357XPG Worth rebuilding?

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Ykmajik

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I more or less got a burnt up Husky 357XPG given to me. I've normally been a Stihl guy but do like the Husky 266 I have. I know this saw has seen a hard life. I was used semi professionally for a spruce firewood operation. My buddy bought it off the firewood guy and was using it as his main saw/cabin saw. It burnt up probably from temp change and poor cleaning. the plastic intake boot clamp doesn't look like it helped anything either.

I have been looking at getting a new saw for a while now, mostly to have heated handlebars and maybe loose a pound off the 266. Are the 357s worth the rebuild?20181009_003038[1].jpg 20181009_003125[1].jpg
 
I hope it is. Check my thread a few days ago about the one I'm refurbing.

Trying to decide what piston to use now. I know the easy choice is meteor, but I may try a cheap one to save a couple bucks. Anyone ever used a popup in one of these?
 
In the older 2-series, Husky had the legendary 262XP that was a good strong 60cc saw. It was a little 'raw' feeling in power, and the AV was only pretty good (spring, but still you felt the vibs), but it could do it all, fell, limb, buck... The 266SE had even more displacement, but the chassis was bigger, bulkier, heavier, and the piston heavier so it revved a little slower, it never developed the following the 262XP had.
Then the 3 series came along and the anti vib got better. However, the 60cc saw dropped in displacement from 62cc to 57cc, so it didn't feel as strong. Some people poo-pooed it and continued to love the old 262XP, bemoaning the EPA getting involved in pushing regulations to choke down the saw. There was a homeowner saw very similar to the 357XP called the 359, basically all the same except Husky made the piston/cylinder in house instead of contracting them out. That saw had a few CC extra, but it's a tangent story...
Then the 562XP came out, and that saw had even better anti-vib and even more power than the 262XP. In some cases, people say it cuts like a 372XP. And with strato technology it sent less pollution out into your working area and was more efficient on a tank of gas, plus it is auto-tune so you don't have to worry about messing with carb adjustments.

The only people who would say NOT to rebuild the 357xp are those who have tried the newer 562XP and see it as the replacement for the 262XP that the 357XP should have been, or old-timers who are still in love with the original 60cc screamer 262XP and have always been disappointed in the power of the 357XP. But the 357XP can be a great all-around saw, especially if just for firewood duty, it makes a great 1-saw plan. Plus, without auto-tune, its simple to work on and fix. Add heated handles to it and you have an even better saw. Once you have heated handles, you tend to want all your saws to have them. :)

Husky recently had a major price drop on all their piston/cylinder kits. So you can get the parts for that for a buck and change. If you can do the work yourself, you have a fine saw with little invested.
 
I hope it is. Check my thread a few days ago about the one I'm refurbing.

Trying to decide what piston to use now. I know the easy choice is meteor, but I may try a cheap one to save a couple bucks. Anyone ever used a popup in one of these?
It IS worth it & worth the small investment of a Meteor piston. Don't go cheap!
 
The only people who would say NOT to rebuild the 357xp are those who have tried the newer 562XP and see it as the replacement for the 262XP that the 357XP should have been, or old-timers who are still in love with the original 60cc screamer 262XP and have always been disappointed in the power of the 357XP.
Good overview Derf, but I will disagree with this part. I own a 562 and love it! But I also own three 357s' and like them better than a 262 or 562. With a couple minor tweaks the 357 is an animal for it's size. :)
 
I finally got around to looking at the saw better and dug out the parts saw that came with it. Turns out the parts saw had a great looking piston and cylinder on in so for the time being I am making one saw out of 2. got a few new parts ordered for if, a decomp valve, new ring, crank seals, and some broken plastic bits. Getting it all cleaned up and should have it back together if parts ever show up.

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The first time I saw a 357 I thought that it was the best looking saw I’d ever laid eyes on. Sadly, they had issues and were burning up all over the place.

Then the 562 came out some years later and with the grey and orange and everything smooth and powerful they were blowing up all over the place too.

Many turned to Stihl. The diehards stayed with Husky in spite of.

That’s what happened in these parts

(The rest of the story)

I don’t get excited about any new releases. Almost every one for the last 15 years by both companies have been failures, to a certain extent.
 
My buddy cuts fire for a living with a 359 which is a step behind the 357, its been trouble free for years and his one saw plan, its from the last year they made them, he bought the last 2 new ones around before they were replaced by the 562. If I got a cheap/free 357 I'd rebuild it asap and sell my other saws, they're great saws.
I too never like to buy the first run of a new model anything, its best to wait a year or two to see if they're having issues.
 
Or even more than two.

How can they so-called test some of this stuff and release it to market with blatant flaws/issues?

Their testing methods must suck pretty bad.

How hard can that be? Really? I say not very.

And I would like a 357 too.
 
I recall several updates to the 357. Beefed up crankcase at the lower front shock mount (this was a major repair), replacement of plastic boot clamp with a metal one, discarded the auto decomp with a standard push button, and different carburetor due to idle issues. Mine is new enough to have the later crankcase, I updated the decomp and clamp. My carb has never given my trouble. A great saw for sure.

Chris B.
 
My 2 go-to's are the 254xp and 357xp. If I had a 5th child I'd name him/her 357xp.
 

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It' been a long cold winter and I haven't wanted to put much work into saws. Made a push a few weeks ago and finished up the the 357XPG. I was running low on firewood and wanted to see what all the fuss is about heated handle bars. It is a lovely saw and the warm handle bars are awesome when cutting in the cold and wet.

The saw is a little temperamental though. When it starts getting low on gas is leans out and dies. Always starts back up in a pull or two. Seems like the tank vent is clogged but I'll check the fuel line and filter as well.

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If you did not replace the fuel line and filter as part of the rebuild, do it now. It's less than $15 in parts at the dealer. If you have an HDA-199 carb it could contribute to the poor running. A genuine K24-HDA rebuild kit would be an upgrade.
 
If you did not replace the fuel line and filter as part of the rebuild, do it now. It's less than $15 in parts at the dealer. If you have an HDA-199 carb it could contribute to the poor running. A genuine K24-HDA rebuild kit would be an upgrade.

It does have a new filter and line. I did use hose that was approximately the same size for the vent line. I may change that to oem. I'll have to pull the carb and check the model. never did look when I cleaned it. It lost it's limiter caps though.
 
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