Official MS261CM vs 550XP test

[CR888]

Also Willard are you happy with the MS261 oiler? They are not to stingy when turned up but if you'd like more oil I can talk you through removing the oil pump, taking out the control bolt that regulates the piston travel on the pump so more oil can be pumped per stroke of the piston so it oils more when the oiler is turned up to max.

[HolmenTree]

Thanks CR , my 261 is oiling good. I'll always keep a 16" on it but thanks for the advice anyways.

Yes those "fat bottom"  038/381 saws!
Niko SawTroll if you're reading this please chime. You were the person who invented that fat bottom term. We all miss you and are a little worried about you too!

Yes CR888 there's lots of cool new product coming out. I want to start a MS462C versus 572XP thread but I'll need to sell more saws then just my 272XP.
Some saws I will sell are:
I have a early 1990's Stihl 090AV I bought new back then. It's the newest model with new style A/V handles. There's alot of old style A/V and non A/V 090s on the market but I never see any new ones like mine.
I just put both new OEM top cover with tags and new rewind cover on it. Also going through it with a total cleanup and polish.
Also restoring a 1979 Jonsereds 70E, first year 066 Mag Arctic red light. First year 1986 Stihl 064AV and 1989 Stihl 044AV 10mm.
Also old edition 2006 372XP and 2008 395XP.
Got more stashed away 1994?? 066 poly wheel, 1985 038 Mag. Plus more :D

No 550 261 test today . I'm stuck on a pruning job for another large housing rental company . 4 apartment blocks all done by hand tools :
I'm getting too old for this kind of overhead work day after day. Real pain in the neck and shoulders.


 

[ladylake]

 When are going to see back to back timed cuts between these 2 saws in bigger wood, I'd be surprised if there 1 second difference.  Steve

[HolmenTree]

I can't neglect to say that I am using my little Husqvarna T536 LiXP battery saw on some of the bigger pruning cuts on this job.
But find it makes a real handy chipper trim saw for some of the more gnarly limbs I'm feeding.

Stihl needs to get on board and introduce a top handle battery saw.


 

[HolmenTree]

When are going to see back to back timed cuts between these 2 saws in bigger wood, I'd be surprised if there 1 second difference.  Steve

I'll get those 2 together on the same b/c when the snow starts flying here. Hopefully not for another month or two as treework business is still coming in.

[PNWRusty]

For the last 10 years we have hosted a rather large gathering of our church to cut firewood. Usually 15-20 saws running.  Bad operating techniques is a source of entertainment (as long as they are not gong to hurt somebody)  but wow, that poor under maintained equipment, stinky old fuel,, dull chains,,,,,  Its fun to see 4-5 guys lined up on a limb cutting away thinking they are producing and then proceed to out cut all of them combined with one properly running saw with sharp cutting equipment.

Dull chains can cut too. You just gotta use good technique and have faith that it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=u_imqdeTLbc

[teakwood]

  what excellent cutting performance  :D :D

I think a chain put on backwards would cut more than that!

[teakwood]

Thanks CR , my 261 is oiling good. I'll always keep a 16" on it but thanks for the advice anyways.

Yes those "fat bottom"  038/381 saws!
Niko SawTroll if you're reading this please chime. You were the person who invented that fat bottom term. We all miss you and are a little worried about you too!

Yes CR888 there's lots of cool new product coming out. I want to start a MS462C versus 572XP thread but I'll need to sell more saws then just my 272XP.
I have a early 1990's Stihl 090AV I bought new back then. It's the newest model with new style A/V handles. There's alot of old style A/V and non A/V 090s on the market but I never see any new ones like mine.
I just put both new OEM top cover with tags and new rewind cover on it. Also going through it with a total cleanup and polish.
Also restoring a 1979 Jonsereds 70E, first year 066 Mag Arctic red light. First year 1986 Stihl 064AV and 1989 Stihl 044AV 10mm.
Also old edition 2006 372XP and 2008 395XP.
Got more stashed away 1994?? 066 poly wheel, 1985 038 Mag. Plus more :D

No 550 261 test today . I'm stuck on a pruning job for another large housing rental company . 4 apartment blocks all done by hand tools :
I'm getting too old for this kind of overhead work day after day. Real pain in the neck and shoulders.


 

:D :D Now you know how i feel. for the last 2 weeks 3-4 hours a day, hand pruning. 200-300 trees a day

[nativewolf]

Teakwood, you don't trust the hired help to prune?  Have you ever thought about putting goats/cows in the plantation to eat the underbrush?  In SE Asia we'd see many plantations with cow herds or water buffalo.

[nativewolf]

I can't neglect to say that I am using my little Husqvarna T536 LiXP battery saw on some of the bigger pruning cuts on this job.
But find it makes a real handy chipper trim saw for some of the more gnarly limbs I'm feeding.

Stihl needs to get on board and introduce a top handle battery saw.


 

Battery powered chainsaws have huge potential, will be interesting to see fuel injected and battery saws making impact on professionals.

[teakwood]

Teakwood, you don't trust the hired help to prune?  Have you ever thought about putting goats/cows in the plantation to eat the underbrush?  In SE Asia we'd see many plantations with cow herds or water buffalo.

I answered the cow question in my other topic in the logging section.  https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,97910.0.html

Yes i have one worker that i trust with the pruning but this month (we have just 2 weeks every month because of the moon cycle) he let mi down and didn't show up for work, so i did it myself as i hadn't much other work. sure makes you feel how hard those works actually are by doing them yourself. He does 90% of the pruning.

"Battery powered chainsaws have huge potential"
I went to the stihl dealer and ask for the battery pruning saw, he said that they don't exist in costa rica but called the head office and they have 3 HTA 85 laying around. At 900$ they are off the table for me, too much money. never the less i told him: i would love to try one! and he said no problem, i can speak with the main office and we come to your farm and you can make a couple of cuts.  ??? I toughed they lend mi one for a day or something like this. Well, long story short i never heard form them again! and i have bought 6 saws, and 3 trimmers from them!
That happens when there is no competition around. just one stihl dealer in the whole county and the only competition for them is husqvarna an they do an even worse job than stihl.
I think the pruning saw would be to short anyway. 

[caveman]

Sister's saw chain is Nun too sharp. 

[Hilltop366]

It's a bad habit to not keep your saw sharp. :

[HolmenTree]

Sunny day today here in northern Manitoba, temps in the 70's.
Took down some white spruce out in cottage country today. MS261CM ll with its 16" b/c powered through this 20" dbh 92 footer in the middle up against the cottage, felled it just short of the powerlines and bucked it up into 18" firewood.
Worked out there right till sundown.
Snappy 261 is equal in throttle response to the 550 from what I can see.
562XP -18" has been sitting for some time now as I'm getting spoiled with the lightweight 50cc combos.  ;D


  

  

 

[ehp]

was over 100F here last week, once the 261 was hot I had to hold the throttle wide open but it started everytime , new 562 would not run no matter what you did to it at that temp, my ported 461's never missed a beat cut 40 inch plus oak on the stump all day long . I took a temp reading of the steel on my skidder, arch was 167 F, front main frame was 174 F, steel beside my seat was 181F . To say it was hot would be a understatement . Am thinking Im going to port the 261, I need more power

[ehp]

OH ya and it froze hard here this morning , weather does not know what its doing

[gspren]

  HolmenTree, I'm with you on getting spoiled by a 50cc saw, especially since I've got a few years on you. When I got my 261 I thought I'd use it for limbing and bucking under 8-9 inches and keep using the trusty 044 for anything bigger. Now it's the 261 for under 16-18 inches and the 044 for bigger, I'm a firewood cutter that cuts whatever falls over or dies in my woods, I'm sometimes tempted to check out a 241.

[nativewolf]

gspern:  you may like the battery saw too. 

[Hilltop366]

   I'm sometimes tempted to check out a 241.

I was thinking the same thing so last week I looked at them at the dealer and realized they are the same weight. Which got me wondering what would be the point of having a 241, I would rather have more cc and then I looked at the price and the 261 is reduced to $10 less than the 241. Am I missing something here?

[gspren]

  I've heard good reports on the 241 so I assumed it would be lighter, if not then I'm still more than satisfied with the 261.

[Hilltop366]

I was looking at the tags in the shop for weight and they were both listed as 10.8 lbs, so i checked the Canadian website and they are both listed at 10.8 lbs without fuel bar and chain.

Just checked the USA website, it shows the 261 at 10.8 lbs and the 241 at 9.9 lbs for power head only.

The 261 holds more fuel and chain oil and i think the (241) bar and chain is lighter as well so you probably assumed correctly.

In the real world where people use a chainsaw with a bar and chain and gas and oil it would be nice to know the real weight of a saw ready to use.

[HolmenTree]

was over 100F here last week, once the 261 was hot I had to hold the throttle wide open but it started everytime , new 562 would not run no matter what you did to it at that temp, my ported 461's never missed a beat cut 40 inch plus oak on the stump all day long . I took a temp reading of the steel on my skidder, arch was 167 F, front main frame was 174 F, steel beside my seat was 181F . To say it was hot would be a understatement . Am thinking Im going to port the 261, I need more power

Ed, thanks for the report. On the hottest week here when it was in the mid 90's F and close to 90% humidity my 562XP wouldn't run either, I guess that old saying Huskies make great cold weather saws still hangs true..  The 550XP missed out on the heat as it was sitting at the dealer with all the problems it had.
The MS261CM II ran excellent the whole time without a whimper. The only one who was whimpering was myself,  with that kind of heat I'd sooner be home in the workshop. :D

  HolmenTree, I'm with you on getting spoiled by a 50cc saw, especially since I've got a few years on you. When I got my 261 I thought I'd use it for limbing and bucking under 8-9 inches and keep using the trusty 044 for anything bigger. Now it's the 261 for under 16-18 inches and the 044 for bigger, I'm a firewood cutter that cuts whatever falls over or dies in my woods, I'm sometimes tempted to check out a 241.

gspren, yeah I had a look at the MS241CM too and it is such a nice little saw something you could  nicely work with in real small wood.
But myself changing down from a 60cc go to saw the 261 feels very light for me.
MS241 would be perfect with the little Picco 63PS  chisel chain on a 16" .

[HolmenTree]

Back out in cottage country today 30 minutes from my house.
Removed a dozen smaller spruce which proved what the 550XP was designed for in its Swedish homeland. Felling, limbing and bucking small conifer  is s perfect fit for this little saw.

I just came to realize now on the 550's spare chain . The first chain the dealer put on the saw was a narrow kerf H30 .050 installed by mistake on a .058 bar. I knew I had a NK chain from day 1 but was unfamiliar with Husqvarna's numbers as I have run Oregon 95VXL chain.
The spare chain was a H25 (.058) standard semi chisel .325 and here I was calling the H30 ...H25. :D

I got a  bar/chain project for the 550XP.  I have a dozen or more old (brand new never used)Homelite and McCulloch 16" bars in early style Windsor Speed Tip and hard nose.
I have a .050 Homelite Windsor 15" that I'm going to cut down to a 14" then run Stihl 3/8" low profile 33Topic Super chisel chain on it. Will be super light, fast and ergonomic on the 550XP.


 

[HolmenTree]

To add to my last post.
With the 550XP converted to 14" with the dogs replaced by a aluminum smooth bumper .
The much more  torquey MS261CM will retain its dogs and I'll try a 18" on it, either .050 Speed Tip or hard nose Armor Tip on it, again like the 550XP a Stihl 3/8 low profile   33Topic Super chisel chain.


 

[weimedog]

Does your 550 have the latest and greatest carb & software updates? Some 550's would really benefit from those. Might be fun (for me) to take an early version and build it into the latest possible iteration with a tweak or two. Junk pile saw build to match in performance the best you can buy in the class now..