Inside the Husqvarna 543xp

[stihlaficionado]

Xenophobia…?

 

[SawTroll]

Wow you gotta be the most narrow minded person in the history of the earth. How much time have you honestly spent running a Japanese engineerd saw? I bet it's not 1/100th of the time I have. Not to mention the fact that I've spent an equal amount of time running Swedish saws. Can you say that? They are both great just different period.

I have never run a jap saw, and refuse to do so - but my brother is a machine engineer and a two cycle expert, and says "stay away" (even though Zenoah is the best Jap brand). Echo is the worst, no doubt about that.

 

[Chris-PA]

Swedish saws

Sorry, but Swedish cars were crap until they were bought by Ford and GM - some nice ideas but no idea how to design anything electrical to last and generally poor quality control. I remember looking under the hood of the top of the line Saab turbo and seeing exposed, unsealed, off-the-shelf limit switches and such - it was pathetic.

Back to chainsaws, when we get to the point of which country's plastic is higher quality (I would bet a good beer they're all using a couple of similar polymers), then we've past the point of rational conversation. Much of this seems to revolve around plastic. There seems to be an assumption that cast alloy parts are "higher quality" than plastic ones, but I don't agree with that in all cases and I suspect the Japanese designers don't either. The fact is that both materials have different advantages and disadvantages, both have failure modes. I have 20 year old Poulan cases that are perfectly fine - the material clearly works.

I have never run a jap saw, and refuse to do so

Why? It sounds as if it would be offensive to you.

 

[WSE]

I have never run a jap saw, and refuse to do so - but my brother is a machine engineer and a two cycle expert, and says "stay away" (even though Zenoah is the best Jap brand). Echo is the worst, no doubt about that.

Yeah and my brother is queen of England. Thanks for the confirmation that you have no credibility. Goodbye!

 

[SawTroll]

Now, yes. Back in the 70's-80's more.

Somehow they trained American workers to build a car that lasts…go figure

The ones sold in EU mostly are made in the UK. It is hard to imagine UK workers can make a quality product, but they obviously can, when they want to.

 

[SawTroll]

Sorry, but Swedish cars were crap until they were bought by Ford and GM - some nice ideas but no idea how to design anything electrical to last and generally poor quality control. I remember looking under the hood of the top of the line Saab turbo and seeing exposed, unsealed, off-the-shelf limit switches and such - it was pathetic.

.... .

Well, it was with Ford and GM it went south - but never let the truth obscure a good point!

 

[traktorz]

I still don't understand why the Husqvarna 543 XP (of Zenoah origin) seems so contorversal for some, in nearly all the threads it appears in. It therefore is refreshing now, to more and more read contributions from those who actually are working with the saw, and I think reading here some even reached 1000 hours of usage already!

I can agree the HVA 242XP was a unique model, having one of the best power/weight ratios. It therefore was a very popular model here in the Nordic, during the transition from the era with manual forest workers to the current mechanized with harvesters.

I can agree the power/performance gap from a 43cc saw up to a 50cc saw of today, can look somewhat to narrow in some cases. But if a lighter saw really is the top priority, then a 35cc to a 40cc saw might be a better alternative to look for. Today within the 50cc class, you certainly find the universal swiss army knife tool, covering the widest types of chainsaw needs, with the least compromises.


Husqvarna T540 XP:

Cylindervolym:    37.7 cm3
Effekt @ varvtal: 1.8 kW @ 10200 rpm
Bensintank:       0.34 l
Oljetank:         0.2 l
Vikt utan b/c:    3.7 kg
Vibrationer F/B:  3.1/3.2 m/s²
Kedjedelning:     3/8" Mini 1.3mm (H37)
Drivhjul/tänder:  spur/6
Pris inkl moms:   7200 kr

Husqvarna 339 XP:

Cylindervolym:    39 cm3
Effekt @ varvtal: 1.8 kW @  9600 rpm
Bensintank:       0.36 l
Oljetank:         0.16 l
Vikt utan b/c:    3.8 kg
Vibrationer F/B:  4.3/5.1 m/s²
Kedjedelning:     0.325" (H30)
Drivhjul/tänder:  rim/7
Pris inkl moms:   6700 kr

Stihl MS241 C-M/C-MQ/C-MVW:

Cylindervolym:    42.6 cm3
Effekt @ varvtal: 2.2 kW @  10000 rpm
Bensintank:       0.39 l
Oljetank:         0.25 l
Vikt utan b/c:    4.7 kg/4.8 kg/4.9 kg
Vibrationer F/B:  2.9/2.9 m/s²
Kedjedelning:     3/8" (63 PS3)
Drivhjul/tänder:  spur/7
Pris inkl moms:   6490 kr/6990 kr/7990 kr

Husqvarna 543 XP/XPG:

Cylindervolym:    43.1 cm3
Effekt @ varvtal: 2.2 kW @  9600 rpm
Bensintank:       0.42 l
Oljetank:         0.27 l
Vikt utan b/c:    4.5 kg/4.7 kg
Vibrationer F/B:  2.8/3.5 m/s²
Kedjedelning:     0.325" (H25, H30)
Drivhjul/tänder:  rim/7
Pris inkl moms:   6800 kr/7600 kr

Husqvarna 242 XP:

Cylindervolym:    42 cm3
Effekt @ varvtal: 2.4 kW @  9700 rpm
Bensintank:       0.52 l
Oljetank:         0.27 l
Vikt utan b/c:    4.7 kg
Vibrationer F/B:  3.6/5.4 m/s²
Kedjedelning:     0.325" (H25, H30)
Drivhjul/tänder:  rim/7

 

[ArcticOverland]

So, let me get this straight.

I have never run a jap saw, and refuse to do so - but my brother is a machine engineer and a two cycle expert, and says "stay away" (even though Zenoah is the best Jap brand). Echo is the worst, no doubt about that.

Are you for real? You might have a lot to share and maybe you're on the money with a lot of what you post, but you've zero experience with the 543, you're spouting total BS generalisations and all I'm reading now is total ignorance....

Swedish plastic is better than Japanese? I'm guessing your cousin is a seasoned plastic and composites engineer and holds open lectures on global production standards down at the local filling station coffee bar on summer evenings, right?

You not only haven't used the 543 but you say you refuse to run a Japanese saw.... Why don't you pipe down because the internet doesn't need someone else presenting their undeveloped opinion as fact.

You say "It is what it is". I say you have no idea what you're writing about. And that certainly is what it is.

 

[KenJax Tree]

I have zero experience with Jap made saws. When i was looking for a smaller saw i looked at the 543xp and the Redmax 4500 and my first impression was they felt and looked cheap. I ended up going with the Dolmar 421, yeah its heavier than the others but its built like a tank. That was just based on my first impression without any experience with those saws.

 

[STIHLTHEDEERE]

I fondled a 543xp today. the only plastic that looked odd on it was the clutch cover. i would not say it was bad quality, just different is all. looks like a pretty nice little saw, but just like the ms241, about 100.00 overprice for me. it is the same price as a 545, and i would much rather have the 545 for 5 bills. as for TROLL and jap saws, well i may get flamed, but the japs' got things figured out from a quality stand point if nothing else. small engines, cars, trucks , motorcycles, atvs, their quality/reliability record more than stands on its own merit. jap saws may not win any races, but they will start and run reliably for a lifetime. everyone here knows that TROLL is a pretty good guy, but posts ALOT of unfactual hearsay, and is on the internet way too much to ever run any chainsaw much. not picking on him, just stating a fact. i love any and all stihl products, but my latest purchase, 2253/2260, have definately opened my eyes to the fact that there are lots of good saws out there in many different colors!!

 

[M&Rtree]

$425.00 down here.

 

[STIHLTHEDEERE]

sorry , to clarify........545 and 543 had a 500 ish list price on the tag.

 

[M&Rtree]

Doesn't matter still over priced at $425.

 

[STIHLTHEDEERE]

dealer net on a 241c is 462.00

 

[M&Rtree]

I'm going to pull the cylinder off mine and do a couple mods next week hopefully.

 

[Tor R]

sorry , to clarify........545 and 543 had a 500 ish list price on the tag.

same price on 545 and 543?
Where I live the 543 is more expensive them the 545, close to 100$ more for it

 

[Tor R]

I understand the points to sawtroll, when you see what Husky have developing since the 80's, for fans like him it had to hurt when Husky placed the XP label on a zenoah machine.
If Porsche should bought Kia for some reasons I am pretty sure people of Germany would be in shock if they saw a Kia Carrera!!

 

[Tor R]

I'm going to pull the cylinder off mine and do a couple mods next week hopefully.

for curriousity, is the cylinder Mahle?

 

[SawTroll]

....
Swedish plastic is better than Japanese? .....

In this case (Zenoah vs. Swedish Husky), it is - and some parts that are metal on Swedish xp saws are plastic on the Zenoah made ones (most notably the clutch cover).
A lot good can be said about the Japanese and their products in many areas, but chainsaws for a large part isn't among them.

Generally there is a lack of neat design and "taste" with Japanese products. As an exemple; Neat Japanese cars are designed by non-Japanese designers, in every case I have heard of....

 

[SawTroll]

I understand the points to sawtroll, when you see what Husky have developing since the 80's, for fans like him it had to hurt when Husky placed the XP label on a zenoah machine.
If Porsche should bought Kia for some reasons I am pretty sure people of Germany would be in shock if they saw a Kia Carrera!!

If I am a Husky fan, it is "temporary", based on the Products and Developments the last decade or so. I basically am (was) pretty much neutral, between the Swedish and German brands (Husky, Jonsered, Stihl, Dolmar) up to 2007 or so - but admittedly it doesn't look that way at the moment.