Husqvarna 540xp or Stihl 201T?

[Jet47]

I have worked in forestry for almost 35 years now. My two favourite chainsaws were Husqvarna's 254's and 372's. I now have a third. The Husqvarna 540i. Make sure you get the BLi 300 battery.

 

[jefflovstrom]

 

[Cynfawr]

The ms201s are good saws, can't go wrong there.

I had a first gen 540xp....nothing good to say lol.
New ones might be good.

Haven't used the new 540ixp yet but I liked the older 536lixp when I got a chance to use it for a few climbs. It blew the Stihl msa161t away.

 

[ArnoldsTree&Stump]

Well I now have both the 201tc and the husky 540xp. I have come to the conclusion they are both about equally matched. I prefer the 201 but honestly it may just be because I am a Stihl guy.My climber is talking about getting the 540i so I guess that will be in the near future. Thanks for all the help guys. Love this forum!

 

[TheJollyLogger]

View attachment 947253

To a climber that's like finding a 68 Camaro under a tarp on blocks with 10 miles on the odometer...

 

[Parkerpusher]

Exactly … good analogy

 

[Parkerpusher]

I think the 201 is with every penny and the better saw for removals. But for pruning or trimming I can see how the battery saws would be awesome.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I think the 201 is with every penny and the better saw for removals. But for pruning or trimming I can see how the battery saws would be awesome.

What impresses me with the way the technology has progressed is we are even mentioning battery powered saws and 201s in the same sentence, whereas 5 years ago they were being compared to Silkys...

 

[TnShooter]

I have to be honest and say. I’m a Stihl and Husky fan. Both have served me well.
However, While I don’t normally choose echo for my primary equipment, the 2511t is quite light and cuts better than most other Echo saws I’ve had experience with. The weight and ethos are guitar good on it in my opinion. If you are in the market for a gas saw, you might stop by a dealer and see how you like it


I will admit, after running the Stihl pole saw. I am starting to worm up to the idea of a battery saw.

I know of one local guy that uses the 540i. He said he loves them. But the initial expense can be more. However he said he’s still happy he made the switch.

I guess I’m just too old to give I’m to the battery stuff just yet?

 

[Tigwelder83]

I have to be honest and say. I’m a Stihl and Husky fan. Both have served me well.
However, While I don’t normally choose echo for my primary equipment, the 2511t is quite light and cuts better than most other Echo saws I’ve had experience with. The weight and ethos are guitar good on it in my opinion. If you are in the market for a gas saw, you might stop by a dealer and see how you like it


I will admit, after running the Stihl pole saw. I am starting to worm up to the idea of a battery saw.

I know of one local guy that uses the 540i. He said he loves them. But the initial expense can be more. However he said he’s still happy he made the switch.

I guess I’m just too old to give I’m to the battery stuff just yet?

For me the major plusses are the lack of noise & lack of a pull cord. Big wood ( 8"+ ) sapps the battery more than pruning cuts, but battery life is good and it's an improvement over gas

 

[MesquiteFreak]

I just got a 201tc with a 14 inch bar. it has cut anything I have asked of it. There are a couple of weak spots in my opinion. The first one is that the air filter always gets dirty way to fast. Every time I used to check it, which would be everytime I topped off the petrol. before the mod it, when I checked it the filter would be caked with wood chips on at leat half the filet . What I did to fix it was to glue some thin mesh filter ( almost like what uni air filters are made out of) over the holes where the chips get, i ran a strip along the entire bottom of the filter cover where the holes are but on the outside side. Solved that pretty much took care of the chip problem. The other issue is the oil and gas tank caps, i feel like they designed the caps so they would sell more filters. My work around is when I pull the tab up before unscrewing the cap, I would blow it out (even in the field blowing with your lungs helps too)and have a Clean towel or cloth so that way when I take the cap out i can clean the hole of any debris thats on its way in the tank I usually can clean it out before it gets to far. I think it's a very week design by stihl and looking at husqvarna theirs looks like they should do a better job but I have no real world experience.

The youtube channel guilty of trees on does a very thorough review of the 540i. And the conclusion was it does not have the balls in the bigger wood but it is a very capable saw. What would happen is the saw would sudddenly stop in the middle of a cut, like it has a overload circuit and it would know when to stop the chain. And I think they got a 200t to finish what the mighty 540i couldnt. I do believe the 200t had some work done to it, so I don't known if it was apples to apples. But with a gas saw you can port, advance the timing, and all types of fun things to make it more powerful. What can you do to the battery saw? Step up the voltage, but who had the knalowledge to mod the electronics?

On another note, I will run a gas power saw for as long as I can! Why? Because when you start the saw as it fires up, as explosion happen way to many times to count. The loudness of the exhaust, the smell of 2 stroke, as I pull the trigger, it roars into action. that's what I love about using a power saw. It get my blood pumping and any day I use my power saws it always goes by faster!

Battery power is nice, and the wave of the future but until the battery technology catches up, it will always be it's down fall. You only get so many charges before the battery life starts it's down hill spiral. It will slowly start to not be able to supply the amps it once had and it won't last as long as it once did . I think it's 250 cycles. But I could be wrong.

If you cut wood under 8 inches and you do pruning mostly I would say get it. Good luck and let us know what you get.

 

[MesquiteFreak]

video on dyno and results from a stihl 201, husky 540, echo 355.



Review on 540i

 

[Parkerpusher]

What impresses me with the way the technology has progressed is we are even mentioning battery powered saws and 201s in the same sentence, whereas 5 years ago they were being compared to Silkys...

That’s very true I didn’t think of it that way.