MarkEagleUSA
ArboristSite Guru
Spent about 4 hours this morning helping a friend cut up some oaks that had come down in recent storms. Brought the new 550XP and 562 XP with me to see what they could really do. Unfortunately, the tree we worked on today was already dry as it blew over during Sandy last year. But it was a good size tree. The lower trunk measured almost 36" at the base and 24" at the first crotch about 10-12' up.
As I said the tree was already down... root ball pulled right out of the ground. One of the upper limbs was hung up in another tree but we were able to take care of that quick and easy (much to my surprise). I then set out to start limbing with the 550. Man, this is where I think the saw shines! I could actually hear and feel the RevBoost and we made short work of cleaning up the upper half of the tree.
It's too bad the tree was so dry because I really want to see what happens in green wood, but at least I have a point of comparison now. My buddy didn't want to waste time on anything smaller than 4-5", saying he's do that himself later. The main goal was to get the tree cut up. I started bucking and the 550 took everything I threw it at and still wanted more. Chips were flying and my friend and I were at times mesmerized by the speed and power, especially in 6-10" wood. Never once in almost 2 hrs of cutting did she bog down in the cut. Just kept pullin' and pullin'.
I purposely shut her down several times to make sure I wasn't plagued by warm start issues and can say I had zero problems on any restart except for the one immediately after the first fuel-up. It seemed to take forever to start drawing fuel and I must have pulled 10 or 12 times before she "popped". After that, smooth sailing. I ran the saw for roughly 2-1/2 hrs total and only refueled once (still half a tank left). And this saw isn't even broken in yet! Wow!
The one drawback to the stellar fuel consumption is that I ran out of chain oil long before fuel. Unfortunately I didn't realize it until she ran out of gas. Going to need to make a mental note to check the oil more often.
Working down the tree I got into some 16-18" wood that was taxing the 16" B/C. Still plenty of power, just not enough reach so I shut her down and reached for the 562-20". For everything the 550 did to impress me, the 562 matched it and more. The thing is an absolute beast. While not as well balanced as the 550, it was just a bit nose-heavy while the 550 seemed balanced at the upper handle. The biggest difference I noticed between the 2 saws was acceleration/RevBoost. The 550 was definitely quicker to spool up to full song. The 562 wasn't too far off but it was noticeable. However, when I got to that lower trunk, the 562 really showed it's worth. It powered right through each cut, each one seemingly stronger than the previous. In total she ran for about an hour and never ran out of fuel. The chain oil held up as well.
All in all, these 2 saws were just awesome to use. I think AutoTune is a great concept and Husqvarna seems to have it mostly figured out. Now I can't wait to try them out on some green wood. Unfortunately, my buddy has 2 more trees that need attention but they're also pretty dry, not to mention both are hung up in other trees pretty good. He did say his neighbor across the street has some Beech trees he wants to take down but nobody was home for us to go talk to.
For now, I am more than pleased with my decision to go with these 2 saws. While I love my 162SE to death, it can't hold a candle to either of these saws. The 550 may not have the power, but it compensates for that in other ways. The 562 has more power than the 162 by a large margin. It's also a heck of a lot easier to handle, and both XP's are really nice to look at!
As I said the tree was already down... root ball pulled right out of the ground. One of the upper limbs was hung up in another tree but we were able to take care of that quick and easy (much to my surprise). I then set out to start limbing with the 550. Man, this is where I think the saw shines! I could actually hear and feel the RevBoost and we made short work of cleaning up the upper half of the tree.
It's too bad the tree was so dry because I really want to see what happens in green wood, but at least I have a point of comparison now. My buddy didn't want to waste time on anything smaller than 4-5", saying he's do that himself later. The main goal was to get the tree cut up. I started bucking and the 550 took everything I threw it at and still wanted more. Chips were flying and my friend and I were at times mesmerized by the speed and power, especially in 6-10" wood. Never once in almost 2 hrs of cutting did she bog down in the cut. Just kept pullin' and pullin'.
I purposely shut her down several times to make sure I wasn't plagued by warm start issues and can say I had zero problems on any restart except for the one immediately after the first fuel-up. It seemed to take forever to start drawing fuel and I must have pulled 10 or 12 times before she "popped". After that, smooth sailing. I ran the saw for roughly 2-1/2 hrs total and only refueled once (still half a tank left). And this saw isn't even broken in yet! Wow!
The one drawback to the stellar fuel consumption is that I ran out of chain oil long before fuel. Unfortunately I didn't realize it until she ran out of gas. Going to need to make a mental note to check the oil more often.
Working down the tree I got into some 16-18" wood that was taxing the 16" B/C. Still plenty of power, just not enough reach so I shut her down and reached for the 562-20". For everything the 550 did to impress me, the 562 matched it and more. The thing is an absolute beast. While not as well balanced as the 550, it was just a bit nose-heavy while the 550 seemed balanced at the upper handle. The biggest difference I noticed between the 2 saws was acceleration/RevBoost. The 550 was definitely quicker to spool up to full song. The 562 wasn't too far off but it was noticeable. However, when I got to that lower trunk, the 562 really showed it's worth. It powered right through each cut, each one seemingly stronger than the previous. In total she ran for about an hour and never ran out of fuel. The chain oil held up as well.
All in all, these 2 saws were just awesome to use. I think AutoTune is a great concept and Husqvarna seems to have it mostly figured out. Now I can't wait to try them out on some green wood. Unfortunately, my buddy has 2 more trees that need attention but they're also pretty dry, not to mention both are hung up in other trees pretty good. He did say his neighbor across the street has some Beech trees he wants to take down but nobody was home for us to go talk to.
For now, I am more than pleased with my decision to go with these 2 saws. While I love my 162SE to death, it can't hold a candle to either of these saws. The 550 may not have the power, but it compensates for that in other ways. The 562 has more power than the 162 by a large margin. It's also a heck of a lot easier to handle, and both XP's are really nice to look at!
) it's a very well-balanced feel. I can't describe it myself, and I've seen it said elsewhere, but something about revving the saw causes it to "flow" in your arms. It's a really neat feeling that I've never experienced in a saw before.
