My first pro saw. 550 xp

[The Muskrat Man]

Hello, this is my first post. I have been visiting the site for the last couple years. It was then that I bought my first pro saw, a 550 xp, after reading about them extensively on the forum. I live on a roughly hundred acre property in West Virginia and use the saw for cutting firewood, brush, fence posts, and occasionally a few logs for the mill. Though it quickly developed an air leak an died, the dealer replaced it and I've had trouble free performance ever since. Its power really impressed me for its size and weight.

I've been thinking about making a few changes to it. First I plan to do the muffler mod I've read about here. I plan to use a carbide burr on a dremel tool. My only reservation is removing and reinstalling the muffler. What should I torque the bolts to? and do I need to replace a gasket when I do?

Secondly, I was thinking about changing the sprocket, bar, and chain. Going to 3/8" pitch chain on a 16" bar. I've gathered that it is a popular setup on here. By doing this I'm hoping to get more time between sharpening and keep the saw in the powerband more easily. With the .325 chisel on a 7 pin sprocket the saw seems prone to over revving, particularly if the chain is the least bit dull. My main question is about bar selection. I was thinking about the oregon power match (160RNDK095) or something along those lines. It seams to have a larger radius nose, would this make for faster boring cuts? Is it a good choice? any other suggestions?

I'd like to thank you all for the great information I've gotten off the site and in advance for the responses to this post. Sorry I've rambled on and asked so many questions.

 

[rich450es]

for torking the muffler bolts i use a T handle with some blue loctite on the screws and get then tite (cant overtork with the T handle ) and yes you can reuse the gaskets if they arnt damaged .....
BTW welcome and enjoy the saw

 

[SAWMIKAZE]

I didnt really read all that but you did good on a 550..awesome saw !

 

[CR888]

Just bare in mind when swithching to 3/8 standard chain that it will be rougher and not near as smooth as the .325. l did it on my ported MS261 and it works fine but after extensively comparing the two pitches l conclude that .325 is far more suited to the job. l even went back to .325 after buying rolls of chain l understand that you want to experiment so do by all means but l think in six months you will have 325 chain again. The cutters are basically the same size in each pitch but a lot more of them in 325 so you should not have a problem loading up the saw and if you do adjust your filing accordingly. Good luck and glad you like the 550xp.....l like their throttle response!

 

[SawTroll]

Hopefully you don't have a narrow kerf bar and chain on that saw - if so, change to regular .325, and use LPX chain (BPX or RM if you want semi-chisel).

Try a .325x8 rim instead of jumping to 3/8", .325 is nicer to use on the smaller saws. The "gearing" will be slightly larger with .325x8 than with 3/8"x7.

 

[longbowch]

If you do switch to 3/8, try oregon lpx chain. It is the smoothest!

 

[stihlaficionado]

Welcome to AS

 

[mr.bear]

Welcome and nice choice


Sent from my iPone using Tapatalk

 

[Teddi]

I love my 550. I've had it a little over a year. I bit the bullet and got 16 and 18" Sugi bars from Randy and Henry (Weedeaterman) and a bunch of 20LPX chains from LCS. I also did a muffler mod and torqued per rich above and threw on a 562 dog for better bucking. The 562 dog does have to be modified to fit.

 

[The Muskrat Man]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I now feel more confident doing the muffler mod, and it looks like I should stick with the .325 (20LPX).

 

[SawTroll]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I now feel more confident doing the muffler mod, and it looks like I should stick with the .325 (20LPX).

Be aware that you can't run regular .325 chain on an NK bar on those saws (aren't meant to work together anyway, but does on some saws). If the bar is NK, you need another bar as well as the chain.

 

[Termite]

I love my 550. I've had it a little over a year. I bit the bullet and got 16 and 18" Sugi bars from Randy and Henry (Weedeaterman) and a bunch of 20LPX chains from LCS. I also did a muffler mod and torqued per rich above and threw on a 562 dog for better bucking. The 562 dog does have to be modified to fit.

I did the same thing. The bolt hole have to be enlarged. It is hard metal so I started with a carbide burr but it vibrated badly. Then I tried a chainsaw file and it was slick and easy.

I have a 24 inch small mount bar with .325 sprocket I am going to try on my 2260. I may not like it but I am going to try it.

 

[The Muskrat Man]

Be aware that you can't run regular .325 chain on an NK bar on those saws (aren't meant to work together anyway, but does on some saws). If the bar is NK, you need another bar as well as the chain.

The saw came with H23 chain from the dealer, I believe this is the same as the 20LPX. However, I just looked and I do have the Pixel bar (508 92 61-72). It has given me some problems, until now I had just attributed them to damage from pinching it badly on a couple occasions.

What bar should I get to replace it? I'd been wanting to do that anyway. Would it be worthwhile to get a bar from a different manufacturer?

 

[SawTroll]

The saw came with H23 chain from the dealer, I believe this is the same as the 20LPX. However, I just looked and I do have the Pixel bar (508 92 61-72). It has given me some problems, until now I had just attributed them to damage from pinching it badly on a couple occasions.

What bar should I get to replace it? I'd been wanting to do that anyway. Would it be worthwhile to get a bar from a different manufacturer?

H23 is 20LPX, and the setup you got would have worked fine on the 346xp etc, but as you now know, not on the 550xp (and many other saws).

For the H23/20LPX, you can use any .325 .050 bar that isn't a NK bar, as long as the dl count adds up.

 

[The Muskrat Man]

I performed the muffler mod yesterday without any problems. Drilled a hole to start then used burr on dremel to open it up. Didn't even need to disturb the deflector, and I put the spark arrestor back in. It's doesn't seem all that much louder, but does sound a whole lot better to my ears. Not sure about power gain, need to cut more.

 

[The Muskrat Man]

H23 is 20LPX, and the setup you got would have worked fine on the 346xp etc, but as you now know, not on the 550xp (and many other saws).

For the H23/20LPX, you can use any .325 .050 bar that isn't a NK bar, as long as the dl count adds up.

Looking at the Husqvarna catalog, I do not see any .325 .050 bar that isn't NK. Am I missing something?

 

[redoakneck]

So the pixel bar is narrow kerf???

 

[SawTroll]

Looking at the Husqvarna catalog, I do not see any .325 .050 bar that isn't NK. Am I missing something?

No, your observations are right - Husky isn't offering them, as they want people to go with .058 (I agree) - but others do.

 

[SawTroll]

So the pixel bar is narrow kerf???

Yes, same thing.

 

[Teddi]

I am not a fan of the pixel laminated Norwegian bars that come standard on 550s. They are light and may serve certain light duty functions, but I'm not impressed. You could go with .058 gauge and get an Oregon Power Match bar 18" (for some reason they don't make an 18" Power Match in .050 gauge). If you want to stay with .050 gauge chains, I honestly think it's worth it to get a SugiHara bar. They really are worth the money - their reputation is on par with Cannon, and they are the best in the world.