# CS271T vs T435 vs MS 211 C-BE



## jlynns79 (Jul 25, 2013)

I've been running a Stihl 170 for a while now and it's just not strong enough. I like a light saw. something compact is nice. My 170 has a rear handle and I think I'm ready for a top handle and a little more power.

Ive been to the store and looked at the 271 and 435 I like them both. while reading about them in the forums I came across the 211 and so I have put that into consideration. I'd like to hear some opinions about these saws keeping in mind that I will be using them for carving not climbing and cutting.


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## lumberjackchef (Jul 25, 2013)

It really all depends on the diameter and species of the wood you prefer to use for carving. We carve with anything from 100+cc ported saws with 36" bars to our detail setups that consist of a new ms 201(rear handle version) with a 12" dime tip and my lightest weight saw which is an old style cs345/6(rear handle version) echo with a 10" dime tip. We have a saw in every size class that we do alot of our blocking out with. What is your prefered species and size of wood to work with? If you have leared your detail with a rear handle saw you will have to relearn your conrol if you switch to a top handle saw. Most top handles are available with a rear handle as well.


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## jlynns79 (Jul 28, 2013)

lumberjackchef said:


> It really all depends on the diameter and species of the wood you prefer to use for carving. We carve with anything from 100+cc ported saws with 36" bars to our detail setups that consist of a new ms 201(rear handle version) with a 12" dime tip and my lightest weight saw which is an old style cs345/6(rear handle version) echo with a 10" dime tip. We have a saw in every size class that we do alot of our blocking out with. What is your prefered species and size of wood to work with? If you have leared your detail with a rear handle saw you will have to relearn your conrol if you switch to a top handle saw. Most top handles are available with a rear handle as well.



I've been thinking about switching to a rear handle for just that reason. I have not gotten too comfortable with the top handle yet and I think I will like rear handle better. My 170 is just not powerful enough. The 211 isn''t much different spec wise than the 201 so I'm lost there.
Still my question is. Does the echo have higher rpm? Ive been told the chain spins faster. Is that good? How does that affect carving? Is the Husquavarna a better saw. Everyone a talk to says Hus. is just the way to go but Echo has a whole carving team so what does that say?


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## lumberjackchef (Jul 28, 2013)

jlynns79 said:


> I've been thinking about switching to a rear handle for just that reason. I have not gotten too comfortable with the top handle yet and I think I will like rear handle better. My 170 is just not powerful enough. The 211 isn''t much different spec wise than the 201 so I'm lost there.
> Still my question is. Does the echo have higher rpm?



NO, my little echo is an older version 345/6 I picked it up on fleabay for like 80 bucks. It runs much lower rpms than the 201 that we have. I do very little blocking with the dime tip carving set up though. I do most of my negative removal (small to medium logs) with my Ported ms250 running a 16" minibar and 3/8 picco chain. This setup is the fastest cutting setup of anything else that I have run for blocking in a carving. Plus I can do a tremndous amount of my detail even using this setup now.



jlynns79 said:


> Ive been told the chain spins faster. Is that good? How does that affect carving?


 I like it better actually running lower rpms for detailing and i get twice as much life out of my bars and chains on this saw than I do on higher rpm saws!



jlynns79 said:


> Is the Husquavarna a better saw. Everyone a talk to says Hus. is just the way to go but Echo has a whole carving team so what does that say?


 Its just a matter of opinion. Ask 5 people the same ? and you're likely to get 5 different answers. One of our sponsors is an Echo and Stihl dealer and IMHO echo makes some very good running, durable saws. And yes the echo carving team is phenomenally talented and they carve pretty hardcore with their saws!


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