New Husqvarna Chain Saws Unveiled
Updated: Feb. 24, 2022
Husqvarna started making chainsaws 60 years ago. They celebrated the occasion by releasing some innovative new saws. Find out what makes these new saws so impressive.
The Husqvarna Chain Saw Turns 60
Husqvarna started making chain saws 60 years ago, and to celebrate they invited a bunch of dealers and media professionals out to Asheville, North Carolina. Of course, this Swedish company has been around longer than 60 years… a lot longer. Husqvarna started out as a weapons foundry in 1689, so they started making products 87 years before the United States America ever became the United States of America.
At the event we got to play with some amazing new chain saws. We got to try out Husqvarna’s five redesigned saws, the 50cc 550XP Mark II and 545 Mark II, the 70cc class 572XP® and 565, and the top-handle T252 arborist saw. They also introduced some cool new gear as well.
There were too many improvements to mention all of them, but scroll down to find out what stood out most to me.
Gyroscopic WizardryÂ
Sure, the overall balance of these new Husqvarna chain saws has been improved, but that’s not all that’s changed. These saws are designed to reduce what’s known as “the gyroscopic affect”. A spinning chain causes a saw to move around like a gyroscope. If you’ve ever spent more than a couple hours running a larger saw, you know that fighting the gyroscope effect takes effort, and that extra effort causes fatigue. Bottom line, by including mechanisms that counter the gyroscopic affect it takes less effort to run these new saws, and that’s a big deal.
Auto Tune Perfected
All these saws have a higher cutting capacity. Part of the reason for this is the new version of AutoTune. AutoTune keeps the engine running at peak performance. It does this by automatically compensating for variations in altitude, fuel types and mixtures, humidity, temperature and the condition of the air filter. This newest version of AutoTune is much easier to calibrate than the previous version. The T252 is the only new Husqvarna saw without this feature. Find out more about chain saw safety here.
Cool and Easy
Another contributing factor to the increase in cutting capacity is that Husqvarna spent a lot of engineering brainpower on better ways of keeping the engine cool. That’s because a cool engine produces more power. One way they did this was to include a heat-shield into the cover. And speaking of covers, the cover on these new saws is easier than ever to remove for maintenance. Â
Flood-Proof
Are you an overly-aggressive primer bulb pusher? You need to hide this shameful affliction in disgrace no longer. You can push the primer bulb on these saws till the cows come home, and the carb will not get flooded.Â
Next, check out this story about rough sawn lumber.
Clever Chains
Husqvarna started making their own chains for the first time (most chain saw manufactures don’t). There’s nothing overly sexy about chains, but they did add one smart feature that every person who has ever sharpened a blade will appreciate. They made one of the chain links gold. That way if you start sharpening at that point, you know where to stop.Â
New Gear
Husqvarna also showcased a lot of impressive new gear. My favorite improvement they made was on their helmets. They now make an adjustable head band similar to a welder’s helmet. Sometimes it seems that most headbands stretch out a bit as you wear them, and readjusting those snap bands is a pain. Dialing in the perfect fit with these new helmets is a breeze.
