Think Out Loud

This Clark County private museum holds (literally) thousands of chainsaws

By Sheraz Sadiq (OPB)
Jan. 26, 2026 2 p.m.

Broadcast: Monday, Jan. 26

This photo taken on Jan. 22, 2026 shows a view inside Wayne's Chainsaw Museum, which is located a few miles outside of Amboy in Clark County, Washington. Wayne Sutton created the private museum to showcase the thousands of chainsaws he has collected over the years, including decades-old and rare, one-of-a-kind models.

This photo taken on Jan. 22, 2026 shows a view inside Wayne's Chainsaw Museum, which is located a few miles outside of Amboy in Clark County, Washington. Wayne Sutton created the private museum to showcase the thousands of chainsaws he has collected over the years, including decades-old and rare, one-of-a-kind models.

Wayne Sutton

Clark County resident Wayne Sutton was only 7 or 8 years old, he says, when his father, who worked in the logging industry, helped him buy his first chainsaw. That was 60 years ago. Today, Sutton is the founder and curator of Wayne’s Chainsaw Museum, a private museum located a few miles outside of Amboy in Clark County that is free and open to visitors by appointment.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:

The Columbian recently profiled Sutton and his museum which is big enough to display only about half of the 4,000 or 5,000 chainsaws he has amassed over the years and continues to collect, or have donated to him. Sutton opened the museum in 2000 when he started working for Stihl, the world’s leading maker of gas-powered chainsaws.

Sutton retired from Stihl in 2024. Although his museum boasts hundreds of models made by his former employer, it also showcases other brands and rare, decades-old examples that serve as a time capsule of the evolution of this power tool that is inextricably tied to the logging history of the Pacific Northwest.

Sutton joins us to share his love of chainsaws and future plans for sharing his massive collection with more enthusiasts.

“Think Out Loud®” broadcasts live at noon every day and rebroadcasts at 8 p.m.

If you’d like to comment on any of the topics in this show or suggest a topic of your own, please get in touch with us on Facebook, send an email to thinkoutloud@opb.org, or you can leave a voicemail for us at 503-293-1983.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:
THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR: