I don't have a picture of it so I can't post it in the Reviews section, sorry
Well I finally purchased my first AutoTune saw. I would be pretty interested to hear if my experiences match yours.
I have been running a 346XP for about four years, generally 2+ months solid per year (40+ hour weeks, thinning, not stopping to deal with firewood). It has been getting hard to keep running, which mystifies me because there is plenty of compression left in it. But saw shops these days seem bogged down in an avalanche of Ethanol problems...another thread another day.
My first thought was the 550XP sure purrs like a kitten when idling.
Cutting was nice, seems well balanced. I like the black line of the sight, I hope that stays black for a while.
Unfortunately for saws I pick up, I have to cut both live and dead wood of all diameters (USFS "Site Prep" contracts = post-harvest maintenance cutting). I'm used to how small diameters stretch chain and I run brush saws when there is too much small stuff to cut.
When I bought the saw I was tricked into running some Warren bar oil, re-branded as "Itasca". I have always seen bad results around that bar oil and I am not a fan. But there was nothing else on the shelf that day and I had a job to complete and then invoice ASAP.
So the 550 threw the chain on the second tank. And it burred up the chain too much to keep cutting. (I hear that is common but I've never had that problem.) Naturally, this was on a 15 minute walk-in job that needed only 2 tanks to finish. I blamed the bar oil some. (A friend bought one a few weeks later and threw the chain on his 4th tank running Husqy bar oil).
I went back and brought out my trusty 346 and my first thought was - dang - this saw is Loud! So the 550 seems quieter or maybe my 346's muffler ain't what it used to be. Chainsaws will never be quiet instruments, but if a new one is quieter I am all in favor of that.
Everything seems fine with the saw and I am always amazed by the folks who run lots of saws but say that someone will have to pry their old regular carb saw from their cold, dead fingers - they won't touch an AutoTune yet and swear they never will. I even know a dealer where I live who won't even sell them.
My one major complaint is the new clutch cover. The tensioning pin is now on the cover rather than the body of the saw. I don't see the point of this re-design. It makes it harder to set the tension the way you want. And if you forget to back off the tension before you try and take the clutch cover off, it will be stuck and you will be frustrated until you put the cover back on and back off the tension. It feels like something re-designed just so the design shop had something to do and I would really prefer to use the clutch cover off the 346, which worked absolutely perfectly.
The non-detachable nuts on the clutch cover, well, I have only lost those once in my life ever when they rolled into a crack in a stump (deeper than any pliers I had) when my back-up saw was down. I guess they don't hurt anything to have but they do have a feel like they will round off sooner rather than later. Not sure I really need those either.
I understand some 2015 models of the 550 had some problems. I don't think I have one of those and I think I will be buying another one soon. I have probably at least 100 hours on my new saw so far and like everything about it except that new tensioning pin.
Well I finally purchased my first AutoTune saw. I would be pretty interested to hear if my experiences match yours.
I have been running a 346XP for about four years, generally 2+ months solid per year (40+ hour weeks, thinning, not stopping to deal with firewood). It has been getting hard to keep running, which mystifies me because there is plenty of compression left in it. But saw shops these days seem bogged down in an avalanche of Ethanol problems...another thread another day.
My first thought was the 550XP sure purrs like a kitten when idling.
Cutting was nice, seems well balanced. I like the black line of the sight, I hope that stays black for a while.
Unfortunately for saws I pick up, I have to cut both live and dead wood of all diameters (USFS "Site Prep" contracts = post-harvest maintenance cutting). I'm used to how small diameters stretch chain and I run brush saws when there is too much small stuff to cut.
When I bought the saw I was tricked into running some Warren bar oil, re-branded as "Itasca". I have always seen bad results around that bar oil and I am not a fan. But there was nothing else on the shelf that day and I had a job to complete and then invoice ASAP.
So the 550 threw the chain on the second tank. And it burred up the chain too much to keep cutting. (I hear that is common but I've never had that problem.) Naturally, this was on a 15 minute walk-in job that needed only 2 tanks to finish. I blamed the bar oil some. (A friend bought one a few weeks later and threw the chain on his 4th tank running Husqy bar oil).
I went back and brought out my trusty 346 and my first thought was - dang - this saw is Loud! So the 550 seems quieter or maybe my 346's muffler ain't what it used to be. Chainsaws will never be quiet instruments, but if a new one is quieter I am all in favor of that.
Everything seems fine with the saw and I am always amazed by the folks who run lots of saws but say that someone will have to pry their old regular carb saw from their cold, dead fingers - they won't touch an AutoTune yet and swear they never will. I even know a dealer where I live who won't even sell them.
My one major complaint is the new clutch cover. The tensioning pin is now on the cover rather than the body of the saw. I don't see the point of this re-design. It makes it harder to set the tension the way you want. And if you forget to back off the tension before you try and take the clutch cover off, it will be stuck and you will be frustrated until you put the cover back on and back off the tension. It feels like something re-designed just so the design shop had something to do and I would really prefer to use the clutch cover off the 346, which worked absolutely perfectly.
The non-detachable nuts on the clutch cover, well, I have only lost those once in my life ever when they rolled into a crack in a stump (deeper than any pliers I had) when my back-up saw was down. I guess they don't hurt anything to have but they do have a feel like they will round off sooner rather than later. Not sure I really need those either.
I understand some 2015 models of the 550 had some problems. I don't think I have one of those and I think I will be buying another one soon. I have probably at least 100 hours on my new saw so far and like everything about it except that new tensioning pin.
