575 Husqvarna....Unbelieveable

[Hoop]

My 372's are almost worn out from overuse.  Only have 1 that still runs & its has lots of parts cobbled from other saws.
I purchased a new 575 Husky last Friday.  Put it to work this last Monday on a hand cut job that is primarily high grade red oak, with lesser amounts of some sugar maple & basswood.
The saw has a great feel to it.  The ergonamics of the saw have been changed from the 372.  The handle and grip by the trigger have both been enlarged...making for a better fit.  The muffler is noticeably quieter than that of the 372.  And.....at last......Husqvarna FINALLY put some leakproof fuel & oil caps on their saw.

I ran the saw until about Wednesday noon.  The 575 weighs about 1 1/2# more than the 372.  Its very noticeable.  What is especially noticeable is the lower revving engine.  It cuts far slower than the 372.  What is even more frightening about the 575 is the fact that it gives almost no advance notice of when the saw is going to run out of gas.  

My dealer told me the 575 was supposedly thriftier on fuel.  I didn't notice any difference between the 372 & 575 on the "mileage".

After noon on Wednesday, I grabbed my old 372 and my worst fears were realized.....the 575 is a major league dud!

How bad of a dud is it?  My production dropped anywhere from 15 to 20%.  In addition to the lower production, I was more tired at the end of the day from carrying around a heavier saw.  I know the 575 is only 1 1/2#'s heavier than the 372......but at the end of a day.....every ounce counts.

IMHO, the engineers that came up with the 575 should be beaten within an inch of their lives.  If the 575 is the flagship of the Husky line, my next saw will be a Stihl.  

Husky didn't just drop the ball on the 575......they dropped a lead ball on their foot, crushing it!  I simply can't believe how poorly designed the 575 is.  

[bwalker]

Thats why I stocked up on 372's. Everything about going with a stihl 044 or a Dolmar 7900?

[ehp]

Husky had there meeting last Thursday up here near Toronto,
from what was said we will be awhile before we see the 575 so this means that the 372 will be going up here for awhile yet,so if none are at your dealer soon look north of the border for them, the first saw we are going to see is the 455

[jokers]

Hi Hoop,

I had many of the same negative thoughts that you have about the 575 when I first ran mine.

This saw is electronically rev limited at 13,600 rpm and I had mine adjusted to run at ~ 13.3. I`ve only got about seven tanks through mine so far but in that short period of time I`ve adjusted peak rpm up to ~ 13,500 and the saw now has some torque and seems to be alot more fuel efficient. The operative word here is to adjust the carb so the rpms go up to 13,500 or so rather than trying to do it by ear and possibly going beyond the rev limiter. I found this saw extremely difficult to adjust so that it would barely four stroke out of the cut ,using only my ear. With the muffler it has, it mutes the sound so that it always seems to sound the same.

My theory is that I was going beyond the rev limiter, tuning the carb too lean(no power) when only using my ear and when the ignition was shut down because of the limiter, alot of extra gas is used. Tuning at 13.3 by tach apparently made the new engine too rich which caused similar problems.

Have you tried tach tuning yours?

The 575 does feel pretty good in hand but the weight difference is unfortunately quite noticable.

Russ

[jokers]

Ed, I expect you to be seeing a 575 on Monday. ;D

Russ

[SasquatchMan]

Is stihl planning to release upgrades of the 460 and 660?  Is there a 461 and 661 in the mail?  If so, and if they're any good, it sounds like Husky is going to go the way of homelite for bigger saws.  You'd think husky would have gone to huge lengths to at LEAST meet the dolmar 7900's capabilities...These are strange times.

[ehp]

Jokers I am ready , anytime, any place. I Cannot say anything about  the 575 until I see what I can do, but from what I have seen in the cut aways I think it can be made into 1 real strong saw but it will take some work.
From what I have been told Stihl is changing things to , a new 650 is out and from the stuff I have ran which at this point is not much from stihl they need there muffler's opened up real bad , it is just the changing times that go with keeping the world green

[rahtreelimbs]

I guess that means that a 575 is NOT in my future at anytime. With all the saws that I have, modded or otherwise, why should I care??? ???

[ehp]

Rich you have enough saws that I donot think you will need a 575 for awhile anyhow, we will see how you like your 359 ported saw, i think you will be amazed at how they turn out, that saw has the biggest gain of any saw that I have worked on, but then again maybe the 575 is going to over take that spot, if I get Jokers 575 on Monday by Friday I will be able to tell you

[SasquatchMan]

That MS650 looks like a detuned 660? Less power and same weight, from the looks of it....

[Striker]

I was talking to a dealer last weekend about the 575. He said that they were disapointed with the until they tuned it. He said it was cold blooded and was slow reving. He pulled the limiter caps and adjusted the saw properly. He said thatthat made all the difference in the saw.

Jeff

[rahtreelimbs]

Rich you have enough saws that I donot think you will need a 575 for awhile anyhow, we will see how you like your 359 ported saw, i think you will be amazed at how they turn out, that saw has the biggest gain of any saw that I have worked on, but then again maybe the 575 is going to over take that spot, if I get Jokers 575 on Monday by Friday I will be able to tell you

Looking forward to the update. Thanx Ed.

[ehp]

Jokers , your 575 is now ported and is quite a nice saw to run ,it does cut good now , cut a 5.21 today and that is 52 % faster than stock

[jokers]

Hi Ed,

That`s great news!

I knew that if anyone get the 575 to run smartly, it would be you.

Russ

[Hunter]

Russ,
 No doubt about EHP. He can really build the saws and get the power out of them. Glad to hear your 575 is going well.
Hunter

[weimedog]

I wonder if the emissions type motors are the future for all companies..where I work we ended up with a new Stihl pole saws with their new motor...what a pig it is! We have an old echo that will cut circles around that hog and weighs much less.

In one of the replies there was a remark about Husqvarna going the route of Homelite with their big saws...what does that mean? Sounds like corperate miss management killed Homelite more than the product offerings.  I wouldn't mind having a 750. My 1020 isn't a bad saw...have to believe a 750 is lighter with more power and RPM's

[Al_Smith]

Well Walt,I think you hit the nail on the head .The "board room",has sunk a lot of them.We always use the example of the large red and yellow saws,but  it is more far reaching than that. :(

[ehp]

With the way saws are built today they build them with a small ext. hole in there muffler so the muffler burns as much of the fuel charge as it can , the problem is it hurts the power big time so just a little muffler mod on most new motors does wonders to its power. Now the 575 is a totally different animal, Husky spent some time on designing this saw. Yes it is heavier ,the one I have here weighs 15 pounds 6 oz. with no bar and chain, now a 372  weighs 14 pounds 8 ozs on the same scale , no fuel or oil in both , no bar/chain but both had the spikes on them, the 575 has torque but at a lower rpm stock than a 372 . now a ported 575 has torque at a higher rpm and cuts every bit as fast as a ported 372