Bow Saws and Chainsaws

The decision comes down to one thing: the diameter of wood you cut most often. A bow saw is a non-motorized, lightweight tubular-steel frame that handles brush, pruning, and the occasional thick branch. A chainsaw is motorized — a rotating chain with cutters driven around a guide bar to cut wood. For a handful of branches a season, the bow saw wins on price, quiet, and zero maintenance. For firewood, storm cleanup, and felling, you want power.

For broader project planning, explore WBC’s landscape and concrete resources.

Both tools earn their keep on a Montana property. The bow saw covers spring pruning and light cleanup. The chainsaw handles the downed-tree mess after a wind event and the firewood pile that keeps a wood stove fed through winter. Most rural owners end up with both.

Bow Saws: Quiet, Cheap, No Fuss

A bow saw is the right call when the job is brush, pruning, and branches you can wrap a frame around. The Fiskars 21-inch model is lightweight and super-sharp for clearing brush and pruning, featuring a fully hardened, precision-ground steel blade with a rust-resistant coating, a safety tension lever for added control, and a lightweight tubular-steel frame. That rust-resistant coating matters more here than people think — a blade stored in a damp shed through freeze-thaw season corrodes fast otherwise. Fiskars backs that saw with a replacement blade option and a lifetime warranty.

Blade choice is where bow saws get specific. Match the tooth pattern to the wood. The Faithfull Countryman comes supplied with two blades — a ‘peg’ tooth blade for use with dry wood and a ‘raker’ tooth blade for use with wet wood, with double-ground, induction hardened teeth for ultra-sharp cutting edges and prolonged life. Cut the wrong tooth into the wrong wood and the saw binds and dulls. Green, wet timber wants an aggressive raker or American-toothing blade. The Bellota 45401 uses an American toothing blade for fast and easy cutting of green wood, recommended for cutting wet green wood and branches, pruning and cleaning woody plants, mainly fruit trees and shrubs.

For thicker stock, length helps. The Fiskars 24-inch SW31 is built for cutting thicker branches, boughs, and heavy stems — logs, trees, or dense hedges, and its blade cuts on both the push and pull stroke with a curved nose for tight spots. Steel quality shows up in the spec sheet too — the Agri Supply 24-inch runs an SK5 steel blade on a steel tube handle.

Bow Saw Feature	Detail
Frame	Tubular steel, lightweight
Common blade lengths	21 in, 24 in (600 mm)
Dry-wood blade	Peg tooth
Wet/green-wood blade	Raker tooth / American toothing
Blades	Replaceable, matched to wood type

Sizing and Powering a Chainsaw

Bar length is the single most useful spec for matching a chainsaw to the wood. The rule: 10 to 14 inches for pruning, 14 to 18 inches for general cleanup and firewood, and 18 to 24 inches for large tree felling. For Montana firewood and medium trees, an 18 to 20-inch bar is the sweet spot. Power matters as much as length. Run 35cc to 45cc for general tasks, moving to 50cc+ for demanding work. And bigger isn’t automatically better — a longer bar bolted to an underpowered engine just cuts slower because the chain loses momentum under load.

Power source is the real fork in the road. Battery saws win on convenience — battery-powered models for convenience, quiet operation, and light to medium tasks. No fuel mixing, instant start, low maintenance. The Ryobi 18V ONE+ HP Brushless 10-inch runs an HP motor delivering 30% faster cutting, 70 cuts per charge using an included 18V ONE+ 4Ah battery, and a 10-inch bar and chain that tackles cuts up to 8 inches — ideal for regular tree maintenance and storm clean-up. For light pruning, the 6-inch ONE+ pruning model cuts branches up to 4 inches with over 50 cuts per charge on an 18V ONE+ 2Ah battery, in a compact design for tight, hard-to-reach spaces.

Gas earns its place where the work is heavy and remote — gas-powered models for consistent, heavy-duty performance in remote areas. The tradeoff is upkeep: service the air filter and spark plug on gas models, plus the two-cycle mixing. One Montana reality worth weighing — battery performance drops in hard cold. For deep-winter firewood cutting far from an outlet, gas stays consistent.

Task	Bar Length	Engine (gas)
Pruning, trimming	10–14 in	35–45cc range
General cleanup, firewood	14–18 in	mid-range
Large tree felling	18–24 in	50cc+

Chains, Bars, and Keeping a Saw Running

Buy the wrong replacement chain and it won’t seat on the bar. Before purchasing, always verify your chain pitch, gauge, and drive link count. Western Building Center stocks common configurations to match — chains in 14-inch and 16-inch lengths in .050 gauge, 3/8-inch pitch, plus a 16-inch .043-gauge option and an 18-inch 3/8-inch low-profile .050 chain. There are combo bar-and-chain sets in both 14 and 16-inch when it’s time to replace both at once.

Keep a chain sharp and it cuts faster and safer. The stock list includes round files and a file guide set sized 5/32 and 3/16 for touching up cutters between jobs. Bar and chain oil is non-negotiable — a quart or gallon of all-season keeps the bar lubricated, and there’s a dedicated winter-grade quart for cold-weather cutting, which is worth having on a Montana shelf.

On safety, prioritize the systems that stop a saw from biting back. Look for chain brakes, chain catchers, throttle lockouts, and anti-kickback bars. The Ryobi models build in a chain brake for kickback protection. Keep the oil reservoir filled and use tool-less tensioners when the saw has them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a bow saw or a chainsaw? It depends on what you cut. A bow saw is lightweight and ideal for clearing brush and pruning with no fuel or maintenance. A chainsaw is motorized for fast, high-volume work — firewood, storm cleanup, felling. For a few branches a year, the bow saw; for a wood pile, the chainsaw.

What bar length handles firewood? For general cleanup and firewood, 14 to 18 inches is the range. An 18 to 20-inch bar suits firewood and medium trees.

Battery or gas for Montana winters? Battery saws offer quiet, no-mix convenience for light to medium tasks, but cold weather can sap battery performance. Gas delivers consistent, heavy-duty performance in remote areas regardless of temperature, at the cost of fuel mixing and more maintenance.

Which bow saw blade for green wood? Use a raker tooth or American-toothing blade. The Faithfull Countryman supplies a ‘raker’ tooth blade for use with wet wood, and the Bellota 45401 uses an American toothing blade for fast and easy cutting of green wood. Save peg-tooth blades for dry wood.

How do I buy the right replacement chain? Match three numbers before anything else: chain pitch, gauge, and drive link count. Common pitches and gauges vary, so check the bar or the old chain’s stamp first.

What safety features matter most? Look for a chain brake, chain catcher, throttle lockout, and anti-kickback bar. A chain brake is the key defense against kickback.

How do I keep a gas chainsaw running well? Keep bar and chain oil topped off, use tool-less tensioners when available, and service the air filter and spark plug. A round file and guide set keeps the chain sharp between cuts.