550xp mkII first impressions.

[MaddBomber]

I like it.
My father is a swedish saw fan and after Jonsered essentially died in North America, he went with Husqvarna, despite the absolute disappearance of any dealer support.
Being a 75yo retired faller and cordwood seller he chose the 550xp.
It sat in his locker for months, having never even tasted a drop of fuel. Well, he had a mild stroke and, thankfully, is doing fine.
I ended up inheriting the little orange saw.
I used to own an MS261 gen 2 until it was stolen, I was very curious about the 50cc husky pro saw.
Again, I like it. It feels great, runs smooth, and after a half dozen tanks, it woke up nicely. Granted, it doesn't have the power of the 261c, but feels much more nimble.
I'm fairly disappointed with the 550's power to weight, but not nearly as much as I was with the bloated 261.
I won't look at stats, as "feel" is everything for me. Hence my issue with the 572. But this really shines for current generation 50cc saws.
I really want to woods port it, and once I finish it's 7th tank of fuel mix, I plan on putting a degree wheel on it.
But, good job Husqvarna. It's no 346, but it's much more of what a 50cc saw should be than what Stihl has.

 

[Huskybill]

Good review, tell dad to get well.My older huskys never needed break intime, my last two new huskys I thought we’re dogs at first. At cutting ten cords each the woke up. The newer saws today have tighter Tollarences. I watch my boys cut now.

 

[MaddBomber]

Okay, I need to update this.
The 550xp will not idle for very long.
She's had 7 full tanks and just feels off. Like the low jet is too rich and the high jet is way too lean. She loads up when idling and will die after a very short time. When restarted, she blows a plume of smoke.
I was very careful in breaking her in, doing ten warming cycles and cutting only small (under 6") wood for her first 4 tanks.
Now she's ridiculously lean on top and very fat down low. The bogging delay is blatantly obvious.
Is it the auto-tune that sucks? I've had 4 M-Tronic saws without a single issue. Same gas, same mix oil, but the thing seems to have $h!t the bed on me.

 

[Huskybill]

The airfilter is clean?
Check the spark arrestor?

 

[MaddBomber]

Yes and yes.
I actually had the muffler off to look at the piston. And during that time I pulled the spark arrestor to examine the baffles and the best way to eliminate them.
Air filter looks brand new, with very little chips. Plus the saw come with an extra.
If 8 tanks plugs either of those, then there's a bigger problem than I thought.

 

[Husky77]

Okay, I need to update this.
The 550xp will not idle for very long.
She's had 7 full tanks and just feels off. Like the low jet is too rich and the high jet is way too lean. She loads up when idling and will die after a very short time. When restarted, she blows a plume of smoke.
I was very careful in breaking her in, doing ten warming cycles and cutting only small (under 6") wood for her first 4 tanks.
Now she's ridiculously lean on top and very fat down low. The bogging delay is blatantly obvious.
Is it the auto-tune that sucks? I've had 4 M-Tronic saws without a single issue. Same gas, same mix oil, but the thing seems to have $h!t the bed on me.

I'm sure there is a video on youtube by afterfleet command showing how you can reset the auto tune. Hope you get it sorted