Gone to the other side

Well after waiting and waiting for a Stihl 261 and none available and no expected delivery date I decided to go to the other side and go with a Husky 550xp mkII.
I do have a couple other Husky's so not a complete change for me.
Did some research and seems like this is comparable to the 261 so I decided to give it a try. It has the auto-tune so should start to wake up after a few tanks.
Dealer said to bring it back some night after I have used it for a while and he would plug it in to the computer and show me what it tells you. How many times it was started , full throttle time , carb. temperatures are a few of the things it monitors.
Will post an update after I get some time with it

 

Nice looking saw that is for sure. Congrats.

 

Best of luck with it!

 

She's a beaut Clark!!

 

What a great looking saw!!

 

I love mine. What size bar did you put in it?

 

Thanks guys , I did run it a short time yesterday and it seemed really nice for the short time I had.
Good throttle response and great balance with the 18 inch bar. It does have the narrower .325 chain on it so that probably helps make for easy cutting being a 50cc saw. I think it will be a good daily driver/firewood saw. Hope to get some time with it over this upcoming weekend. Any updates I will keep you posted.

 

18 inch with the narrow kerf chain , nice combination

 

Indeed it is. Enjoy! I know you will !

 

I have a 18" on my XPG as well. Did you get the pre-mix so you get the 5 year warranty? If not, you may want to talk to the dealer. I also added a 20" 3/8 with a new rim but hard to say if/when I will use it. Enjoy the saw.

 

That is a fine looking saw.

 

Congrats for sure, that's a great looking saw! May it serve you well for many moons.

 

A Husky wow! Youve turned to the dark side! It is a nice looking saw.
I think thats what the tree service guy let me try back in January. In the front yard of where we were working on Sunday.
May the force be with you!

 

No I did not get the mix , knew nothing about it. For the heck of it I will give them a call and see what is going on with that.
I don't really want to put a larger chain/bar combination on it ; I just don't need it and being a smaller saw cc wise I would rather stick to the .325 chain with the narrow kerf. If I need to cut anything larger that what it will handle I have larger saws that will easily get it done.
Thanks for the heads up on the fuel and warrantee.

 

Now you are lookin' good.

 

They are just tools after all. Imagine there are mechanics forums where guys comment on using Mac vs. Snap On etc.

 

I was wondering if you had run it yet. Gonna need one with cooled handles before to long

 

Yes I did but for just a short time between my two jobs on Tuesday , Had to at least give it a try ; like a little kid I couldn't wait. Hope to get some more time on it soon. Seems really nice !

I can't argue with you on that.
I am a die hard chevy guy , however I have no problem with a good running ford either ; both get the job done in the end.
Kind of the same story with saws... Start , run and cut ; that's really what matters when the sun goes down.

 

I run 16” .325 on regular kerf Stihl full chisel chain on mine. Cuts like crazy as long as it’s sharp.

 

My first one came with .325 thin kerf chain. I didnt like it. Granted Husky/Oregon has changed chain styles since then.
The thin kerf was easy to bind in the cut if the tree/log shifted just a bit. Mostly the problem was it just couldn’t eject chips fast enough compared to the power and speed of the saw. Chips constantly bound up in the cut and very often underneath the chain pinched between the bar.
I moved to Stihl full chisel chains and those problems disappeared. And it cut like a Jedi laser sword. Huge difference in performance.
Have one that runs .325 and one I switched to 3/8’s. It’ll handle the 3/8’s just fine as long as you keep em sharp like Farmchuck said.
Congrats on the saw. You’ll like it. Muffler mod on both helped a lot too.