When people hear about STIHL, they think about old-world care and the handcrafted work of last century's skilled artisans. This dedication to quality is what has made the Stihl chainsaw the most popular on the market over the last 80 years.

Stihl specializes in developing and manufacturing a wide variety of portable power tools, both gasoline and electric. When looking at purchasing a chainsaw, some due diligence should be performed, yet, I found when shopping around and asking pertinent questions, such as what brand should I look at, most of the time the answer was always..."well, you can't beat a Stihl."

Along with Stihl's dedication and commitment to develop the ultimate product performance comes quite a long history of manufacturing and selling chainsaws.

Andreas Stihl developed the first electric chainsaw way back in 1926. At the time, professional loggers found his innovation very useful and were glad to take advantage of it. Andreas Stihl's significantly improved the lives of many farmers and woodcutters who had to rely on laborious crosscut saws and axes to etch out a living. It was tough going. Timber harvesting was virtually revolutionized by Stihl's invention.

Today,the use of Stihl chainsaws is no longer limited to the logging industry and has spread to other fields as well. The chainsaw has become such a versatile tool; while it's use amongst professional woodcutters is wide and varied, it's use has spread to the home owner, where the once arduous task of chopping firewood has now "become a breeze" through the application of the trusty chainsaw. The chainsaw has become an important part of the farming landscape; I remember growing up on our farm and learning to use a chainsaw at an early age. There were always trees that needed to be trimmed and land cleared. The landscaping industry have adopted the chainsaw as an important part of their make up. Contractors use of the chainsaw involves such things as cutting landscaping and cross ties as well as large timbers.

Stihl chainsaws have been constantly refined over the past 80 years. A reduction in weight and increased operating efficiency is a major reason why the chainsaw is no longer restricted to the professional woodcutting industry. Innovations such as the elastostart, anti-vibration system and improved shock absorption have catapulted the chainsaw to it's level of versatility. Dual braking systems and the inertia activated chain brake are more reasons why Stihl has remained at the top of the chainsaw tree.

During the last few years, the company has joined the fight to protect the environment. It has come up with new ideas to develop techniques that decrease hydrocarbon emissions. This has been a blessing for people who work in restricted areas.

Andreas Stihl's successors say that his commitment to quality has remained constant throughout the company's history. Stihl has maintained it's position in the power tools industry through that very commitment. And there are a lot of chainsaw users who would appreciate the lesser workloads they now face because of this versatile machine.