550XP Sprocket opinion's

[SierraWoodsman]

I reciently got me a new 550xp. It came stock with an 18" Oregon Pro-lite small mount bar .050" w/.325" 7-pin sprocket.
I really liked the performance right out of the box. It definantly had more snot than the 346xp-OE even on the first tank.
I went through some rounds with the included/box stock LPX chain and was impressed. Then I sharpened the Chain square on the RSII and lowered the rakers a bit to .028"-.030"
and she still cut "butter-smooth" & with even faster times. I was surprised when she held in the powerband just fine with the bar fully buried.

I went ahead and did the "sleeper" Muf-mod that was posted on here and she perked up quite a bit more...mabye 20% or so. Was well worth doing the MM on this saw (thanks guy's good thread).

Although it's hard to imagine being much happier with the current setup, I wanted to get some opinion's of some of you guys that may have experimented with the 8-pin .325"
I might just give it a try as rims are cheap, and seems like she just might have the torque to pull the 8 pin with higher chain-speed without bogging.
Appreciate the feedback guys.

Here's a Pic:View attachment 287467

 

[w8ye]

My old Dolmar 111i came from the factory with a .325 X 8 pin rim

It pulls it just fine.

I run a a 7 pin X 3/8" rim on my 346 and 545 and to put a 3/8 X 7 rim alongside a .325 X 8 rim they are mighty close to the same size.

 

[hamish]

My old 257 used to pull an 8 pin loaded without an issue, the 550 should have no problem.

 

[HuskStihl]

It will, but the 550 is a revving saw, not a torquing saw. I'd love to have one, and I'd use it for limbing and small firewood with the 7pin sprocket and a 16" bar

 

[Jacob J.]

I'm running a 7-tooth 3/8ths set-up on my 545 with a 15" bar and 72LG. Mine isn't stock though, it was worked over by the Iowa Mafia and it's fast.

 

[SawTroll]

.325x8 was much more common on 50cc saws earlier, when saws operated at lower rpm.

That does of course not mean that you shouldn't try it on the 550xp - I actually use it on the 346xp, since a lot of my cutting is limbing.