Utah chainsaw enthusiasts showcase skills in inaugural competition

For as long as he can remember, Derek Peterson of Elkridge has loved saws and anything to do with chopping wood. As owner of Peterson Trees, he gets to do that for a living, but recently, he and fellow saw-lovers from around the state got together to showcase their love for saws in a friendly competition.

On May 17, Peterson, with the help of many local businesses, held the first annual Cutler’s Saw Competition. The event that was held on State St. in Orem, brought arborists, loggers, firefighters and wildland workers from across the state to compete in four different events showcasing their wood-sawing skills. Peterson said this event has been years in the making.

“I get all my equipment and stuff from Cutler’s (in Orem), and I’ve been talking to them for about four years about holding an event like this,” Peterson said. “They finally said, ‘Let’s do it’ and then we ended up getting Stihl, Husqvarna, and Echo Saw to sponsor the different events. I also got some free wood from Elicid Timber Frames up in Heber City and a chainsaw from Oregon Products.

“We also needed to have a paramedic there on staff, so my fireman buddy who owns Guardians EMT came along with some of his EMT friends who all donated their time for free.”

Peterson said that he just put the word out there, and didn’t quite know what to expect, but was pleased with the amount of people who registered for the competition as well as the number of people who came to watch. 

“I just kind of went around and handed out  flyers to fire departments and landscape companies and sent out mass emails to kind of get people signed up,” he said. “I think we ended up having about 25 competitors and about 200 people show up to cheer them on. It was a pretty cool event. The mayor of Orem City showed up and it was a real good time.”

Peterson explained that the events consisted of having competitors saw through wood using three different saws, including a Stihl 500 saw, a Husqvarna 572 XP Chainsaw and a  And then uh Echo CS-3110. Competitors were timed to see how quickly they could saw through the wood. Winners, he explained, won some pretty coveted prizes including a $900 chainsaw and cash for the top three finishers in each category.

“Everybody I talked to enjoyed it and had a real good time, but it was just kind of cool bringing firemen, loggers, arborists and all different types of people who use a chainsaw together and just kind of have a real good time,” Peterson said.  

One of Peterson’s favorite memories from the event was watching an older gentleman compete. 

“We had an older logger who came along with his son,” Peterson recalled. “These were the two who impressed me the most. You could tell that the dad was struggling to walk, but when he held that chainsaw and cut the wood, it was like you couldn’t even tell that he had any kind of impairment. Once he had that saw, he just all of sudden was just like anybody else.”

Another highlight of the event was during the open division where competitors got to showcase their own saws.

“There was a guy from Arizona who came up with his buddy from Panguitch and he had a KTM 360 dirt bike motor that he’d added to his saw. And man! It was just a screaming demon and the crowd just went wild,” Peterson said. “Every single person who was there had their phone out recording it. It was really cool.”

Peterson explained that events like these aren’t common in Utah like they are in states back East with more trees, but that he’s hoping to change that. And from the looks of things, those at this year’s event are hoping that it continues as well. 

“There are already people calling and saying they want to do it next year, and I had so many people just come up and shake my hand and say, ‘Man, this is so awesome. I hope you do it next year,’” Peterson said. 

Peterson said that he is planning on holding another event, but is looking more toward the earlier spring or fall.