Husqvarna / Gas / Professional

Husqvarna 545 Mark II

Name: Husqvarna 545 Mark II
Brand: Husqvarna
Price: 640 USD
Availability: InStock

50cc class

50.1cc

Engine

2.7 kW rated

16 in

Bar

cuts to about 14 in

11.7 lb

Weight

powerhead only (excl. cutting equipment)

~$640

approx., with 16" bar and chain

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Same 50cc chassis and same 11.7 lb powerhead as the 550 XP Mark II, 0.3 kW less output, roughly $110 less money — that is the entire 545 Mark II proposition, and for most buyers it is the smarter half of the pair. It keeps the parts that matter: AutoTune, the magnesium crankcase, the pro-grade anti-vibe, and a 13-20 inch bar range. What it gives up is the last slice of top-end that only shows up when a saw is run flat out all day, which is exactly the duty cycle most firewood cutters never reach. Ships on a 16-inch bar, where the 550 XP Mark II ships on 18. Worth noting the gauge: the 16 and 18-inch builds run .058 chain while the 20-inch build runs .050, so check which you bought before ordering spare loops.

Best for: Firewood cutters and part-time pros who want the 550 XP Mark II's chassis and AutoTune without paying for the last 0.3 kW.

Specifications

Engine class: 50cc class (by displacement)
Engine: 50.1 cc
Rated power: 2.7 kW
Bar length: 16 in
Bar range: 13-20 in
Single-pass cut: about 14 in (bar minus 2)
Chain: .325" pitch / .058" gauge (X-Cut S35G; .050" S35G on 20" builds)
Weight: 11.7 lb, powerhead only (excl. cutting equipment)
Power type: Gas
Use case: Professional
Warranty: 2-year consumer / 1-year commercial (Husqvarna limited)
Model: 545 Mark II

Manufacturer figures except the engine class and single-pass cut, which are derived here. What each spec means

550 XP chassis for ~$110 less
AutoTune, no carb screws
50.1cc at 11.7 lb

Where it is strong

Shares the 550 XP Mark II's magnesium crankcase and anti-vibe at a meaningfully lower price
AutoTune compensates for altitude, fuel and filter condition with no screwdriver
11.7 lb powerhead for 50.1cc is pro-class power-to-weight
Rated to a 20-inch bar, so there is real headroom over the 16 inches it ships with
Dealer-channel parts and service, with the same X-Cut chain as the rest of the 50cc pro range

Where it falls short

Gauge changes with bar length — .058 on 16 and 18-inch builds, .050 on 20-inch — an easy ordering mistake
0.3 kW down on the 550 XP Mark II for $110 less — the narrowest power gap in Husqvarna's 50cc range
AutoTune needs a dealer with diagnostic gear for deep fuel-system service
Dealer-only distribution, so no big-box price shopping or same-day exchange
$640 is a lot of money beside the 450X Rancher for buyers who cut a few cords a year

Written from the spec sheet and the maker's documentation. What owners report is summarised separately below.

What owners say

Read from owner discussions, long-term write-ups and dated retail reviews; nothing here was measured on this site.

The 545 Mark II is the 50cc pro saw that firewood cutters buy instead of the 550 XP Mark II, and owners who have run both are unusually consistent about what the money buys. It is the same vertically split crankcase with smaller transfers, a crank without stuffers and a detune aimed at torque lower in the rev range rather than peak horsepower; the honest gap in a timed cut is five to ten percent. Against the Stihl competition the owner verdict leans the same way — people who have worn out 550s and 261s say they would buy the 545, mostly because it has been selling for $200 less than a 261. Owners also note the true Stihl counterpart on paper is the MS 241, not the 261, and that if resale matters the 550 and 261 are the saws everyone actually hunts for.

What owners complain about is starting. The common version is a reluctant first pull after a temperature swing. The bad version is chronic flooding: one owner more than a year in floods it on nearly every cold start and has to brace the saw under his knee holding the throttle to get it lit. Fuel delivery deserves a look before you blame technique, because this saw and its Mark I predecessor generate a steady stream of purge-bulb reports — the bulb filling with air and refusing to pump, a saw that dies when tilted nose-down after it warms up, a clogged line behind a no-fuel symptom. AutoTune makes the idle side of that frustrating: there is no idle screw, so a saw that creeps down and stalls is a diagnostic visit rather than a screwdriver turn. Expect the recoil to buck, and know that the clutch cover's spring will fight you the first time you remove it.

Owners put it on properties measured in acres rather than lots: residential tree work, 10 to 15 cords a year off a small ranch, farm clean-up, a full season of ash and maple. It runs a 20-inch bar as its ceiling and most of them keep a 16 or 18 on it for weight. The split in who should buy it comes down to dealer dependence. One owner reasons that his saws pay for themselves long before the AutoTune ever needs attention, so he would simply pick one up at a big-box store rather than hunt a 550; others point out that a box store gives you an exchange counter where a dealer fuels it, test-runs it and will put it on a diagnostic computer. If you cut rarely enough that the saw sits for a year at a time, owners in those threads steer toward a simpler carbureted saw instead.

What owners like

The best single piece of evidence for this saw is one owner four years in who has felled, bucked and limbed well over 300 ash, maple and poplar trees across several properties on 20-inch and 16-inch bars, and who has done nothing to it but sharpen the chain and clean it periodically. That is firewood-volume work on a 50cc saw with no repairs attached to the story.
It is light enough that the tank, not the operator, is the limit. One owner cut a rank of wood in a day and says he can cut with it all day without getting worn out, and that low fatigue is the reason people pick it over a 60cc saw for bucking rounds and limbing.
Owners who have run both this and the Stihl MS 261 mostly keep the Husqvarna. One who has owned and worn out both 550s and 261s says he would take the 545; another who ran both bought the 545 and calls it hard to beat for the money; a third thinks that when it comes down to actual cutting the 545 can edge the 261. The price gap drives it — street prices of roughly $550 to $620 against $779 for a 261 at the same time.
It is a detuned 550 XP rather than a cheapened one. Owners describe the same vertically split crankcase, smaller transfers, a crank without stuffers and a slightly different carburetor, and they put the real-world gap at five to ten percent in a cookie race. The 545 also gets what one owner calls a better starter pulley that makes it easier to pull over than the 550.
The detune is toward grunt rather than revs, and firewood cutters like that trade. Owners say the 545 makes its power lower in the band, outruns the 50cc homeowner class such as the Stihl 290 and 271 outright, and will almost hang with a 460 Rancher. One owner sold a Stihl 291 for a 545 Mark II and calls it an improvement in both power and weight.
AutoTune has earned trust from the people who run it hardest. One owner says his AutoTune saws are the most reliable he owns — more consistent and predictable across a year than even a 372 XP — and that although the system means a trip to a shop with a computer if it ever misbehaves, he has never needed to make that trip.

Common complaints

Starting is the fault that repeats, and it takes two forms. The milder one is a temperature-change quirk several owners mention: the saw is reluctant on the first start after the weather shifts, then fine. The severe one is a flood on nearly every cold start — one owner over a year in primes until the bulb fills, chokes, gets one to three pulls with no catch, shuts the choke to avoid flooding, pulls five more and is flooded anyway, every single time. He starts it braced on the ground under his knee or jammed in a tree crotch while holding the throttle, and says even hot starts are sometimes a problem.
The recoil bucks back hard. Owners warn each other to keep a deliberately firm grip on the rope because, as one put it, some Huskies like to buck back and rip the cord out of your hand.
Fuel delivery through the purge system is a recurring weak point. One owner's primer bulb intermittently fills with air and stops pumping fuel entirely, sometimes coming right after sitting a day; he had already replaced both fuel lines including the return and found no vacuum leak. Another 545 dies the moment it is tilted nose-down once warmed up, and a third needed a clogged fuel line cleared for the same no-fuel symptom.
AutoTune removes the adjustment you want when idle goes wrong. An owner whose saw idles progressively slower until it stalls, then bogs or flares when revved, points out there is not even an idle screw to touch; his dealer replaced a carburetor membrane and the stall was back within an hour of cutting.
The clutch cover is a trap the first time you pull it. Owners who take the cover off to check a dry oiler find the spring inside will not go back around the clutch and the chain stops turning when they try to seat it — a feature of the pro-level saws that catches people who have only worked on homeowner models.

Questions owners ask

Why does mine flood almost every time I try to start it cold?

You are not alone — one owner more than a year in describes exactly that sequence and ends up bracing the saw on the ground under his knee, holding the throttle, to get it lit. Before accepting it as the saw's character, check fuel delivery: this family produces a lot of purge-bulb and fuel-line reports, and a bulb that fills with air or a partly clogged line will make it behave like a flooded engine. Several owners also note a distinct reluctance on the first start after a temperature change that clears once the saw has run.

Is the 550 XP Mark II worth the extra money over this?

Owners who run both say not for most buyers. The 545 is described as an open-port detuned 550 on the same vertically split crankcase, with smaller transfers and no crank stuffers, and the measured difference is around five to ten percent in a timed cut — one owner running a 550 as his truck saw says it is not much more powerful than a 545. The advice from people who have owned both is that if you want a real step up you should save for a 562 Mark II or higher rather than pay for the 550, and that the 545's starter pulley is the easier of the two to pull.

What is the largest bar it will run?

Twenty inches is the ceiling in the manual, and owners confirm it. US saws commonly ship on 20 and European ones on 18, and owners asking about 24 inches get told plainly that this is a 50cc saw. Watch the chain gauge when you buy spares, because it changes with bar length on this model, which has caught owners out buying loops that physically will not fit.

My primer bulb fills with air and stops pumping fuel. What is it?

Owners have chased this one hard. The usual culprits are a clogged fuel line or the return line, and at least one owner fixed the same symptom by clearing the line; another replaced both lines plus the bulb and still had it come and go, sometimes righting itself after the saw sat for a day. A related symptom worth knowing is a warm saw that dies the instant you tilt it nose-down, which points at fuel pickup rather than the bulb. Pressure-test for an air leak before you spend money on carburetor parts.

Can I adjust the idle if it stalls?

No — there is no idle screw on the AutoTune saws, which is precisely the complaint from an owner whose saw idled slower and slower until it stalled, then bogged or flared when revved. His dealer replaced a carburetor membrane and the fault returned within an hour of cutting. Deep fuel-system work on these needs a shop with the diagnostic software, so factor dealer access into the purchase; owners who do their own carburetor work tend to buy a conventionally carbureted saw instead.

Drawn from 8 owner threads and long-term reviews, kept on file with this entry.