Official MS261CM vs 550XP test

[cb_cutter]

i work part time at a koa campground all summer and we always recommend goin around the trail counter clockwise. 

the saw does have the 23rs chain .325 pitch. i will take a few pics of the saw in the next couple days. the saw is well used and i did notice that when blocking wood the recoil cover will plug up with chips. justa quick wipe and its good to go again tho. i do run my saw a fair amount usually about 4-6 tanks a day of 8ft wood plus firewood on weekends and evenings. gotta stay busy some how.

[HolmenTree]

So from my winter festival chainsaw competitions February 16th
New Husqvarna dealer sponsor, 3 brand new 550XPs' with 3 brand new 450s' and over $2000  for prizes.
Over the afternoon 47 men and women some who have never run a saw before, tortured the 550s' cutting  cookies in a breezy -25 below F windchill.
Look at that Canadian flag in the first pic taking the full brunt of that northwest wind.

Had the saws winter kits installed and they didn't miss a beat for the whole time. One thing I credit Husky saws for...... operating well in freezing temps.


 

 

 

[HolmenTree]

Here is the results on the scoresheet .
Speed cutting involves on the command "go" pickup idling saw and make 3 downward cuts with brand new Husqvarna 550XP with .325 semi chisel chain.
8.5"×8.5" dry spruce.


 

[HolmenTree]

Men's 1st place winner Jason Mailhot...14.22 seconds.
Jason bought my 1994 Stihl 090AV-60"

[HolmenTree]

Not all the competitors were Canadian.
Jacob Mans drove all the way up from Minneapolis, Minnesota. 


 

[Crusarius]

I got my MS261 cm yesterday. 

I started it up. took about 5 pulls and fired right up. I started revving gently then it popped and died. It restarted with 1 pull and ran great after that. Wow that is on torquey saw. Can't wait to try it in some wood. Now if the NYCAMH ppl will get back to me about the game of logging life would be great.

[HolmenTree]

Good to hear about the new 261 Crusarius.
Put it in some wood then you'll feel good torque.
I heard the founder of Game Of Logging Soren Eriksson died recently.

[John Mc]

I heard the founder of Game Of Logging Soren Ericcson died recently.

Yes, he was almost 80.
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.ohioforest.org/resource/resmgr/2018_Timber_Talk/Soren_Eriksson_article_01-01.pdf

[Woodcutter_Mo]

 I recently acquired a new 550XP so I've been reading back on this thread to make sure this saw doesn't display any of the symptoms of the bad saw that started in this thread started with. So far it seems to be doing fine with only a few tanks of fuel through it.

 The one problem I have so far is that the saw did not come with a scrench for the spark plug, it has one of the regular Husqvarna saw wrenches but doesn't fit the small spark plug on this saw. Im thinking they may have misplaced it when they assembled the saw at the store as the little accessory tool bag had been opened , but they told me it should have the correct one. Did did yours come with a scrench that fits the spark plug?

[HolmenTree]

Yep it came with the 13mm x 16mm scrench. Also the winter kit, spare air filter, T Allen wrench and L Allen wrench, grease gun and grease. But no more bar scabbard. They want you to buy a carry case.

[Woodcutter_Mo]

Thanks for the info, it looks like I am missing one of the screnches, the grease gun and grease. I didn't see a parts list in the manual anywhere so I wasn't for sure. 

[Caloren]

Does this mean Stihl now has bars with grease holes in them?

[HolmenTree]

The grease gun that came with my 550XP according to its owners manual shows it's for greasing the clutch drum bearing.
Grease is pumped through a hole on the end of the crankshaft .

[gspren]

Does this mean Stihl now has bars with grease holes in them?

In this case they're talking about the 550 Husky. My older Stihls (041 & 044) came with bars that had grease holes for the roller noses but not my newer, 261. Long ago my chainsaw dude said to clean out the grease and just put some chain oil in the roller when ever I have the chain off.

[HolmenTree]

A chainsaw field engineer once told me greasing the bar nose forces water from melted snow out of the bearings to prevent freezing.
How many of you guys have knocked your bar nose on a log to free up the chain first thing on a cold frosty morning?😁

[chet]

Not me, nope, not ever, never    And never knocked it against a log ta git it movin' again, after it got jammed up with saw dust. And absolutely never did that after throwin' da chain and getting a burr.   ;D

[Woodcutter_Mo]

Thanks for the info, it looks like I am missing one of the screnches, the grease gun and grease. I didn't see a parts list in the manual anywhere so I wasn't for sure.

It turns out this scrench does fit the spark plug, I'm not for sure why I couldn't get it to fit when I first tried it. As for why there is no grease tool or second wrench, maybe they stopped sending those with the saws? 

[teakwood]

The grease gun that came with my 550XP according to its owners manual shows it's for greasing the clutch drum bearing.
Grease is pumped through a hole on the end of the crankshaft .

is that greasing procedure still necessary these days on stihl saws? I have never greased those needle bearings  

[HolmenTree]

Too be honest I never greased them that way.  With regular maintenance whenever I flipped the rim sprocket around 180 ° or replaced it, I would then grease the bearing by rubbing some grease into it with my finger. 

The grease gun procedure through the crankshaft hole must have been for some kind of severe logging conditions, water, dirt?
I would be worried too much grease might get into the clutch.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I have one of those little grease applicators for use with an Oregon bar.
I notice that the little hole always gets filled with sawdust so I only use it after I blow out the bar with compressed air, about every 3rd sharpening.

I learned about the grease hole by not greasing the tip on a little Homelite saw I had a thousand years ago. The tip seased and the end of the bar split open.

I once asked a dealer why Stihl bars didn't have a grease hole in the tip.
He sad they were better made and didn't need it.

True stories.
Jon

[barbender]

Coincidence maybe, but I use to grease the tips on my Windsor bars, and then I would blow a tip. So I gave up the habit. Processors bars don't have a greasable tip and they endure waaay more than a chainsaw bar. I think greasable tips might be a holdover from the days of the manual thumb oiler, where the chain wouldn't get enough oil out to the sprocket tip because we got lazy on the pumpin'😊

[teakwood]

As those needle bearings just turn when the saw is at idle they maybe don't need the grease. Never ever did i had to replace a bearing 

[Woodcutter_Mo]

 I'm going to pick up one of those grease guns today to grease the needle bearing in the clutch. 

 I've gotten a couple more tanks of gas through the saw, so far so good! It's extremely tempting to do a little work on the muffler, but thanks to this thread I think I'll try my best to wait out the warranty duration just in case  :D

[HolmenTree]

To all Canadians and outlying U.S. citizens,  Stihl Canada's spring flyer just came out.
$110 off on the MS261CM
$649.95 ($514 USD)
These are the German made saws.

[DelawhereJoe]

Are you trying to see how many people sleep on their couchs after they bring that saw home ? Its like drinking an ice cold beer infront of someone who just quit, its just not nice.