Husqvarna 120 vs Einhell GC-PC for Bucking a 25-Centimetre Larch Trunk

Two engines on the same cut face

The Husqvarna 120 displaces 38.2 cc and is rated at 1.5 kW at 9000 rpm. It drives a 14-inch bar with a 3/8 low-profile chain. The Einhell GC-PC 1235 I is close in displacement at 37.2 cc, yet its rated output is 1.2 kW, and it carries a 35 cm bar on the same 3/8 LP pitch.

In a full cross-cut through 25 cm of seasoned larch, the extra 300 watts at the crankshaft matters because the chain is buried for long enough to pull the engine down. Under that load, the Husqvarna has about a fifth more chain speed in reserve, which is where a smaller powerhead starts to sound strained. On a bench the two saws look almost matched, but the round decides it.

Seasoned larch dries to roughly 590 kg per cubic metre, making it denser than spruce or pine of similar diameter. The load peaks when the bumper spikes are set, the bar is deep in the round, and the operator adds body weight to keep the cut moving. For the middle third of the cut, the chain is working across nearly its whole useful length, so the engine has little chance to recover rpm in the way it can while snedding thin branches.

Chain speed, cutters, and the missing stopwatch

Both saws usually arrive with a 3/8 low-profile chain in 0.050 inch gauge. That combination keeps the kerf narrow, so each cutter removes less wood than it would with a wider, more aggressive setup. The Husqvarna ships with an H37 style chain, while the Einhell uses an Oregon 91-series equivalent. These chains are milder than full-chisel chain, which suits machines sold mainly to occasional users.

In larch, a sharp edge quickly outweighs the badge on the starter cover. Once the cutters lose their bite, the operator begins to push. The engine sheds rpm, chips turn finer, and the 1.2 kW Einhell falls out of its useful power band sooner than the 1.5 kW Husqvarna.

The Husqvarna carries its speed deeper into the cut, especially when the bar is fully engaged, and no two rounds ever produce identical times to prove it on paper. The Einhell will finish the same kind of round, although it asks for a lighter feed pressure and a cleaner chain. Across a stack of forty rounds, that smaller reserve turns into more time with the trigger held open.

Raker height decides how hard each tooth bites. On seasoned larch, setting the depth gauges about 0.025 inch below the cutter tip keeps the chain feeding without grabbing too much wood. If the rakers are taken too low, the Einhell tends to bog whenever the cutters reach the dense heartwood, while the Husqvarna has more tolerance before the same mistake becomes obvious.

Filing between rounds

A 4.0 mm round file fits the 3/8 low-profile cutters on both saws. Ten to twelve strokes per cutter at a 30 degree top-plate angle will usually bring back a working edge, provided the file is held so about one fifth of its diameter rides above the cutter. Larch resin fills the gullets faster than most softwoods, so a chain that felt keen at the start of a pile can begin to drag by the twentieth round.

Arm pressure is the wrong cure for that drag. Heat builds at the clutch and cylinder when a dull chain is forced through the wood, and the chips give the warning first: flakes and chips mean the cutters are still working, while fine powder means the chain is past its useful edge.

A pruning saw with impulse-hardened teeth gets replaced when it is worn because those teeth are not meant to be filed. A chainsaw chain is different. It is a consumable that pays back regular attention over dozens of tanks, especially on a resinous species that contaminates the bar and cutters quickly.

A filing guide that clamps to the bar is worth using on both machines because it fixes the file angle mechanically. Freehand filing can drift from cutter to cutter. Once the angles become uneven, the chain pulls to one side, the kerf curves, and a 25 cm trunk begins to pinch the bar.

That pinch turns a slow cut into a stuck saw. When the bar is trapped partway through a larch round, the usual escape is a wedge driven into the kerf to open the cut enough to release the rails.

Chain tension and the two adjusters

The Einhell GC-PC 1235 I uses a tool-free tensioner with a captive knob and a locking wheel on the side cover. Adjustment is done by hand. The Husqvarna 120 keeps the conventional arrangement: a tensioning screw reached with the combination scrench supplied with the saw.

The target is identical on both. At the midpoint of the bar, the chain should lift about 3 to 4 mm from the rail and snap back when released, with the drive links still seated in the groove. Too loose and it slaps the bar; too tight and it adds heat before the first cut is complete.

A new chain stretches most during its first tank of fuel. Full-diameter larch cutting speeds that stretch because the bar and chain run hot for longer periods. Tension set cold at the start of a stack can be loose by the fifth round.

Here the Einhell has a real field advantage. A loose chain can be corrected quickly without hunting for the scrench. The cost is less mechanical purchase from the plastic wheel, which can slip if it is overtightened. The Husqvarna screw is slower to reach, yet it gives a firmer adjustment.

Tension checks belong with the engine off and the chain brake released. Pulling the chain around the bar by hand with a gloved grip confirms that it moves freely. A chain tightened while hot will contract as it cools, clamping the bar and making the next cold start fight against a locked chain.

Bar length is already enough

The Einhell 35 cm bar and the Husqvarna 14-inch bar both clear a 25 cm trunk in a single pass from one side. Extra reach only matters when the operator refuses to roll the log. For this diameter, power and chain condition matter more than spare bar length.

Fuel, resin, and the last rounds of the pile

Both engines are two-strokes and run on a 50:1 petrol-to-oil mix with quality two-stroke oil. Larch makes heat, and heat exposes stale fuel or a lean mix quickly. Fuel older than a month is a poor match for sustained cutting, especially E10 petrol that has absorbed moisture and degraded the mixture.

The Einhell shows this weakness sooner because it has less output to spare. It may start well and cut branches cleanly, then hesitate when asked to hold rpm through 25 cm of heartwood. The Husqvarna is still affected by poor fuel, but the larger power reserve gives it a wider buffer before the cut feels laboured.

Resin adds another load. Larch sap coats the bar rails and drive links, and by the thirtieth round the accumulated pitch can increase friction in the bar groove. Cleaning the groove with a flat blade and clearing the oiler port keeps oil reaching the rail.

Both saws use automatic bar oilers. Some regional variants of the Husqvarna 120 have adjustable oil flow, while the base Einhell does not. On resin-heavy wood, a fixed oiler can fall short during sustained cutting. A dry bar heats, discolours, and can turn blue at the tip.

The same decline appears in the last rounds of a long session. A saw that felt quick at the start can slow badly once the chain dulls, the fuel warms in the tank, and resin has built up on the running gear. The Husqvarna has more headroom before the operator notices the saw fighting the wood. The Einhell reaches visible bogging earlier, a point many occasional users read as weak engine output even when the chain and fuel are carrying much of the blame.

Larch dust is fine and loads an air filter quickly. A clogged filter richens the mixture and drops power, and on the lower-output Einhell that can separate a clean cut from a stalled bar. Tapping the filter clean every second tank keeps both engines breathing.

Which saw finishes the stack

A stack of 25 cm larch rounds is within reach for both machines. The Husqvarna 120 works with more margin, holding rpm deeper into the cut and tolerating a duller chain before it starts to complain. The Einhell GC-PC 1235 I completes the work at a slower pace and is more dependent on sharp filing, though its tool-free tensioner makes mid-stack adjustment quicker.

What neither machine reveals across a single afternoon is how the fixed oiler and the plastic tensioner hold up once the resin has been baking into them for a few seasons. By the last rounds you already know which saw is fighting you; whether that fight gets worse or the parts simply wear out is a question the stack in front of you cannot answer.