Husky 550 XP

[chainsawdom]

no i phoned them up and orded it i think i paid £513 all in deliverd with 15" bar

[mendiplogs]

They are not listed on the website?

 

only the 560:confused1:

 

HI POSCH I'm told next week they will be up jon

[Daniël Bos]

Got mine today, woohooo!

 

Took it out to work after lunch, and I like it!

 

It sounds better than a 346, a bit darker, a little more grumble.

 

Feels better than a 346, slightly narrower and the stop/go button/lever feels a lot more solid. It has a different action as well. Pull out and up puts the choke on, down again for fast idle.

A really nice feature (well I like it anyway) is that the stop position is on a spring. So you stop the saw by pushing the lever down, and it comes back up ready for more straight away. I find the 346 a little awkward with thick (hedging) gloves on to flick the lever back up to go, big improvement.

 

It has captive bar nuts, clever idea, wonder how they came up with that?

 

The chain tensioner is all in the clutch cover which makes it easier to put a chain/bar on.

 

It has a little window in the fuel tank to check the level.

 

It revs a little higher than the 346.

 

It seems to be finished slightly better, my 346 came with (slight but noticeably) different colour bits of plastic, unnecessary imperfections imo.

 

 

But...

 

It only comes as an "autotune" which may or may not be great. I felt it was idling a little slow but there is sweet fa I can do about it?

I'd have also liked to set it slightly rich to run it in.

It did run right proper on Aspen straight away though, no adjustment needed.

 

The purge bulb is a little more sunk in the cover and the edges of the plastic surrounding it are quite sharp, easily fixed with the file though.

 

I did buy it to have less need for spares, being the same engine size etc as the 346 I thought it would be ok, but airfilter and spark plug are different so only bar and chain are interchangeable.

 

It still likes to fall over like the 346.

 

 

Overall it's a really nice bit of kit and a great performer right out of the box! It feels great, sounds great, cuts as well as the 346 so may get a bit better with time?

[Float]

Rover says it all really, although mine ticks over spot on. It revs very quick and cleanly as you would expect, a bit of a racer. Nice and light, but very noisy compared to my other saws, (346, 357), OK with your muffs down.

 

Well pleased all in all. Felling the next few weeks so will get a better idea on performance after some serious use.

[Daniël Bos]

Mine idles fine, when it's run for a few minutes.

It's just that when I'm hedgelaying, I'll sometimes use it for a minute, then not for 10, then for half an hour straight etc. It means that often the saw does not get hot, so when I start it I need to use the fast Idle. I don't like to, so I let my saw idle just a tad fast normally.

It's mainly when I start it, then cut for just a few seconds.

[Chris Sheppard]

Discovered the captive bar nuts for the first time a few days ago - not sure I like them as yet.

[Charlieh]

Rover says it all really, although mine ticks over spot on. It revs very quick and cleanly as you would expect, a bit of a racer. Nice and light, but very noisy compared to my other saws, (346, 357), OK with your muffs down.

 

Interesting point on the noise, as the 560 is the same, I was in the woods the other day and someone else had swapped from their 357 to the 560 for a go and it was really loud to the point that when they were felling about 80meters away I was putting my defenders on, no need when they were on the 357.

 

Discovered the captive bar nuts for the first time a few days ago - not sure I like them as yet.

 

they are great, no more looking in vegetation or rooting about in a pocket full of sawdust trying to find them when you take the side cover off.

[Hodge]

Discovered the captive bar nuts for the first time a few days ago - not sure I like them as yet.

 

What's not to like? Nothing worse than dropping the nut when you have cold wet hands or gloves, IMO it a cracking idea.

[Daniël Bos]

What's not to like?

 

They feel like they were not on tight when loosening them somehow.

Not had them come loose but they don't feel like they get tight enough somehow:confused1:

[Chris Sheppard]

What's not to like? Nothing worse than dropping the nut when you have cold wet hands or gloves, IMO it a cracking idea.

 

I'm ham fisted and found them fiddly putting it back together - that's all. It does seem a bit gimmicky though.

 

Surely the fact I've gone for a modern saw with electrickery and primer bubble in the first place is progress on my part at all