Husqvarna 536i battery top-handle saw: a review

[Andrew L]

Afternoon  all

I was intrigued and succumbed to Fleabay temptation a couple of years ago and bought a 2nd hand 536i XP with 4 Amp battery and charger.  Perfect? Gawd no.  Frustrating? On occasion, yes. But overall, good enough to go for the 535i replacement.  Summary of what I've found in 2+ years of use below.

 

Good things:

1 Ease of use. Just brilliant. Hold down start button for maybe 2 secs and go.  No choke, no pulling anything, no ear-muffs etc just get to work.  Chain brake exactly the same as a petrol motor except the warning lights come on to remind you that its on.  Best bit?  If there is a problem, your groundie can shout and you can hear him.  

2 Maintenance.  The oil tank holds enough for about 3 or 4 (4 Amp) battery recharges. Other than re-charge the batteries (I should say I use a slow 80w charger out-of-hours to lengthen battery life), sharpen the chain and maintain the bar, just keep the air intake clean.  That's it.

3 Motor overheat cut-out.  Got to admit this was the most frustrating bit about the saw.  But I accidentally came across the solution.  I was running it with a pair of 4 Amp batteries which I would charge with a QC330 rapid charger.  I never managed to empty a fully charged battery before the other was charged up.  But if I was chogging down a tree and getting near to bar length (14" bar), I had to be really careful not to push it too hard because the motor would cut out and then take a while to cool down and recommence operations again.  The frustration was in a number of ways: the on light sometimes flashed before cutting out for a second or two and sometimes did not.  On one occasion it cut out after I had finished cutting!!!  It would then refuse to play for anything from 10 secs to a couple of minutes.  No rhyme or reason as far as I could make out, although I did notice that this happened more often if the battery was losing its charge.

The fix?  The older of my 4 amp batteries passed away (sniff) and I replaced it with a 5.2 Amp.  OMG what a difference!  No cutting out, no matter how long I cut for or how big the timber, truly a revelation.

 

Bad things:

1 Bar life.  I seem to have got through a lot of bars.  4+ in the last year alone.  I don't think I am unusually heavy on my kit since nothing else has a similar problem and this issue is compounded by the fact that it is much harder to get hold of pattern replacements since not many people are using these saws.

2 Weatherproofness (is that a word?).  Early on in our time together it rained hard and the saw was out in it.  I had been using it up a tree earlier in the weather and it had been fine but then it just refused to play.  I brought it indoors, pulled it apart, dried it off and left it alone for a few days and it started up again and has been fine ever since then.  But I am now quite fussy about bringing it when the rain starts.

3 Its electric.  I know, this is a bit odd but,,,,   There is something missing about a chainsaw that doesn't make a racket: it just doesn't seem as dangerous somehow.  When I first got it I found myself not bothering with c/saw kit when I used it.  When I stopped to consider it, this is nonsense.  Chainspeed is 20m/s ie more than quick enough, as I found out (another story) but the lack of noise lulls you into a false sense of security. 

4 Robustness.  I am a bit of a Husky fan and so also have a Mk 1 550, 2x 562's and a 572 (plus a rebuilt Stihl 076 AV, again, another story) but the 536 does seem more plasticky and less robust than the petrol saws.  Having said that, other than the water resistance and bar issues as mentioned above, nothing else has let go or broken.

 

So the 536 is to be relegated to be a chipper saw and I am ordering a new 535 with another 5.2 Amp battery.  Going for a 12" bar this time.  

Cheers

Andrew

[NFG]

Hmm, thank you for an interesting and informative review. I'm yet to try a battery powered saw but your review would certainly assist anyone considering.

Is there a SugiHara bar that fits as they are pretty durable?

Thanks again.

 

 

 

[Mick Dempsey]

I have one of these battery saws.

 

Thats a pretty fair review imo. Switch to another guide bar though, those tech lites are made of cheese.

[Stubby]

31 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

I have one of these battery saws.

 

Thats a pretty fair review imo. Switch to another guide bar though, those tech lites are made of cheese.

I think that is being very unfair on cheese in general there Mick .  I would venture they have the tensile strength of sea water .  

[Mick Dempsey]

You’re right, apologies to cheese.

[s o c]

Very good point re.  False sense of security.

[Husky575xp]

Wait till the t540ixp

[Dilz]

Ive just ordered myself a basic set up for the T535li - Used a lot with in a company i sub to. We switched the standard bar to a 10" 1/4 pruning bar - makes it fairly rapid, and much better machine -  2 batteries and a charger.  Will still be carrying around my modded 150T as the thing is as soon as you get on thicker stuff the battery gets eaten quick and there is fairly noticable drop in power when the battery hits its last bar, where as the 150T will chew through till out of fuel.  That said the peace and quite, and fresh air afforded by the battery gear is damn right delightful. Had one issue in pissing rain with a battery not enjoying itself, Its a bit of a false economy if you are starting out as you are going to need to have a least one petrol saw as a back up.  Was holding out for the echo dc 2500T but got impatient and I know the rest of the husqy battery range ive tried - hedge trimmers and pole saws are excellent bits of kit and get alot of work out of a single 300 battery. 

 

Got to say that the review is fairly spot on - i just recommend switch the bar to a 10" 1/4 and switch to a bigger saw sooner on the timber.  For me though the biggest down side is you cant really rip cut stuff - and i have had it cut out when chasing a hinge a couple of times - which aint nice.  Know its limits and you are onto a winner with the battery stuff- The new T540li looks solid - good test reviews here in Sweden, BUT its pricey and misses the point imop that battery tools individually should be cheaper, than the petrol versions as when without a battery.