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Who here has a Triple-Nickel??

RIDE-RED 350r

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Been so busy, I forgot to post up about a little present the boss bought for me at work. We had a surplus in our brush and weeds budget and the boss decided to get me that Triple-Nickel I have been asking for to use instead of a 394 up in the bucket when the work gets too big for single pass cuts with the 346 I mostly use. I haven't tried it in wood yet, we don't do any tree work this time of year. Only time our saws see use this time of year is to clear downed trees out of the road.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to trying this thing out. I bought my 357xp new back in '06 and know it well. I'm interested to see how this Triple-Nickel compares. Will it prove to be a more capable saw than my beloved 357? In a way, I hope not. But if it does, I will be pretty surprised and impressed.. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of a better "60cc" than my good ol' 357.

Who here has one?? Likes? Dislikes? Issues? Comparisons to a 357?? Handle a 24" bar reasonably well?
 

wcorey

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Have one but haven't got around to putting it head to head with anything with the same bar/chain.
Haven't yet spent a whole day cutting with the either 555 or 562 and that's really what it takes so...

Overall I like it, from a non cad point of view wouldn't have any problem with it being my only 60cc.

It really doesn't lack all that much against the 562 so that's some perspective.
My under-qualified, seat o the pants impression is that the 357 is faster but the 555 has a more friendly/wider power band and maybe a bit smoother too.
I really like those 357's...

I run 18-20" on all my 60cc stuff, 24" would be doable but pushing it, really depends on the wood and your expectations.

I picked up a set of 562 transfer covers for mine but don't want to install them until I get a feel for what it's got now.
Which may be a while, lot of saws standing in line and not a lot of wood.
 

RIDE-RED 350r

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We are cut from the same cloth.. I run 18-20" on my 60cc saws as well.

I am not a climber nor an expert tree surgeon. I work from a bucket and consider myself to be "still learning". Much of our tree work is taking down large roadside sugar maple commonly found here in the northeast. Alot of times my mobility in the tree is limited by several factors including the tree itself. I'm sure more experienced bucket truckers and climbers would probably laugh at me.. But what we do is limb it out and get it worked down to the main stalk at which time one of my coworkers gets the 394 or 395 and cuts it off while another coworker pushes and steers it with the Gradall with it's clam bucket. We don't do too bad. Anyhow, alot of times on those big maples I have to chunk down runners that are just too big for my 346 and they pass me up a 394 with a 24" bar and it's just TOO MUCH saw for that type of use for me. Hoping this Triple-Nickel does the trick for me.
 

CR888

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Very compact nimble 60cc saw. While not an XP, build quality is as good, performance is great despite being a kind detuned 562. Its got a low top air filter, small bar mount which suits me as I like 16/18" maybe 20" bars on this class saw. I think it will serve you well. It has a large spline clutch drum which limits chain to full 3/8, .325 only if you want to run a 9 pin sprocket & .404 if that's what your into. Although this can be changed if you want to run say a 7pin .325 setup 'if' you get a 550xp clutch drum and swap it out. Nothing really bad about a 555 your boss did good.
 

RIDE-RED 350r

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Thanks for the comments fellers. This saw came with a 20" bar and a 3/8 full comp chain. My 357 came the same way new, so I don't expect this Triple-Nickel to have the least bit of trouble pulling it as my 357 had no trouble with it.....back when it was stock. ;)
 

huskyboy

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I’d expect it to be a little above the 357xp. After running both a 357 and my 562 for a day there is a noticeable torque difference between them in favor of the 562. Chain speed seems to be similar. I haven’t ran a 555 for a day yet so can’t really comment on them.
 

CR888

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I really like the revboost on my 550xp....it leaves my ms261's for dead in throttle response. Its like flicking on a light. The 555 does not have revboost yet still spools up quick, no lag time like a Stihl lol. My 555 is actually smaller in size than my 50cc ms261. No brand has beat that compact design with outboard clutch yet. Almost all 50cc pro saws except the 550 are bigger in size than a 555. They also don't seem to suffer the bog stumble & heat sink issues that the xp brothers do. Maybe that's due to fewer people owning them I dunno.
 

RIDE-RED 350r

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Yes, we also have a 550xp at work and you are right about the quickness of it's throttle response...lightswitch.

Looking at advertised specs on the 555, it has me thinking it is uncannily similar to a stock 357 in the power/performance department.
 

huskyboy

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Yes, we also have a 550xp at work and you are right about the quickness of it's throttle response...lightswitch.

Looking at advertised specs on the 555, it has me thinking it is uncannily similar to a stock 357 in the power/performance department.
It’ll always be tuned good too, gotta love autotune. It is a nice feature on stihls version of it too.
 

RIDE-RED 350r

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It’ll always be tuned good too, gotta love autotune. It is a nice feature on stihls version of it too.
Yeah, I'm not so sold on AT yet that I am hurting to own one myself. Yes, it's great when it works and when it is working right that saw is always bang-on. We did have a hiccup with our 550 this past summer. It was being used to fell some 20" give or take trees on a job and it didn't seem to like that duty very much. At one point it acted like it ran out of fuel and shut down. Guy using it went to fill it back up and discovered there was still a half tank in it and it still wouldn't restart. Days later when we went to use it, it was fine. I'm still not sure what it's issue was that day.

I'm not totally anti-new-tech... Just not ready to take the plunge with my hard-earned just yet. A regular carb suits me fine still.
 

huskyboy

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Yeah, I'm not so sold on AT yet that I am hurting to own one myself. Yes, it's great when it works and when it is working right that saw is always bang-on. We did have a hiccup with our 550 this past summer. It was being used to fell some 20" give or take trees on a job and it didn't seem to like that duty very much. At one point it acted like it ran out of fuel and shut down. Guy using it went to fill it back up and discovered there was still a half tank in it and it still wouldn't restart. Days later when we went to use it, it was fine. I'm still not sure what it's issue was that day.

I'm not totally anti-new-tech... Just not ready to take the plunge with my hard-earned just yet. A regular carb suits me fine still.
I think it sounds like the saw was probably running hot for whatever reason, is yours the newer one with the AT12 carb and vent slot in top cover? They also updated the fuel line and tank vent too on newer saws. It be worth it to upgrade it.
 

RIDE-RED 350r

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I think it sounds like the saw was probably running hot for whatever reason, is yours the newer one with the AT12 carb and vent slot in top cover? They also updated the fuel line and tank vent too on newer saws. It be worth it to upgrade it.
I want to say the 550 was bought new in summer of 2014. I'll check the id tag tomorrow if I think of it.
 

CR888

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It would be nice if Hoosky sold standard carb versions of their saws like Stihl does with the 261 & 362. They would sell more saws, many folks don't like MT/AT for whatever reason.
 

Wolverine

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I'm not totally anti-new-tech... Just not ready to take the plunge with my hard-earned just yet. A regular carb suits me fine still.
Right there with ya. My beloved 357 would be the last to go had the need to sell arised. I'm a sucker for the 3 series saws. And after seeing the potential of the 365sp after being Hacked Up, I always wondered if the triple nickel would be the same for the 5 series. So I'm here for the popcorn, lol. I'd love to test drive a fully worked over example. Or see a side by side comparo with saw I'm familiar with.
 
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