Husky 540 cutting and climbing

  • Thread starter Thread starter RegC
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 208
  • Views Views 24K
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #76
Well my 540 finally got dropped off again today. See what the dealer says this time. 1st warranty work was the intake boot. Now it runs ok but when ran hard consistently it'll start to run erratically, fall on its face and stall.

So far I'm not impressed. Even when it seems to be running 'right' it has crappy throttle response and no power. Yesterday I dumped it back into the truck after the 1st fir and switched up to the gutless 201 which felt like it had way more power.

My 540 so far couldn't hold a candle to a good running 200, of which I have a couple that I run.

sorry to hear you perhaps got a lemon Justin. A colleague of mine is having similar problems now, got his same time I did. I really musta got lucky for once....I mean its cutting like a dream. Improved no end since its run in. Better still since I took out the spark screen. Another friend of mine has a modded 201 and 'my' 540, as its running now just kills it. What do you say to people though when they ask ? Im wary of telling other climbers to buy one in case it runs like yours. I guess we can only hope Husky and Stihl are gonna work to iron out the flaws over the next couple of years.
 
Along their lines of thinking, when they work out the flaws and people are happy with the results, it could be time to come out with the next model.
 
We'll have to wait a few more years for saws to be equipped with fuel injection only then can I see any improvement. Their being tested as we speak.

How many carbs do we see on our vehicles today?
Saw a stump grinder the other day with a 27hp Kohler gas with fuel injection.
 
I had pulled the screen on mine upon purchase, always do. I picked it up on Friday afternoon, they did a 'reset'. I ran it at the shop in a few rounds out back. It seemed to be running good, throttle response was good. I cut half a dozen cookies or so and it ran flawlessly so it'll be back in use this week. They had said that their were no 'codes' or any strange parameters on the computer and nothing physical they could find wrong with it.

I've got a lemon 201 already so I sure hope I didn't get a 540 lemon too. Still have two decent 200's and three I'm thinking about having rebuilt.
 
My competitor/friend bought the 540 I told the dealer to get for me. I sort of got cold feet and told him if he wanted it to go get it. Its sluggish. He is not happy with it.
 
We'll have to wait a few more years for saws to be equipped with fuel injection only then can I see any improvement. Their being tested as we speak.

How many carbs do we see on our vehicles today?
Saw a stump grinder the other day with a 27hp Kohler gas with fuel injection.

The first one has been released.
Stihs latest concrete cutter is an injection saw.
 
Mine is still kicking butt other than dropping it from above breaking the guard handle and bending my bar on Friday.
 
Well I hate to report that it was running like a bag of crap yesterday. Seems like unless it's warmed right up it cuts like sh-t, stop and go it doesn't run right. Then the kill switch stopped working. Seriously, I'm thinking about flogging it.
 
Its impossible to make a living in tree work without saws that work more or less flawlessly.
 
Well it would seem from others reviews that mine's a dud. I can't see that everyone else that has one is waiting a couple minutes for the saw to warm up after it's been hanging a short while. Mine just runs real boggy and unresponsive, until warmed right up. Not a great option for a climbing saw. The kill switch, that's just insult to injury.
 
Tell your dealer to replace it. It shouldn't be any skin off his back to do so if it is a bad saw. If he won't cooperate, I'd try to contact the distributor or some authority in Canada.
 
Ha. Couldn't have worse luck than I've had contacting Stihl. I'll chat over my options when I take it in for the kill switch fix. It's under warranty so I'm not touching it myself. See what they might do. Something can't be right with this thing if others are running flawlessly. I'm so sick of buying crap saws.
 
I dunno, everyone else I figure who hasn't piped up with complaints.

If my dealer figures it's a fine running saw and not in need of replacement or repair I'm probably gonna have them consign it.
 
I feel like there has been mostly complaints in this and other threads.

Well I hope you get it squared away. I have newer 201s which have been fine. But I had an older 201 which was horrendous. The dealer kept it for eons and replaced most everything on it but it now, unbelievably, works fine. So there's hope;)
 
My saw has to warm up for around 30 seconds or it is a sputtering turd. After that it's off to the races. Good luck squish I hope your dealer makes it right.
 
That was my concern of the 540, stop and go aerial cutting......leave it idling hanging on the saddle ?

Im going to wait another season before I buy my 540. The 550XP's I have are slow to warm up and boggy but my 2 year old 562xp doesn't have that issue . Very quick warmup to smooth WOT.
 
I tend to leave it idling more than I would like. My work around involves buying a 150 for pruning and leave the 540 for takedowns.
 
My "bad" 201s were like that, wouldn't cut much for the first 30+ seconds, it used to drive my insane. Heck, its a small saw, 30 seconds after starting all the intended cutting should often be finished by then.
 
Back
Top