Are cheap chainsaws worth it in the UK?

The one cheap chainsaw that's genuinely worth it

Not every cheap chainsaw deserves the scepticism that surrounds the category. A budget corded electric bought for light, occasional pruning, hedge trimming or the odd fallen branch is a completely reasonable buy. It is the one place where going cheap does not mean going wrong. The trade-off is straightforward: no petrol, no battery, and no real cutting power for anything thick or sustained. In exchange, you get a genuinely low price and a saw that is simple to start and put away.

The clearest example is the Screwfix Titan TTL585CHN, an own-brand corded electric chainsaw that sells for roughly £40 to £50. It has no pretensions to being a firewood or felling saw. For light, occasional-use pruning it has built up a genuinely solid reputation on UK DIY and gardening forums, regularly described as bombproof for that job. That reputation matters more than the price tag: it means real owners keep using it without it failing, not just that it was cheap to buy. See our full electric chainsaws guide for more budget and mid-range corded picks.

Why UK chainsaw forums are wary of unbranded cheap petrol and cordless saws

The scepticism starts as soon as you move away from an established retailer's own brand and into the unbranded petrol and cordless saws sold on marketplaces under interchangeable, often meaningless brand names. UK chainsaw forums and owner communities are consistently wary of these, for reasons that hold up. Build quality is inconsistent between batches. Spare parts and even basic accessories like a replacement bar or chain are often impossible to source once the listing disappears. Safety-critical parts, most importantly the chain brake, are the component owners trust least on the cheapest unbranded imports. A chain brake that does not engage reliably is not a minor fault: it is the one part of the saw that is supposed to stop a kickback turning into a serious injury.

None of this means every budget cordless saw is suspect. Established brands sell genuinely affordable entry-level cordless models with proper parts support and a real UK returns process behind them, covered in our cordless chainsaws guide. The distinction that matters is not the price on its own. It is whether there is an accountable brand and a real support chain behind the saw.

Going too cheap for firewood or felling work: the real risk

Light pruning and processing firewood are different jobs, and the money you can safely save on the first does not carry over to the second. Firewood and felling work means sustained cutting through rounds, repeated chain tensioning, and, on a petrol saw, an engine that has to start reliably in the cold every single time. This is where an ultra-cheap saw stops being a bargain and starts being a liability. Poor chain tensioning and a chain that will not hold an edge slow the job down and increase kickback risk. A saw that will not start reliably is worse than useless halfway through a log pile.

A straightforward money argument also applies here. A saw bought for real firewood or felling work gets used hard and often, so reliability failures cost you in downtime and repair bills that can exceed the saw's value. Ultra-cheap unbranded saws hold no resale value and have no real parts support, so there is nothing to fall back on when something breaks. Our full petrol chainsaws guide covers the engine sizes and bar lengths that actually hold up to that kind of work, at prices that are still realistic rather than professional-grade.

Spend on safety gear before you spend more on the saw

PPE is the one place to redirect budget rather than cut it, not the saw. An extra £50 to £100 on the saw buys you marginally more power or a slightly better chain brake. The same money spent on EN381 rated chainsaw trousers or chaps, boots, gloves and a helmet with visor and ear defenders buys you the protection that actually determines what happens if something goes wrong. This is not a scare tactic. It is how the HSE and EN381 standard are structured: the saw's own chain brake is one layer of protection, and it is not designed to be the only one.

This matters most for anyone buying their first saw, where the temptation is to spend the whole budget on the tool and treat PPE as optional. It is not optional. See our first chainsaw guide for the full beginner buying order before you spend anything.

Cheap chainsaw verdict at a glance

Here is the honest split by chainsaw type, in one table.

Still not sure which power type or bar length actually fits your task? The free Fit Check tool on our homepage matches it in under a minute, before you spend anything.