When we got to try the Husqvarna 572 XP professional chainsaw back in October 2018 we noted it was the first model to come fitted as standard with the company’s latest C85 X-Cut full chisel chain. We liked the saw, but what about the chain? Here we take a closer look at this new Husqvarna chain … to gauge how it stands up to intensive use and repeated sharpening

Husqvarna lent us its nominal 60cc 562 XP professional saw to really put the new C85 X-Cut full chisel chain to the test. Set to replace Husqvarna H42 chisel chain as the default fit to its latest XP saw models, C85 X-Cut 11 is manufactured by the company in a new factory in Sweden and has been developed to improve on its current professional chains in a number of key areas. These include the new chain cutting to its full potential right ‘out of the box’ and for it to maintain performance longer between the need to re-sharpen. We devised a straightforward way to put this to the test: compare H42 and C85 X-Cut back to back, instructing those operating the saw and chains to record how they got on. Over a period of weeks, the saw and chains were subsequently put to intensive use both on farm and in a woodland management project in Wales.