It’s pretty incredible what a chainsaw can allow you to do. You can cut down a 30-foot tall tree, prune branches, chunk up logs for firewood, and more. But, are chainsaws useful for more than cutting wood? That’s what we’ll cover in this post.
First things first, can a chainsaw cut metal?
Yes, chainsaws can cut through metal. However, you should only intentionally cut through metal if you are properly trained and have equipment that is built for that purpose. A standard homeowner chainsaw is not built to cut through metal.
This short summary leaves a few important questions unanswered. For example, if you accidentally hit a nail in a tree, will your chainsaw cut through it? Or, what kind of chainsaw is capable of cutting through steel or iron? We’ll cover these points and more details below.
Can a Chainsaw Cut Metal?
In this section we’ll dive into more details about cutting metal with chainsaws. Specifically, we’ll cover a comparison between homeowner and professional chainsaws, the risks of cutting metal with a chainsaw, and some tips to avoid accidentally hitting metal in wood. Let’s get to it!
Homeowner Chainsaws vs. Professional Chainsaws
Homeowner Chainsaws
Homeowner chainsaws are NOT built for cutting metal. What do I mean by a homeowner chainsaw? Generally speaking, a homeowner chainsaw is used for pruning, cutting firewood, and perhaps felling some smaller trees.
A homeowner chainsaw isn’t going to be able to handle the types of jobs done by professional loggers, and professional landscapers would probably also go for something more powerful. If you spent less than $500 on your chainsaw, then it’s almost definitely a homeowner saw, even if it’s a name brand like Stihl or Husqvarna.
Although homeowner chainsaws are not built for cutting metal, they technically can. If you are cutting a log with a chainsaw and you hit a nail, your chainsaw will probably cut right through it. But, you’ll pay a price for this metal-on-metal contact.
When a normal chainsaw hits a piece of metal it will dull the chain almost immediately, and can cause the chain to chip or break entirely. Here’s a similar example: if you use metal wedges, and accidentally hit one with the chain, it’ll cut the wedge and dull the chain.
To summarize: a homeowner chainsaw is not built for cutting metal. It technically can, but I would urge you to never intentionally cut metal with a homeowner chainsaw.
Professional Chainsaws
There are industrial chainsaws used by professionals in a variety of fields, and some of them are built for construction projects that require cutting steel, iron, etc. You can see an example in the video below.
You’ll notice right away, that this is not a typical chainsaw. It has additional hose hook-ups for water flushing, and is actually a bit scary looking. This type of chainsaw is built for really tough jobs, and they are equipped with super durable chains with diamond segments. That’s right, the chains are made with diamonds.
You may not be looking to cut through a steel pipe, but I think this illustrates the point well. Homeowner chainsaws are not built for cutting through metal. There are professional chainsaws that can cut through metal, but those should only be used by people who have had the proper training and experience. These tools can be super dangerous.
Risks of Cutting Metal with a Chainsaw
Next, it’s important that we take a moment to highlight some of the risks of cutting metal with a chainsaw, to make things as clear as possible. In this section, we’re talking specifically about the risks of cutting metal with a homeowner chainsaw (not a professional industrial saw).
Here are 6 of the top risks:
- The chain could break during use, which can cause injuries
- It could throw sparks, creating fire and burn risks
- It could damage the engine of your chainsaw
- It can throw chips of metal, which can cause injuries
- It will dull your chainsaw chain, which is inconvenient and time consuming
- It might cause unexpected kickback, which can cause injuries
There are several ways that cutting metal with a homeowner chainsaw can cause risk of injury, and damage to your chainsaw. So don’t do it. Don’t cut metal with your chainsaw on purpose. And to avoid accidentally cutting metal, see the next section.
Tips for Avoiding Accidental Metal Contact
Probably the most common way chainsaw users end up cutting through metal, is when they accidentally hit a piece of metal they did not intend to cut. The two best examples are as follows:
- Nails and other metal in a tree/log
- Metal felling wedges
In this section I want to highlight a few tips for avoiding contact with these metal pieces. I’ll address each of the 2 points above, in order:
Nails and other metal in a tree/log
There are tons of old trees, with nails, bullets, fence staples, and other metal odds-and-ends lodged inside. It is sometimes hard to predict where metal might be buried in a tree, especially since trees often continue to grow around the metal.
There are a few common sense things you can do to identify potential metal pieces in a tree. Before you begin cutting, check to see if anything is sticking out of the bark. Also look for signs of unusual bumps or protrusions. This is the easiest thing to check.
If you haven’t spotted anything yet, then also look around the tree. Is it part of a fence line? Is there a fallen sign on the ground next to the tree? If yes for either one, then the tree might have a staple, or half of a nail lodged inside.
If you find anything suspicious during your check, then strategically place your chainsaw away from the area that might have metal inside. This isn’t rocket science, but it is helpful to intentionally look for signs before you cut.
Even after checking things out, you may hit some metal with your chainsaw from time to time. If you see sparks, or hear a metal-on-metal grinding sound, stop cutting and assess the situation.
Metal felling wedges
I’ll keep this one super short. Just don’t use metal felling wedges.
Plastic wedges are lighter, safer, and cheaper compared to metal wedges. So, unless you have a specific need for metal wedges, plastic ones will probably be better. You can find our recommendations for plastic felling wedges in this post.
Alright, that covers cutting metal (and avoiding cutting metal). Now let’s have a little fun looking at those industrial chainsaws.
Related Question: Can a Chainsaw Cut Concrete?
Yes. This may surprise you, but there are industrial chainsaws that can actually cut through concrete and solid-rock. These are pretty incredible machines. I doubt I’ll ever need to use one myself, but I can’t help but be impressed.
Here’s a video from Stihl that’s showing off their “Rock Boss” chainsaw.
You have to admit….that’s cool.
And it brings us to the end of this article. Let’s take a moment to summarize.
A typical homeowner chainsaw can cut through metal, but you should avoid doing that, for safety and to prevent damage to your chainsaw. Professional chainsaws are capable of cutting through steel, iron, and even concrete.
If you’d like to learn about cutting logs with your chainsaw, check out this article. And if you’ve already hit some metal with your chainsaw, you can learn to replace a damaged chain in this article.
That’s all from me. Now go do something awesome!
