Worx WG322 20V 10-Inch Chainsaw Review

The saw's strongest card is how little it asks of you. It weighs 6.2 lb with the battery, light enough to carry one-handed between cuts and to hold at chest height for a stretch. The rear handle and the full wrap-around front handle give a proper two-handed grip, so this is a real saw and not a one-hand mini.

Quiet and simple to start

It runs far quieter than a gas saw and quieter than most corded models, which matters in a suburban yard where a neighbor is reading on the porch. Starting is one trigger press: no choke, no pull cord, no fuel to mix. There is one oil cap, mounted on top so you can fill it without spilling, and one tension knob.

Tool-free tensioning and automatic oiling

The chain tensioner works with a knob and dial, no wrench needed, which is a genuine convenience for a homeowner who will adjust tension often. The saw oils its own bar and chain from a 4.5 oz tank, so there is no manual oiling to remember mid-cut.

The battery platform and the kit

It runs on Worx 20V PowerShare, so if you already own Worx 20V tools the packs move between the yard tools. The box holds the saw, a 20V battery and a charger, so it works out of the box, and the warranty runs 3 years. The included battery, charger and warranty are what justify the outlay for a first saw.

What it is genuinely good at

Pruning branches, limbing felled trees, bucking small logs and clearing storm debris are the saw's real job. Buyers on Amazon most often praise its quality, its cutting performance on small jobs and its weight, and one customer notes it cuts through 5-inch tree trunks with ease. That is the work this saw was built for.

The chain runs at 12.5 ft/s, which is slow. Faster saws in the cordless class run at two to three times this chain speed, and the slow chain is why the WG322 cuts steadily rather than quickly and feels underpowered once the wood gets bigger.

Runtime and charging

The included 2.0 Ah battery gives a limited working window per charge: enough for a pruning session, not for a full afternoon of cutting. The bundled charger is a slow one, and a full charge takes hours. Buyers on Amazon are divided on battery life, with some reporting short use per charge and others much longer sessions.

The cut ceiling

A 10-inch bar does not mean 10-inch logs all day. The saw is comfortable in small-to-medium limbs and logs, and it will bog down and drain the battery in larger wood. It is not a felling or firewood saw.

Brushed motor and no inertia chain brake

The motor is brushed, which is less efficient and shorter-lived than a brushless one, and that shows up in both runtime and long-term durability. The saw has a fixed hand guard, a low-kickback chain and a reduced-kickback bar, but no inertia-activated chain brake. The guard protects your hand and the motor stops when you release the trigger, but nothing stops the chain in a kickback event. That is a real safety limitation, and it makes disciplined technique more important, not less.

Oil weep and chain tension

The oil tank breather lets oil seep if the saw is stored on its side or nose-down, so store it horizontally with the oil cap up. Oil leakage is one of the complaints buyers on Amazon raise most. Chain tension also needs monitoring, because the auto-tension name oversells what the system does.

The chain coming loose or jumping off is the single most common frustration with this saw, and buyers on Amazon raise chain durability more than any other complaint. The mechanism is simple: the bar slides back toward the motor, the chain goes slack, and cranking the tension knob tighter does not fix it. The bar's tensioning plate has to be reseated in the bar hole.

Reseating the bar

1. Loosen the knob until the bar can move.
2. Pull the bar tip outward so the tensioning plate seats in the bar hole.
3. Retighten the knob and check the tension.

At the middle of the bar you should be able to lift the chain about half a drive-link depth, no more. The manual calls for checking tension regularly during use, every 10 minutes of operation, and a practical rule is to check before each session and after the first few cuts.

When it is a warranty issue

A small number of units have a defective tensioning ratchet that lets the knob back off during a cut. If the knob rotates loose on its own, that is a warranty issue, not user error. Otherwise, this is a saw that rewards a two-minute pre-flight check, and once you know the reseat procedure the problem largely goes away.

The 10-inch bar translates into comfortable work in branches and small logs, a modest log in a single pass, and a struggle in larger-diameter wood. Bar length is not cut capacity: a buried bar is maximum load on a small motor, so the saw is happiest when the bar is not fully buried. In practice, that means about 6 inches in a single pass, with 8 inches at the limit.

Output per charge

Expect a pruning session's worth of cuts, not a day's work, and bring a spare battery for anything longer. The saw is for pruning, limbing, bucking small logs, storm cleanup and cutting up fallen branches. It is not for felling trees, cutting firewood in volume, cutting above shoulder height or working from a ladder.

Reaching higher branches

The same saw body pairs with the Worx extension pole to reach higher branches, which extends its usefulness for tall shrubs and low tree limbs.

The kit ships with a 20V 2.0 Ah PowerShare pack and a charger. Runtime depends heavily on what you cut and how hard you push the saw, so treat the included pack as a limited window per charge rather than a full day's fuel.

Charging and bigger packs

The included charger is slow and a full charge takes hours; a faster Worx charger shortens it considerably. The saw accepts larger PowerShare packs, which extend runtime at the cost of weight, and that is the practical upgrade path for anyone who cuts more than occasionally.

What 20V MAX means

20V MAX is peak voltage, and the nominal voltage is 18V. That is why the saw is not in the same power class as higher-voltage cordless saws. Store packs out of the saw, keep them off concrete and charge them indoors.

The tank is small and empties in a short cutting session, so refill often, and note that it ships empty: fill it before the first use.

Bar and chain

Clean the bar groove and oil holes, and flip the bar periodically for even wear. Keep the chain sharp, because a dull chain is the most common cause of a saw that seems to have no power. When it needs replacing, the chain is a 10-inch, 3/8-inch low-profile pitch, 0.043-inch gauge, 40 drive links.

Storage and pre-use checks

Store the saw horizontally with the oil cap up to limit oil weep, and remove the battery. Before each use, check that the guard is in place, the chain tension is correct and the oil tank is full, and put on your eye, hearing, hand and leg protection.