Why Does Husqvarna Hate Saw Mechanics?

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Sam R

8mm Socket
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Jun 28, 2018
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Bloomington, IN
Alternate title: Maybe I'm Just an Idiot

I had the good fortune of getting to work on a 455 the other day; man what an impossible saw. It took 20 minutes to get the carburetor off with all that wack fuel line routing, that weird air filter mount & linkages that don't just pop off the carb. The unusual 2 port intake means it's impossible to p/v test without some no-doubt proprietary flange. The muffler that has to be rolled over the bucking teeth means the gasket will definitely fall off the first time you try and put it back on the jug.

I know there are a lot of Husqvarna guys on here, and I don't mean to start a political thread about which saw is better. But I'd say from a mechanic perspective, Stihl has 'em beat 9 times out of 10.
 
Sadly I have to agree with you. While I truly believe they are terrific saws they are positively miserable to work on. I own two Husqvarna’s that have not been used now in at least 10 years. They were great saws when they were running but far too time-consuming to deal with the repairs. In about a half hour you can just about have a Stihl brand saw completely in pieces. As with you I’m certainly not trying to start any fights. I believe they are terrific chainsaws but wow are they a challenge to service when compared to Stihl.


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It depends on the series. I can tear most any three series husky down quite a bit more quickly than an "oh" Stihl. What's with taking the rear handle apart just to take the throttle linkage out?? The new strato saws are a mess though. The extra plumbing for the primer bulbs doesn't help. I'm about to venture into my first 'puterized saw. Should be interesting.
 
Some of the old Stihl's are a PITA. The 024 for example comes to mind. The 031 is legendary in its persnicketty-ness. But this particular saw was just unbelievable. Customer description of the issue seemed to indicate lean running - such as an air leak - but the amount of carbon on the plug says otherwise. I can't pressure test it anyway, so...
 
Some of the old Stihl's are a PITA. The 024 for example comes to mind. The 031 is legendary in its persnicketty-ness. But this particular saw was just unbelievable. Customer description of the issue seemed to indicate lean running - such as an air leak - but the amount of carbon on the plug says otherwise. I can't pressure test it anyway, so...
@Duce talked about using duct tape on 562s. You could do that and plug into the exhaust end.
 
@Duce talked about using duct tape on 562s. You could do that and plug into the exhaust end.

That's a possibility. I was thinking of putting the rubber strip over the intake & bolt the carb on top of it. I've got the Echo style plug fitting for testing. The other thing is the exhaust bolts are fatter than most others so the Stihl fittings I have don't fit. :dumb2:
 
That's a possibility. I was thinking of putting the rubber strip over the intake & bolt the carb on top of it. I've got the Echo style plug fitting for testing. The other thing is the exhaust bolts are fatter than most others so the Stihl fittings I have don't fit. :dumb2:
Yup 6mm... If you end up needing any parts for that I recently inherited a few rancher carcasses.
 
I understand, I don't mess with them often. But I work on anything people bring and that I can get parts for. A lot of the Husqvarnas aren't that bad, this one just rubbed me the wrong way.
 
Try those awful home Depot ones the 141 or 142!!!

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That's a possibility. I was thinking of putting the rubber strip over the intake & bolt the carb on top of it. I've got the Echo style plug fitting for testing. The other thing is the exhaust bolts are fatter than most others so the Stihl fittings I have don't fit. :dumb2:
If you have tile tape, pretty easy to seal intakes. Place a piece over intake and slip intake boot over it, to hold in place. Place piece of tape or gasket material over exhaust port and re-install muffler. Do your vacuum check, do not know how it can get easier. Have not found any Husqvarna model that is all that hard to rebuild, 540 is time consuming. Just do not see the big difference in design and assembly. No Stihl dealers around me stock parts or know much about their products, all ACE hardware stores. To each his own, you run Stihl and I will stick with Husqvarna.
 
Husqvarna must have hired on a bunch of ex-automotive engineers. If you think working on a chainsaw in a heated shop at a comfortable workbench is difficult, don't even think about repairing cars/trucks - especially up here in rustland.

I do most all of my own automotive repairs. They're far and away a different animal. Chainsaws have small, fiddly parts - a certain dexterity is required for them. Cars are definitely more complex, yes, but I wouldn't categorize them as harder in a manual way to work on.
 
Do you have any tester equipment for them? Larger exhaust flanges or an intake flange that would fit it?
Just make gaskets and plates for saws you are working on. Hardware will have gasket material and stock lengths of steel bars to make plates. Hollow out a spark plug and seal a rubber hose into center, so you can draw vacuum off of internal impulse saws.
 
Try those awful home Depot ones the 141 or 142!!!

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I worked on a 130-something or two. Pretty similar to the smaller Poulans, really. Not too bad when a few are done. They sound great when they rev up, actually.

If you have tile tape, it

If you have tile tape, pretty easy to seal intakes. Place a piece over intake and slip intake boot over it, to hold in place. Place piece of tape or gasket material over exhaust port and re-install muffler. Do your vacuum check, do not know how it can get easier. Have not found any Husqvarna model that is all that hard to rebuild, 540 is time consuming. Just do not see the big difference in design and assembly. No Stihl dealers around me stock parts or know much about their products, all ACE hardware stores. To each his own, you run Stihl and I will stick with Husqvarna.

That's a good idea, I did use a piece of rubber over the exhaust w/ muffler installed, I just couldn't really get the intake to seal very well. Stihl has designs similar to that but I've got a flange to fit just about anything Stihl, and if I don't it's because it's really old *cough 011*
 

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