Photo: Beth HyattThis is part one in a two-part series. The sequel article will publish on TLC tomorrow.
In the spirit of the company’s 60th chain saw anniversary, Husqvarna recently held a launch for its newest generation of chain saw and its new line of Arborist Essentials in Asheville, North Carolina.
“Chain saws are in our DNA and that’s what really we continue to invest in for the future,” says Andreas Rangert, global VP of parts management and development.
The new line of saws includes two new saws in the 70cc class, as well as two 50cc saws completely redesigned from scratch.
When creating and revamping their chain saws, Per Kvarby, director of product management in North America, says Husqvarna targets two specific groups: harvest forestry and urban forestry.
“When it comes to the development of new products, Husqvarna invests a lot of time and money into insights,” Kvarby says. “We rely very heavily on these insights and for the professional segment, we talk to professional users. It’s these people and their insight, their experience that we leverage when we go to the drawing board to understand what a new chain saw needs to look at.”
The 565 and 572XP Husqvarna chain saws.Photo: Beth Hyatt
Kvarby says the needs of harvest and urban forestry are different when it comes to which chain saw is needed, and it’s these small details that Kvarby says Husqvarna took into consideration when creating and revamping their newest saws.
With the launch of their two new 70cc saws, the 572XP (MSRP starting at $999.95) and the 565 (MSRP starting at $939.95), Kvarby says they were both designed with specific users in mind.
Christian Johnsson, product manager for professional products in North America, says both saws were created for professional use, but for users who won’t necessarily be using a chain saw all day, every day, the 565 is the preferred option.
Johnsson adds that Husqvarna kept six things in mind when creating these new saws. The first was that they both boast a 12 percent higher cutting capacity compared to their current line of 70cc saws.
The second was the power to weight ratio. Johnsson says this time around, they were able to reduce the weight of the saw without taking away its power by simply allocating the weight.
Photo: Beth Hyatt
Photo: Beth Hyatt“It’s not just about ratio, it’s also about allocation,” he says. “You need a certain weight to be able to make a chain saw durable and to get the endurance out of the products, but what’s important is that it’s not only about the mass itself, it’s also important to have the weight in the right place.”
These saws weigh 14.5 pounds and boast a power of 5.8 hp. The key, he says, is to optimize the design to ensure you have the weight in the right place but also the optimal design for the product.
The areas Johnsson says the company optimized were the crankshaft, main bearings, cooling fins, muffler, flywheel, starter cover, crankcase, clutch cover and ignition model.
The third aspect was the 20 percent faster cooling capacity of the chain saws, which has a new heat barrier inside that is specially designed to deflect the heat from the cylinder housing and keep it from going into the carburetor housing.
The fourth element was the X-Cut C85 and C83 chains. Ben McDermott, product manager for North American accessories, said when designing the C85 and C83 chains, the focus was on durability, cutting performance, sharpness that lasts and low stretch.
“We did not just want to embark on this project to develop a product that is just as good as the chain we currently have; we wanted our product to be better,” he says. “We wanted to design a chain that was built to last by optimizing that manufacturing process, as well as selecting specified and high-quality materials.”
This new line of chain, McDurmott says, is designed to cut faster while requiring less feed force, which he says improves efficiency, performance and productivity for end users.
The heat treat operation on the cutting tooth, McDurmott notes, allows the chain to maintain a sharper edge longer than previous models. Sharpness out of the box has also been improved, which McDurmott says eliminates the need to file a chain before its first use.
All of the chains are also pre-stretched in the factory, which eliminates the need for unnecessary adjustment after the initial use, and, he adds, it also helps prevent any risk of damage due to running a chain saw with a slacking chain.
“This is our first full-chisel X-Cut model available in North America, and it is the number one chain type requested by professionals,” McDurmott says.
Both full chisel models have 3/8” pitch, and the C83 has a .050” gauge and the C85 has a .058” gauge. Both chains will also feature the golden tie strap, which Johnsson says has proven handy in ensuring he doesn’t re-sharpen the same area over and over again.
Both the 572XP and the 565 are available with both the C83 and the C85 chain types.
Photo: Beth Hyatt
Photo: Beth HyattThe fifth component was the 10 times quicker air/fuel mix adjustment through the use of Husqvarna’s AutoTune, which the company says ensures a correctly tuned engine setting and optimized engine performance in all conditions.
“(AutoTune) takes altitude, humidity, how clean the filter is and the fuel type into consideration,” Johnsson says. “And with the 572XP and the 565, it now adjusts 10 times per second. With these saws, it happens so fast, you can’t even hear it, and that’s huge because quicker tuning makes it more user-friendly and makes it perform better.”
The last factor was the filtration system on the 572XP, which has a larger filtration area compared to previous generations, and it features a protective rubber gasket on the filter holder to prevent dirt and debris from reaching the filter. There are three different filter options for the 572XP and 565, depending on the conditions they will be used in.
Johnsson notes that with these saws, as with other Husqvarna saws, there is a developed system within that cleans up to 98 percent of debris before it enters the filter.
Check back tomorrow for part two of this series, where we’ll take a look at the 550 XP Mark II, the 545 Mark II and Husqvarna’s new line of Arborist Essentials.
