We own and operate a timber and firewood company, so chainsaws are not occasional use tools for us. They make money, and reliability and productivity matter. We currently run a fleet of roughly 30 professional saws from both Husqvarna and Stihl, ranging from 50cc saws all the way up to the Stihl MS 881. That gives us a pretty broad basis for comparison when evaluating a new professional saw.
Unfortunately, the Husqvarna 564 XP G has been one of the biggest disappointments we have had with a new saw in quite some time.
We purchased ours from Saw Suppliers and waited almost a year for it to arrive. During that time there was an enormous amount of publicity surrounding the 564. Industry influencers were running them, videos were everywhere, and Husqvarna’s new fuel injected platform was being presented as a significant step forward for professional chainsaws. After waiting that long, we expected the 564 to deliver a noticeable performance advantage along with improved starting, consistency, and reliability compared with electronically controlled carbureted saws.
In our experience, it has delivered none of those things.
Performance is probably the biggest disappointment. For all the technology and hype surrounding the 564, I would put its real world cutting performance in the same general territory as our tried and true Stihl MS 261 saws. Given the choice, I actually prefer grabbing an MS 261. The 261 is a proven platform, feels predictable, and does exactly what we expect it to do day after day.
Even more surprising is how the 564 compares with our Husqvarna 550 XP Mark II. Our 550 XP Mark II will flat out work, and in our experience I would take it over the 564 all day. That is particularly disappointing considering how much attention was placed on the fuel injected engine and the expectations Husqvarna created around this saw.
Starting was another area where I expected fuel injection to provide an obvious advantage. It doesn’t. Starting the 564 is similar to, and sometimes seems more difficult than, our electronic carburetor saws. Fuel injection sounds impressive on a specification sheet, but if it doesn’t make the saw noticeably easier to start, stronger in the cut, more responsive, or more dependable, I have to question what practical advantage the additional complexity is providing.
That brings me to my biggest concern: long term reliability and serviceability.
Professional saws get abused by their environment. They see heat, cold, dust, chips, vibration, long run times, and repeated starts every working day. Simplicity and field reliability have tremendous value when your income depends on the equipment. The 564 introduces considerably more technology without, so far, giving us a corresponding improvement in performance that justifies that complexity.
This is the first professional saw I have purchased where I went into ownership already expecting it to spend a significant amount of time at the dealership. I sincerely hope the 564 proves me wrong over the long term, but based on our experience so far, I do not have the same confidence in this platform that I have in our established Husqvarna and Stihl professional saws.
For that reason, I would emphatically recommend NOT purchasing a 564 online.
Buy this saw from a local authorized Husqvarna dealer. Husqvarna dealers are widespread, and with a completely new fuel injected platform, having a relationship with a competent local dealer is worth far more than whatever you might save ordering one online. You are buying more than a chainsaw. You are going to need someone who can diagnose it, update it, obtain parts for it, and get it back into service when something goes wrong.
If you are a homeowner who wants the newest chainsaw technology simply because it is interesting, the 564 may have some appeal. If you are a professional who needs a saw to earn money every day, I would wait until this platform has accumulated considerably more real world hours and Husqvarna has had time to work through the inevitable problems that come with an entirely new system.
After waiting nearly a year, the 564 XP G simply was not worth the wait for us. It wasn’t worth the hype either. Husqvarna built expectations for a major advancement in professional chainsaws, but what we received feels more like additional complexity wrapped around performance we already had.
For now, our proven MS 261s and 550 XP Mark II will continue getting considerably more work.
