Stihl 261 vs Husky 550xp

Gareth's Tree

Gareth's Tree

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Ashtabula
I am not interested in starting any brand Wars, I've always been a Stihl guy and love my 261 but the time has come to replace it. I read a lot of reviews where guys really, really like the Husky 550xp. Since our 50cc saw is the most used saw we own I want to get the best one I can. Is one of these saws really any better than the other?
 
Well I went through this a few years ago and can say I agree with you. I am not a brand guy I want the best saw for the money and I too use my 50cc class saw a ton. IMHO the 550xp was the saw that fit that bill. I like the size and weight of the powerhead, the acceleration is superb, and controls function is good as well. I do not care for the outboard clutch cut that is something that can be dealt with. The auto tune function works well as long as someone follows the set forth instructions. I have had mine for 3 years and really like it. I did mod the muffler and that made a very large difference. I also like the fuel and oil caps quite well too

I do not the auto tune if it gets messed up and can’t figure itself out but that has only happened once and was not horrid to overcome. Just went old school on the program and held the throttle and pulled and it started after a few pulls.
 
I prefer the filtration of the Stihls and the newest version of the 261 is lighter than the 550. It is easier to find a better price on the 550. They are so close to each other now that it’s really a toss up and comes down to small user preferences. I think you will be happy either way. If your dealer sells both see if you can try them side by side.


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I’ve got a brand new 261 we keep on the crane strictly for Crane work, I also have a 550 which I rarely let anyone touch, I prefer the 550 for cutting speed, power and love the auto tune. I just got it back a few weeks ago from BC it’s been fully modded, ported, muffler mod, timing advanced and whatever else they do at Walkers saw shop, it’s my first fully modded saw and all I can say is the powers insane and so is the cutting speed of this saw now! I just bought a new 20” Sugihara bar to put on it, will test it out Monday but super happy with the 550 now!
 
colb said:
Whoever repairs it matters most. Is that you or the dealer? If it's the dealer, which one is better?
Click to expand...

What if all the saw shops suck? :nocausagracia: ;)

We went with the 550 mainly due to husky’s fleet program. We got a pretty big discount on three saws (the savings almost paid for the 3rd saw). We were extremely happy out of the gate with the 550, it’s chain speed is high and when sharp it cuts extremely well. We pseudo replaced a 346 with it and found we could run 2” more bar with better performance and 4” more at about the same. Unfortunately now it sits in the box behind our 562... and it’s difficult to pull that out and not use it :reloco:. So it really only gets used when all the saws are out of the box. It can be fussy to start, but I think that’s mostly because the 562 gets so much work time and it kinda benched a lot.
 
I have both and prefer the 550. I use it on crane removals daily with a 20” bar. It has very respectable power and accelerates quickly. Both the 261 and 550 have muffler mods, which definitely help. I prefer the handling and balance of the 550, but that’s just me. The 261 is my backup, but I would buy another 550 if mine went down.
 
I have two 550xps. They both live in different trucks. I have used three different 261s. All of them are great saws. I do prefer the 550xp as its a bit lighter and revs higher. I use one of them in the tree a good bit spike climbing and doing crane work. I'd buy another 550xp if I need another 50cc saw.
 
The weight is listed as the same for the new version. The old version of the 261 was a bit heavier. I don’t know why Stihl isn’t changing the number of the saw to reflect all the changes in the latest version. It creates confusion and not everyone realizes the differences. The latest saw is great and here the price is less than husky, but if you have the fleet program it is cheaper.

The Stihl 261 is the best saw for the money.


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