Stihl 161 T or Husqvarna T535iXP cordless top handle 12"?

[Slad]

A mate has a 10 year old Husqvarna on its first battery and it's still really good so I'm thinking of getting a one (for tree work and for quick jobs where I don't want to fire up my petrol saw).

 

The makita seems popular here but looks a bit slow compared with the Stihl 161 T and the Husqvarna T535.  

 

The Stihl 161 T + battery + charger seems to be about £500.

The Husqvarna T535 + battery + charger seems to be about £600.

 

I'm leaning towards the Stihl but haven't used one.  Has anyone used one and is it any good?  Is the other one worth £100 more?  That's only a tenner a year over a decade but still... (Stihl? 😁)

 

What do you thinnk?

 

 

 

 

[Moose McAlpine]

Not used the Husqvarna, but used the Stihl 161 a few times, wasn't impressed. Bogged down and stopped, cutting 2" branches going into the chipper. I wouldn't buy one personally.

[chrism3513]

None of the above. Get the t540i. 

[Dan Maynard]

In defence of the Makita, the 36v is not slow, it's similar weight to the ones you listed and i think a bit cheaper.

The Makita 18v is slower cutting but much lighter than anything except the baby battery Echo. I like this system because the batteries are the same.

If you want to cut fast and do dismantles, and have no other tools to put the batteries in yet, then the T540i is better than the Stihl.

[rapalaman]

I haven’t tried the husky but since I got the 161t I use it 90% of the time - love it! Only fired up the 150 about 3 or 4 times in the last year. Have dismantled almost double 10” bar length when necessary. Obviously it will eat batteries doing that but so long as you don’t expect petrol saw speed, it’s a very capable weapon in the armoury

[gand]

The oil pumps on the 161T are made of cheese it seems. Get quite a few in for repairs. They've brought a upgrade kit out for the early ones so hopefully the new ones will have a better pump as standard 

 

[openspaceman]

47 minutes ago, gand said:

The oil pumps on the 161T are made of cheese it seems. Get quite a few in for repairs. They've brought a upgrade kit out for the early ones so hopefully the new ones will have a better pump as standard 

 

I wonder how much of that is from people running the oil tank dry.

[carlos]

i use a stihl msa 160 battery tophandle at work, its brilliant for prunning and deadwooding, not really a take down saw.

battery lasts for ages and its very light compared to a normal sized petrol tophandle.

[gand]

3 hours ago, openspaceman said:

I wonder how much of that is from people running the oil tank dry.

No sign of running dry just a bad design. They wouldn't of made a upgrade kit if not. They only like thinner chain chain oil like synth +, even then they still break. The pumps on Husqvarna is far stronger and can handle a good thick oil 

[Slad]

Thanks for all the comments.  Are the warranties on the Stihl any good?  Will they cover repairs to the oil pump?

 

@gand - Do all the new ones have the Upgrade kit as standard?

11 hours ago, gand said:

No sign of running dry just a bad design. They wouldn't of made a upgrade kit if not. They only like thinner chain chain oil like synth +, even then they still break. The pumps on Husqvarna is far stronger and can handle a good thick oil 

 

The T540iXP looks really good but it's got two problems; it's out of stock everywhere (which says something) and really expensive for me.  The T540iXP is about £770, the Stihl about £500 - £270 difference.   (That's another battery, a few beers and a bunch of flowers for the Mrs...)

 

Scratching my head now.  Sell a kidney and wait until next year, look at the Makita 36v or something else.  Is there anything else?  Something that will cut as fast as the Stihl