R0B

Another vote for a 560xp - Add a G and its even sweeter to use on the cold & wet days!

Hey Mat, You should have a PM. Rob

Hey Mick, You should have a PM. Rob

This is soloing....... alone on the wall Excuse Japanese adverts at the start. The rest is edge of your seat stuff!!

Guss, I got a refund. My 261 broke after 4 days, dealer bodged it back together again which I wasnt having after hearing some interesting stories from another Stihl dealer. Basically asked for my money back outright as the tool is not fit for purpose. Statutory rights & all that!

Yep I'm running a xpg too.

Savage. Hang in there. Well worth the wait. Had mine a week. Incredible saw - absolutely rips! Had to buy some uprated ear muff though, this saw is seriously loud!!

PM Sent.

Nice nice will bear it in mind. Ive only done mitigation for reptiles, do you recon it works as well for them too? Guessing you will need to put your posts on the outside of the area you are surveying etc so the reptiles/amphibs walk along the smooth plastic/inside edge into the holding pots. = nice I like it.

Nail on the head there. Essentially plastic sheeting dug into the ground and held up with small wooden posts. Easy peasy. Interesting what your saying Martyn about the bucket every so few meters. Good idea particularly for translocation works, as long as there's no preditation issues.

I had a rim sprocket on mine - still had a problem. They are telling dealers its something to do with ovalised sprocket drums, so they dont sit on the crankshaft quite right and rattle themselves to bits with the added slop. Im not sure how much I believe them. My moneys on a issue in having increased power on the same crankshaft and running gear from the old 260. It just cant handle it. But that is pure speculation!

Ive no husky comparison, this is my first, but fastly becoming a husqy convert from all the years of using stihl. I reckon the 550 will whip the carpet from under the feet of stihl in the 50cc market. The word is so very quickly getting around about the 261 - its going to do alot of damage to their reputation. I agree with you born2trot I really liked my 261, it did feel really nice for the 4days I owned one (until it went pop).

You wont be! Mine had its first tanks of fuel today. If it improves once it runs in its going to be incredible - its a screamer straight out of the box!! Hope it lasts longer than the 261 tho......

Was thinking about a 550. Altho I want a G version and they wont be about for a while & I was quite keen for them to iron out some potential teething problems before I get my grubby mits on one. Before I bought my 261 I was tossing it up between the 261 & 560xp - wish Id made the decision to go husqy first time around. (Sorry for thread hijack).

Yep. Its awful service from Stihl. Im hearing nothing but terrible things about the 261. 2 guys at work have had theirs go wrong too, so thats 3 saws that have all gone pop in the space of 1/2weeks of each other. As you say monkeybusiness strongest piece of advice is do not buy these saws & if you have one insist on your cash back as this saw is not fit for purpose!! Ive just ordered a 560xpg as a replacement, really hope it lives up to expectation!!