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| $285.00 | Refurbished | | |
| $309.99 | Refurbished | | |
| $339.00 | Used
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| $347.98 | Used
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| $389.99 | Refurbished | | |
| $389.99 | New | | |
| $399.99 | New | | |
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| $457.35 | New | | |
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| $389.99 | New | | |
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| $419.99 | New | | |
| $457.35 | New | | |
| $496.99 | New | | |
| $535.56 | New | | |
| $556.00 | New | | |
| Used | |
| $339.00 | Used
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| $347.98 | Used
- Mint | | |
| Refurbished | |
| $285.00 | Refurbished | | |
| $309.99 | Refurbished | | |
| $389.99 | Refurbished | | |
| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 42 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
72 of 74 found the following review helpful:
 A serious saw, but not a pro saw. Oct 06, 2008
By Ed C. Upper Woodworks
"VelvetHog"
This is my second full season with my 455 Rancher. We have been having a huge issue here in Colorado with pine beetle infestations of lodgepole pine trees. I have been felling and bucking pine for firewood. I've been putting in about 15 hours per week with my Husky saw. It has performed well. The cutting I have been doing has been at 9000 feet elevation and even at this altitude the saw has adequate power for what I've been cutting. Most of the trees I've been dropping are 12" to 24" in diameter. The only negative issues I have encountered can be traced immediately back to the operator of the saw (me!). The biggest problem I've had is that I filed way too much off of the chain rakers. At that point the saw was no longer cutting, but tearing through the wood. I filed the teeth heavily and that problem was solved. The carburetor adjustment takes some learning, but is pretty simple once you get the procedure ironed out (learned) in your head. At 9000 feet I can get it to run sufficiently rich so as to prevent engine damage, but still not smoke much if at all during operation. The last tree I fell was 22" DBH and around 110 feet tall. I felled the tree and bucked it into 18" lengths for firewood in about 1.5 hours. I cut every part of the tree down to 2" in diameter for heating wood. Not bad at all. I would buy this saw again for sure. I had a chance during the late summer to cut about a cord of hard maple into firewood with this saw as well. This was at an elevation of 2000 feet. With a carburetor adjustment the saw was off and running. It did seem to be a bit on the lean side at that elevation, but it never overheated or lost power. This maple was 14" in diameter and the saw had absolutely no problem with the heavy, dense wood.
The biggest limiting factor with any chainsaw is the maintenance and adjustment. Take your time and learn the procedures. No one is born knowing how to properly set-up and use a chainsaw. Proper procedures make ALL the difference. People want instant gratification from anything they buy. A chainsaw is not one of those things.
Conclusion: If you are a serious land-owner user I wouldn't hesitate to buy this saw. It can, when properly set up, mow through some serious lumber in a respectable amount of time. If you are a professional timber faller you aren't even reading this review.
P.S. Some of the other reviewers mentioned the "flimsy" choke and kill switch actuators. I actually consider their flexible nature to be an asset. They bend without breaking. A more rigid tab would break rather than flexing and then snapping back into place. The woods can be a pretty brutal environment when woodcutting is going on. I would prefer to not have a broken piece of plastic be the reason I had to go back 20 miles to town in the middle of the day.
Hope this review is helpful. Cheers!
N.W. Colorado
80 of 83 found the following review helpful:
 Great Saw May 04, 2006
By Bo
"Washington State"
I just picked up a 455 Rancher about a month ago (today is 4 May, 2006). This is a great saw. I had been using for more than 20 years, and still use to some degree a Stihl 028; another excellent saw.
There are some pros and cons to this saw as with all things.
Here's what I like. It's easy to operate and maintain. Accessibility of the under-cowel components such as the air filter, spark plug, and clutch housing is a no-brainer. It starts easy. In fact, you really don't need the pressure valve. It "pops" after a few short and fast pulls. Remember, once the saw "pops" with the choke, un-choke it and pull it again. You do not need to warm a two stroke with the choke on like you would a 4 stroke engine. Attempting to warm with the choke is the biggest cause of two stroke engine flooding.
Here's what I do not like. The low/hi mixture settings are limited by EPA regulations; a complete and total joke. If you remove the controls to optimize your settings, the warranty is void. But, I think it's better to do that than cook engine from lean settings. There aren't enough chainsaws running in any given period of the day to justify this regulation. So if you are a casual user, really pay attention to the break in procedures. Since the saws run lean, you need to make sure to break them in with extra care. If you use them much more frequently, remove the EPA limiters and richen out the hi/low mix, otherwise you will cook your engine.
Overall this is a great saw. The chisel chains do well for heavier applications. Be careful of kickback with these style chains. You can get low-kick back chains from any dealer. It's all a matter of personal preference.
I have outfitted my saw with an Oregon 20" Bar, chain, and rim sprocket. Once again this is a personal preference issue. The power head of the 455 is plenty and the applications many. If you are a causal user of this saw, talk with the folks at the saw shops for tips and ideas. They are a repository of knowledge and can help you make informed decisions about your saw.
-Washington State
39 of 40 found the following review helpful:
Saw works great after 2 months of medium use. Sep 08, 2006
By C. Brunquist
"Local Business Owner"
Living in Alaska heating oil costs can get astronomical. I made a decision this year instead of paying the local lumber yard $125 a cord for split spruce; I would take care of it myself. After the 1st half cord of wood my old McCullough just wouldn't cut it anymore. The local saw shop didn't want to work on it and so I started looking around for a decent saw.
I first purchased a Poulan 18" that was completely worthless. Gas and Oil leaked from the poor cap design while in operation and at rest in it's case. The poulan wouldn't stay running despite all my efforts to get it to behave.
I quickly returned the Poulan and purchased the Husqy 455. I've been very happy with it's performance to date. It chews through White and Black spruce at insane speeds. I've cut 3 cords with it already and the only problem I've had to date is after about 45 minutes of cutting the saw will shut off at idle. I'm assuming this is a possible heating issue. If you let the saw rest for 2 minutes it fires right back up like it never had a problem. The choke handle is indeed very cheap plastic and I'm taking good care to handle it gently.
The saw has already paid for itself and I expect to get many good years of service out of it. All in all it's the best saw I've used to date; but that's comparing it to Poulan and McCullough.
29 of 30 found the following review helpful:
Great Homeowners Chainsaw Feb 07, 2009
By 21st Century Hermit
Pros:
- Easy starting, cold, hot or in between
- Powerful and fast cutting
- Easy manual chain adjust
- Sensitive chain brake
Cons:
- Loud
- Won't load the wood into the pickup
Where I live, dry ponderosa pine goes for about $125 per cord blocked and delivered. I've cut about a dozen cords of mostly dead-fall ponderosa in the 11-months I've owned the 455. The trees have ranged up to 32" caliper but most are 24" or less and I harvest the entire tree down to 2" branches. My wood stove happily consumes all. If one evaluates the effort required to block, load and unload a tree, it goes something like this: 25% cutting into blocks up to 14" long, 5% handling before cutting, 65% loading the blocks and limbs, 5% unloading. Splitting the large blocks into suitable firewood is akin to Tom's fence, ponderosa splits so easily with a 7 lb splitting maul that I look forward to the sessions.
In the dozen plus hours of actual cutting time I have these observations:
- the 455 is not overpowered, having the 20" bar buried its full length in a log and you wish it had more motor.
- the 455 is light enough such that only when cutting at shoulder height or above is weight an issue.
- the 455's spring mounted motor/bar/chain makes vibration a non-issue.
- In hindsight, I would NOT be willing to pay an extra $300 for a lighter more powerful "pro" saw.
A chainsaw is a high maintenance machine, sharpening the chain frequently pays big dividends, you can tell by the chips, big chips = sharp chain, sawdust = dull chain. Chain adjustment is needed with each load along with flipping the bar occasionally. Be sure to clean the bar oil hole when flipping the bar, I didn't once and I could believe how poorly it cut. Don't forget the air filter, it should be checked every few loads.
I got the large orange box to store and transport the saw along with needed tools, $40 well spent. I use about 1:2 ratio of chain oil to gas/oil mix and whenever the gas tank runs dry I top the chain oil tank too. Be sure to use environmentally friendly vegetable base chain oil, used by Husqvarna, etc., not mineral oil. An old toothbrush will aid in cleaning around the caps before filling.
I was heavily influenced by VelvetHog's post. We both cut in Colorado above 8000' and cut firewood. I bought the 455 from a local dealer who spent 30-minutes bench tuning the motor for 8000'. It runs great. I'm clueless how to tune a 2-stroke.
Theirs nothing more frustrating that starting a balky motor and this is the easiest starting 2-stroke I've ever owned. Whether it's because of the dealer tuning or inherent in the 455, can't say. It starts so easy that when I need to set it down to move some wood, I simply flip the red switch. One pull and the 455 is running again and I've never used the compression release. One tip, pull the choke out and push it back in, this will set the high idle and if the motor has cooled for a few minutes it'll make a big difference.
I was cutting a monster log (30-32" OD) into blocks and the chain was binding a bit. The bar kicked almost imperceptibly and the next thing I knew, the chain brake was locked. The chain brake can either lock via the handle or inertia. In this case the imperceptible kick was enough to lock the chain. Love it, error on the side of safety.
BTW, the monster log really exposed the weakness of the 455. Having the 20" bar buried in the log caused it to bog down repeatedly such that I had to constantly fiddle to keep the chain spinning. I've learned my lesson and I'll not attempt anything over 24" again.
At first I didn't wear ear protection and does this Husky ever bark, compared to my 32cc Poulan. I now wear a combo shield - ear muffs and I can barely hear the motor.
See several photos I've added showing before and after cutting.
35 of 39 found the following review helpful:
Fine Saw Jan 03, 2006
By Jarl Admundsen
"Jarl"
Ask anyone who has never run the 455 Rancher, or couldn't identify one by sight if their lives depended on it, and they'll likely tell you how terrible the 455 Rancher is... or that it's a saw that's been on the market for a few years. On paper it's about .7lbs heavier than it's 50-something cc neighbors in the Husqvarna line. On that basis, the experienced professional is likely going to go with the 359 every time. Not only because of the weight factor, but because the 359 is a true professional saw, whereas the 455 Rancher was always intended to fill a gap between the upper end homeowner saws and pro saws.
This isn't a professional saw, but it's a fine saw that's a good choice for serious firewood cutting or whatever you want to throw at it. With an 18" bar, and a good chain, this thing blows through wood like butter and is just as impressive as any of the Husqvarna saws. The wings on the limiter screws for the carb do scream to be saw off with a Dremel, but other than that, it's a good choice for a homeowner who does a fair amount of cutting.
I think that the reputation of this saw may improve significantly in the next year or two as more and more people have the opportunity to actually run one.
See all 42 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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