Chain preference on a 550XP

[barbender]

Haha Spike that is devious😂 

Jonsered saws were quite popular, more so it seems than other regions and some where they were almost unheard of. My first new saw was a 2165, which I liked a lot but dropped a wrist pin bearing. The local dealer tried to help me out as much as they could on my not long out of warranty saw, and gave me trade in price of a running saw on a new 2171, which I still have. I know the 372/2171 has legions of fans, but in all honesty I preferred that 2165. Nice smooth torque off the bottom, you could just roll into a cut. I remember old Jonsered sales literature from the time promoted the 2165 as a "hardwood saw" because of the nature of its torquey power delivery.

 The 2171 had a spark plug fall apart (right after I was bragging on here how I never change my plugs because they don't foul🤦) and destroyed the top end. At the time, an OEM P&C was upwards of $400 I think, more than I felt like investing in the ol girl so I put a "Big Bore" kit on it from Bailey's. That woke that saw up, it's kind of a cutting monster now😳 I thought maybe it was just in my head, but I had a guy I hired to help me block up a bunch of firewood. He usually runs a 372, I never told him I did anything to that 2171. He came up to me after running it for a few hours and said, "that's a nice cutting saw!". "Yes it is"😁

[DHansen]

ButchC,  The K1 chain you mentioned also looks like a very good choice.  Do you know if it is NK - narrow kerf?  I tried to look it up, it is available but no notes on kerf.  I am suspecting it is not.  The .050" and .058" gauge bars I have are all NK.  

The 23RSP cuts really nice, thanks to SkeeterKiev for the information on that chain.  The 20LPX cut nice, but is not NK and you can tell the difference between the LPX and the 23RS.   The SP33G is smooth and easy cutting, it has safety bumpers.  I like the 23RS and am glad I asked this question.  I think the Carlton K1 will perform like the 20LPX.  

Helpful information from all and much appreciated.

[Spike60]

@barbender , your description of your 2165 experience is pretty well spot on. Those generally neglected 48mm top ends are way better than most people think. Most people suspect that the 4 different top ends for that chassis were little more than an effort to create different models. That was part of it of course, but there was a lot more thinking behind those top ends than just displacement. The 48 was intended to have that low end grunt you described. In fact it's recommended top speed was 12,500 even though it could easily do the 13,500 like the others. 

The 47mm kit on the 2163/362 was designed for quick acceleration and also spun at 13,500. Walt ran his 2163 last time I was up there and it went a LONG time on one tank of fuel. And that's the other hardly talked about advantage of both the 47 and 48 mm top ends: noticeable improvement in fuel use. Not important if you are cutting near the truck and the gas can is only a few steps away. But walking off into the woods, the extra run time could come in handy.

[Spike60]

To add a little to the NK discussion, I ran some on my 560G the other day. 20" versacut with the TXL hardly felt like there was even a bar on the saw it was such a light package. And being it's a 60cc saw, I went with an 8 pin rim. 

Really quick and handy saw to run. Very smooth. Actually the whole thing came out better than I expected, and it'll get more than the occasional use I was planning. I was cutting a 16" white oak, so it was a decent test for the new member of the family. Nice option to have with any of these small mount saws. Think some similar experiments are in order on the previous 2 chassis, 262/257 and 357/359. 

[Old Greenhorn]

That narrow kerf chain is smooth and quick; a nice combo. I usually run 21LGX on my 50cc saws. The better ones get an 8 pin rim.

Understand that I am posting the following comment with quite a smirk on my face: All the guys who are gonna jump in here and say you should run 3/8 chain on 50cc saws are wrong. And they're probably no good at sharpening .325 chain either.  :D

That oughta get a few people worked up, huh?

I resemble that remark! :D I have thought of converting my 450 to 3/8 and at the same time converting it to a rim drive instead of that dang spur drive. I don't know why that would be bad except my .325 bars would become useless. I am way too frugal to do that.
 Back to the original question: I ran 20lpx with great success and happiness for several years after trying all kinds of chains and decided that was the one for me. Besides, I could reconfigure them as square ground and they would cut very well. But then I got the 562 and it came with X-cut. That was it for me. Sharpening was much easier with that zero top angle and they cut great! I switched my other two saws over to X-cut and we are very happy together.
 As a side note Spike, I was cutting mushroom logs today and Bill grabbed my saw to make some cuts and drop the next tree. A little while later he asked me if I was running a new chain or if I sharpened my own. I told him I just sharpened after each days session. He said "well, you've got that thing cutting really nice." I take that as a sign that my sharpening skills are acceptable since I had hit some dirty bark earlier in the day and I wasn't happy with it even though it wasn't really that bad. That x-cut is the cat's butt if you ask me.

[Spike60]

Tom, I don't think the 450 would like 3/8 too much. Plus, I'm not sure how the oil gear would match up with drum for the rim sprocket. Thing to keep in mind is that the diameter of a 7 pin 3/8 is about the same as an 8 pin. 325. So in addition to the extra drag of 3/8, we got that torque vs speed trade off that Dave covered pretty well with his Husky 61 thread. Few people think of that "double hit" regarding a switch like this. 

Granted, my opinion is based on the fact that I really like .325, and always have. I get it that not everyone shares that view. Some just like to keep everything the same. And I suspect some guys got into one of the lesser .325 chains and just figured they were all junk and wanted no more of them. 

[ehp]

I guess I'm one of those guys Spike was talking about that puts 3/8 chain on those small saws cause I do . Lol.  And ho most likely is correct that I do mot know how to file that .325 stuff but I still think I can hold my own doing that lol but I do think I can file 3/8 chain quite well but I could be wrong on that to  but the stop watch does not lie if ran correctly.  346 or 550 all ran 3/8 if I'm using them and cut very well

[barbender]

 Yep Spike, I always lived the power delivery of that 2165. I actually felt like it was a bit safer, because you didn't have to have the engine speed up to cut. Right from idle when you hit the throttle, it had nice smooth power. 

 My Stihl ms261cm actually has a similar power delivery. It feels kind of odd at first in a small saw, but again, it makes it easy to run and user friendly imo.

 The Husky 390xp has a nice smooth bottom end too. But that's getting where you're carrying something😁
 
 I used to follow motocross, and one thing that always struck me was that when the magazine guys would get to ride a pro rider's works bike, the thing that typically jumped out at them was...nothing. The power delivery on those bikes tended to be smooth and predictable. Sure they had a lot of it, but no big barking midrange or anything. Just roll it on and let it rev if you didn't feel like shifting. Well that's how I like a saw, too. Especially since it only has one gear😊
 

[SkeeterKev]

The nose is smaller on the 325 bar vs 3/8.  

When I bore cut smaller maple the smaller dia. bar is required to leave holding wood.  RSPro is also very smooth when entering the bore cut.

Larger maple I use a larger saw with 3/8 chain.

[DHansen]

Just an update on performance.  The 23RSP Chain has been on the 550XP for two months and been seeing lots of use (for a non-professional user)  The chain is a great match on the 550XP, no complaints of the operation of the saw or the chain.  Fast cutting, smooth operation, stays sharp and there is plenty of power.  Makes work fun!