550XP or 562XP as a fill in?

[Matt93eg]

I run skip chain when I mount my 36" bar on the 85cc saw, but full comp at 28" and below.

I do the same on the 88cc. Full skip on the 36". 28" and 22" full comp.

 

[duramaxman05]

I have a 395xp with a 32" bar and skip tooth chain. It just plays with it.

 

[EbS-P]

Cool! In addition the sharp chain and never taking the depth gauges below factory height if you don't have the extra HP, I'd say skip chain is also key for any "over-barred" saw. Skip chain takes substantially less horsepower per inch, it has half (or 2/3, depending on config) the cutters, but also cuts slower and can be too grabby if the thing you're cutting isn't big enough to keep at least 2 or 3 of those widely-spaced cutters buried in the kerf.

I run skip chain when I mount my 36" bar on the 85cc saw, but full comp at 28" and below.

Skip is also quicker to sharpen!

 

[weee123]

I occasionally run a 28” skip on my echo 590 for felling and bucking big trees. Otherwise it hangs out with the stock 20” on it which it rips with.

I mainly use an echo 3510 for limbing and small stuff with a 16” and now that I ripped off the limiter caps off the carb it runs really nicely. I also took the limiter caps off the 590 to tune it to run properly with the bigger bar.

I also have an xl12 homelite that I play around with for bucking some logs for funsys.

 

[duramaxman05]

I occasionally run a 28” skip on my echo 590 for felling and bucking big trees. Otherwise it hangs out with the stock 20” on it which it rips with.

I mainly use an echo 3510 for limbing and small stuff with a 16” and now that I ripped off the limiter caps off the carb it runs really nicely. I also took the limiter caps off the 590 to tune it to run properly with the bigger bar.

I also have an xl12 homelite that I play around with for bucking some logs for funsys.

I have a little dolmar 421 that I muffler modded and tuned. It's a good little runner for cutting smaller stuff. Always starts on the 2nd pull and is ready to work.

 

[weee123]

I have a little dolmar 421 that I muffler modded and tuned. It's a good little runner for cutting smaller stuff. Always starts on the 2nd pull and is ready to work.

Before I got my 3510 I was using my grandfathers skilsaw 1616 from the 70s. I cut up a lot of firewood with that saw and felled quite a few trees with it.

Finally stopped using it and got the 3510 when I realized that the air filter cover was slightly broken not allowing the filter to seal and allow sawdust to get behind it. Seeing as how I wanted it to still be functional to pass down to my kids I got the 3510 to allow it to be on the bench instead of in the rotation. Before I removed the limiters on the new saw it actually ran better than the new one.

 

[weee123]

“Stand up and buck” BBR puts 32” on just about everything but he’s special

Easy to do when you have heavily modded saws and in softwood all the time. I do enjoy his videos a lot

 

[Ashful]

Before I got my 3510 I was using my grandfathers skilsaw 1616 from the 70s. I cut up a lot of firewood with that saw and felled quite a few trees with it.

My first several firewood saws were all dad's, but when I moved out on my own I got a 1970's Homelite Super EZ-Auto, which I think was all of 40cc. It ran a lower RPM and I believe had a smaller sprocket than you'd see saws running today. It was slow, but it had grunt, and would go through anything without bogging. I think it had a 16" bar, IIRC.

Many saws have come and gone since that one, but sometimes I wish I had kept it, just for nostalgia. It had a certain vintage appeal, and sounded very cool, next to these high and whiny modern saws.

 

[Matt93eg]

My first several firewood saws were all dad's, but when I moved out on my own I got a 1970's Homelite Super EZ-Auto, which I think was all of 40cc. It ran a lower RPM and I believe had a smaller sprocket than you'd see saws running today. It was slow, but it had grunt, and would go through anything without bogging. I think it had a 16" bar, IIRC.

Many saws have come and gone since that one, but sometimes I wish I had kept it, just for nostalgia. It had a certain vintage appeal, and sounded very cool, next to these high and whiny modern saws.

I have my Grandpas Super EZ Auto on my shelf. My Dad ran across it years ago and gave it to me to put on my shelf. It was filthy. I cleaned it up, put new fuel lines and all on it, rebuilt the carb. Ran it cutting up part of an oak one day. I do believe it's 40cc as you said and ran full 3/8 chain. As you said, low rpm but it had grunt. After using it that day I cleaned it back up. Emptied the fuel and put on the shelf. Pretty neat to have my Grandpas old saw and one I would never sell. My Dad unfortunately passed away July 22 2022, 1 day after he turned 68 years old. I am fortunate to have his McCulloch PM610 he bought new in the late 80s when I was a few years old on the shelf as well. He sure cut a lot of firewood with that saw and I watched him run it quite a lot. Man I miss my Dad, my hero and a great person, lost him to soon but thankful I got the time with him I did, some aren't as fortunate.

Here is a pic of that super ez of Granddads.

 

[weee123]

My first several firewood saws were all dad's, but when I moved out on my own I got a 1970's Homelite Super EZ-Auto, which I think was all of 40cc. It ran a lower RPM and I believe had a smaller sprocket than you'd see saws running today. It was slow, but it had grunt, and would go through anything without bogging. I think it had a 16" bar, IIRC.

Many saws have come and gone since that one, but sometimes I wish I had kept it, just for nostalgia. It had a certain vintage appeal, and sounded very cool, next to these high and whiny modern saws.

That’s why I love my xl12. Sounds great and has super low end torque, able to pull a 20” bar at only 54cc with no problems buried in oak. I’m probably going to cannibalize it to get a super xl I have running though.

 

[Max W]

Another Homelite Super EZ memory. Had one for my first saw also. Gave it to my dad when I bought a new Partner R17, 55 cc I think. It came with a 15 inch bar and I thought it was the greatest thing and with what it allowed me to do back then I guess it was.

 

[Matt93eg]

That’s why I love my xl12. Sounds great and has super low end torque, able to pull a 20” bar at only 54cc with no problems buried in oak. I’m probably going to cannibalize it to get a super xl I have running though.

I got a Super XL Homelite to. I believe it was a newer one. It's got the Old Blue label on it. It's got some grunt to it. I think it's 58cc? I bought from a guy on Craigslist years ago. Cylinder is scored but it still has good compression and starts.

 

[Ashful]

I have my Grandpas Super EZ Auto on my shelf. My Dad ran across it years ago and gave it to me to put on my shelf. It was filthy. I cleaned it up, put new fuel lines and all on it, rebuilt the carb. Ran it cutting up part of an oak one day. I do believe it's 40cc as you said and ran full 3/8 chain. As you said, low rpm but it had grunt. After using it that day I cleaned it back up. Emptied the fuel and put on the shelf. Pretty neat to have my Grandpas old saw and one I would never sell. My Dad unfortunately passed away July 22 2022, 1 day after he turned 68 years old. I am fortunate to have his McCulloch PM610 he bought new in the late 80s when I was a few years old on the shelf as well. He sure cut a lot of firewood with that saw and I watched him run it quite a lot. Man I miss my Dad, my hero and a great person, lost him to soon but thankful I got the time with him I did, some aren't as fortunate.

Here is a pic of that super ez of Granddads.

View attachment 316258

Wow, great story, and thanks for the memories. That is the exact saw I had. Mine was real clean, and totally complete, even with the little tip guard for the OEM bar (which of course I had removed, but kept)! I guess they must've sold quite a few of those saws, just hearing from our little group here.

 

[salecker]

I traded a back window for a Chev pickup for a lot of 10 EZ's,they were a pile from a village clearing job on a firebreak one winter around 1985
They were my first saw,i would have 3-4 running all the time. The best runner was the ugliest and would not die.
Still have a pile of parts and a few saws from that pile in my first shop.Since then about another dozen have adopted from the dump or other piles of saws i have bought.This is a couple that have shown up latly,the blue one was a freebe this summer

 

[Matt93eg]

Wow, great story, and thanks for the memories. That is the exact saw I had. Mine was real clean, and totally complete, even with the little tip guard for the OEM bar (which of course I had removed, but kept)! I guess they must've sold quite a few of those saws, just hearing from our little group here.

Oh yeah I remember seeing the tip guard on some in pictures I had seen. Its a neat little saw, its pretty light weight and I remember the angle of the manual oiler is just perfect to hit it with your thumb if needed.

 

[Matt93eg]

Well today is new saw day. Got my 562XP. First new saw since I bought my 390XP in 2016. I have bought various other used saws and sold some in between that time. I ordered the bigger Husqvarna dogs for it, just like I did for my 390XP, the factory single small dog on the 562 I knew would aggravate me so I immediately installed it on the saw today before I even fired it up. First time owning and running a 5-series. I have mainly been running my 390XP lately and I am still super impressed with this 562XP. The thing is pretty light weight, small and flickable, handles SUPER well. Right now I have my 22" Tsumura light bar on it. I ran one tank through it in some small oak and bigger oak that buried the bar. As said I am super impressed. Such a smooth saw and it punches above its cc class.

With the 22" light bar, and full of fuel and bar oil the 390XP weighs 23.8 pounds, this 562 is 19.8 pounds, the 4 pounds is a huge difference even in the time I ran the saw to run one tank. I just played around and cut some cookies and noodled some rounds and walked and cleared a trail cutting small stuff out of the way. Here are a few pictures of it clean, didn't stay that way long. So my 3 work saw plan is going to be the T435, 562XP, and 390XP.

 

[Matt93eg]

I let it idle for 3 mins and I could tell it leaned it self out a little. I was going to do the under load WOT deal to set the H setting but it didn't seem to need it. It ran great off the bat, slight 4 stroke if you lifted it up out of the wood. Plug was nice and tan after a tank.

 

[Ashful]

So my 3 work saw plan is going to be the T435, 562XP, and 390XP.

Nice! I'm on nearly the same 3-saw plan, I even have a T435, my 63cc and 85cc models are older Stihl pro saws. After trying several combinations, I'm convinced this is the best saw plan in terms of sizes, no matter the brand.

 

[Matt93eg]

Nice! I'm on nearly the same 3-saw plan, I even have a T435, my 63cc and 85cc models are older Stihl pro saws. After trying several combinations, I'm convinced this is the best saw plan in terms of sizes, no matter the brand.

Thank you! Yeah I believe this cc spread is good. The 562 is going to open my range up more before I reach for the heavier 390 than the 550 would have.

 

[Ashful]

I think you made the right choice. If you're used to 90cc, you would have found the 50cc too wimpy for satisfaction. Heck, I feel that way most of the time about 63cc, after using 85cc, and they're not as far apart.

 

[Matt93eg]

I think you made the right choice. If you're used to 90cc, you would have found the 50cc too wimpy for satisfaction. Heck, I feel that way most of the time about 63cc, after using 85cc, and they're not as far apart.

I believe so as well. I went back and forth between the two over and over and over. I ran the 562 some more yesterday. I had some small stuff to cut to firewood length and had some oak that I had split as much as I could but had nasty knots in them so I noodled them with up with the 562.

Really amazed at how much difference 4 pounds makes with this same bar. And the 562 is just slim and handles really really well. Can't wait till it breaks in good.

 

[Matt93eg]

Well I think I'm on tank number 5 now on the 562.....getting stronger.

 

[walhondingnashua]

Are you finding that you like having those larger dogs? I do not fell much. Just trees to cut for firewood but I feel that some extra bite while bucking our hardwoods may come in handy. Are they worth it?

While I am at it, do you also find that you like that trailer? I have a homemade wagon I haul wood with but its limited on the speed I can go with it. I would like something like that behind the 4 wheeler.

 

[Ashful]

Are you finding that you like having those larger dogs? I do not fell much. Just trees to cut for firewood but I feel that some extra bite while bucking our hardwoods may come in handy. Are they worth it?

Not sure if this is directed at me, since I had mentioned this a few posts back, but here's my thinking on it:

BIg felling dogs are great on high-horsepower saws that aren't over-barred, as you can fulcrum on them and more accurately control pressure at the tip of the bar, for optimizing your cutting rate. They're also useful for shortening the exposed bar length, such as was my case of already owning a 20" bar and chains, for a 63cc saw that would've cut better with an 18" bar. I installed some long felling dogs on this combo, which shortened the exposed bar length from 20" to 19", resulting in less bogging when I go aggressive on my depth gauge heights and bury the thing past its nose in red oak.

On smaller saws, they become less useful. I wouldn't run them at all on my 63cc saw, if I didn't already have a 20" bar and miles of chain. It'd have been better balanced with an 18" bar and no dogs. Likewise, I've never even considered them for my 35cc saw, it'd be a joke.

I'm assuming here that any of your saws have some factory dogs on them, just smaller and often just on one side of the bar. These are usually useful enough on smaller saws.

 

[Matt93eg]

Are you finding that you like having those larger dogs? I do not fell much. Just trees to cut for firewood but I feel that some extra bite while bucking our hardwoods may come in handy. Are they worth it?

While I am at it, do you also find that you like that trailer? I have a homemade wagon I haul wood with but its limited on the speed I can go with it. I would like something like that behind the 4 wheeler.

I personally like the bigger dogs. Back when I bought my 390XP new it came with dual dogs but they were small and I found it aggravating to get a good bite sometimes when bucking. So on the 562 it only came with 1 single sided small dog so I ordered the bigger dogs from Husqvarna at the time I purchased the saw and put them on before I ever even put fuel in it. I cut hardwood so as of now I have kept my depth gauges on my 562s chain at .025" and it lets me dig them in and still keep the RPMs up. Not everyone may like big dogs. And as Ashful said on a smaller saw such as a 35cc I would not have them on there and it would take so little to stall it.

As for the trailer, so far I really like it. The mesh on the trailer is far thicker than mesh I have seen on things like that previously and it has a lot of welds that should keep it from coming apart. I don't throw wood into it, I lay it in as to not beat it up but so far it has been a champ and my ATV I have been super impressed with its ability to pull this out of a hill on leaves with it loaded with oak. Its a 2000 Honda Rancher 350 4x4 and it has just very much impressed me. Hopefully the trailer continues to hold up. I initially wanted one with the walking arm, if you have not seen what that is look it up, it helps it get up over stuff on the ground but it adds enough extra width to the trailer that is was a no go for me. I don't go real fast when its loaded over rough stuff as I want this trailer to last a long time but so far I have lot count with how many loads I have hauled up and if I had to estimate I have hauled probably 6 cords with it so far up to my wood shed from the woods.