562xp Mk2 or MS400c?

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For me the biggest difference would come down to dealer support, I like the Stihl dealer, but he’s 45 minutes away, the Husqvarna is 10. I personally love the 562xp, the difference between the 2 seems so negligible it almost seems like the best deer rifle caliber argument, they all have merits.
Personally, IMO, go with the best/closest dealer.

With these two particular saws you really can't go wrong with either. I would still favor the 400c and I have owned both(albeit Mk1 version), but ai wouldn't sweat it if I only had a Husky dealer near by.
Last saw I bought from a local dealer was a 371XP, in 1998. Last 3 new saws I purchased came from the classified ads on here or OPE. Can't say I've ever really needed dealer support for much of anything.
 
Last saw I bought from a local dealer was a 371XP, in 1998. Last 3 new saws I purchased came from the classified ads on here or OPE. Can't say I've ever really needed dealer support for much of anything.
Couldn't agree more. My saws are ported, all but one by XS (Kevin LaVanway). He's my go to for most any saw related need or question (Thanks Kevin!). As far as parts I've needed there are a number of good places on line that are as cheap or cheaper than my dealer, who happens to sell a full line of Stihl, Husqvarna and Echo saws. About the only time I could see really "having" to use a dealer is with the M tronic and auto tune saws if you've gone through everything you can and still can't get the saw to run right.
 
Last saw I bought from a local dealer was a 371XP, in 1998. Last 3 new saws I purchased came from the classified ads on here or OPE. Can't say I've ever really needed dealer support for much of anything.
Being a small dealer and business owner myself, I do my best to support the business that support me, whatever extra it might cost up front, I believe when it comes to service it more than makes up for it, he has literally disassembled a new saw off the shelf to keep us going when he didn’t have the part available. Your mileage may vary, but for me It has been well worth it.
 
When I first bought my Ms400 C-M I was truly disappointed. I ran few tanks through it and was using a 20” bar with a full chisel chain. I had touched it up a few times with the Stihl 2 in 1 sharpener. I couldn’t get the saw to cut hardwood and was having to fight it. The teeth were sharp but the saw would constantly stall out and chain would stop in its tracks. I thought the saw didn’t have enough power the pull the chain. Truly disappointed. After a little investigating, I realized the 2 in 1 was taking the rakers too low on a new chain for hardwood and the teeth were basically biting more than it could chew.
Once I started using a single file to hand file and a separate file and gauge for the rakers, the 400 ran perfectly.

Has anyone else ran the 562 mark 2?
It seems most are talking about the original 562 and just wondering how the two compared because I’ve only used the mark 2.
Also to note, my friend runs the X-cut chain and I would say I’m impressed with it.
 
When I first bought my Ms400 C-M I was truly disappointed. I ran few tanks through it and was using a 20” bar with a full chisel chain. I had touched it up a few times with the Stihl 2 in 1 sharpener. I couldn’t get the saw to cut hardwood and was having to fight it. The teeth were sharp but the saw would constantly stall out and chain would stop in its tracks. I thought the saw didn’t have enough power the pull the chain. Truly disappointed. After a little investigating, I realized the 2 in 1 was taking the rakers too low on a new chain for hardwood and the teeth were basically biting more than it could chew.
Once I started using a single file to hand file and a separate file and gauge for the rakers, the 400 ran perfectly.

Has anyone else ran the 562 mark 2?
It seems most are talking about the original 562 and just wondering how the two compared because I’ve only used the mark 2.
Also to note, my friend runs the X-cut chain and I would say I’m impressed with it.
Its for this exact reason that the 2 in 1 guides suck. Guys will claim otherwise, but mostly because they haven't a clue what good chain is and are use to chain a dealer sharpens/burns up for them.
 
Last saw I bought from a local dealer was a 371XP, in 1998. Last 3 new saws I purchased came from the classified ads on here or OPE. Can't say I've ever really needed dealer support for much of anything.
For Stihls in particular you need a dealer for parts.
Its also nice not to have to order stuff online. When I lived in the UP I was lucky to have several good dealers near by. Where I live now there are none.
 
For Stihls in particular you need a dealer for parts.
Its also nice not to have to order stuff online. When I lived in the UP I was lucky to have several good dealers near by. Where I live now there are none.
When we had good dealers, I bought from them exclusively. As far as Stihl is concerned, I might dump my 462 and go back to a 372 before it ever needs parts.
 
Being a small dealer and business owner myself, I do my best to support the business that support me, whatever extra it might cost up front, I believe when it comes to service it more than makes up for it, he has literally disassembled a new saw off the shelf to keep us going when he didn’t have the part available. Your mileage may vary, but for me It has been well worth it.

I like the way you think. I'm deadly loyal to the people I do business with, I don't care if I can get a new saw for 50 or 100 bucks cheaper from someone else, the guys I buy from have got me outta jams and done things for me they didn't have to. That 50 or 100 bucks doesn't mean much to me in the bigger picture.
 
When I first bought my Ms400 C-M I was truly disappointed. I ran few tanks through it and was using a 20” bar with a full chisel chain. I had touched it up a few times with the Stihl 2 in 1 sharpener. I couldn’t get the saw to cut hardwood and was having to fight it. The teeth were sharp but the saw would constantly stall out and chain would stop in its tracks. I thought the saw didn’t have enough power the pull the chain. Truly disappointed. After a little investigating, I realized the 2 in 1 was taking the rakers too low on a new chain for hardwood and the teeth were basically biting more than it could chew.
Once I started using a single file to hand file and a separate file and gauge for the rakers, the 400 ran perfectly.

Has anyone else ran the 562 mark 2?
It seems most are talking about the original 562 and just wondering how the two compared because I’ve only used the mark 2.
Also to note, my friend runs the X-cut chain and I would say I’m impressed with it.
It takes a good 6-8 tanks of hard use to get the 400 to come into its own. I wasn't overly impressed with mine when I got it, friend that had one before me gave fair warning about the long break in period. By tank 6 or so it had picked up noticeably more power.
I'll echo the 2 in 1 is garbage sentiment. Depth gauges don't need toutched up every time a cutter does and if the chain isn't right to start with the 2 in 1 just magnifies the issue.
 
It takes a good 6-8 tanks of hard use to get the 400 to come into its own. I wasn't overly impressed with mine when I got it, friend that had one before me gave fair warning about the long break in period. By tank 6 or so it had picked up noticeably more power.
I'll echo the 2 in 1 is garbage sentiment. Depth gauges don't need toutched up every time a cutter does and if the chain isn't right to start with the 2 in 1 just magnifies the issue.
I wasn’t disappointed because of the needed break in period. I was disappointed because the chain was sharpened incorrectly with the rakers being too low due to the 2 in 1 file.
 
I wasn’t disappointed because of the needed break in period. I was disappointed because the chain was sharpened incorrectly with the rakers being too low due to the 2 in 1 file.
What Sean is saying in regards to break in is true with these new saws. I believe Mtronic/Autotune ******* the timing or runs them a bit rich at break in and this can be felt. I recently bought a 550xp mk2. The first time I ran it I thought I bought a turd. It came alive after a half gallon of gas or so through it.
 
My 400c out ran a friend's 372 Xtork.
Mostly due to my chain being better.
While I never ran them both back to back I feel like my 400c is faster than the 562xp I owned. Others that have owned both are of the same opinion.
You sound like : well I new a guy, that new a guy , who's Aunt Calet ran this saw but the chain was in backwards but but and and....
 
I wasn’t disappointed because of the needed break in period. I was disappointed because the chain was sharpened incorrectly with the rakers being too low due to the 2 in 1 file.
Usually it’s from pushing down too hard which bends the rails and the flat file removes too much. Need to push towards the cutter and not down
 
If I remember correctly about a year ago husky went to a dished piston to help combat crank bearings failures in the 562. A porter I was watching was warning that he was seeing being failures and had to dial back on his "recipe" a little bit. so keep this in mind if you plan to get it ported.
I personally lean towards the stihl but both use so much plastic now, thin 1.2mm rings and are lean running strato engines out of the box.
 
If I remember correctly about a year ago husky went to a dished piston to help combat crank bearings failures in the 562. A porter I was watching was warning that he was seeing being failures and had to dial back on his "recipe" a little bit. so keep this in mind if you plan to get it ported.
I personally lean towards the stihl but both use so much plastic now, thin 1.2mm rings and are lean running strato engines out of the box.
The mk2 got the dished piston. Haven't heard of bearings failures being a regular thing for a few years now. They were updated several times over the years.
Neither the 562xp or 400c runs lean by any stretch of the imagination.
 
The bearings run lean on oil in any strato. But the stoichiometric burn ratio on top of the piston still needs to be 14.6 parts of air to one part fuel for any gasoline internal combustion engine. If you look at the spark plug, the only ones that are a little bit lean are the MS 261 and the 462.

I’ve had 562s with 200 hours on 50:1 with stihl and husky oil come to me with bad bearings. New bearings, healthy port job adding 30 psi of compression, and Red Armor at 40:1 on 1 saw in particular from a tree company that now has over 1000 hours on it and still runs fine. I believe the original bearings weren’t the greatest, but the common denominator is that more oil is needed to make up for the efficiency of the strato design. If a saw runs longer on a tank of fuel, it’s doing the same amount of work on less oil as well. Combined with the inherently heavier strato piston, these new higher RPM saws need it for severe commercial duty
 
The bearings run lean on oil in any strato. But the stoichiometric burn ratio on top of the piston still needs to be 14.6 parts of air to one part fuel for any gasoline internal combustion engine. If you look at the spark plug, the only ones that are a little bit lean are the MS 261 and the 462.

I’ve had 562s with 200 hours on 50:1 with stihl and husky oil come to me with bad bearings. New bearings, healthy port job adding 30 psi of compression, and Red Armor at 40:1 on 1 saw in particular from a tree company that now has over 1000 hours on it and still runs fine. I believe the original bearings weren’t the greatest, but the common denominator is that more oil is needed to make up for the efficiency of the strato design. If a saw runs longer on a tank of fuel, it’s doing the same amount of work on less oil as well. Combined with the inherently heavier strato piston, these new higher RPM saws need it for severe commercial duty
The cages were failing as I recall. Original part number (s) supersedes 4 times I think now. (Not awear of the current mk2 bearing numbers. Haven't checked.)
Only fools run 50 to 1.
 

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