many, including us.

#1. BLACK and DECKER Lopper -(Best for small jobs)

Our Research

Black and Decker are a well-established brand, used by commercial and home DIY users alike. They make good tools and are good at bringing out products to solve specific problems. Many of the products Black and Decker have produced have scored highly in our other tool reviews.

Although not a true chainsaw per se, if you are just dipping your toe into the chainsaw world, this is the ultimate beginner’s tool.

Black and Decker Electeric Lopper Innovative design from B&D

Quickly cut branches up to 4 inch diameter

Only weighs 6.5 lbs

Cutting Ability

It’s a tough one to grade here, the innovative clamping jaws are impressive and make light work of any branch. The 4.5-amp motor provides excellent power and speed as well. The only drawback to this unit?

The jaw system used in this chainsaw will only allow you to cut items up to 4 inches in diameter. Depending on your use, this may be a deal-breaker, and if it is, I would advise you to skip to our next two choices.

Weight

Weighing in at a measly 6.5lb, this chainsaw is light. We have to hand it to Black and Decker here, producing a tool that can cut as effectively as this one, whilst keeping the weight so low is an impressive feat.

Ergonomics & Usability

When it comes to ergonomics, Black and Decker have been manufacturing tools for years. I think that this is why all of their tools score so highly in ergonomics, they just know how to make a tool that sits nicely in the hand.

Safety

Due to the innovative jaw system and rugged metal guards, this tool is pretty fool-proof when it comes to safety. The only way you are going to injure yourself with this tool is to purposefully put a limb or body part inside those jaws. As with all chainsaws, it is very important to make sure you use all the right personal protection such as chainsaw boots, gloves, safety helmet and protective chaps while working

Durability / Ease of Maintenance

The build quality of this unit is of Black and Decker’s usual standard. If you oil it often and don’t leave it in the rain it should last you, as long as you maintain it. If you replace the chain when it gets dull and follow the user guide to maintenance there should be no issues.

Ease of Assembly

Black and Decker do the hard work for you here, the unit is already assembled and ready to go. What more could you ask for?

Black and Decker Electeric Lopper Innovative design from B&D

Quickly cut branches up to 4 inch diameter

Only weighs 6.5 lbs

#2 EGO Power+ 14 Inch 56 V Cordless Chainsaw

Our Research

For a battery-operated model, the EGO+ Power Chainsaw is a cracking piece of kit. With a 5-year guarantee and a great customer service team, they are definitely up and coming in this space.

Ego Power 56 volt Cordless Chainsaw 6300 RPM Brushless motor

Built in chain tensioner

Kickback brake

Built to work in all weather

Cutting Ability

Scoring only slightly lower than the next model we reviewed, for a battery-powered chainsaw, this thing is a monster. The only drawback being a slight drop in power as the battery runs out.

Weight

A heavier chainsaw then the Black and Decker, all in all, the EGO Power+ comes in at 8.3lbs. In our opinion, this is still a great weight for a beginner or user with less upper body strength.

Ergonomics & Usability

Comfy and well-placed handgrips make the EGO+ easy to hold and wield. Being battery powered you also have more freedom of movement than the other two chainsaws in these reviews.

Safety

The EGO+ has a low kickback chain design and double guard bar which are both great safety features. On top of that, the unit is water-resistant and has a chain kickback brake to keep you safe.

Durability / Ease of Maintenance

This chainsaw feels sturdy in the hands, which is always reassuring. And it goes further, the brushless motor extends the life of the batteries and allows for a smooth cut. With a 5-year Warranty, EGO are certain that their product will last as long as you need it, and we agree.

Ease of Assembly

EGO has a well-written 53-page manual that comes with this product. Using this, assembly is very straight forward, written in clear to understand English with easy to decipher designs.

Ego Power 56 volt Cordless Chainsaw 6300 RPM Brushless motor

Built in chain tensioner

Kickback brake

Built to work in all weather

Greenworks 16 Inch Corded Electric Chainsaw

Our Research

For its price, the Greenworks 16-Inch 12-Amp Corded Electric Chainsaw is absolutely world-class. With a powerful and sharp 16” cutting blade, this is the most powerful option of our 3 top chainsaws for women. To top that off, it comes with a 4-year warranty, which is fantastic.

Greenworks Corded Electric Chainsaw Powerful 12 amp motor

16 inch bar for cutting decent size logs

Comfortable handle design

Steel spikes for grip when bucking

Cutting Ability

Once again, for the price, this chainsaw is surprisingly powerful. Even under immense strain and workload the chain hardly slows. After cutting through hundreds of thick 3-4 foot diameter logs, we expected to see the blade decently worn, but no, it looked nearly new. In our eyes, this chainsaw could even compete with some of its gas-powered brothers and keep up.

Weight

With all that power comes a cost. Greenworks 16” monster is the heaviest of the 3 we are reviewing here. But don’t let that put you off, it sits just over 10 lbs. 10 lbs is still extremely light for a tool as powerful as this. We don’t know how Greenworks have managed to confine such an awesome machine to a 10lb body.

Ergonomics & Usability

The Greenworks 16-Inch 12-Amp Corded Electric Chainsaw has comfy well-designed handgrips. For a larger chainsaw, it handles the vibration well. A slight gripe might be that the placement of the handles could be slightly better. It takes a bit more concentration to keep your cuts straight using this chainsaw. A tool-less chain tensioning system allows you to make adjustments by hand which is a nice touch.

Safety

The Greenworks also has a low kickback chain design and wrap-around handle, that sits just behind the guard bar. The automatic oiler keeps you from burning the tool out by accident, and the Chain Brake helps in the event of kickback.

Durability / Ease of Maintenance

For the price, you might expect a chainsaw made of cheap parts. Fortunately, you are dead wrong, Greenworks have built this tool to last; backing it with a 4-year warranty to prove it. If you are looking for a chainsaw that’s going to stay strong and powerful from day one to day 1000 this is our suggestion.

Ease of Assembly

Greenworks and their entire garden range for that matter have well-written manuals. Designed in a way that every man and woman can easily assemble and use their products. Using the clearly pictured and well written set up guide you will be chopping down trees in no time.

Greenworks Corded Electric Chainsaw Powerful 12 amp motor

16 inch bar for cutting decent size logs

Comfortable handle design

Steel spikes for grip when bucking

Buying Guide / Our Process When Reviewing The Best Chainsaw For Women

As you may have seen in our Best Chainsaw Helmets article we have a contact who owns a large-scale tree removal company. When it comes to advice on anything related to chainsaws, he is the guy we go to for review advice.

His wife also has a big role in his company, as well as being an avid gardener. When doing the research and testing for the reviews she gave us some great insight, and these suggestions come with her approval. She owns all three and uses them in different capacities to tend to their amazing garden.

We came up with a list of criteria to use when grading the many chainsaws we tested for this article.

This is a list of those criteria.

Cutting Ability

Obviously cutting ability is extremely important when choosing a chainsaw. It’s the reason you’re buying the tool. When we scored these 3 chainsaws on cutting ability, we looked at several factors: It’s potential to cut through thick objects, and the speed it manages this. We also took into account what the user was going to be using the chainsaw for; pure power and speed aren’t always necessary for every task.

Weight

When narrowing down our options for the best women’s chainsaw, one of the main factors we looked at was the weight of the unit. All of the chainsaws we have included here are lightweight, none of them should be too strenuous to use for a full day.

Often the better-quality units come with added weight. Finding the right balance here is crucial. We found that as long as the entire unit weighs under 10lbs, it should be easy for most users to wield for an extended period of time.

Usability and Ergonomics

It does not matter how powerful or heavy a chainsaw is, if the ergonomics of it are designed poorly. So important factors to consider were things such as the grip design, and the handlebar shape. It was surprising to see how much difference there was model to model here. In all of our reviews, we like to take into account the health and safety of the user. This means we also factor in the unit’s ability to suppress vibration. We won’t go too in-depth with studies and statistics here, but HAVS (Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome) is an industry problem, so anti-vibration technology is extremely important.

Cost vs Performance

As this article is not aimed at commercial users, cost is probably an extremely important factor in choosing a chainsaw to suit your needs. All of the chainsaws here balance cost with quality. All three of these choices score highly on performance, we have used them ourselves, and they have 1000’s of positive reviews you can read yourself on amazon to back us up. They are also in our eyes, the most affordable options that maintain that high quality we are looking for.

Ease of Maintenance / Durability

Maintenance

Routine maintenance is important for both commercial and DIY users. Maintenance is important in two ways. Firstly, it minimizes some of the hazards that can occur from using chainsaws. Blades that are kept in good condition and protected from rust slip less.

Nobody wants to hurt themselves whilst working. Secondly, as a non-commercial user, you are not going to want the expense of paying for new parts. If you neglect your tools, you may find you need to replace new parts often or even replace the whole unit. Even though all of our choices here are extremely durable, it’s still important to respect your tools.

As we have decided to only include electric chainsaws in this list, we have already made it a whole lot easier for you, as owners, to maintain your chainsaw. However, this does not mean you won’t have to put in a little bit of work in order to keep your tools in top shape.

We strongly advise all users to read their user guide, not only will it tell you how to use your chainsaw, it will tell you how to use it safely, as well as how to maintain it. Follow the guide and your equipment will last you for years to come.

Durability

The lifetime of any tool will always be largely reliant on your dedication to maintaining them properly. However, high-quality parts and builds have a role in the longevity of your chainsaw as well. It is quite shocking to see just how low the quality is in some supposedly high-end brands. A higher price tag in no way guarantees you a higher-grade product.

Ease Of Assembly

This is all about how easy it is to set up the tool from the box. It isn’t the most important thing in the world, and to commercial users, this isn’t such a massive issue. But nobody wants to sit assembling their tool for hours, a badly written user guide in one hand and a clenched fist on the other. We have reviewed many tools over the years, and the spectrum of user guide quality is vast.

Safety Features

Let’s face it, when it comes to power tools, there aren’t many other tools that have the potential to be as seriously dangerous as chainsaws. I’m sure we’ve all had a laugh at cartoon renditions of chainsaw accidents. But in reality, they can cause serious life-changing injuries, even death.

Understanding the risks is one way to avoid this, but everyone makes mistakes. A lapse in concentration or a surprise shock is all it takes for a one-way trip to the hospital. Companies are doing their best to combat this by introducing safety features on their products. We take these into account in our reviews and advise that you use safety gear while operating this equipment.

Last update on 2020-09-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API