Chainsaw maintenance schedule
Some chainsaw jobs belong to every refuel, some to the calendar. Say how often you cut and for how long, and get both, the way the makers’ charts set them.
Your schedule
Chain and brake: every time you cut
- 1Clean air filterEvery 1 day · By useHusqvarna says weekly for a working saw; STIHL says stretch intervals for occasional use, so after each day of cutting.
- 2Deburr guide barEvery 1 day · By useSTIHL says weekly, and to stretch its intervals for occasional use: after each day of cutting is enough.
- 3Replace spark plugEvery 25 months · By date · OptionalSTIHL replaces the spark plug after 100 hours of running: 25 months at 4 hours a month.
- 4Sharpen chainEvery 1 day · By useSTIHL says check the chain’s sharpness before work and at every refill, and sharpen little and often; fine dust instead of chips means it’s blunt.
- 5Test chain brakeEvery 1 day · By useSTIHL tests the chain brake before starting work and at every refill.
- “By use” jobs come due the day after you log a day of cutting in GearKit: do them before the saw goes back on the shelf, or before the next start.
- STIHL says shorten every interval for dusty work, resinous wood or long days. Never stretch the chain brake test.
Keep it on a countdown
GearKit counts down to every job and reminds you before it’s due. Open this schedule in the app and it adds the item with every job above.
Countdowns start the day you add it. Did a job recently? Mark it done in GearKit and set Completed on to that day.
Add at least one job with a title to make a link.
Built on this page. The schedule travels in the part of the link after the #, and our server never sees it.
How it works
STIHL’s maintenance chart (MS 170/180) checks the chain’s sharpness and tests the chain brake before work and at every refill, deburrs the bar weekly, cleans the oil tank monthly and replaces the spark plug after 100 hours. Husqvarna’s chart sharpens the chain, turns the bar and tests the brake daily, cleans the air filter weekly and checks the brake band monthly.
GearKit can’t count refills, so per-refill and daily jobs become by use: due after each day you log. Weekly and monthly jobs stay dated for a saw in weekly use; for occasional use STIHL says intervals can be stretched, so they become by use too. The spark plug’s 100 hours are divided by your running time.
Sources
- 1 MS 170, 180 Instruction Manual (0458-207-8321-C), section 28 Maintenance and Care STIHL · Maker · Checked Oct 18, 2026
- 2 Chainsaw care: how to sharpen a saw chain STIHL · Maker · Checked Oct 18, 2026
- 3 Chainsaw maintenance (support article, 20/12/2024) Husqvarna · Maker · Checked Oct 18, 2026
Starting points from the makers’ manuals, not a substitute for yours. Where your manual says otherwise, it wins.