5 STIHL Tools & Products You Probably Didn’t Realize Existed

A chainsaw is one of those essential yard tools that homeowners may not realize they really need until they actually do need one. If you’d prefer not to wait until you’ve got a yard full of fallen branches that need cutting down to see the need for a good chainsaw, they are easy enough to come by in the consumer market, with several major manufacturers putting their logos on quality devices these days. 

There are so many options that it may be tough for some to determine which brand is most worthy of their hard earned money. But those who do even a little bit of research in the chainsaw market will learn with a quickness that Stihl is widely regarded as one of the best brands in the powered cutting tool game. If you’re interested in procuring a Stihl chainsaw for yourself, the brand currently features models to suit virtually any need in its online marketplace.

While you’re perusing those options, you might want to consider checking out some of the other tools and gear featured on the site, because Stihl has stretched its range of offerings well beyond just high-powered chainsaws. In fact, Stihl likely has a handful of powered and non-powered products available that even its most devoted fans had no idea even existed. Here’s a few you might genuinely be surprised to find among Stihl’s offerings.  

Apart from its well-regarded chainsaws, Stihl does indeed manufacture many other products fit for use by backyard DIYers and pro yard crews alike. That list includes mainstays like trimmers, pruners, blowers, and mowers. You may not realize it, but that list also includes a few more specialized tools like sprayers and misters.

If you’re unfamiliar with those devices, they are typically used to disseminate chemicals that help control pests, weeds, and fungi in your green spaces, as well as life-giving water and fertilizers. Sprayers tend to work better for focused coverage, while those with misting features are ideal for covering larger areas. At present, Stihl has 11 sprayers and misters listed among its online offerings, with styles ranging from non-powered handheld models, to backpack style builds that run on gasoline or lithium ion power.

Those sprayers vary dramatically in price, with the cheapest handheld model selling for $26.99 and the gas-powered S450 Backpack build listed for $859.99. Between those two models and the range of makes in between, Stihl seems to offer a sprayer that can meet the needs of most consumers. User ratings are not entirely encouraging for many of the models, however, so you’ll want to be sure to do your research before you purchase one.

The Stihl brand has long-been been recognized as one of the preeminent manufacturers of powered chainsaws. As such, the family-owned outfit has, historically, focused the bulk of its production on gas and battery powered cutting tools. Given the company’s general market focus, you might be surprised to learn that Stihl also offers several non-powered woodcutting tools, including both axes and mauls. 

For those who may not be in the know, even as those tools bear a striking resemblance to each other, they are designed for decidedly different purposes. To break it down simply, traditional axes are designed with a slim head to cut across wood fibers to more efficiently bring down trees and limbs of various sizes. A maul, on the other hand, is designed with a heavier, wedge-shaped head that makes it ideal for splitting logs. Whichever of those tools you might need, Stihl surprisingly offers multiple models of each online, ranging in price from $37.99 to $119.99. The brand also offers a 19.75-inch hatchet for $66.99 if you need one of those. 

Perhaps more surprisingly, Stihl even features several logging accessories among its woodcutting wares. That includes various log-moving tools like a Cant Hook, a Log Carrier, and a Hookaroon.

For the sake of being fully transparent, we can tell you that, prior to coming across the tool on Stihl’s website, we were not really aware that sweeping machines were even a thing. They are. And as surprised as we were to learn that, we were even more surprised that Stihl actually makes one.

If you’re as uninformed as us on sweeping machines, you might now be wondering what, exactly, one does. Turns out that the name is pretty self explanatory — a sweeping machine is basically designed to be a sort of street sweeper for sidewalks, smaller hardscaped areas, and some home interiors. They look a lot like a lawn mower, except that the front end is equipped with spinning brushes that collect leaves and debris as the sweeper passes over them. The device is, of course, powered, and designed to run on Stihl’s AP 300 S lithium-ion battery.

According to the listing for Stihl’s Sweeping Machine, the sticker price includes neither the necessary battery or a charger. Given that it’s priced at $1039.99, that exclusion may be a deal breaker for some, particularly as the sweeping machine will likely be viewed as a luxury addition to most yard care routines. If you can afford it, however, the sweeping machine may be a luxury worth having. 

We are officially living in the age of the smart device, with the term being applied to everything from the phones in our pocket to the appliances in our kitchen. Given the fact, it’s only natural that the smart device craze has made its way into the power tool arena, with companies like DeWalt utilizing Bluetooth capabilities for its Tool Connect system.

Several of the other major players in the power tool market have followed suit, and Stihl is very much among them. At present, the brand features just two smart devices on its website — the Smart Connector and the Stihl Connected Hub. The former tool is, in essence, a smart tag tracker that can be attached to any Stihl tool. Once in place, the  tag — which picks up on motor-generated electromagnetic fields — can transmit data to the Stihl app, allowing you to track a device’s runtime, performance, and, perhaps more importantly, its location. 

Meanwhile, the Hub does exactly what you’d expect a hub to do, which is collect that Smart Connector information on a scale more befitting an entire fleet of tools, then storing it in the Stihl Cloud for easy user access. Stihl’s smart devices are priced at $203.99 and $235.99, respectively.

Even as advancements have been made regarding inflatable items, car tires, bike tires, and soccer balls still regularly turn up in need of air. While hand pumps are capable of filling those items with the requisite air they need to function, they are hardly convenient, and in the case of a car tire, may not properly do the job. As such, electric inflators have become all the rage among many of the major tool makers out there.

Yes, Stihl has indeed joined the inflator fray, offering a single battery-powered model among its tools. That inflator is the KOA 20, which is currently selling for $119.99 in tool-only format. If you’re looking to add the inflator to your garage setup, which requires an AS 2 battery and the AL 1 charger to power it, Stihl sells a kit with all three for $199.99. 

Those prices are, more or less, on par with what you’ll find among inflators from some of the other major brands, and for what it’s worth, Stihl customers seem to be plenty impressed with the KOA 20 — which is IPX-4 rated for weather resistance and can also deflate items to desired pressures — rating it at five out of five stars on its product page.