Scored a Husky 55 on Craigslist this evening

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Valkyrie Rider

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Dec 7, 2007
Messages
356
Reaction score
69
Location
North West, CT
Was alerted to an ad on local craigslist early this morning and sent a message to the seller at 6am.

Picked this up after work today for $75! :rock: Guy gave me the file/guide, almost full gallon of bar oil, manual, and scrench too.

Older gentleman selling it since he is retiring to Florida. He bought it new and just used it around the house. Saw started right up and runs perfectly.

standard.jpg


standard.jpg


standard.jpg


standard.jpg
 
That is a deal and a half man.......... Great score.

It is very possible that you have the rarer closed port model, just going by outward indicators. If the saw was built between 98-01 I would say it is highly likely to almost positive. Remove the top cover and look at the cylinder fins around the air injection pipe. If the bottom three fins are cut away, and all others are solid, it is a confirmed closed port. If it only has the top three fins and all others are cut away then you have the 53cc open port.
 
you are gonna love that saw....bought one for 25.00 with a burnt up piston. needles to say put about 120.00 into it seals bearings ect. very slight muffler mod and was real impressed with it. Fist husky, first air injection love the sound and great filter life is a easy saw to work on too. Just keep the muffler bolts tight.

sap can
 
Branded as "Air Injection" and no mention of Rancher, also has the decomp valve that did not appear until the later models.


True I've never seen or heard of a cp Rancher but AFAIK the majority of "Air Injection" labeled non-Rancher's where also op.
The "Air Injection" ones here came with .325 chain and had decomp, the Ranchers had no decomp and 3/8 chain.

I bought a new one around '97-'98 and had a choice to get either one, the Rancher had just come out at the time. I ended up with the "Air Injection" as I was dubious about the ability of the saw the pull 3/8 adequately, thought it might be a marketing ploy only. Also heard a vague rumor that the Rancher was de-tuned somehow, maybe that was based on the op versus cp thing.
Still have that saw and its op...

Just out of curiosity, whenever I see one for sale I check if it's op/cp, even if it's more than I'd pay for either, rarely find cp.
The only way I know of to tell the difference is the cc designation on either of the top labels (that may be on one or the other or not at all, there must be a half dozen different labels/combinations) or the few various features on the cylinder itself which usually aren't visible from typical photo angles.


Bill
 
I'll check into the OP vs CP thing after work today. Didnt do anything with the saw last night. Will clean it up some this weekend.
 
Nice score. Very well could be the closed port P/C model. I have two of them here. There is a different casting number on the base of the jug, but I'd have to go out and look at one of mine to know what it is. Someone reading this may know off the top of their head.

The closed port models are much stronger than the open port, I've owned several open port models, they were all Ranchers with 3/8" chain set-ups, not .325". I did own one pre-Rancher model that was open port, so not exactly sure where the cut-off was between open and close P/C's? Many of the later open port models will not have a compression release either.

Both of my closed port models have the compression release, and they need it. Last time I checked one of them, they were over 150psi cranking pressure cold. The only saw I have that's higher is my 181SE at over 180psi.

The closed port models will have a "raspy" idle, super quick throttle response, and somewhat narrower power curve than the open port. The open port rev well, pull down a bit more in the cut, with a broad/smooth power curve. My closed port 55's are my "go to" saws these days, as we cut a lot of tops left over from logging operations. I've put a LOT of hours on each one of them, and they run flawlessly with zero issues anyplace.......Cliff
 
Here are some pictures for everyone

Open port (45mm Husqvarna 51)
attachment.php

attachment.php


Closed port ( this is a 44mm jonsered 490)
attachment.php

attachment.php


Just from the outside the best ways to tell a op from a cp is by the fins around the air injection pipe and the numbers stamped on the cylinder lip. All the CP cylinders are stamped 44zn15 no matter what bore size they actually were. The decomp was only used on the 45mm 55epa so there are cp 44/45mm bores from the Jonsered 490/590 without a decomp. There was also a 46mm CP on the Poulan 325 that is compatiable, though I do not know much about them. The closed port is on the left.
attachment.php
 
Last edited:
I have one of the Last Years of the 55 Rancher, It is a nice saw but it seems to rev a touch a slower then my other saws, It is not my go to saw but I do take it out in the woods when I cut as a back up saw/rescue saw if I get another pinched.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top