# 50cc pro saw that can take a whoopin- ideas?



## 4x4American (Aug 28, 2012)

right now i gotta 362, an 066, an 045av super electronic, and a 171. I want something to tote around on the fourwheeler to clean up trails and to keep in the truck. It's gonna get beat up pretty good and used damn near daily. I'd like to run 3/8 chain on it since i have so many. I have been using stihl for a long time, my boss at the farm keeps trying to get me to switch to J-Red and my other friend who works in the tree care business is switching all his stihls to husky because he got a husky to use from a friend and loved it so much he tried out a few different ones and said that he loved them. I looked at the 550xp from husky, looks cool, havent ever picked one up. my boss from the farm thinks that for toting it on the wheeler and in the bed of the truck thinks i'd like a j-red 2156. Im thinking about buying new because then everything works on it and i dont have to fix nothin and hopefully will last long. me liking stihl, was thinking about the ms261. my mind is open at this point and i sure would love some advice!


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## Grouchy old man (Aug 28, 2012)

If you are not willing to take proper care of it don't waste your money, nothing is going to last. Just get yourself a Wild Thang and replace it when necessary. :msp_thumbsup:


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## cfield (Aug 28, 2012)

Try the husky 346xp, you'll love it!


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## 4x4American (Aug 28, 2012)

Grouchy old man said:


> If you are not willing to take proper care of it don't waste your money, nothing is going to last. Just get yourself a Wild Thang and replace it when necessary. :msp_thumbsup:



im gonna take good care of it, its just gonna spend some time settin on the gun rack of my fourwheeler sideways and most proberly in the cab of my truck on the seat occasionally in the bed when i got my women in the cab. if im spendin that much on a new saw i'm gonna take good care of it that's fer sure.


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## 4x4American (Aug 28, 2012)

cfield said:


> Try the husky 346xp, you'll love it!



I cant seem to see much difference b/n the 346 and the 550 from huskys website, whats the difference? husky dont have price for the 550 there either. also, whats the deal with this autotune? on huskys website it shows them taking somethin out an puttin somethin back in, didnt say what it was. i figured it was some sorta ecm. thanks for the help!


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## 4x4American (Aug 28, 2012)

i think that its between the ms261 or the 346xp. i read a comment on a youtube video sayin that the husky is a great saw, cuts faster, good air filtration, but it rattles itself apart over time and you have to keep tightening it back up. The sithl on the other hand is a bit slower with worse air filtration but will last lifetime. any thoughts?


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## D&B Mack (Aug 29, 2012)

4x4American said:


> i think that its between the ms261 or the 346xp. i read a comment on a youtube video sayin that the husky is a great saw, cuts faster, good air filtration, but it rattles itself apart over time and you have to keep tightening it back up. The sithl on the other hand is a bit slower with worse air filtration but will last lifetime. any thoughts?



Stihl _basically_ copied Husky's design for air filtration, so the Stihl's filtration is up to par with Husky on this saw. I have owned both, neither will disappoint. 

But if you are looking for a true trail saw and it is going to get beat up bad, I wouldn't waste a good saw on that. Regardless of quality, no saw is designed to take that type of abuse. I would want something that is cheap to replace, but parts are good enough to keep as spares when buying a new unit.

I would look at Dolmar or Echo.


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## cfield (Aug 29, 2012)

4x4American said:


> I cant seem to see much difference b/n the 346 and the 550 from huskys website, whats the difference? husky dont have price for the 550 there either. also, whats the deal with this autotune? on huskys website it shows them taking somethin out an puttin somethin back in, didnt say what it was. i figured it was some sorta ecm. thanks for the help!



I'm not sure of the difference either, I'm sure they're trying to "improve" the 346. Kinda like what Stihl is doing with the new 201. As far as the price, I know a new 346 goes for $500 here, and I called on a price for a new 562xp the other day and it was around $700. So I'd imagine the 550 falls somewhere in between. As far as the autotune goes I love it, I got it on my 576xp. The dealer told me he'd sold over 30 with the autotune and none had come back in for any issues due to engine tuning or not running right. He told me if all saws came with autotune he'd probly go out of business, he was very impressed with it as am I.


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## mortenh (Aug 29, 2012)

For durability nothing beats the old Stihl MS 260 (more so than the new MS 261). Husqvarna 346 XP is a better saw (I'm a Stihl man, myself), but the plastics are more fragile.


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## SawTroll (Aug 29, 2012)

mortenh said:


> For durability nothing beats the old Stihl MS 260 (more so than the new MS 261). Husqvarna 346 XP is a better saw (I'm a Stihl man, myself), *but the plastics are more fragile*.


 I wonder where you got that "info" from? :msp_rolleyes:
- and at least the handlebar is metal on the Husky, and the clutch cover is a lot stronger, even though it is magnesium on the Stihl as well. Also, the handguard (some mistakenly call it "footpad", but it isn't meant for that) on the rear handle is a weak point on all modern Stihls.....

Another difference is that metal crankcase of the Husky covers more of the saw, the skimpy 260 one leaves a lot more to the plastic parts.

I wouldn't let any saw ride in the load compartment of a pickup truck though, regardless what it is!


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## freeweight (Aug 29, 2012)

thats alot of money to spend on a simple trail saw ....get a cheap saw ,or rotate an old saw in for this use and use the new saw ,346xp is a helluva saw


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## 4x4American (Aug 29, 2012)

Ok well so today the last two hours from work went by real slow (mainly because my boss left early so he wasnt there riding my arse keeping me busy) and also because in the back of my mind was the husky 346xp. I went straight to my local stihl/husky/echo dealer to get an idea of the 346xp and feel it, see the small differences between husky and stihl. after gazing at it for awhile and holding it, pulling off the covers and looking at it, i decided that i liked it. the dealer was asking $500 for it. I told him i'd go home and sleep on it and be back tomorrow which is paycheck day. conveniently located down the road is my local bank. so for shiggles, i went in there to check my balance and see if i had enough money. well i did, with about twenty bucks to spare. so i called up the dealer and asked if he could do $500 even for it. He thought about it for a min and said he could. so, i took out 500 and headed straight back to the dealer. took what felt like an eternity. the guy filled her up with some rich premix, took her outside and ran her a but. got it, got home, and got working. first i had started it up revved it up a little bit til it got warm, shut it off, waited til it cooled down a bit, did it again, then one more time, then i got to cutting with it. I went walking around on the wheeler trails on my property and cleaned them up. cut out a few cookies from a 18" soft maple, it had a little trouble pullin the 20" when i applied pressure, but other than that, I LOVE it. i love the snotty sound it makes, its so light, has great power, its pretty much there when you hit the throttle. all in all, i do not regret spending the money, it seems like a great saw and i hope it lasts long. and yawl are right, this is way too nice of a saw to beat up on the wheeler. prolly gonna have to get a cheap used something for that purpose. for now i'll stick to walking the trails, but with 1600 acres, walking will take a long time. 

Now my question is, what is the best chain to run on it for the 20". I run a full skip rsc on my ms362 and i definitely like the full skip. anybody have any good recommendations of chains to run for the 346xp? do they make full chisel in .325? 
thanks for all your help!


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## formationrx (Sep 1, 2012)

*...*

271WB, 028SWB, dolmar 5105...


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## Tree Pig (Sep 1, 2012)

ms 250 only $299 and keep hp ultra and fresh gas in it, it will last. Why risk double that for what your using it for.


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## cfield (Sep 1, 2012)

4x4American said:


> Ok well so today the last two hours from work went by real slow (mainly because my boss left early so he wasnt there riding my arse keeping me busy) and also because in the back of my mind was the husky 346xp. I went straight to my local stihl/husky/echo dealer to get an idea of the 346xp and feel it, see the small differences between husky and stihl. after gazing at it for awhile and holding it, pulling off the covers and looking at it, i decided that i liked it. the dealer was asking $500 for it. I told him i'd go home and sleep on it and be back tomorrow which is paycheck day. conveniently located down the road is my local bank. so for shiggles, i went in there to check my balance and see if i had enough money. well i did, with about twenty bucks to spare. so i called up the dealer and asked if he could do $500 even for it. He thought about it for a min and said he could. so, i took out 500 and headed straight back to the dealer. took what felt like an eternity. the guy filled her up with some rich premix, took her outside and ran her a but. got it, got home, and got working. first i had started it up revved it up a little bit til it got warm, shut it off, waited til it cooled down a bit, did it again, then one more time, then i got to cutting with it. I went walking around on the wheeler trails on my property and cleaned them up. cut out a few cookies from a 18" soft maple, it had a little trouble pullin the 20" when i applied pressure, but other than that, I LOVE it. i love the snotty sound it makes, its so light, has great power, its pretty much there when you hit the throttle. all in all, i do not regret spending the money, it seems like a great saw and i hope it lasts long. and yawl are right, this is way too nice of a saw to beat up on the wheeler. prolly gonna have to get a cheap used something for that purpose. for now i'll stick to walking the trails, but with 1600 acres, walking will take a long time.
> 
> Now my question is, what is the best chain to run on it for the 20". I run a full skip rsc on my ms362 and i definitely like the full skip. anybody have any good recommendations of chains to run for the 346xp? do they make full chisel in .325?
> thanks for all your help!



Told ya you would love it! Not sure on your chain question though. Have fun and be safe!


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## tramp bushler (Sep 2, 2012)

Pull the clutch, take the 325 sprocket off and put on a 7 tooth 3/8 . It takes the small spline sprocket rim. Change the tip to 3/8 and your off to the races. Depending on the bar either 70 or 72 drivers. 
With the chain speed it puts out full skip works great. You can keep your rpm up and that will dump more oil on the chain. Plus fewer teeth to sharpen and joint.


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## 4x4American (Sep 5, 2012)

cfield said:


> Told ya you would love it! Not sure on your chain question though. Have fun and be safe!



i'm glad ya told me, pretty much the reason i went and looked at it was you saying that, which resulted in me getting it


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## freeweight (Sep 6, 2012)

i for one had no doubt ud love it but man thats alot of cash just for cutting trails...but happy for ya


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## dingeryote (Sep 6, 2012)

Congrats on the new 346!!!

You asked about chain. Stihl makes .325 RSC. It's good stuff.
Baileys/Carlton also has full chisel .325 and I run the crap out it. Holds up as well as the RSC and is a good bit cheaper, just not as smooth cutting.

Secure the thing so it dosn't bounce on the quad, and it will put up with the abuse just fine.
Havn't killed ours yet doing the same thing. 

Just make sure you run the flock air filter, and keep the Mud brushed off the fins, and she will do fine for ya.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote


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## tramp bushler (Sep 7, 2012)

We tried. 325 chain pre commercial tree thinning. Drivers wore out a lot faster than 3/8 and the chains threw off the bar a lot more frequently. At the time Oregon made 76CL . Chisel full comp. Low profile. 
Why they quit making it is beyond me. . Like 75CK and 52 series chain it doesn't help me out. But its not the kind of stuff they would sell at Home Depot or Walmart. . Oregon 72 CJ works great on the small fast saws.
If your not in a lot of brush the 325 cuts OK for the 1st half of the chain.


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## mortenh (Sep 7, 2012)

SawTroll said:


> *I wonder where you got that "info" from*? :msp_rolleyes:
> - and at least the handlebar is metal on the Husky, and the clutch cover is a lot stronger, even though it is magnesium on the Stihl as well. Also, the handguard (some mistakenly call it "footpad", but it isn't meant for that) on the rear handle is a weak point on all modern Stihls.....
> 
> Another difference is that metal crankcase of the Husky covers more of the saw, the skimpy 260 one leaves a lot more to the plastic parts.
> ...



Empirical evidence, my man.

The forestry college near me have about thirty each Stihl MS 260's and Husqvarna 346 XP's. They are being hammered, and the Stihl ones just last longer. The plastics on the Husqvarna just seem to be more fragile. Whether it's caused by the construction (moulding), thickness or plastic compound, I don't know, but observation of many saws over a long period of time just seem to prove my point.

But as I pointed out earlier, I think the Husqvarna 346 XP is the better saw of the two. Better balance and faster acceleration.


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## psuiewalsh (Sep 7, 2012)

Buy a Homelite SXL-AO and dont worry about it. Built like a tank and cheap.


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