What chainsaw is best for my needs? Husqvarna preferably

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Im just a saying it doesnt take a big saw to make wood.
No debate here. OP was looking for something between 40 and 85cc to cut 20"ish wood. Granted, some ****** 40s but armed with that info I'm taking a 60cc all day unless I have a 70 that needs some time on it. My 50s mostly wear 16" bars. Who wants to cut from both sides unless they have to?
 
As much as I like my 353, I don't like having to move arround for 1 cut.
Go for a 60cc saw, if you need an 20" bar.
The 555 is a very nice choice.
The only reason to buy second hand, is having no money.
Take care for your saw, and it will last a lifetime if you need.
 
As much as I like my 353, I don't like having to move arround for 1 cut.
Go for a 60cc saw, if you need an 20" bar.
The 555 is a very nice choice.
The only reason to buy second hand, is having no money.
Take care for your saw, and it will last a lifetime if you need.


Another reason to buy a used saw is to get an out of production model

If Husqvarna reintroduced the 346XP, as it was, without any changes, how many do you think they would sell??

That saw has an almost cult like following, and is still a very sought after saw

Dayum, I would love to have one (or two ;) ) myself


Doug :cheers:
 
That's the exception to the rule. [emoji28]
But that's why they made the 550xp mk1 (and failed on dependability).
And with the mk2 they repaired the mk1 but forgot their end goal.
 
At the moment I feel my decision is between the following saws: 346xp, 353, 357xp and 359.
They sound like the most suited to what I want.
I have a fair amount of hours with 346's and had a Jonsered 2159 ( 359's twin) about a year. 20in wood the 346 will work but i would want to be using a bigger saw to make better use of my time. 2159 or 359 is better on power but to me feel and handle closer to some 70cc saws. 562xp handles nice with better power stock. I have only made couple or so cuts with a 262xp but they feel to have a very good power to weight ratio so from what you been saying 1 of those 2 in Husky if it were 60cc or a 365 or 372 would be something to consider.
My 1st choice would be an 044-ms440 stihl to go under a 385xp, if it had to be Husky a 562xp.
 
As much as I like my 353, I don't like having to move arround for 1 cut.
Go for a 60cc saw, if you need an 20" bar.
The 555 is a very nice choice.
The only reason to buy second hand, is having no money.
Take care for your saw, and it will last a lifetime if you need.
Or someone with too much money wasn’t able to man up to the saw he bought,
and is selling it.
I bought lots of new saws, because good used ones don’t come up.

My best Two bicycles are second hand, sold after being kept nice and warm
in the owners homes, as they bit off more than they could chew.

I buy new for the young ones, as they have a chip on their shoulder with all
the crap in the media, they can also get acces to parts and repairs when am
not with them, as they tour around the country, but even then, the novelty
soon wears off having new shiny carbon.
 
For my money, up to 20" is perfect 359-2159-262 territory.
Not sure how common the '59's are to find in Jolly old England, but it might be hard to get one delivered to your door at the moment anyhow- so you have time to look.
They are a very easy platform to work on, just watch the age and check to see if the intake manifold attaches to the cylinder with a plastic clip (not good) or metal one (good).
Parts are easily available and Meteor make good cylinder/piston kits.
For me, the 372 would be great- but you have access to the 385 and I feel there is not a big enough gap between the two to justify having both until you become a compulsive hoarder of old saws like the rest of us here!

Yeah I've heard good things about 262's, not seen many about here though. I'll keep my eye out for a 359, it sounds like a pretty good choice.

Thanks man, stay safe
 
I have had the 357’s in the past they’re a good little saw my only complaint with was no full wrap and the small mount studs vs the 562’s they have of those boxes checked. What length of bar are you running on the 385?


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What do you mean by no full wrap and small mount studs? Not familiar with this lol.

Right now the 385 has a 18" bar on. We do have a bigger bar for it somewhere, think it's about 28" or something, but I've had no use for a bar that big at the moment.
 
I have a fair amount of hours with 346's and had a Jonsered 2159 ( 359's twin) about a year. 20in wood the 346 will work but i would want to be using a bigger saw to make better use of my time. 2159 or 359 is better on power but to me feel and handle closer to some 70cc saws. 562xp handles nice with better power stock. I have only made couple or so cuts with a 262xp but they feel to have a very good power to weight ratio so from what you been saying 1 of those 2 in Husky if it were 60cc or a 365 or 372 would be something to consider.
My 1st choice would be an 044-ms440 stihl to go under a 385xp, if it had to be Husky a 562xp.

There's so much choice lol.. thanks for the info man, really helpful :)
 
Agree, he should just suck it up and buy a new 562xp and be happy. The extra pain at purchase will go away when he drops his first tree with it.

First of all, I can't afford a new saw at nearly £700.
The second reason I want pre owned is so I can get something simple I can work on myself.
Thanks for your input though.
 
What do you mean by no full wrap and small mount studs? Not familiar with this lol.

Right now the 385 has a 18" bar on. We do have a bigger bar for it somewhere, think it's about 28" or something, but I've had no use for a bar that big at the moment.

The 357 used the smaller bar mount then your 385 so bars can’t be passed back and forth this also follows for a 555, well a 562 uses the large stud pattern like your 385. Myself I’d be looking at the 562 for those reasons. Heres my 562 and how it’s been used running a 32 in hardwoods as well as softwooods in the PNW.
282d186d9b0e4e691c143164bc16cadb.jpg



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First of all, I can't afford a new saw at nearly £700.
The second reason I want pre owned is so I can get something simple I can work on myself.
Thanks for your input though.
[/QUO

Then don't overanalyze things. A LOT of men around here heat their homes every year with old beat up 55's and 61's. Same can be said for the 55-60cc farm boss Stihl's. Granted, none of these are fancy collectors items like the 3-series XP's, but they're cheap, plentiful and durable.
 
The 357 used the smaller bar mount then your 385 so bars can’t be passed back and forth this also follows for a 555, well a 562 uses the large stud pattern like your 385.


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I believe the 2159/359 was the cutoff point for the small mount, bigger than that got the large stud Husqvarna mount, so yes- bar compatibility with the 385 is a no go- but there are also a lot of saw users out there that never interchange bars between saws and indeed only own one bar per saw, replacing it with a same when it wears out.
I would have to go dig out the user manual, but I am pretty sure the factory recommended max length bar for the 357/359 is 24"- but I have trouble finding any 0.058 3/8 bar over 20"here that is small mount. The 20"sits well on the 59 chassis though.
 
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