Husqvarna 550xp repaired-ish

[Oldpath05]

Buying them off the internet isn't helping the small local dealer either...

SR

You could say that about anything you buy, just look what happen to the malls, in my mine that was a good thing, cant stand crowds, one big reason I like ordering offline. I wouldn't mine ordering a saw off internet through HD, that way if it wont start I can take it back to the nearest by HD store, but still prefer a local dealer if only a few bucks more, local as in 10-20 miles, more then that might's well go to HD............

 

[Oldpath05]

I had an Echo CS520 which I bought when my 346xp lost the crank after just 3 years. It was a little heavier and slower than the Husky it replaced, but was a good saw for 6 years. The trouble is that I kept it for 8. It also had a 5 year warranty which the saw it replaced didn't.

That's why I bought the 550xp 6 years ago, it replaced the 346 and I had that saw about 4 years, thought it was a good saw. My crank didn't give out, the whole saw was caught up in a cross fire when my shop burnt down 6 years ago.

 

[s219]

Cold?????? Virginia aint cold, single numbers is cold, I had 4 above yesterday 2 above today. So for the last two years would you say you've gone threw atleast 5-6 gal of gas on the 501p and still starts and idles good? You say you also have a 550xp, do you know if that chainsaw bar will fit on a Echo 501p? I have a $45.00 brand new 18" extra bar for my 550xp, I have to figure that into a new saw purchase equation.

How far away are you from Lynchburg? My Daughter is a reporter at a news station down there somewhere.

Heck, it was 12F the other morning -- cold for here. One of those days I would have had to thin my bar oil to do any serious cutting. But I know what you're talking about, my dad's from Maine and I've been up there plenty of times in winter.

I've probably put at least 5 gals through the 501P and it has run great the whole time. I don't think it starts cold as consistently as my other Echos (which are super predictable -- always know exactly how many pulls cold) but it's the same as my Stihls and Huskys.

I don't have a Husky 550XP, I have a 562XP. The Echo 501 uses a .325 chain and the gauge is 0.050. I know the 550XP came with several pitch/gauge options so hard to know if your bars & chains will be interchangeable. I don't think the bars will swap but I can't say I have even compared them. Maybe you can go to the Oregon website and see if the part numbers cross match.

Here's a vid of the 501P idling:

Breaking into two more posts since I can only have one video per post.....

 

[s219]

Here's one of the 501P cutting a cookie in poplar:

 

[s219]

For comparison, here's my 562XP (60cc) cutting a cookie too:

I generally don't put a lot of stock in cookie videos since there are too many variables, but it gives you an idea how the saws run. I consider the 501P performance typical of a 50cc saw. Of course the 60cc Husky blows through the wood much better, but it also is bigger and weighs 4 lbs more (18 lbs versus 14 lbs for the 501P). Both saws had a recently sharpened full chisel chain on a 20" bar.

 

[Oldpath05]

Thanks for those videos, that husky clearly won with more cc and assuming 3/8 pitch chain, but almost think my 550xp cut faster than that 501p, I was inspecting that motor to whined up more. I run 18" bar, 325 pitch, 058 gauge full chisel chain, mayby 20" takes more power.

 

[s219]

As soon as I saw that video I knew I hadn't revved the 501P all the way up before going into the wood, but like I said, take cookie videos with a grain of salt because there are so many variables. When I used to do it more often I would see variation over 5-6 cuts. The 501P does cut slightly better with an 18" bar, but it handles so nice with the 20" I leave that on most of the time. Other 50cc saws I have owned would not balance well with a 20" bar so I always stuck with 18". Even my Stihl 261, which had a bulkier powerhead, would get too nose heavy with a 20" bar.

 

[Oldpath05]

You know if you want a do over and cut up again a bakers dozen of cookies with that 501p and since I like salt I'll be more than happy to watch. First the cold start, the warm up and last but not lest the rev up, be even better if you had a 550xp doing the same thing, even better if I could go to a saw shop and they'ed do that.

A guy I ride to work with told me today of a hardware store 25 mile away that sells both, Husqvarna and Echo, he knows the people fairly well and says they've been selling Echos to several loggers and the hardware dealer says some of the loggers prefer the Echos over Husqvarna, ouch that gotta to hurt the you know who's, so next week think I'll go there and get a closer look at both side by side. This guy I ride with has the Echo Timberwolve and loves it he also has Husky, Stihl but like the Echo the best, he also has his lawnmower work done there and he does tree trimming and lawn mowing in the summer for people.

I know bar length has an effect on balance and handling but I dont go by that, I go by where my comfort cut zone is without hitting the ground. On my bigger saw with 24" bar, I used it several time cutting limbs, and notice how hard it was for me to continual hold it up so wont run it into the ground. So I mostly use that big saw for cutting up sawmill slabs and or big trees where a longer bar is preferred, but for the average firewood and log cutting 18" bar fits my height just right.

 

[s219]

I had to stop by my Stihl dealer to get some files today and ogled the 261:



I had one of these a few years back (sold it to a member here) and it was a darn good saw. Stihl lightened the powerhead a couple years ago and the new version indeed has nicer balance than I remember. What I don't like is how they made the clutch cover smaller (which may be where some weight was saved). It just looks wrong. Although chip flow was one complaint I had about the old 261, and that has to be improved with the smaller cover. It also has M-tronic now. I'd love a chance to run this and test against the 501P so I'll have to keep an eye out for an opportunity.

I will say this about Stihl -- they sure put up a nice display. I can feel my wallet squirming to jump out of my pocket every time I go there for supplies and see that big spread of saws and equipment. I got out of there cheap at $19 for a few packs of files and some bar oil!

 

[s219]

Also, looking at the Stihl's flippy caps reminded me of one gripe about the Echo 501P -- the caps for oil and gas are hard to remove and always require some leverage from my scrench tool.