Are you looking for the best chainsaw for off roading, camping, and overlanding?
Do you want something that can clear the trees in your track? A chainsaw that can split firewood for a campfire and able to gather lots of wood for a trailer?
Well you’ve come to the right place because that’s exactly what I’ll be going over in this post.
So let’s get straight into it!
| IMAGE | PRODUCT | DETAILS | |
|---|---|---|---|
Best Overall |
Oregon Cordless |
|
|
 |
Echo |
|
|
Small Wood |
Makita XCU06T |
|
|
 |
Poulan Pro PR4218 |
|
|
 |
Husqvarna 460 |
|
Oregon Cordless (Best Overall)
- 16 inch bar
- Battery powered
- 12.0lbs
16 inch bar
The 16 inch bar is a great size for an all-around chainsaw for off-roading. If you’re bucking firewood or clearing a fallen tree from your path, you won’t need the large bar size you’d require for felling large trees.
This chainsaw is big enough to get through medium sized trees with ease. It’s also lightweight, which makes it easy to bring along with you regardless of the vehicle you’re using.
Endurance
If you’re cutting a lot of firewood or are hauling a trailer-full of wood, you may be using your chainsaw for multiple hours. Luckily, this chainsaw has an efficient brushless motor that extends the life of the battery.
Oregon boasts that this chainsaw can cut 400 branches of about 2-3 inches in diameter on a single charge. If you know you’ll be bucking a lot of wood, you can purchase another battery.
Easy maintenance
If you’re out in nature and your chain gets dull, this chainsaw has a self-sharpener to effortlessly sharpen your chain on the spot.
It also has an automatic oiler to help keep your chain well lubricated, reducing friction in the engine.
When you’re off-roading, you don’t have to worry about making sure your chain is sharp before you leave, or manually lubricating the chain.
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ECHO
- 16 inch bar
- Battery powered
- 19.7lbs
16 inch bar
Similar to the Oregon model, this 16 inch bar makes a great all-around off-roading chainsaw bar size.
This model is definitely a bit heavier than the Oregon one, but if you’re carrying it in your vehicle and won’t be lugging it very far on foot then it won’t be an issue.
If you’ll be cutting for hours, it may cause you to fatigue a bit faster.
With this 16 inch bar, you can easily buck firewood and fell medium size trees. It’s powerful enough to cut through hardwood; a reviewer used it to cut a thick oak tree.
Battery powered
These batteries are long-lasting. One reviewer used this chainsaw for an hour and a half of cutting before the battery drained, and it only took 30 minutes to recharge.
While you’re off-roading, it’s going to be tough to recharge a battery. If you think you’ll just be doing a bit of bucking for some evening campfires, then one battery would be enough.
But if you’re bucking wood to fill a trailer, then you may want to invest in a spare battery to double your cutting time.
Automatic oiler
Maintenance is easy with this chainsaw. You won’t need to worry about manually lubricating the chain because it has an automatic oiler.
Properly oiling the chain helps extend your chainsaw’s life, so this feature will help you keep your chainsaw running for years to come.
Makita XCU06T (For splitting small wood)
- 10 inch bar
- Battery powered
- 7.2lbs
Lightweight
At 7.2 lbs, this chainsaw is the lightest on this list. It’s easy to carry around and small enough to easily fit in your vehicle.
Its lightweight and small bar size also make it much easier and safer to use whether you’re a beginner or an experienced chainsaw owner.
If you’re going to be using a chainsaw for a few hours, your back and shoulders are going to be thanking you for choosing a model that reduces fatigue.
Great for small jobs
This is the best chainsaw if you’ll mostly be using it for splitting firewood.
It has a powerful motor for its size, so it will make quick work of any small task. Its 10 inch bar means anything less than 8 inches in diameter is fair game.
This chainsaw has fantastic reviews. If you’re looking for a chainsaw to do some small jobs while off-roading, this is the best one.
However, if you think you’ll need to be doing anything with medium or large trees like clearing a large fallen tree from a path, you may want to look at getting a larger chainsaw.
This chainsaw features an easy chain tensioning system, a variable speed trigger, and a torque boost mode.
The chain tensioning system makes maintaining proper chain tension easy, helping keep you safe and your chainsaw working well.
The variable speed trigger and torque boost mode helps you cut through tough wood, or choose a more efficient mode for smaller work.
Poulan Pro PR4218
- 18 inch bar
- Gas powered
- 13.3lbs
Powerful
This chainsaw has a 42cc engine, which is fairly average for an 18 inch bar, but will definitely give you the power you need for most off-roading jobs.
The 18 inch bar is large enough for most medium sized jobs, and it can buck wood and clear up fallen trees. It won’t be able to cut through very large trees, but this isn’t an issue for most off-roading.
Gas powered
A gas chainsaw is a bit more maintenance than a battery powered chainsaw. If it will be sitting in storage between off-roading trips, then you’ll probably want to empty the gas tank.
The one perk with gas powered chainsaws is that it’s great if you have a lot of work that needs to be done.
Unlike a battery powered chainsaw, you can just fill up the tank when it runs out of fuel, and you don’t need to worry about buying or recharging batteries.
If you know you’ll be using your chainsaw for hours, then a gas powered model may not be a bad idea.
Easy maintenance
While gas chainsaws are known to be higher maintenance, this chainsaw has a few features that make maintenance simple.
An automatic chain oiler, an easy chain tensioning system, and an air filtration system all help keep this chainsaw working at its best.
Husqvarna 460
- 24 inch bar
- Gas powered
- 21.0lbs
60.3cc engine
With a 60.3cc engine and 24 inch bar, this chainsaw is meant to tackle big trees. If you know you’ll be felling or clearing large trees while off-roading, then this chainsaw would be a great choice.
If you’re going off-roading to chop up large trees to fill a trailer, this would be a good choice. With its gas engine, it’s easy to refill with no need to worry about battery life.
It’s very powerful, so it will make quick work of whatever large bucking or felling task you may be faced with.
However, if you’re mostly bucking firewood and working with small-medium sized trees, then one of the other chainsaws on this list would be a better choice.
It’s also quite large, so if you’re quading or using another small vehicle, then it may be a bit big to carry.
High quality
Husqvarna is known for its fantastic quality. However, that does come at a higher cost. This chainsaw is quite a bit more expensive than others on this list.
It does have some great high quality features like an automatic oiler, great air filtration system, and easy chain tensioning system. These all help extend the life of your chainsaw.
Conclusion
The best chainsaw for off roading is the Oregon Cordless. It has a 16 inch bar, has a battery powered engine, and weighs 12lbs/5.4. It’s great for the tasks you’ll be doing off road. It’s easy to use and maintain.
Hope you found what you were looking for in this guide.
Happy sawing!
– Adam
