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On a recent thread in the forum the question of why would you not buy the XP version of a Husqvarna saw was raised. The obvious answer is price, but price isn't everything, and so here I try and delve into the differences in the saws, and see whether, at least on paper, the budget saw versions make any sense. What is an XP saw? Husqvarna offers 2 saws (at least) at each CC size, the 'regular saw, and the XP version. XP stands for Extra Power, and at a basic level offers just that - extra power. However the power comes at a price; both in terms of actual cost to the buyer, as well as physical factors such as size, weight and fuel efficiency. The question is does the XP price hike translate into an equivalent performance bump? What factors did I look at? In terms of determining the performance of the saws, Ive considered the following aspects: Price Weight Engine Power Torque Chain Speed Fuel consumption What factors didn't I consider? Vibration Levels Noise Levels Emissions levels I chose not to consider these factors for various reasons, mainly because from my personal experience Ive not found noise or vibrations to be a significant factor on any Husqvarna saw I've used, they've always been acceptable, and neither did I consider emissions, as that will vary from fuel to fuel, mix of the oil etc. While we may be concerned by emissions, they effect neither the saw's cutting ability or running costs, and so didn't qualify here. A note on power and torque A quick note on power and torque at this point is probably sensible. Whats important to remember is that power is 'fixed' and based on the engine, where torque can be easily manipulated through gearing. What this means in practice is that any saw can have (within reason) any torque. However as you increase the torque through lower gearing, the chain will slow. Torque therefore equates broadly to bar size you could theoretically run, but without enough power to match it the chain speed would be too slow to be useful. Or put another way, as you add power you can add torque, or chain speed or both, but just manipulating the torque through gearing without additional power will slow the cut speed. It's critical that the two are balanced therefore, but also important to remember that adding power doesn't necessarily gain you an ability to cut something the lower power saw can't, it might only do it a bit quicker but otherwise no more competently. The Comparisons - 585 vs 592XP First up is the big guns, the 585 and 592XP. These are the only two in the comparison that run different sizes engines, but they're still the same 'class' so it counts! What I've done is found the numbers for each saw (not as easy as it sounds) and made a comparison. The final column shows how much more or less the second saw has relative to the first. In the class battles, this is always the XP saw relative to the non XP. In each case, the red or green highlights whether it is better or worse. For example +10% chain speed is better (so would be green) but +10% fuel consumption would be worse, so is red. Green good, red bad. So straight up we can see the 592XP is 11.68% more expensive, offering a 9.8% boost in power, but only 4.82% in torque, and the same chain speed. This is not replicated across the whole of our comparison saws, with extra power normally equating to chain speed. Perhaps Husqvarna felt no chain speed should exceed 30ms? I don't know the answer to why, but it looks like the 592 could cope with a slightly bigger bar / tree diameter but won't cut it any quicker. As with all saws in the engine class comparison, the Extra Performance option comes at a price in terms of running costs, at least for fuel. While the fuel consumption per kW produced is similar, if you're looking to utilise the additional power, then you're going to consume more fuel, both while enjoying the faster acceleration that will be had with more power kicking in at the early stages, and more power at peak output. Its hard to say exactly what the average extra would be, but we can see its going to use 12% more fuel at peak power. that works out at 0.4L per hour of use, which at current prices would be 60p on e10 (£1.45 a Litre), and 76p on Aspen 2 (£19 for 10L). While that doesn't sound much, every 100 hours on a 592XP with Aspen 2 is £76 more than the 585. It starts to add up. With out an additional boost in chain speed, I feel anyone but the most experienced operators would struggle to gain a significant enough cutting advantage to make up for the additional upfront and running costs with the 592XP over the 585 based on the numbers alone*. * More on that later. The Comparisons - 565 vs 572XP From here on in the saws follow the current 'normal' for Husqvarna, where the CC is the same for both saws. The 565 is one of the saws in my shed, so this is a comparison I made when I was looking for mine, and where this all started. For me I was doing the comparison the other way, looking at the 565 over the lower models, as the really big price drop from 572XP to 565 makes the 565 the same price as the 562XP, but again more on that later. In the comparison between the two 70cc models, we see a big price difference that equates to bigger power and torque differences, but while the price difference doubles, the difference in power and torque doesn't quite match it, but this time the chain speed is lower for the 565. Again the running costs are well up on the 572XP versus the 565, but here maybe start to see more balance - if you're a paid operator, harvesting trees for revenue based on the quantity harvested, then the higher chain speed will likely mean that the additional running costs are worth the extra. Add to that the lower likelihood of wasted time in freeing stuck saws, and the possibility to run meaningfully bigger bars/cut bigger diameters, and this version of the XP saw makes a lot of sense over its less powerful brother. But, and it's a big but - if you're not too worried about the speed of the cut (27.5 is still fast - comparable to the high end Stihls, and may mean you need, theoretically at least, new chainsaw trousers and boots if you're upsizing your saw) or maxing out the bar size, the the massive price discount and lower running costs mean that the 565 looks excellent value, and even more so when you compare to the next model down.

Hi everyone. In need of help! Had all my husqvarna chainsaw stolen this morning. if you see that look like this please let me know! I live in North East Scotland. Thanks Now genuinely offering £1000 reward for info leading to or the recovery of my saws and info on those involved in the theft

Doing an Investigative Project at college on whether battery/electric chainsaws can replace fuel chainsaws and need the opinions of people in the industry to use in my work...

Hey guys I have recently bought a wood burning stove to run my heating, which means I now have to keep well on top of the firewood. I need to purchase a decent saw that'll be hassle free for me. I'm looking at getting something with a 16-20" bar. I want a good all rounder !! Obvious choices would be husky or stihl. Having done a bit of research on YouTube I can't really seperate the two, only that Husky seem to go through timber about a second quicker on average and seem to be more well balanced than the stihl......ADVISE PLEASE

YOU ARE BEING WATCHED WHILE YOU WORK, DON'T FORGET. Today we've just had our 3rd theft working in North London, today it was Queensbridge Road in Hackney E8. Last time it was Winnington Road in Hampstead N2, the first time it was Tufnell Park Road in Islington N7. ON EACH OCCASION A PARKED CAR WITH 2 THIEVES HAVE EXAMINED THE MOVEMENTS OF OUR GROUNDSMEN BEFORE STRIKING. Once they expect they have about 60 SECONDS clear they go in. We had a Timberwolf 150 nicked in broad daylight in the rush hour in the Islington hit, they stuck it on a Volvo, the police were a joke, quite how you can have no CCTV footage from any road is beyond me. Today we had an MS660 taken from the cab, window smashed, alarm is unbelievably loud, these travellers are prepared to take any risk necessary, they are ready to fight because they will have a tool and you won't. JUST REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE BEING WATCHED WHILE YOU ARE WORKING

Ok folks - time for me to pick your brains for a change!! How would you go about ordering a new bar &/or chain for your chainsaws? I'm trying to identify the best way to display these on our website, and I'd rather go about it in a way that makes sense to the type of folks that might actually order them! e.g. Would you prefer to: - Use the existing bar as a reference? - Search by the make/model of your saw, and look for a list of suitable bars & chains to suit that saw? - Know the length / pitch etc details and order form there? I'd really appreciate any input or feedback on this - I want to make it absolutely dolly simple for people to be able to pick the correct Bars & Chains for their saws. I can have 2/3 different systems, but I've got to start somewhere! Cheers & many thanks, James

Hi all, Found this a couple of days ago, its pretty cheap too.... Cheap Garden Equipment Lee

Any one got an exhaust for 090 stihl Use it for ringing up never found a better saw........ And What are the best earmuffs on the market

Hi, I've recently bought a saw that has a ms240 starter recoil and ms260 chain brake need some assistance with identifying which one it is, thank you in advance Serial Numbers: 11273510500 117566278

RETIRED STIHL FITTER........still do occasional work to keep my hand in..........Just checked and put back together a proper logging saw 051 av STIHL.......all original apart from points and condenser removed, fitted ignition chip instead.......starts and runs well.......but i'm old school and prefer points ignition......as you can get timing spot on.......anyone got any for sale please ? ADVERTISED THIS SAW......not a time waster and worth looking at....THANKS Ray'

Hi there guys just a quick question about getting new clients, obviously there is the conventional ways like website advertising and word of mouth etc. But I'm looking for anyone with tried and tested less conventional ways of reaching people in need of tree works?

As the title suggests i am in the market for a kombi type multi tool to run a longreach hedgetrimmer and a pole saw only.... Any suggestions or anyone seen a good deal recently? thanks Matty

Last night in Horfield Bristol my truck was broken into and from it were stolen two saws and a blower, all Stihl. 1 hand held blower with blue spray paint on it. 1 200T with a Sugihara bar, serial number 170899369 1 362C serial number 177804045 There's a chance they were caught on cctv smashing the boarded window on the tool cab and fishing the saws out with one of our poles. If anybody heard anything or is offered these for sale please can you contact me on 07817 417 529. The truck belongs to the firm but the saws belong to myself and my team mate and are not covered by insurance so any information would be very much appreciated. Nile Cookson.