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Petrol chainsaw for firewood

Updated: October 2026

The log store is the job, the wood is already on the ground or it arrived on a truck, and you are choosing a petrol chainsaw for firewood rather than a saw for climbing. Ordinary UK stove rounds are often in the 20 to 30 cm band. A bar a little longer than that round is the point. A 20 inch, 7 kg saw is for timber that is actually that wide. Products Compared set the four amazon.co.uk rows on our [Stihl petrol chainsaw comparison](/hub/saw-accessories/stihl-petrol-chainsaw) against public UK guides, with no lab cut, on 16 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. This page does not tell you how to fell.

The log store is the job, the wood is already on the ground or it arrived on a truck, and you are choosing a petrol chainsaw for firewood rather than a saw for climbing.

Our top picks

Hyundai Hyundai HYC6200X

Best overall

Hyundai Hyundai HYC6200X
6.8/10about £109.89
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Neilsen Neilsen 25.4cc 12 inch

Preis-Tipp

Neilsen Neilsen 25.4cc 12 inch
4.4/10about £83.00
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eSkde eSkde CS58-S7

Alternative

eSkde eSkde CS58-S7
4.8/10about £119.00
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Firewood means rounds on the ground
  2. 2.A bar a little longer than the log
  3. 3.When the 62 cc saw is the firewood saw
  4. 4.What this page will not tell you to cut

Firewood means rounds on the ground

Firewood cutting here means bucking. You shorten wood that is already down, on a trestle or on bearers, into lengths that fit the stove. Felling is a standing stem, and none of that is taught on this page. If the tree is still upright, or it is hung in another crown, you are outside this job. The Health and Safety Executive treats work in trees as a competence problem, not as a longer bar. You still need chain oil, a chain brake, and protective kit. The how to start a petrol chainsaw page holds the brake and the fuel mix. Stihl's MS 172 page describes that petrol saw as one for cutting firewood, with a 12 or 14 inch bar and a 3/8 inch P chain. Stihl's home firewood saw in that text is not a 20 inch forestry bar.

A bar a little longer than the log

bestchainsaw.uk, in a firewood guide carrying a review date of 10 July 2026, offers a rule of thumb: a bar about 5 cm, or 2 inches, longer than the logs you usually cut. It puts many UK rounds of 20 to 30 cm on a 14 to 16 inch bar. MowShop's size guide suggests about 30 to 45 cc and a 12 to 16 inch bar for home use, and about 45 to 60 cc with 16 to 20 inches for regular hardwood. If your usual round is 25 cm, a bar near 14 to 16 inches matches the first rule of thumb. The petrol chainsaw buying guide keeps the wider decision order.
Hyundai Hyundai HYC6200X

Testsieger

Hyundai Hyundai HYC6200X
6.8/10about £109.89
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When the 62 cc saw is the firewood saw

The Hyundai HYC6200X is the 20 inch, 7 kg petrol saw in this set, at 62 cc. It belongs on firewood when the rounds are wide enough that a 14 inch bar would be nibbling from both sides, and when you can still control that weight. That is a single review, not a certificate that every log pile needs 62 cc. The Neilsen is the other end: 12 inches and 25.4 cc, listed at 3.85 kg. Nine short texts, one of them a stall, are not a winter of hardwood. The two eSkde rows are 20 inch top-handle saws, the wrong shape for a trestle. If the round is wider than the usable bar, cut from both sides or split the wood. Do not bury the tip.

What this page will not tell you to cut

Standing trees, any cut from a ladder, and timber hung up in another tree are outside this page. So is wood under sudden tension, such as a stem bowed against a fence. Hire someone who fells for a living. Do not use a top-handle eSkde as a way to reach a branch you cannot stand under safely. A dull chain, not a bigger engine, is the usual reason a stove log smokes and wanders. A 14 to 16 inch home petrol saw is the band those UK guides and the MS 172 page are pointing at. The 20 inch Hyundai is for timber that is genuinely large. The 12 inch Neilsen stops at small wood.

Common questions

What bar length cuts stove logs?
For many UK rounds of about 20 to 30 cm, bestchainsaw.uk's rule of thumb is a 14 to 16 inch bar, roughly 5 cm longer than the wood. Stihl's MS 172 page positions a 12 or 14 inch bar as a firewood saw. Both are guides, not a lab result.
Is a 62 cc saw better for firewood?
Only when the timber needs it. The Hyundai is 62 cc, 20 inches, and 7 kg. That is a lot of saw for standard stove lengths, and one review about oak sleepers does not make it the default. Retailer bands put regular hardwood nearer 45 to 60 cc and home use nearer 30 to 45 cc.
Can the 12 inch Neilsen buck hardwood rounds?
It can nibble small limbs. It is not shown, in nine short reviews and one stall, as a saw that gets through a winter of hardwood rounds. At 25.4 cc it also sits under MowShop's home band of about 30 to 45 cc, and the direction of the mismatch is plain.
Should I fell a tree to fill the log store?
Not with this page, and not because a petrol saw arrived from amazon.co.uk. Felling needs a plan for the fall, and work in the tree needs competence the Health and Safety Executive treats separately from garden bucking. Buy or collect wood that is already down, or hire a feller.
Which of the four Amazon saws is even aimed at this job?
The Hyundai, if your rounds are wide and you can handle 7 kg. The Neilsen, only for small limbs, with the thin reviews in view. The two eSkde 20 inch saws are top-handle machines, a poor shape for bucking on a trestle. None of the four is a Stihl MS 172.
What if the round is wider than the bar?
Cut from both sides, or split the piece, which is the publishers' advice rather than a test we measured. Do not bury the tip and force the cut closed. A pinched bar is the practical failure.

Related pages

Best Stihl petrol chainsaw

Stihl petrol chainsaw

Petrol chainsaw buying guide: decide the wood first

How to start a petrol chainsaw: brake on, then pull

Stihl vs cheap petrol chainsaw: when the network wins

Sources

Sources are Stihl UK pages, HSE guidance and the amazon.co.uk listings for the four saws. Last checked 16 October 2026.

  1. Stihl chainsaw buying guide (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  2. Stihl chainsaw fuel mix (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  3. Stihl starting a chainsaw (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  4. Stihl warns about imitations (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  5. HSE chainsaw operators (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  6. HSE INDG317 Chainsaws at work (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  7. Stihl MS 172 petrol chainsaw (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  8. Stihl Cut Kit 2 (retrieved 16 October 2026)