Husqvarna 550 Top Handle mod

[Eivind from Norway]

Hello.
I have both Stihl 150 and Husqvarna 540 top handle saws. Both are ported and runs really well. But for larger trees I often use a ported 550 when climbing. The cutting power of the 550 is really so much greater than the 540.

However, the absence of top handle on the 550 makes it impossible (or at least quite dangerous) to use it onehanded. And some branches need to be pushed by a free hand to make them land in the safe drop zone. Other branches need to be held by a free hand and thrown to safe drop zone.

Yes, I do realize that the weight distribution and shape of a 550 would place the top handle far away from centre of mass, and I am not contemplating converting a 550 to all-round climbing saw.

What I do wonder is if someone has fitted a top handle on one, so it can be used both in regular twohanded mode (with right hand on the rear handle, and in tophandle mode with either hand on the top handle that would have to be fitted from the front og the rear handle over the top cover to middle of the front handle. And equipped with throttle AND throttle trigger lockout. If someone has tried this, I might save a lot of trials and errors reinventing the wheel.

I do relalize that a saw with top handle is inherently more dangerous than a rear handle saw, and I do not reccoment anyone trying this at home.

Would there be any other saw in the 50 cc class that would be better suited to this (that would be a saw with lower profile due to horizintal cylinder orientation ?

Very grateful for constructive input. Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Yours Eivind.

 

[jackjcc]

You should never one hand a chainsaw.

I would be shocked if somebody has gone through the trouble of making such a conversion. You could try a ported ms241, much lighter and will cut with a 550. Most climbers don’t switch to ground saws until they are in the spar with 16” or larger wood.


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[Eivind from Norway]

You should never one hand a chainsaw.

I would be shocked if somebody has gone through the trouble of making such a conversion. You could try a ported ms241, much lighter and will cut with a 550. Most climbers don’t switch to ground saws until they are in the spar with 16” or larger wood.


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The 241 does not answer my question. And at 42 cc, I very much doubt that it would outperform a 550, both being expertly ported.

 

[LonestarStihl]

I wonder if you could have a fabrication shop weld a longer handle and have side contact points around where the regular front handle meets or weld a metal piece to fro from the base or the rear handle and weld into the top handle then extend the throttle linkage. Seems pretty doable in my opinion.

 

[Eivind from Norway]

Thanks. Could you please make a drawing?

 

[buttercup]

They've moved to carbon fiber in racing cars and airplanes, I guess it's because of it's weight/strength properties but I would say it's just easier to shape in to anything.
Need some know-how to do it right though...