New Husqvarna 346XP Yikes

[Bluegill2]

So your telling me that I need to sell my 346xp's and get 550XP's (smile)

No, I'll never get rid of either of my 346xp. But I do want to run a 550xp at some point.

And Dark, I ain't gettin rid of my 357xp either. It's a great saw!

 

[JimR]

No, I'll never get rid of either of my 346xp. But I do want to run a 550xp at some point.

And Dark, I ain't gettin rid of my 357xp either. It's a great saw!

I see Husky doesn't list a price on their website for the new 550xp yet. They still list the 346xp's for sale. I did notice that the rpm load range for the 550xp is 600 rpms higher,the weight as you mentioned is slightly lower at .2 pounds. One other noticable difference is the FTS of the saws. The 550xp is 64.2fts and the 346xp is 60.7fts.

 

[DarkBlack]

My 357's are pre-green cap, and have "open concept" muffler interiors.

 

[Bluegill2]

My 357's are pre-green cap, and have "open concept" muffler interiors.

Mine too. The green cap is on the E-Tech with Cat muffler, not good, but easy fix with a muffler swap.

 

[Bluegill2]

I see Husky doesn't list a price on their website for the new 550xp yet. They still list the 346xp's for sale. I did notice that the rpm load range for the 550xp is 600 rpms higher,the weight as you mentioned is slightly lower at .2 pounds. One other noticable difference is the FTS of the saws. The 550xp is 64.2fts and the 346xp is 60.7fts.

Husky can be slow to get new stuff on their site and there's still a lot of 346s' in the pip line to sell, I know one dealer who has bought around 75-100 346s' to have available when they are gone.

I've already talked to a couple guys who have 550s'. They say more torque and wider power band than the 346. Extremely fast cutting saw! One had a problem though and had to have a carb replaced. I'll wait and watch and let them get the bugs worked out, then I might get one.

 

[xyz123]

By the way. The dude that keeps saying 14.7k for the 346. That was the older 45cc 346. The NE 50.1cc new one is 14.1K and has more torque in the cut then OE 45cc. Owned several of each.

12" hard maple which is harder then oak, 1 cut times with same 3/8 chain on all saws. choose your poison and go cut it dont matter just go cut. :drink:

stock husky 346xp 50cc 3/8 7T 5.63 5.62

stock dolmar 5105 with 5100 muffler 3/8 7T 5.59 5.50

stock partner 5000 , 3/8 7T 5.47 5.84 (30 years old) and tuned 2k lower WOT but same in the wood rpm.

stock 357xp, 3/8 7T 4.29 4.34

 

[Bluegill2]

xyz123, those times are interesting and pretty much what I would have thought and pretty close.

But when I ran 3/8 chain on my OE 346xp, it was one second slower, than with .325 chain. Have not tried 3/8 on the new one, but will.

 

[JimR]

By the way. The dude that keeps saying 14.7k for the 346. That was the older 45cc 346. The NE 50.1cc new one is 14.1K and has more torque in the cut then OE 45cc. Owned several of each.

thanks for the updated info on the max rpm's for the 346xp. I got that 14,7K figure right from Husqvarna's website before I bought my 346xp's. I just checked their website. They no longer show the maximum rpm's for the standard 346xp. I guess they never updated the info from the older saw. Now they don't show it at all on the standard 346xp but do show 14.1k on the e-tech version.

 

[LD1]

IMO, the max RPM is a pointless spec anyway. Just used to sell saws

 

[xyz123]

xyz123, those times are interesting and pretty much what I would have thought and pretty close.

But when I ran 3/8 chain on my OE 346xp, it was one second slower, than with .325 chain. Have not tried 3/8 on the new one, but will.

My OE stock ones dont have the balls to pull 3/8 JMO used 325 stock. Now the ported OE's did pull 3/8 way better then 325.

The NE 346 was no comparison with a new loop of 3/8 compared to new 325. 3/8 smoked 325 on stock NE 50cc.