90cc class saws which one is the current king of the class?

[rocco490]

Very happy with a mmws 395xp. It runs very well. I considered it the king of the 90cc class saws but the stihl 661 and huskies 592xp have been out for a while now and after the porting pros have had time to figure them out and how to get the best gains I was curious if either or both in ported form now outclass the good old 395xp?

 

[Stump Shot]

So far, the King remains on his throne, however, the two you mention are nipping at its heels, enough so to still be relevant to some users.
The 390XP is off the plate for comparison as it became NLA this year. Maybe an outside source will be found in the future, for now, unknown.
Probably the biggest issue with the 395xp is its weight in comparison and is best suited to jobs where that's not an issue like as a landing saw.
The 395xp is also a tough saw, nothing else compares to its durability.
As far as vibes go the 592xp is the Cadillac here. It's like the saw isn't even running.
Ease of starting also goes to the 592xp with the primer and stays running after started with the choke on, saving more pulls.
As far as being the nimblest in the hands, the MS661 gets the nod here from me and could also be the lightest of the three, although that's just speculation on my part, as I never did a comparison weigh off. Whether it is or isn't, it feels like it is to me.
For play shade tree saw mechanic, the 395xp is dead pan simple to work on, even if it is the one that needs it the least.
In summary, the usage should help guide you to the best choice for the tasks at hand.
If you want the baddest thing going at the GTG's, stick with the 395XP.

 

[whitesnake]

Yeah the old orange cinder block is probably still on top for me. She’s a little archaic but simple and built like a tank. Depends what your needs are I suppose.

 

[Dustin4185]

We have a 661 at work that Randy currently has working his magic on. The 661 is lighter, but in stock form, it didn’t impress me much. We will see what it does when I get it back. My MMWS 395 is a beast and is pulled out for when I want to have a little fun or have some big logs to cut. I also use it for milling. I have yet to try a 592, I have fondled one at my local dealer, but they don’t sell many. They sell 4:1 Stihls vs Huskys to the loggers around here. Usually 500i or 661s. If they sell a Husky, it’s usually a 395.

 

[mainer_in_ak]

Yeah the old orange cinder block is probably still on top for me. She’s a little archaic but simple and built like a tank. Depends what your needs are I suppose.

Here's an archaic, orange cinder block from 1980. The original 91.6 cc (54 mm bore 40mm stroke) saw with an inboard clutch and a compact 2 piece muffler with the 4 bolts at the corners. Muffler even has the little square baffle with circular holes.

A modern CDI ignition, when everything of the era was SEM. Much of this saw was copied, MANY years later.

This saw was offered 8 years before the first stihl 066. Unlimited coil, no carb governor it tunes up at 12.5k rpms and doesn't need no fkn red light.

Archaic, but ahead of its time.......

 

[whitesnake]

Here's an archaic, orange cinder block from 1980. The original 91.6 cc (54 mm bore 40mm stroke) saw with an inboard clutch and a compact 2 piece muffler with the 4 bolts at the corners. Muffler even has the little square baffle with circular holes.

A modern CDI ignition, when everything of the era was SEM. Much of this saw was copied, MANY years later.

This saw was offered 8 years before the first stihl 066. Unlimited coil, no carb governor it tunes up at 12.5k rpms and doesn't need no fkn red light.

Archaic, but ahead of its time.......

Very nice. Nothing wrong with archaic.

 

[mainer_in_ak]

Very nice. Nothing wrong with archaic.

It replaced my btch-asz, unoriginal ms 660

Powerhead was $800 shipped, that new old stock 32" oregon bar was $150.

Spare handle, and paying the welder to tig-weld a nice full-wrap was $200.

Nother $300 into 2 more new old stock homelite mount bars: GB and a Windsor

It aint cheap going old-school original muscle saw. Buts it's what I wanted in the 90 cc territory.

 

[Squareground3691]

592 , + .404 =

 

[ferris]

064 + 404

 

[huskihl]

I like the 661 myself. 592 runs better than the other 2 in stock form. 395 has a better oiler

 

[Catbuster]

I think it depends on what you want to do with it. I don’t think anything is ever going to top a 395 below 100cc for running a 36”+ bar. Stock 661s are kinda floppy and lazy, but a huge improvement over the round top 660s in terms of usable power.

I ran a stock 592 last fall because I didn’t bring a 32” bar for my 441, and even for those couple of minutes bucking the big end of a log into rounds it ran really well for a stock saw with a 36” bar. I liked it a lot.

A ported 395 is a BMF, though. I don’t know if anything makes me go “wow” like one.

 

[Woodpecker]

Personal preference here and that’s all these sorts of discussions really come down to at the end of the day. I’m just not a huge fan of the 395. Great old school saw for long bar muscle. However, there is really very little reason to have to deal with the front chain tensioner and external clutch pain in the àss with said long bar use. I’ve never had an issue with excessive heat build up on an internal clutch saw. Whenever I have run one I have liked the 585/592 a lot, but for me the choice is a 661. If I need a longer bar than the 661 can handle I’m either saying fug that or I’ll turn to my Treemonkey flat top 066 which runs with the best 395s I’ve encountered. I also don’t care for Husky’s choice to force users to take the 5 series saws in to the dealer if they should need AT service or even just a simple carb reset. Hell some husky dealers don’t even have the capacity to work on them.

 

[Squareground3691]

Personal preference here and that’s all these sorts of discussions really come down to at the end of the day. I’m just not a huge fan of the 395. Great old school saw for long bar muscle. However, there is really very little reason to have to deal with the front chain tensioner and external clutch pain in the àss with said long bar use. I’ve never had an issue with excessive heat build up on an internal clutch saw. Whenever I have run one I have liked the 585/592 a lot, but for me the choice is a 661. If I need a longer bar than the 661 can handle I’m either saying fug that or I’ll turn to my Treemonkey flat top 066 which runs with the best 395s I’ve encountered. I also don’t care for Husky’s choice to force users to take the 5 series saws in to the dealer if they should need AT service or even just a simple carb reset. Hell some husky dealers don’t even have the capacity to work on them.

Don’t understand how if you’re an authorized Husky dealer , but don’t have the equipment to fix a AT saw makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Don’t understand how if you’re an authorized Husky dealer , but don’t have the equipment to fix a AT saw makes no sense whatsoever.

Local shops have the stuff but not sure anyone can actually use it. Most guys locally have been trading in the 550’s and 562’s for 261’s and 400’s lately. And no i haven’t been talking to them they just are sick of having to hit the dealer every time they have an issue. I like the 661 for as much as I’ve ran one but I do really wish they would fix the muffler bolts snapping off if they haven’t. I’ve fixed a few older ones by tapping the holes closer to the muffler and running a little bigger bolt. The flange with the big gap to the cylinder threads is a dumb design.

 

[hacskaroly]

Don’t understand how if you’re an authorized Husky dealer , but don’t have the equipment to fix a AT saw makes no sense whatsoever.

I guess it depends on the agreement with Husky. The company I worked for was an authorized Husky dealer, but our mechanic worked out of the distribution center so we (and four other stores) would have to send all the repair work to him (no charge to the customer for travel as it went to and from on our freight trucks). The turn around time was about two weeks, sometimes less. Our mechanic had both the Husky and Stihl diagnostic equipment allowing him to plug into any mTronic or 5-series saws. We could not do it in our store unfortunately. I was silver certified with Stihl, but didn't get any formal training with Husqvarna. I could do simple checks and repairs at our store if we had the parts, but then we got new management and they didn't want us doing any repairs, send it all to the mechanic. Our customers really liked when we could get them fixed while they were in the store, many times we could get them in and out for just the cost of parts and sometimes they even went for an upgrade. Seemed like a win-win, customer was happy and we sold stuff, but then new management wanted us to just sell stuff.

 

[Woodpecker]

Don’t understand how if you’re an authorized Husky dealer , but don’t have the equipment to fix a AT saw makes no sense whatsoever.

I’m not a brand hoe and enjoy running most any chainsaw. I don’t get it either, but I can assure you even in a medium size metro area like where I live at least half the dealers can’t/won’t work on a 5 series husky. Further, I like that I can keep a couple spare solenoids in my saw kit and have a Stihl MT saw back up and running in the field.

 

[farminkarman]

I’m not a brand hoe and enjoy running most any chainsaw. I don’t get it either, but I can assure you even in a medium size metro area like where I live at least half the dealers can’t/won’t work on a 5 series husky. Further, I like that I can keep a couple spare solenoids in my saw kit and have a Stihl MT saw back up and running in the field.

This in addition to the fact that the autotune doesn’t always tune, makes it less desirable than the m-tonic setup. I had a 562xp that wouldn’t take a field reset. After taking it in to my dealer that actually does have CST, he updated the firmware and reset it…was good to go after that. The saw was completely unusable before the update & reset. Pretty sure the saw was never right when it left the factory.

 

[hacskaroly]

After taking it in to my dealer that actually does have CST, he updated the firmware and reset it…was good to go after that. The saw was completely unusable before the update & reset.

From what I understand if the saw detects a fault of some sort, it shuts down to prevent possible damage and when the firmware is upgraded (or reinstalled) it clears the fault and the saw is back in action. Its frustrating when you don't actually know what the error was or what exactly fixed it. Like with regular electronics is all comes down to FM - freaking magic!

 

[Woodpecker]

This in addition to the fact that the autotune doesn’t always tune, makes it less desirable than the m-tonic setup. I had a 562xp that wouldn’t take a field reset. After taking it in to my dealer that actually does have CST, he updated the firmware and reset it…was good to go after that. The saw was completely unusable before the update & reset. Pretty sure the saw was never right when it left the factory.

Greg I’ve heard a few stories like that. I don’t want to have my opinion of the 5 series Huskies get misconstrued though. They are great saws when they’re running right.

 

[farminkarman]

Greg I’ve heard a few stories like that. I don’t want to have my opinion of the 5 series Huskies get misconstrued though. They are great saws when they’re running right.

I agree with you. When things are good, they are great runners.