Having now owned both I find M-Tronics to be a little more user friendly. Mainly the start procedure. M-Tronic start procedure is the same cold or hot. Thanks to the simplified warm start procedure, there is only one starting position on the combination lever. Set it and pull to start. Autotune Cold start, pump primer bulb a few times, pull the choke out and all the way up and pull until it "pops" push the choke down until it clicks, its now on high idle pull until it starts, let it run fast for a few second and blip the throttle and it will drop down to idle normally. Warm start, pump primer bulb a few times, pull the choke out and all the way up, immediately push it down to high idle, pull until it starts, blip the throttle and it will drop down to idle normally. After each is running really no drama, hard to tell one from the other. Flame suit on.
We'll see now that Stihl is really crankin' out the Mtronic models but I have yet to hear about any kind of widespread failure of the system. I'm glad Husky pushed the tech to market ASAP but I think they took a hit for having some issues with early production runs. Seems like they have it sorted out now. Wait and see I guess. I'm very curious to see how the 455 AT does, as that is the first non-pro level saw since the MS280 IEM to receive this kind of tech.
You need to prime it once it's warm on the AT????? On the non-AT the pull out/ push in of the choke just sets the high idle and usually isn't necessary on a warm start either. This is interesting, and as you describe, certainly not as user-friendly. Never run an AT, but switching between saws I tend to forget in which position to kill as the Husky pushes down/in and the Stihl pushes up.
The new all-in-one switch Husky uses is not all that bad once you have run through the motions a few times. Pretty slick actually. Not nearly as intuitive or mechanically simple as Stihl's master control lever but not a nightmare by any means. It is indeed more complicated than their previous system ..... One thing that bugs me about Stihl is the master control lever itself. They seem to be unable to make up their mind how they want it to look/feel. I was a fan of the momentary off switch on my MS261C-M, but it has not made an appearance on any other chainsaw models introduced since that I am aware of? Also, the switch itself never really looks the same or feels quite the same from model to model. The MS241, 261, 362, and 441 all have different switch levers with varying amounts of tactile feedback. Same story on older models as well, some levers were red, most were black. But the shape and feel could vary from series to series. I wonder why they never could settle on a design?
I have no experience with either. But what's the deal with all these bulbs? Never had one until I got a trimmer with one and now there one on everything. I'm surprised Detroit hasn't started putting them in the dashes of cars.
Yea...wats up with a primer bulb on a $600 saw??.......never ran a husky saw......sure do love my stihls tho..
It does save you pulls on cold starts. But it's just more fuel line to create potential issues down the road. They don't really "prime" like a true primer bulb. (Squirt fuel into the carb throat) They just pump fuel up to the carb metering chamber and back to the tank. Just to purge air outta the system.
My 550 starts fine on the run position warm as long as it's not set for 15 minutes or so. If then it's the choke then to run and pull rope once or twice and it's running. Honestly the first gen AT on the 575/576 seems easier starting then what they have now. It started like any saw without AT and one pull warm.
