DeWalt 20V Max XR 12" Chainsaw Kit vs Stihl MSA 60 C-B 12" Chainsaw Kit
Tinted cells mark the better figure on that row alone: more engine, longer bar, lighter, cheaper. A lighter weight is only a win on the same basis.
What owners like and complain about
DeWalt 20V Max XR 12" Chainsaw Kit
- Cheapest way into a name-brand battery saw if you already own 20V Max packs — bare tool often dips under $150
- 9 lbs with battery and compact enough for one-hand-assisted limbing (with care)
- Tool-free tensioning knob makes chain adjustments genuinely painless
- Quiet enough for neighborhood use and campground-legal where gas saws draw glares
- Low-kickback 12" Oregon bar/chain suits nervous first-time chainsaw owners
- 3-year warranty with DeWalt's huge service network behind it
- Chronic bar-oil leakage — the oil cap seal is the single most repeated gripe in years of retailer reviews
- 20V motor bogs in hardwood much past 8" — this is a limbing saw, not a bucking saw
- Sustained cutting flattens the 5.0Ah pack in 15-20 minutes of trigger time
- No chain brake lever — it relies on a low-kickback chain instead, which serious users consider a real omission
- Newer DCCS621/DCCS623 models are lighter, leaving the 620 feeling dated at full price
Stihl MSA 60 C-B 12" Chainsaw Kit
- 6.4 lb powerhead, 9.0 lb with the AK 20 — light enough that beginners and smaller operators can hold it steady
- Kit price includes battery and charger, so there is no hidden second purchase
- Around 40 minutes of cutting on the AK 20; owners report light pruning barely moves the gauge
- Toolless Quick Chain Adjuster and a translucent oil tank you can read at a glance
- Owners report it holds charge well in cold weather, where cheap battery saws fade
- AK packs run Stihl's homeowner trimmers and blowers too
- 0.9 kW and a 12" bar — 8-inch hardwood is the honest limit
- 1/4" .043" chain dulls quickly on anything near the ground
- AK system is the homeowner platform; it does not accept the pro AP packs
- About $50 more than the MSA 120 kit it replaces, for a saw in the same class