chainsaws

[TimberMcPherson]

The echos are great value for money. They are very reliable and well built and although they lack cutting speed at times, they probably offer better bang for your buck than the others. ie if you had a budget to equip your guys with saws and had 4000 you could get more saw for you money.

The echos are good saws, they will get the job done but are not top of the line. Guys on this site are incredibly knowledgeable and know there gear well, but/and they like good gear, and the top of the pile is held by husky, stihl and dolmar.

I worked for a company that was tight on gear (here theres a $470 difference between a stihl MS200 and echo CS350T), we had alot of echos, they got the job done, made us money and were good saws, but they werent quite as "nice" as the stihl and husky gear.

 

[SLlandscape]

Never knew gander carried stihl...at least the one up here doesnt. They did have a scag mower on dispay for a while, but that was short lived. I have always shyed away from buying from the big box stores, like supporting the little guy power equipment dealer then the big chain stores. I would definatly learn how to do all the work on your own saws. I dont know about dropping a saw off to Gander to have work done on it if need be. Not trying to bash the store, love it, get a lota good stuff there for hunting...been there quite frequently actually in the past 3 weeks getting ready for bow season, which starts tomorow here in NY. Good luck with whatever saw you end up getting.

They don't do service on any Stihl machines. they send your saw to an "authorized servicer" and you get your saw back whenever it comes back(the guy I talked to said "usually 3-4 weeks").
The local store has people who are trained in Stihl, Toro, Echo, Walker, and Exmark.


Thanks for the advice guys

 

[pbtree]

Well, it sure looks like POS......opcorn:

opcorn:

 

[limelakephoto]

If you want an echo get one. They are great saws. Basic maintenance and they damn near last forever. I use my echo a fair amount and love it, no real complaints about it. I also use a husky and love it. The Husky is more powerful but....much heavier and harder to start. The echo is light, plenty of power, easy to start and manouver. Husky comes out for cuttin' down the really big lads, then the echo comes out once it's down and stays out for most of the work. What i am saying is, I would rather work a little longer and still have my back and shoulders at the end of day with an echo. The Husky is a sick-powerful saw but heavy and harder to start. Just stay away from the echo cs-306, good reliable saw but low power (too low).

 

[Wood Doctor]

If you want an echo get one. They are great saws. Basic maintenance and they damn near last forever. I use my echo a fair amount and love it, no real complaints about it. I also use a husky and love it. The Husky is more powerful but....much heavier and harder to start.

The echo is light, plenty of power, easy to start and manouver. Husky comes out for cuttin' down the really big lads, then the echo comes out once it's down and stays out for most of the work. What i am saying is, I would rather work a little longer and still have my back and shoulders at the end of day with an echo. The Husky is a sick-powerful saw but heavy and harder to start. Just stay away from the echo cs-306, good reliable saw but low power (too low).

Thanks for the support. This is one time that I think that SawTroll is dead wrong calling this chainsaw a POS. This saw is anything but that. I wager that SawTroll has never used the Echo CS3900 chainsaw and is firing from the hip.

I have used this saw for 10 years and it is marvelous. As I said in my post, Echo no longer makes it. Regardless, I am glad that I own it, and it is the general-purpose workhorse of my arsenal.

 

[SLlandscape]

If you want an echo get one. They are great saws. Basic maintenance and they damn near last forever. I use my echo a fair amount and love it, no real complaints about it. I also use a husky and love it. The Husky is more powerful but....much heavier and harder to start. The echo is light, plenty of power, easy to start and manouver. Husky comes out for cuttin' down the really big lads, then the echo comes out once it's down and stays out for most of the work. What i am saying is, I would rather work a little longer and still have my back and shoulders at the end of day with an echo. The Husky is a sick-powerful saw but heavy and harder to start. Just stay away from the echo cs-306, good reliable saw but low power (too low).

thanks for the info. I'm thinking of getting the CS-330T with a 14" bar. Right now I have a Poulan Pro:jawdrop: . Yeah I know, it doesn't have the most power, but it was given to me, so why argu. I've had it for 2 years and it's done pretty good so far. only complaint is that it runs on gas (ha ha).

 

[Nailsbeats]

Hey Nails,

There's a Gander Mountain (smaller version of Bass Pro Shop) an hour form where I live, and they have a Stihl 192t for $399.99 before tax and a 200t for $599.99 before tax. A local store in the same city has both saws, but each is $80 more in price. No one else in my area sells Stihl saws or anything Stihl related. That's why I ask if anyone knows where I can get one a little cheaper. As I said before, if I can get some of my reptiles sold I could buy 2 or 3 of them. By the way I have been landscaping for the past 4 years. Last year I started doing tree care work, because I saw an opportunity. Only 2 other people in my town do tree work. But these 2 use extension ladders or they go rent a scissor lift. Even then they still turn down most of their calls because of location or the size of tree. I know for a fact that neither one of them is ISA certified, and if you were to see some of the trees they have trimmed you would have a heart attack and smoke would come out your ears.


Those are both whore house prices around here. 192 is $299 and 200 is $529. Check on e-bay, might be something there resonable.

Tell ya what, I don't know how some of these jokers get any calls. Tis' the nature of the biz though.

 

[windthrown]

Mostly low powered POS, not really pro saws at all.

:agree2: :agree2:

Some of the TH models are OK, but over time, and a lot of use, even the cheaper Stihls shine though above the Echos. ie., the 180 or the 210. I have used some 300 and 3000 size Echo saws to death. Literally. They are good saws, but after a while the plastic fails, screws strip, stuff gets lost. And the tiny bar nuts are always getting lost. I have yet to use a smaller 300 size (top or rear handle) Echo that has the original pair of baby bar nuts. I have a Stihl 020AV that is what, 35 years old now, and it is complete, starts and runs great, is stihl fixable, has no missing parts, and cuts like crazy. I cannot imagine having an Echo that old.

My brother loves his Echo, and he wants to get another one with the Poulan Wild Thing sale proceeds. For the price, they are good saws. They take a beating, and they will hold up for a few years. But over time I have found them to be more problematic, with starting (they like to flood) and tweeking them to stay alive as they start to fade. Then of course there are the outboard clutches, and that is when I drop all thoughts of ever owning an Echo chainsaw again. I also do not like the tiny choke pop-out on them, and they are hard to get right to start.

As an example of using them lately, my brother cut down some old arborvitae (cedar shrubs) the other day here. The Echo threw the chain 3 times, and did not have the power to get through the tough center stumps. So I whipped out my beater 025 with the low profile bar on it and semi-sharp chain, and it sailed right through. No chains tossed, and the power to finish the job, and in like, 2 minutes. Now, I am no longer a huge fan of the 250 line of Stihls any more, but they are better saws. You can get the parts off of pretty much any 021, 023, or 025, 210, 230 or 250 and it will fit right on any of them. They are not that much more expensive than the Echos of the same size ($300 vs $200). Comparing the designs, and working on them, I would rather work on the Stihls (even though I do not like working on that design type myself). I have worked on both brand saws a lot, and torn both down. Hard to rebuild an Echo. Which is why they tend to fall apart.

 

[SLlandscape]

The echo I'm currently looking at would not be a permanent saw by any means. If it last the next 4-5 years thats fine with me. Mainly I want a saw that will get the job done regardless of how fast it is or how much Hp it has. And of course, cheapest price possible. Being the small company I still am I take want I can get. With the mechanical knowledge I have, reall I don't mind having to work on something if it breaks or needs a tune up (especially considering how many machines I have already). I've work on everything from rebuilding a string trimmer to replacing the hydraulic pump on a silage tractor and rebuilding a roller mill engine. This year I have done more tree related jobs than last, which has lead me to my decision of rope climbing trees. As I said before, I see an opportunity to make more money because the two other jokers only use an extension ladder or scissor lift, and you can only get so far with that. Plus one of them is not to smart to begin with. about 6 months ago he was hauling a load of branches to the land fill 5 miles outside of town when half way there his load of 10" diamater trunks FELL OFF his flat bed trailer. my buddy on the fire dept. said he did'nt have a single rope, strap, or chain holding down the load. Need less to say, he got a HUGE TICKET form THP.

 

[bushinspector]

We are running the 360 T as a trim saw. This is the saw we are running each time we are cutting. An excellent little saw for the money.

 

[SLlandscape]

We are running the 360 T as a trim saw. This is the saw we are running each time we are cutting. An excellent little saw for the money.

Iv'e been looking around on the net for stihl, echo, and husquavarna saws for sale new or used and found some good prices. today My brother-in-law called and said he found a saw in denver, where he lives. So, at christmas when we go up there I'll get from him. he got it at auction for $125 (Ms 192T). He emailed pictures of it and it looks to be in good condition and it does run. Only one problem with the saw.......... it runs on gas.... bummer!

 

[cmetalbend]

My little Echo 280E is a feistly little thing, I use it up high, doesn't weigh squat and uses 50/1 mix. Like my stihl's. :notrolls2:

 

[SLlandscape]

Yeah, good luck with that, resonable price and Stihl don't belong in the same sentence, lol. It's more like premium price period. That should be their new marketing scheme, the premium price guarantee.

Hey nails bought an stihl 192T this afternoon, So far I'm pretty happy with it. I was able to sell a couple of snakes and a ghecko so I figured, why not? Cost me $335. The store is having an end of season sale.

 

[pinemartin]

:agree2:



the 280E has lasted me for 6 years now with 0 problems

 

[SLlandscape]

:agree2:



the 280E has lasted me for 6 years now with 0 problems

I've used some of their other gas machines and they do pretty good but I leaned to stihl for the saw because of research I did on both.

 

[md_tree_dood]

People not mentioning them is what makes me think they are not a good chainsaw. I'm not picky about what I use, I just want a reliable saw that will serve its purpose for as long as possible. I'm picky about the price however, mainly because I'm a relatively small company. I have one part time employee and if something breaks down I'm s.o.l. if I don't have the money to replace it.

"I just want a reliable saw" is why people talk about stihl and husky all the time and don't talk about echos. I've used a few different 3xx and found found that the build quality and the power ratio is such that the cost benefit isn't there. The 200T is the industry standard that all saws are measured by in my opinion and even the husky's don't stand up to it. If price is an issue get a 192 which while not nearly as good as a 200T is a viable alternative if you're not doing a lot of removals or using it very often.

 

[Bearcreek]

All i've used are stihl and echo. The echo's are light but don't have the power of the stihl 200t. I never used a husky climbing saw. Never wanted to. They weigh a ton!

 

[ironman_gq]

the dealer here is going out of the stihl business and all their saws are 15% off. If i had any extra money id get a 192 for trimming around my deer stands. I have a feeling that the discounts will get steeper as the season goes on and they dont sell their expensive stuff

 

[mcoleman88]

I actually looked at the factory specs the other day for both the 200T and whatever the XP Husky climbing saw is and the Husky actually had a little more power and weighed the same. Never ran one but was curious because our Stihl mechanic is a knuckle-head.

 

[webberm249]

is this a good deal for this saw? poulan pro 655

my neighbor has a poulan pro 655 i think it about 100cc, it has a 32 inch bar on it, i have used this saw and it cuts like an animal, it is an older saw but he didnt use it much it still has the original chain that came with it it is still on the saw and has about 75% wear on it, it has been well maintained and starts every time on two or three cranks with the pull style choke, he told me he would give it to me for 425$, just wondering if i would be getting a deal, cant find any info on this saw, any input appreciated, thanks.....