Cutting firewood with a chainsaw: working effectively and safely
Using a chainsaw to cut your own firewood is certainly more cost effective than buying logs, and can also be more sustainable. Here’s how to do it.
12.09.2025
Protective equipment when cutting firewood
First things first, whenever you are working with a chainsaw you need to be wearing the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment. This includes face protection and safety glasses to protect your face and eyes from flying wood chips. If you are using a petrol chainsaw, you will need ear protection, such as ear plugs or ear defenders, but if you are using a cordless chainsaw, most of them are so quiet that they do not require ear protection. You should also protect your hands, legs and feet properly by wearing appropriate cut protective work gloves, chainsaw trousers and boots. For those just getting started, we make a chainsaw PPE starter kit that includes the basics.
Before you use your chainsaw for the first time, read the operating manual for your machine to familiarise yourself with the tool, and make sure it is in good working condition before each use. Please remember that personal protective equipment is no substitute for safe working techniques.
Which firewood?
If you don’t use your fireplace often, most wood will be suitable. Soft woods, such as spruce, will heat up faster, due to their higher resin content. This also means that they burn more quickly so you will need to add logs to the fire more often.
Hard woods, such as beech or oak, take longer to heat up but burn for much longer. This makes them well suited if you use your stove or fireplace for longer periods of time.
Make sure the wood is seasoned (dried out) before burning it. For the best burn and heat output, firewood should be seasoned until its moisture content is around 20%. You can easily check wood moisture content with the help of our wood moisture gauge.
Firewood with a higher moisture content is hard to light and keep burning, plus the heat that is produced is wasted in drying the excess moisture. More importantly, the tars and creosote in the smoke produced by the excess moisture can line flue pipes and your chimney and eventually cause a fire. Plus lots of smoke is never a good thing for you or your neighbours.
Cutting to length
To get started turning a fallen tree into firewood, we recommend cutting all the timber into one metre lengths that are easier to work with. You can cut the wood directly on the ground if it’s flat enough, or you can quickly make yourself a cutting stand from other pieces of wood. Just make sure you have permission before getting started as there are restrictions and regulations around processing wood from a fallen tree in the UK.
Tips for sawing firewood from a trunk on the ground
If the trunk is on a solid, even surface you can use your chainsaw to cut it up directly on the ground, but make sure your chainsaw does not cut into the ground, as this will blunt the chain.
The very first step before you use the chainsaw to make firewood is to check that the trunk cannot roll away, by securing the log with wedges or smaller pieces of wood.
Before cutting the wood to length, you need to mark where to cut with the chainsaw. You can use a forestry tape measure to do this, and make marks at 1-metre intervals using PRO Marker chalk or ECO Marker Spray.
Start your chainsaw and position it on the marked points with the chain running slowly. Saw about three-quarters of the way through the trunk at each marked point. This prevents you from cutting into the ground with the chainsaw which will blunt your chain. Repeat the process at all the marked points.
Turn the trunk over – you may find a felling lever helpful. Don’t forget to secure the trunk against rolling away again before you continue working.
Finish the cuts you started from the opposite side. Your metre-long pieces of wood are ready for further processing into firewood.
A DIY cutting stand for sawing long trunks on
If the surface of the ground is not suitable for working on directly, you may need some kind of stand to help you: this not only saves your saw chain but also your back. You can quickly create an ideal log support by cutting a groove in a piece of wood. Remember to always make sure that any wood you are cutting with a chainsaw is secured in place and not able to roll away before you start.
To make your cutting stand, first use the saw to cut a V shape out of a log. The width of the V you cut should be equal to the diameter of the trunk you are chopping into firewood.
Position the cutting stand so it’s stable and place a log into the V. Hand lifting tongs can make this easier. The trunk should be firmly in the notch, with no leeway – you can also secure it using wedges or small pieces of wood if required.
You can now cut through at the marked points. Position your saw above the mark, with chain running slowly before cutting into the wood – this will help to achieve a clean cut. At this point, watch out for the sawn-off part of the trunk falling on your feet.
Reposition the length of wood on the stand if necessary. Repeat the sawing process until you have finished cutting all the pieces.
Splitting the lengths for firewood
Metre-long pieces of trunk probably won’t fit in your fireplace, and thicker trunks need to be split for ease of use – in any case, smaller pieces of firewood will always dry better and more quickly than large logs. This is important, as damp wood is hard to light, doesn't burn well and releases soot and smoke.
Place your one-metre log horizontally and securely on the ground, and again, make sure that it cannot roll away.
Drive the log into two parts using a splitting wedge. Cutting a notch first with your chainsaw makes it easier to insert the wedge, then strike it until the wood splits. Depending on the thickness of the trunk, you may need to split the halves again, into quarters.
The resulting split wood can be further cut down on a sawhorse, to create ideal sized pieces of firewood.
Processing into firewood
It’s best to use a sawhorse when processing split lengths of wood and smaller branches to create firewood. A sawhorse helps you secure the wood safely, and at a good height for conveniently cutting firewood.
Place a piece of wood on the sawhorse and secure with a rubber band or chain. Now you’re ready for the final stage of cutting your timber into firewood.
Start the chainsaw safely and start cutting.
Be wary of cutting too close to the saw horse - move the wood reguarly to prevent accidental damage.
Storing firewood
Once you have cut your own logs, they will need to dry for 1-2 years before they can be used on the fire (softwoods will season quicker than hardwoods, such as oak, which will likely need the full two years). Make sure that you stack your logs so that the air can circulate between them. Then cover them with a waterproof tarpaulin to protect them from rain and damp weather.
Follow our step-by-step guide to build your own DIY log store.
Picco Duro carbide-tipped saw chain
Made for medium-power chainsaw, our Picco Duro 3 saw chain, uses carbide-tipped teeth that are no match even for dirty or particularly tough wood. Designed for durability, it stays sharp for up to four times longer than standard saw chains.
Summary: cutting firewood with a chainsaw
Depending on the subsurface and task, you can work directly on the ground, on a sawhorse, or on a cutting stand
Personal protective equipment is required for cutting firewood with a chainsaw
Collecting wood in a forest requires the owner’s permission or a permit, and may be subject to restrictions
