The little chainsaw that could...

written by
Alissa
World Champion LumberJill
​Founder & Owner of the Axe Women Loggers of Maine

​We have definitely been putting our time to good use lately! We've been training hard, updating the AxeWomen website, taking new pictures & videos and filling our 2021 & 2022 schedules like crazy!!! We have also been working on our YouTube channel!
We are currently working on some fun "product review" videos. We thought it only fitting that our first review be of... wait for it... a STIHL chainsaw! But not just any STIHL chainsaw... we're talking about their battery powered chainsaws, the MSA 200 C.
​I know... I know... We obviously love STIHL... so you may think we're a little biased...
I promise you - we are not!

​A few years ago, we got an email from a TV producer at NBCUniversal in New York City. They worked at "Harry" - a daily talk show starring Harry Connick Jr! She wanted the AxeWomen to come to New York and be in a segment of the show called "Harry tries" where Harry Connick Jr gets completely surprised by participating in something he's never done or tried - and being taught how to do it!
And someone there thought that logging sports (chopping, sawing & axe throwing) would be a fun idea! And we couldn't have agreed more!!
So, off to New York we went... Mike & I drove down from Maine (with Peter PlottHound, of course) ... Andrea flew, and Alexis took a train!
Mike, Pete & I left Maine super early to drive the 12-hour trip. About the time we reached Massachusetts we got a call from the show's producer, just checking in with us and making sure things were still on schedule. Somewhere in the conversation I mentioned how the back of the truck was packed with axe throwing targets, chopping stands, sawing stands and... chainsaws. 
"Chainsaws?... Not the ones that run on gas? Right??" they asked....
"Of course they run on gas!" I answered...
"Oh... we thought maybe they plugged in or something" was their reply...
WHAT???? No... our chainsaws don't plug in!
They went on to tell us that New York City ordinances wouldn't allow gas powered chainsaws inside of their studio! This was going to be a big problem!
So, I called our contact at STIHL and told him about our dilemma... Within a few minutes I was receiving emails with directions for two different STIHL dealers in Connecticut. We were to stop at each and pick up one of STIHL's relatively new battery powered chainsaws.
Honestly, we were super skeptical about running battery powered saws... something we had never done before. We just couldn't imagine that they would actually be powerful...
But that was the hand we were dealt that day.
We picked up the saws, the batteries and the chargers and continued to New York. We checked into our hotel for the night... which was seriously 12 ft x 12 ft.... Really... You had to step over the toilet to get into the shower... which one wall of the shower was a glass window to the foot of the bed... And plugged in our new battery powered saws to charge for the next morning's filming. (Pete, surprisingly, was a huge fan of New York, the cab rides and the 20th floor hotel room from which he could look down on pigeons and horses!)
The next day we got to the studio, did lots of set up, had our hair & make-up professionally done, then successfully filmed a super fun segment with Harry Connick Jr! He chopped a log without hitting his foot! He tried axe throwing and got it to stick in the target on his third try! And he raced against Andrea using a battery powered chainsaw with no trouble!
We were lucky enough to get to keep those saws after returning from this trip. We weren't sure, at first, what we would really use them for... But that changed quickly!
We started using them in the show... sometimes to carve a wooden bunny (which turns into a kid's chair!) and other times to do the disk stack competition... So many people started coming up after the shows asking about these saws!
We wanted to be able to give everyone a real life, honest answer... Not just tell them that they work great in our shows.
We brought the saws back to our house & property. We cut firewood with them in our yard. We took them into the woods and cleared trails with them. And it didn't take us long to realize that these really are great little chainsaws!!! No, they are not going to cut the same as a STIHL 441... you wouldn't use them to clear a house lot... or to take down a 75-foot ash tree... 
But they are just perfect for limbing trees all day and clearing brush... my favorite is being able to buck up firewood in our yard when I don't want to disturb the neighbors with a lot of noise.
 
We are super excited for our upcoming YouTube product review of this chainsaw! The video is currently in production! You'll be able to see for yourself how they work! Teaser: We are definitely fans! Watch for the announcement on the Axe Women Facebook and Instagram pages for when we'll "drop" our video!!