husqvarna 268 questions

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fast5

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I understood that the husqvarna 268 xp was a professional saw, untill I went to the husky dealer and was told that they never made a 268 xp only a 272xp because the 268 was a homeowner open port version, and the 272 was the pro model with scavenged loop (closed ports). Now here is my problem, I have 2 husqvarna 268 xp saws that say professional on the side of them.

Did they make 268 xp's with open ports?

I have a 28" bar 3/8" .050 on my saw with a full skip, round ground chisel chain and seems to run it fine, not often is the bar buried, and I cut mostly alder maple and fir. I also have the oregon power match system with a 7 tooth floating rim sprocket and was curious if it would cut faster with an 8 tooth or would I loose to much on the low end torque? The muffler is opened up and the saw seems to have good power.

One of my 268 xp's has a W on the black ID tag. I have heard several versions of what this is. I was told it means wrap handle and also west coast version. Is the full wrap handle the only difference? I noticed this one has double dogs and my other 268 xp has only one, power seems to be pretty equal.

Thank you for looking and I am sorry that is a lot of brain picking at once, but this place is filled with people full of information (hopefully semi correct information:)).
 
I did a search, and found a post from sawtroll:
http://www.arboristsite.com/showpost.php?p=1560541&postcount=4
I will try....
268se/xp; Higher performance versions of the 266se/xp. Closed ports, 67cc.

272xp; Replaced the 268xp, 72.2cc. All the 272s were xps with closed ports.

Streight 268; Open port version of the 268, 67cc but less power than the older 268se/xp.

A detuned version of the 272xp is still made in Brazil, maybe the 268 and 61 as well......
 
"Did they make 268 xp's with open ports?"

All the 268XP's I've seen had closed port P/C's.

They may have made open port versions at some point, not sure? Even searching different IPL's, the 268's were in production for many years, and part numbers for different P/C's may not indicate if they were open or closed port

They are great saws, but to this day I can't understand why Husqvarna made them without a compression release?........Cliff
 
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Did they make 268 xp's with open ports?

All the 268XP's I've seen had closed port P/C's.

They may have made open port versions at some point, not sure? Even searching different IPL's, the 268's were in production for many years, and part numbers for different P/C's may not indicate if they were open or closed port

They are great saws, but to this day I can't understand why Husqvarna made them without a compression release?........Cliff

Yes they did make a 268 with open ports and a flatside (nonwindowed) piston. These P&Cs were made by Gilardoni. These were the last version of the 268 and they were detuned and dropped the XP designation. They only made the 268 in the XP version until they made this change. The straight 268 appeared around the time they introduced the 272XP. That is how I understand it any way.

To the OP your dealer is either new at it or very young or not a very good dealer at all. To tell you Husqvarna never made the 268XP is wrong and way out of line as Cliff said they made the XP for many yrs and the non XP for but very few.

The 61/268XP ported conversion in my sig I ran a long time with a ported Gilardoni open port 268 P&C. It was a great improvement over the 61. However when I changed to the Mahle XP P&C and ported that it was a great improvement over the Gilardoni!!!:cheers:
 
Yes they did make a 268 with open ports and a flatside (nonwindowed) piston. These P&Cs were made by Gilardoni. These were the last version of the 268 and they were detuned and dropped the XP designation. They only made the 268 in the XP version until they made this change. The straight 268 appeared around the time they introduced the 272XP. That is how I understand it any way.

To the OP your dealer is either new at it or very young or not a very good dealer at all. To tell you Husqvarna never made the 268XP is wrong and way out of line as Cliff said they made the XP for many yrs and the non XP for but very few.

The 61/268XP ported conversion in my sig I ran a long time with a ported Gilardoni open port 268 P&C. It was a great improvement over the 61. However when I changed to the Mahle XP P&C and ported that it was a great improvement over the Gilardoni!!!:cheers:

:agree2:

Easiest way to look at this is that at the end of it's run, the 268XP sort of split off into two different saws. The 272XP and the non-XP 268. The 272XP was obviously the intended "replacement" for the 268XP, while the non-XP 268 was slotted in below it; similar to what would come later with the 372XP and 365.
 
they did make a 268 with open ports and a flatside (nonwindowed) piston. These P&Cs were made by Gilardoni. These were the last version of the 268 and they were detuned and dropped the XP designation. They only made the 268 in the XP version until they made this change. The straight 268 appeared around the time they introduced the 272XP. That is how I understand it any way.

To the OP your dealer is either new at it or very young or not a very good dealer at all. To tell you Husqvarna never made the 268XP is wrong and way out of line as Cliff said they made the XP for many yrs and the non XP for but very few. ....

:agree2: Except that the open port 268 acually were made for a longer time than the SE/XP..... This doesn't excuse that the dealer didn't know about the 268xp though, they were made for about 5 years (1987-1991).
 
:agree2:

Easiest way to look at this is that at the end of it's run, the 268XP sort of split off into two different saws. The 272XP and the non-XP 268. The 272XP was obviously the intended "replacement" for the 268XP, while the non-XP 268 was slotted in below it; similar to what would come later with the 372XP and 365.

:agree2:


...but then I toss the 268 Special into the picture, just to add confusion.....:cheers:
 
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A tale of two saws

The 268XP was a closed port pro saw. Had one and loved it. The originals believe it or not actually had a paper air filter. The 268XP took over for the 266 SE which in its own right was one of the best performing, and most dependable mid-range saws of its time.

The 268 that came along after the 272 XP more closely resembled what Husky now calls the their mid range line the Landowner series. Wasn't a bad saw, but not a 268XP.

Take Care
 
:agree2: Except that the open port 268 acually were made for a longer time than the SE/XP..... This doesn't excuse that the dealer didn't know about the 268xp though, they were made for about 5 years (1987-1991).

I didn't know that the 268 ran longer than the XP. If they started in 1991 when did they end production of these?:cheers:
 
Open Vs closed

I might be wrong, probably am , but the closed port cylinder will have "humps" on base of cylinder, open port will be a little further up.
 
Here's a pic of my straight 268 piston...sans windows......

attachment.php
 
Wow! lots of information quick

That did not take any time at all to get husky schooled on the 268 line.

Thank you all for taking the time to share what you know.

Does anybody know about the W on the black id tag next to the oil fill hole? Or about running an 8 tooth sprocket? I am sure somebody knows :). I am really lucky to have found this site, you guys seem great and I can look for hours and learn tons.

My father used to have a saw shop when I was a young kid, after he worked in the woods, now he is retired so we sit around in the evening and play around with old saws (kind of for old times). My son is starting to get interested now and just repaired and sold his first homelite ez automatic at 7 years old :clap:. It is pretty neat to have 3 generations out there polishing up saws. We have much to learn still I hope you gentlemen don't mind the brain picking.

Thank you all for your help it is greatly appreciated.
 
That did not take any time at all to get husky schooled on the 268 line.

Thank you all for taking the time to share what you know.

Does anybody know about the W on the black id tag next to the oil fill hole? Or about running an 8 tooth sprocket? I am sure somebody knows :). I am really lucky to have found this site, you guys seem great and I can look for hours and learn tons.

My father used to have a saw shop when I was a young kid, after he worked in the woods, now he is retired so we sit around in the evening and play around with old saws (kind of for old times). My son is starting to get interested now and just repaired and sold his first homelite ez automatic at 7 years old :clap:. It is pretty neat to have 3 generations out there polishing up saws. We have much to learn still I hope you gentlemen don't mind the brain picking.

Thank you all for your help it is greatly appreciated.

Welcome to Arboristsite, BTW!:cheers:
 
Does anybody know about the W on the black id tag next to the oil fill hole? Or about running an 8 tooth sprocket? I am sure somebody knows :). I am really lucky to have found this site, you guys seem great and I can look for hours and learn tons. .....

I am pretty sure it refers to a "West-coast" version, with the full wrap handlebar. It may have come with dual and/or larger dawgs as well.

I don't think an 8-pin is a good idea, unless you use a shorter than "normal" bar. Of course it depends on the wood as well, not just the bar.

Just try it, rims are cheap!
 
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are the cases the same 268/268xp, I have one xp, and have an opportunity to buy another with a broken AV mount on one side of the case. I'm hoping I can get a 268 case and still have a xp saw.
 
Thanks saw troll (your user name makes me chuckle everytime I see it with the little picture) I think I will try the 8 tooth, I will let you know how it works out. As far as the W that was kind of what I figured. You don't see many 268's with full wrap handles, or at least I don't on the west coast. I will post a couple of pictures of the saw this evening. I think it is pretty clean for the age ( 1988 I believe ) and it is a super good firewood saw, good power to weight and pretty comfortable to run. Not sure if you know of any cons to the saw that I should be aware of.

Thanks for the information.
 

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