Felling lever or timber jack
Updated: 22 October 2026
You searched for a felling jack and the results mix three hand tools with furniture lifters and vehicle jacks. Decide whether you are tipping a small standing stem, holding a fallen log clear of the soil, or tree jacking with a bottle jack in a notch. The [felling jack comparison](/hub/forestry-tools/felling-jack) keeps five amazon.co.uk listings, from about £16.09 to £117.99. This guide covers class, bar length, hook limit, and the weight honest steel should carry. Peter F. did not lab-test the tools. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You searched for a felling jack and the results mix three hand tools with furniture lifters and vehicle jacks.
You searched for a felling jack and the results mix three hand tools with furniture lifters and vehicle jacks. Decide whether you are tipping a small standing stem, holding a fallen log clear of the soil, or tree jacking with a bottle jack in a notch. The felling jack comparison keeps five amazon.co.uk listings, from about £16.09 to £117.99. This guide covers class, bar length, hook limit, and the weight honest steel should carry. Peter F. did not lab-test the tools. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Length | Mass | Hook | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Insaga Insaga timber jack | 132–147 cm | 7.53 kg | Toothed jaw | 9.8 | about £117.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  Unbranded Steel 51 in timberjack | 51 in | 5 kg | Removable hook | 8.8 | about £68.69 | View offer |
 ISTA ISTA 80 cm felling lifter | 80 cm | 2.5 kg | Reversible hook | 8.0 | about £44.92 | View offer |
On this page
Three tools, one search
A felling lever is a long steel bar with a wedge toe and usually a cant hook. STIHL’s UK forestry blog puts it on smaller trees you can tip over the hinge, and on rolling a log once it is on the ground. Add wedges when the stem leaves that smaller class, and still walk the escape route HSE expects for chainsaw ground work. The lever is not a substitute for training on large leans, decay, or windblow.
A timber jack adds a foot or stand so the log sits above the dirt while you cross-cut. UK reviews on the 5 kg steel jack describe lifting so the saw does not touch the ground. Insaga’s bullets claim about 25.4 cm of lift after clamping. Treat that as seller text until you measure your own setup. A peavey spikes the log end. A cant hook has a blunt toe for rolling onto a stand. Insaga names a peavey point. The other listings are cant-hook or jaw shapes.
A tree jack is a different object. FISA Technical Note 001 describes a bottle jack with a proper top plate in a notch, wedges sharing the load, a competent jack technician, and an escape route of at least three metres. None of the five amazon.co.uk tools here is that jack. If the plan is a back cut and hydraulic force against the lean, read tree jack vs felling lever before you checkout.
Length and hook
UK dealers cluster around 80 cm and 130 cm bars. Buxtons lists STIHL’s 80 cm lever at about 1.8 kg and the 130 cm bar at about 3.4 kg including VAT. Short bars suit tighter woods. Long bars add leverage and get clumsy between branches.
Ochsenkopf specifies 25 cm at breast height on the 80 cm OX 58 and timber up to 35 cm on the longer bar, while still limiting the felling-aid role to 25 cm. Those figures belong to that catalogue. Insaga’s bullets claim 53 cm. The steel jack has no diameter in the spec. One UK review mentions about nine inches. ISTA’s only review says the hook was too small for a larger tree. The ISTA ASIN here is the 80 cm title at 2.5 kg, not the 130 cm choice named in the bullets.
What the kilograms should look like
Mass is the honesty check when heavy duty appears in the title. Insaga is 7.53 kg, the unnamed steel 51-inch jack is 5 kg, and the ISTA felling lifter is 2.5 kg at 80 cm. As a rule of thumb from UK dealer pages, a timber jack with a stand often lands around 5–8 kg, and an 80 cm lever nearer 2–3 kg. That is not a lab result.
The two generic listings print 549 g and 551 g at about £16.09 and £18.39, with cant-hook wording and no star line. A half-kilo object is not the same class as a 5 kg foot that UK buyers describe holding a log for a chainsaw.
Insaga shows 4.9 from 21 on the amazon.co.uk header, with one United Kingdom review header and many United States headers. The steel jack’s 4.4 from 19 includes four UK headers on chain clearance and one UK note about play in the base. ISTA has 4.0 from one German review. Wedges still belong on many felling jobs. Who each listing fits is on best timber jack UK.
What stays on the other pages
This page does not rank the five ASINs. Roll, lift, stance, and the meeting cut are on how to use a timber jack. Stove lengths, and when a jack is optional, are on the firewood page below.
Common questions
Do I want a felling lever or a timber jack?
Choose a felling lever to tip a smaller standing stem over the hinge or to roll a log. The 80 cm ISTA is a roll-and-turn tool, not a measured stand. Choose a timber jack when the log is down and the chainsaw must stay out of the soil. The 5 kg steel jack is the listing with UK text on that job. Neither replaces FISA tree jacking on a heavy lean.
Is 80 cm enough, or do I need 130 cm?
Eighty centimetres matches the short-lever band for tighter sites and lighter stems. One hundred and thirty centimetres adds leverage and weighs roughly twice a dealer 80 cm bar. The ISTA ASIN here is 80 cm only. A long bar means a dealer lever, not a listing near 550 g.
How heavy should the bar be?
On UK dealer pages, about 2–3 kg suits an 80 cm lever and about 5–8 kg suits a timber jack with a foot. A heavy-duty title near 550 g fails that check.
What diameter can the hook take?
Trust a diameter only when a named source states it. Ochsenkopf publishes 25 cm and 35 cm on the OX 58. Insaga claims 53 cm in a bullet. A UK note on the steel jack mentions about nine inches. Measure your wood against the hook in your hand.
Can this push a large leaning tree?
No. A felling lever assists hinge work on smaller stems, and a timber jack lifts a fallen log. Hydraulic force on a heavy lean is Technical Note 001 work, not a cant-hook checkout.
Why is a 550 g listing a problem?
Levers and timber jacks in this niche weigh kilograms. A listing under 600 g, with no reviews and no lift figure, is the wrong mass class for firewood leverage.
Related pages
Sources
Public sources named in the research digest, plus the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Prices captured 19 October 2026.
- UK FISA Technical Note 001: using a tree jack (retrieved October 2026)
- PUWER 1998 regulation 9 (retrieved October 2026)
- HSE: chainsaw personal protective equipment (retrieved October 2026)
- HSE: chainsaw operator guidance (retrieved October 2026)
- HSE: Chainsaws at work (INDG317) (retrieved October 2026)
- STIHL UK: forestry tools and accessories (retrieved October 2026)
- STIHL UK: cutting firewood with a chainsaw (retrieved October 2026)
- Ochsenkopf catalogue 2022 (OX 58) (retrieved October 2026)