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Husqvarna 562XP - A Tale of Woe

Spike60

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I matched the SKF numbers pn the bearings in addition to using the Husqvarna parts numbers in the IPL. The IPL lists the bearings per saw S/N.

Yeah, you're on top of it. (not sure your dealer is) When dealing with running changes, you have to go by serial numbers when ordering parts.
 

Spike60

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Standard procedure for us....

Saw comes in not running.

Step one....pull the muffler.

You cannot believe the amount of time that simple rule has saved us.


Saves tons of time! Of course it's a lesson learned after wasting plenty of time fussing with a wiped saw. Even quicker check was to pull the plug and have a look with the stylus light.
 

Bob95065

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Standard procedure for us....

Saw comes in not running.

Step one....pull the muffler.

You cannot believe the amount of time that simple rule has saved us.
First thing I do too. I've had people bring me saws many times and said itcran when they put it on the shelf years before. First thought is fuel system but I pull the muffler anyway. That saved me from needlessly buying a carb kit and doing uncessasary work more than once.
 

Skiptooth Fred

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Yesterday I split the cases on the saw. The flywheel bearing failed which I didn't expect. You can see it here:
View attachment 412031

Look at the spacing at the portion of the bearing at the bottom of the picture.

Very easy to see after I pressed it off the crankshaft:

View attachment 412030

This is a 2019 model:

View attachment 412029

I started a new thread to see if anyone knows of a source for metal caged replacements here: Husqvarna 562XP - Any source for steel-caged bearings?

Like I said in the other thread: I really want to like this saw but the design makes it hard. I think there is a market for metal caged replacement bearings for these saws.
What oil exactly do you run? And at what ratio may i ask?
 

EFSM

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The reason most manufacturers don't go with a metal cage is that bearing failure is certain on almost all professional models.

When the plastic cage fails it just spits a little bit of debris out of the muffler.
When a metal cage fails it often wipes the cylinder.
This should be true and is to some extent. However, a good quality metal caged bearing, in my experience, usually lasts the life of the rest of the saw or longer. Since early 2016, we have sold a couple dozen Echo CS-600/620 saws to a company that does commercial TSI. Of course, that's hard on saws in a different way from logging, but we never had an engine bearing failure in them (some of the original 2016 saws are still in service). These are metal-caged bearings. They also bought some 550 Husqvarnas in 2019-2020 and most of them had flywheel seal and/or bearing failures at far, far fewer hours. Maybe this has more to do with QC issues on Husqvarna's part than difference between metal and plastic caged bearings, but I definitely put my vote of confidence on metal caged bearings.
 

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To balance out my previous post, I have seen both metal and plastic-caged bearings fail in the first tank of runtime. An Echo 9010 blower came in with a Chinese main bearing that the cage was shedding pieces and it definitely did other damage in the meantime. I also had a customer bring in a 562 that he bought brand new online and it shelled the flywheel side bearing cage in the first 15 minutes. In the case of a defect, a plastic cage will certainly make less of a mess, but your chances of them failing during regular service is also higher.
 

EFSM

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I wouldn't say the 550/562 are struggling with undersized bearings. It's more heat control/QC issues. Larger/heavier pistons from strato-scavenging machines make it worse too.
 

Duke Thieroff

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This should be true and is to some extent. However, a good quality metal caged bearing, in my experience, usually lasts the life of the rest of the saw or longer. Since early 2016, we have sold a couple dozen Echo CS-600/620 saws to a company that does commercial TSI. Of course, that's hard on saws in a different way from logging, but we never had an engine bearing failure in them (some of the original 2016 saws are still in service). These are metal-caged bearings. They also bought some 550 Husqvarnas in 2019-2020 and most of them had flywheel seal and/or bearing failures at far, far fewer hours. Maybe this has more to do with QC issues on Husqvarna's part than difference between metal and plastic caged bearings, but I definitely put my vote of confidence on metal caged bearings.
44mm piston, lower RPM engine, more heatsink/dissipation mass, standard (non-strato) piston design and 6202 style bearing.


It's not apples to apples comparison.

Also, how many hours were actually on the Echos? Can you provide any proof? Would this conviction hold up under questioning in a court of law?

The 562 is a whole different animal, and 372s have been plagued with bearing failures, using the same spec bearing, with a much heavier piston.

What I am saying is that maybe it's true that the bearings in the CS-590s last longer than in a 562 (which is likely irrefutable) but the bearing failures in a 562 are a result of an AGGREGATE of problems that Husqvarna has attempted to address (with some success) and with each attempt the engineering team has opted to retain usage of the same bearing.

The same bearing is used in the 346s, why aren't we complaining about them and instead, we praise them as maybe a gift from the Gods?

It's not the bearing cage material that is the problem, it is the layers of problems that the 562 has lead to the failure of the bearing. Herein lies what I think the issue really is. The bearing is undersized for the duty that it is applied in. It's a 6202 sized bearing in an application that really should use the next size up. As the rotating mass of the engines has increased as a result of X-Torq technology Husqvarna hasn't modified the bearing size to accommodate for heavier pistons, stuffers, lower crankcase mass and higher rpms held under load.

Maybe we can blame the stubbornness of the engineering team OR the unknown factors on WHY they simply just don't replace the bearing with whatever the guys from OPEForum say. They're missing the silver bullet that we've so subtley placed before them.

"Just change the cage material."

6202s and 6203s regularly fail, Stihl proprietary PTO bearings regularly fail. Our sales history doesn't lie.

But I have to ask myself, with all this talk of plastic cage failure:

"Why would Husqvarna reengineer the 562 with at least 8 updates to rectify bearing failure if it could simply be remedied by adjustment of the bearing cage material?"


Surely, the 5xx series have exhibited bearing failures, over and over again. Everyone knows it. They're junk, but they run so good.

Again, let me reiterate as I have in the past.

If you just need a simple answer to satisfy yourself, then just point to the cage, but I think it's a little more complicated.
 

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If you just need a simple answer to satisfy yourself, then just point to the cage, but I think it's a little more complicated.
EPA? Should we MMode and re-bore main jet +10% on 5xx saws? Both to help to cool them down?
 

EFSM

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44mm piston, lower RPM engine, more heatsink/dissipation mass, standard (non-strato) piston design and 6202 style bearing.


It's not apples to apples comparison.

Also, how many hours were actually on the Echos? Can you provide any proof? Would this conviction hold up under questioning in a court of law?

The 562 is a whole different animal, and 372s have been plagued with bearing failures, using the same spec bearing, with a much heavier piston.

What I am saying is that maybe it's true that the bearings in the CS-590s last longer than in a 562 (which is likely irrefutable) but the bearing failures in a 562 are a result of an AGGREGATE of problems that Husqvarna has attempted to address (with some success) and with each attempt the engineering team has opted to retain usage of the same bearing.

The same bearing is used in the 346s, why aren't we complaining about them and instead, we praise them as maybe a gift from the Gods?
I agree with what you are saying here, Duke. I was doing an apples-to-grapefruit comparison. It is definitely a result of a perfect storm in the 550/562. And the 620's benefit from a long stroke/small bore. As far as the hours go, no, that would not hold up in a court because they don't have hour meters on the saws. I'm sure the 550's didn't owe them anything after a few years abuse. But the same company was using the saws, although at two different location, so it makes sense that a 550 used for 4 years has fewer hours than a 600 used for 9 years. And I've seen evidence of extraordinary high hours on the Echo saws--including a worn-through wrist pin washer. They also run 501 echo's which are about the same RPM saw as the 550's (although down on power and probably heat as well) and have no lower end issues. But I still think metal cages would solve some of their problems without changing the bearings size, although plastic cages would likely work much better if they went to a larger bearing. It would be interesting if someone did an operating temperature comparison between these different saws we've been discussing. It may be eye-opening.
 
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HumBurner

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44mm piston, lower RPM engine, more heatsink/dissipation mass, standard (non-strato) piston design and 6202 style bearing.


It's not apples to apples comparison.

Also, how many hours were actually on the Echos? Can you provide any proof? Would this conviction hold up under questioning in a court of law?

The 562 is a whole different animal, and 372s have been plagued with bearing failures, using the same spec bearing, with a much heavier piston.

What I am saying is that maybe it's true that the bearings in the CS-590s last longer than in a 562 (which is likely irrefutable) but the bearing failures in a 562 are a result of an AGGREGATE of problems that Husqvarna has attempted to address (with some success) and with each attempt the engineering team has opted to retain usage of the same bearing.

The same bearing is used in the 346s, why aren't we complaining about them and instead, we praise them as maybe a gift from the Gods?

It's not the bearing cage material that is the problem, it is the layers of problems that the 562 has lead to the failure of the bearing. Herein lies what I think the issue really is. The bearing is undersized for the duty that it is applied in. It's a 6202 sized bearing in an application that really should use the next size up. As the rotating mass of the engines has increased as a result of X-Torq technology Husqvarna hasn't modified the bearing size to accommodate for heavier pistons, stuffers, lower crankcase mass and higher rpms held under load.

Maybe we can blame the stubbornness of the engineering team OR the unknown factors on WHY they simply just don't replace the bearing with whatever the guys from OPEForum say. They're missing the silver bullet that we've so subtley placed before them.

"Just change the cage material."

6202s and 6203s regularly fail, Stihl proprietary PTO bearings regularly fail. Our sales history doesn't lie.

But I have to ask myself, with all this talk of plastic cage failure:

"Why would Husqvarna reengineer the 562 with at least 8 updates to rectify bearing failure if it could simply be remedied by adjustment of the bearing cage material?"


Surely, the 5xx series have exhibited bearing failures, over and over again. Everyone knows it. They're junk, but they run so good.

Again, let me reiterate as I have in the past.

If you just need a simple answer to satisfy yourself, then just point to the cage, but I think it's a little more complicated.


I think most of what you're saying is accurate and valid. I've done a lot of thinking and reading on these issues.


Last month I pulled the trigger on a 550 and 562 mk2. I haven't fueled them yet. But, whether stock or modded, I plan on running them at 32:1. Oil seems to be the determining factor on these heat-machines, assuming all things are right with the saw.
 

Maintenance Chief

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I refurbished an old 064 stihl for someone about 2 years ago. Boy am I glad it did have nylon bearing cages!
I went through the carb and fuel system and seals. I ran it for about 5 minutes and it locked tight mid cut! Flywheel side bearing spit out cage but didn't come apart.
I split the case and did the bottom end, saw lives on.
 

Duke Thieroff

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I refurbished an old 064 stihl for someone about 2 years ago. Boy am I glad it did have nylon bearing cages!
I went through the carb and fuel system and seals. I ran it for about 5 minutes and it locked tight mid cut! Flywheel side bearing spit out cage but didn't come apart.
I split the case and did the bottom end, saw lives on.
You got the right idea Ira

The metal cage bearings are a common trope.

All bearings fail. You just have to consider the damage done when they give it up. Honestly, all things being equal, they're a good compromise, with similar service life.
 

qurotro

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A fleet of 7 of those 555 or 555 mark 2.
One happen to be like this. 3 of them blew top end. Those saws are abused.
None has issue related to the bearing.
And every single of them has hot start issue which really sucks. 4AE2B2CF-9E02-471A-A0BD-558D6637549C.png
 
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