A tree, or even a large branch, that falls and blocks your driveway can be a major inconvenience, to put it mildly. It also can be downright expensive to have someone come and remove it, and they may not be able to come when you need them. That holds true even for a branch or an entire tree that falls in a harmless location. It doesn't present an obstacle, but it looks unattractive. And getting a landscape contractor or a tree service in there also can result in a major unplanned expense.

Homeowners who heat with wood and those who are more concerned with quickly clearing storm damage are well served by owning a chain saw. For wood-heating homeowners, it's a necessity. For others, it's a tool that can pay for itself in one storm, or over the course of two or three years, tidying up the landscape.

Today's Saw
We gathered recently to test seven of today's chain saws. We selected machines with engines of about 45cc and bar lengths of 18 in. It has been our experience that this combination makes for a versatile saw. It's big enough and powerful enough to handle the demands of someone who heats with wood (partially or entirely), but it's not too big for the person who cuts a couple of logs a year for the fireplace or to clear storm damage. All of the saws were equipped with low-kickback chain. Improvement to chain design makes today's saw cut more easily and safely than its predecessor. Engineers have looked intensely at handle shape and balance to make saws more comfortable. And modern saws do a good job of isolating the user from the machine's vibration.

If you like cutting wood as much as we do, you'll be interested in what we found. Before we stacked up the firewood, we stacked the saws against each other. Here's what we learned after the chips, dust and noise settled down.

Stihl MS250
There's no mistaking the Stihl as anything but a highly capable wood cutter. It is powerful, well-balanced, and of all the saws it has the best field-service capability. Both the back cover and the air filter can be removed without tools. The saw's spark plug placement makes for easy service. The saw has a well-protected master control lever that's fast to use. A small design feature that all the testers liked was that the gas cap and the bar oil cap have a flip-up lever that makes them easy to loosen or tighten. That's important for cold-weather work when you're wearing gloves.

The only problem noted with the Stihl was that it was the most difficult to start. We suspect the saw would be easier to start after a break-in period.

Husqvarna 345
The Husqvarna is a smooth-running, fast-cutting saw. It's easy to start and well-balanced. It's a professional product, and if you cut a lot of wood, you'll find this saw to be worth its price because its speed and smooth performance make it very productive. The Husqvarna was the loudest saw (along with its twin, the Jonsered) when we averaged its decibel rating at idle and full throttle. Is that an issue? Anybody cutting wood should wear hearing and eye protection.

The testers liked the Husqvarna based on its performance, though everyone agreed that it cannot claim the easy field-service capability of the Stihl. You need a screwdriver to remove the saw's top cover. However, once the cover is removed you have excellent access to the spark plug, air filter and engine head. Husqvarna makes a point of saying it designed the saw's airflow to remove particles before they get to the engine compartment. Still, it's good to know that with the cover removed, you can keep this saw clean as a whistle.

Jonsered 2145
Everything that can be said about the Husqvarna applies to the Jonsered. With the exception of their difference in color, the saws are identical, right down to their controls. Speaking of which, although the testers didn't experience any problems with the pullout choke control/throttle-lock lever, it does look a bit delicate and may be prone to damage. Certainly the lever would be difficult to work if you were wearing gloves. To start the Jonsered, or its orange twin, you pull this blue lever. That automatically sets the Stop switch and throttle to fast idle. A pull or two on the recoil handle and you're cutting.

Our testers did not like the saw's gas and oil caps. Both were most easily tightened and removed by inserting a screwdriver shaft between their posts.On a more positive note, like the Husky, the Jonsered's owner's manual is excellent. It has the best illustrations, and use and care instructions. And, along with the Echo's manual, it is written entirely in English.

Solo 645
This is a good saw in search of a market. It doesn't have wide national distribution, but if you have a distributor near you, we recommend that you consider it. It's an easy-starting saw and we felt that this was due to its having a primer bulb and a compression release button. It was the only saw to have both. Some people feel the primer bulb is the most reliable way to start a small engine. We tend to agree, based on our experience with small equipment ranging from lawnmowers to trimmers. This old-fashioned feature is a good way of ensuring adequate fuel at startup. The Solo proved a capable cutter, though not as smooth and powerful as the Stihl or the Husqvarna/Jonsered saws.

Echo CS-440
If your preference is for basic, solid power equipment, the Echo is your product. What do we mean by basic? It is the only saw equipped with a toggle ignition switch and a choke knob that looks like it could have come off a pickup truck dashboard of 30 years ago. Combine those two features with a throttle latch, and you have a saw that anybody can understand at a glance. To start the Echo, you flip its ignition switch to On, pull out its choke knob and press its latch button. When you do so, you lock the saw in the fast-idle position. A couple of pulls was all it took to start this saw.

The Echo proved itself to be a fast-cutting saw and its perform-ance held up well under load. Some woodcutters describe a saw like this as having guts. We agree. The fact that the Echo received high marks for power and ease of start is more remarkable when you consider that it was also the second-quietest saw.

Our only check marks against it are small ones. The nut and bolt that hold the nose guard in place are wider than the saw's kerf. Your best bet is to remove that clunky, pseudo safety device. The Echo was among the saws that use a chain-tension screw positioned on the front of the saw, on the side of the bar. The testers agreed that chain tension should be accomplished instead with a screw through the side of the clutch cover plate. However, the Echo was the best of the front-adjustment saws because its large screw promotes easier placement of a screwdriver.

Homelite Timberman 45
Homelite occupies a special niche in American manufacturing as a well-regarded brand. It has seen some rough times in the last few years, however. Now the brand is owned and marketed by Ryobi, believe it or not. Has the change in ownership harmed it? We don't think so. The saw is well-made and powerful. It proved easy to start thanks to its primer bulb.

Having said that, we wouldn't classify this saw as a primary wood cutter. That distinction belongs to saws with more power, less vibration and better field-service capability. Still, the Homelite is no slouch. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a backup saw or one for occasional use. The only significant problem noted was that the saw directed a lot of engine heat toward the user's hand when the saw was turned sideways to make felling cuts.

Poulan Pro 295
Like Homelite, Poulan is another old, well-regarded American brand--and a pioneer in chain saw development. It's owned by the same company, Electrolux, that produces the Husqvarna and Jonsered saws. The Poulan appeared to have significantly less substance than the other saws, and it was the only machine in which we noted an annoying deficiency regarding its chain tightening. The saw has a clever design for tightening the chain--a slot at the base of the bar. Insert a screwdriver in the slot and turn to tighten the chain. However, our testers found that the mechanism reached the limit of its travel before the chain was tightened. That meant we had to resort to the old-fashioned method of loosening the clutch cover bolts and pulling the bar forward and up. Then, we had to retighten the cover bolts without losing the tension we had just applied. There's no excuse for that kind of flimsy manufacturing. On the upside, the saw started easily, ran with gusto and averaged out as the quietest saw.

Conclusion
Of all the outdoor power equipment evaluated recently, this test produced the closest finish at the top of the pack, a photo finish if you will. We tested all the saws for ease of start, power under load, balance and ease of field service. We even tested them with an aftermarket chain provided by the nation's premier chain manufacturer, Oregon Cutting Systems (www.oregonchain.com). Oregon makes chains for all the manufacturers tested here except for Stihl, which makes its own. We wanted to know if an aftermarket chain could affect saw performance. All we can say is that putting a fresh, sharp Oregon chain on any saw should improve its cut quality, but swapping chains didn't affect the test rankings. If you've tuned your saw, sharpened it and you still suspect that there's room for improvement, our advice would be to consider an Oregon replacement chain.

Having said all that, here's how our test shaped up.

First place goes to the Stihl. Although the testers were divided on the first-place finisher, there's no question that the Stihl exhibits excellent industrial design features and simplicity. In our experi-ence with everything from table saws to lawnmowers, products that exhibit these two attributes hold up best over the long haul. It's our hunch that the saw's tough cold-starting could be worked out with more experience and after a break-in period. Also, we should note that the Stihl would start with a single pull after it had a couple of minutes to warm up. In all other respects, this is an excellent saw. The Husqvarna ranked next. As one tester put it: "I want the Husqvarna's power, smoothness of operation and cut quality paired with the Stihl's simplicity and ability to be field serviced." You decide which qualities are more important. There was no debate among the testers that with the hardwoods we cut (birch, maple, cherry and oak), the Husqvarna was certainly fast. (The company also makes an industrial high-speed version of this saw, the 346 XP, that's even faster. We did use it in this test, but didn't rank it. Its price tag is more than $400, and that's well outside what most nonprofessionals will pay for a saw.) The 345 was easier to start than the Stihl. The same can be said for the Jonsered.

Next comes the easy-starting and nimble Solo. We frequently turned to this saw when we had to do small clean-up work with branches and related chores. That speaks very well for it.

One tester put the Echo right next to the Solo, the others ranked it a notch below. Either way, it's a great saw that's easy to start, powerful and simple. Well below the saws already mentioned ranks the Homelite, an excellent homeowner saw or a capable backup.

Bringing up the rear is the Poulan. Not a bad saw, but it needs additional work to improve its balance and its chain-tightening mechanism. Don't worry about its ability to cut. It seemed to do just fine in that regard.