I'm thinking Stihl chainsaws are nothing but hype!

[Litesleeper]

I have a few Stihl's, a few Echo's, a couple of Husky's and a few Homelites. I've gotten great service out of them all.

 

[clr8ter]

I've always liked Stihl. A lot of people say they're hard to start, and I've known people that had that problem, but I've always been able to start them. Just follow the directions. I agree with the post that says the fuel is junk, not the saw. Nothing says you can't run ethanol fuel in it. use pump gas if you're doing a lot of work. When you go to store it, dump the pump gas, and run Tru Fuel or similar into it, and run till there's no more pump gas. Then, store either dry or with fuel. People groan about the price of Tru Fuel, but I call it cheap insurance. Honestly, I run way less than a gallon throughly MS291 every year, so that saw has seen nothing other than VP fuel 50:1 mix. No mixing, running, or storage hassles. Very happy wit the saw. Way more so than the CS400 I used to have.

 

[GrumpyDad]

Echo starts after being stored six months with crap gas on two pulls. Both chainsaw and weed Wacker.

 

[begreen]

Echo 2 strokes are the easiest starters that I have owned.

 

[GrumpyDad]

Echo 2 strokes are the easiest starters that I have owned.

I wasn't expecting much from them to be honest and was surprised. Ok power, but I'm pretty sure I could stick tree leaves in them and they would run. It's not a timber saw, I know but it gets my jobs done.

 

[begreen]

I had an Echo leaf blower. It always started on the first or second pull, regardless of the age of the fuel.

 

[GrumpyDad]

My leaf blower is now an ego. No worries of fuel

 

[Ashful]

I used to own nearly all Echo equipment, including the venerable old 510EVL saw, that I think nearly everyone must've owned at one time or another. They're as reliable as concrete, and nearly as heavy, too.

But that's where my love for them stops. Very poor power to weight ratio, and way too many simple things that they just didn't really seem to put sufficient thought or effort into. Here's one example: On my 510EVL, the gas and oil fillers were tiny screw caps jammed below the chain brake lever, and therefore impossible to even fill without carrying a special funnel with you in the woods.

My Echo saw was under 50cc, but still tipped the scales at 13.2 lb. My 63cc Stihl of similar vintage makes way more power, and weighs only 12.5 lb. Bigger saw, more displacement, more power, less weight... and it has big neck filler caps that can take the nozzle from any gas can or bar oil jug.

Around here, it seems Echo gets a lot of love from landscaping crews, while the dedicated tree services seem to be carrying all Stihl or Husqvarna.

 

[GrumpyDad]

I used to own nearly all Echo equipment, including the venerable old 510EVL saw, that I think nearly everyone must've owned at one time or another. They're as reliable as concrete, and nearly as heavy, too.

But that's where my love for them stops. Very poor power to weight ratio, and way too many simple things that they just didn't really seem to put sufficient thought or effort into. Here's one example: On my 510EVL, the gas and oil fillers were tiny screw caps jammed below the chain brake lever, and therefore impossible to even fill without carrying a special funnel with you in the woods.

My Echo saw was under 50cc, but still tipped the scales at 13.2 lb. My 63cc Stihl of similar vintage makes way more power, and weighs only 12.5 lb. Bigger saw, more displacement, more power, less weight... and it has big neck filler caps that can take the nozzle from any gas can or bar oil jug.

Around here, it seems Echo gets a lot of love from landscaping crews, while the dedicated tree services seem to be carrying all Stihl or Husqvarna.

Yup. My echo is heavy for the power and the gas and oil caps are stupid hard to open without a wide screwdriver or the tool they give you. It's not a pro tool, it's a pro at being reliable and providing simple cutting power. I wouldn't use this if I were a pro, but I love it for what it is. The weed Wacker is commercial quality. It's a tad heavy but I can run it forever and cut down thick thick weeds even with bark on it.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I had a Craftsman branded Poulan saw. That primer bulb always ensured an easy start.

 

[clr8ter]

I used to own nearly all Echo equipment, including the venerable old 510EVL saw, that I think nearly everyone must've owned at one time or another. They're as reliable as concrete, and nearly as heavy, too.

But that's where my love for them stops. Very poor power to weight ratio, and way too many simple things that they just didn't really seem to put sufficient thought or effort into. Here's one example: On my 510EVL, the gas and oil fillers were tiny screw caps jammed below the chain brake lever, and therefore impossible to even fill without carrying a special funnel with you in the woods.

My Echo saw was under 50cc, but still tipped the scales at 13.2 lb. My 63cc Stihl of similar vintage makes way more power, and weighs only 12.5 lb. Bigger saw, more displacement, more power, less weight... and it has big neck filler caps that can take the nozzle from any gas can or bar oil jug.

Around here, it seems Echo gets a lot of love from landscaping crews, while the dedicated tree services seem to be carrying all Stihl or Husqvarna.

This is pretty much my experience, too. My CS400 started very easily, every time. I liked it for that, and the weight seemed ok. But yeah, all the little things after that I hated. Oil filler cap was a miserable POS, inboard chain sprocket made getting the chain on and off a PITA, and a bunch of little things that ended up with the saw being "abused" out of anger. So far, my Stihl has not seen any of that type of abuse.

 

[tlc1976]

I have Poulan saws and a Craftsman. Probably 3/4 of the parts are interchangeable. But the Craftsman seems to be a lot more reliable, maybe better quality parts?

I worked on a couple different Stihls for folks. One was just the gas screen in the carb was plugged with varnish. And it looked like a standard Walbro carb, except for the Stihl logo cast into the cover plate.

The other was a Stihl that was “homeowner grade” or something, it surprised me to find zero adjustment on the carb. That one the exhaust screen was plugged with soot.

 

[begreen]

My leaf blower is now an ego. No worries of fuel

Mine is now battery powered too. I still have my Stihl professional weed eater. It is about 20 yrs old now and has always started, even on old gas. I keep it because it has a pro shoulder harness and handlebars which makes it easier to use for long, springtime cleanups. I just tried out the EGO string trimmer from our Tool Library and was impressed. It munched through tall grass and weeds aggressively. However, the loop handle gets hard on the forearms after about 30 minutes of use. I also tried out the EGO pole saw, but was much less impressed. The chain was wimpy and frequently jumped the bar.

In spring I tried out the EGO mower. It's ok, but super plasticky. It has a curious feature of blade speed control which seems useless. I was not impressed with the cut. It is not as even and clean as our gas mower. I found I had to go over areas twice to even out the cut. I currently have a Dewalt 40v 16" saw checked out. It really struggles to cut 10+" green cherry. My old Stihl Farm Boss would have chomped through this easily, though it was admittedly cranky to start.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

the mower may have had a full blade. I just tackled a bunch of foot tall wet grass with the x bladed ego. I had to go over it twice, but my blades are the original ones, about 2 years of use.

 

[begreen]

the mower may have had a full blade. I just tackled a bunch of foot tall wet grass with the x bladed ego. I had to go over it twice, but my blades are the original ones, about 2 years of use.

Yes, it was a single-blade. It came from the Tool Library so I didn't check sharpness. That could have been the issue. FWIW, our gas mower blades are 4 and 5 yrs old. They have been sharpened once.

It's good to see competition entering into this field. The Toro 22" 60v MAX looks intriguing. So does the Ryobi 40v mower.

 

[Ashful]

I have a love/hate relationship with shoulder straps on string trimmers. I used to always use the shoulder strap, until one day about 20 years ago, when I watched a friend run my old Stihl handlebar rig without it. He grew up on a large property cut out of the woods, and probably put more hours on string trimmers per year than most people will in a lifetime.

Since then, I've gone back and forth, but I'd say most of the last 20 years I've been running string trimmers without the shoulder strap. The last 15 years, that's been a loop handle type with straight shaft, I gave the big handlebar job to a friend in the early 2000's.

 

[begreen]

A complete spring cleanup with the string trimmer is about 3 hrs of work on our property. The weeds and blackberries continue to grow throughout late winter. I have had both loop handle and handlebar trimmers. There is no way I can do the whole circuit in one day with the loop handle but it is doable with the full, shoulder harness and handlebar trimmer. I think for extended trimming a full, padded shoulder harness (not just the simple shoulder loop) is easier on the back and arms. That's probably why they are only on commercial trimmers. However, I know landscapers that work just with the loop handle trimmers. They do have the advantage of getting into harder-to-reach locations and ditches. Mostly they use the loop handle trimmer for cleanup work, less than 30 minutes at a time.

The Pros and Cons of U-Style Handlebar Trimmers vs Regular Handlebar Trimmers | echomeansbusiness.com

www.echomeansbusiness.com

 

[Ashful]

Yeah, I also see landscapers using almost exclusively loop handles, but I suspect they're rarely string-trimming for more than 30 minutes at a time. I'm only trimming 3-4 acres of yard, and it's heavily landscaped, but no way have I ever had to spend multiple hours trimming. I can see why that would be hard on the back and forearm.

I'll have to check out full shoulder harnesses, as the only type I've ever used is the simple one-shoulder sling. I'm not a huge fan of them.

 

[begreen]

The full harness distributes the weight nicely between both shoulders and the hips. That makes a big difference. I had a shoulder sling on a Ryobi 4-stroke years ago. It was a lose-lose situation. The trimmer was heavy, vibrated a lot, and putting a crease on the top of the shoulder did not help. The damn thing's starter recoil also broke a couple of times. I was so glad to get rid of that one and go to a pro Stihl tool.

 

[blades]

Have a crafstman that someone dropped off with a note free no chain brake. 50cc. dug around a bit on the net, found it ordered part - built by Husky. Nice smaller saw, ( well compared to what I work with most of the time) did ok in some 14" Red Oak, It will make a nice liming saw. model is a 50EZ or something to that effect.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The Poulan/Craftsman I had was, I think, 42cc and 18” bar. It had a crazy small chain. I can’t remember the file size. It worked great for small stuff.

 

[tlc1976]

The Poulan/Craftsman I had was, I think, 42cc and 18” bar. It had a crazy small chain. I can’t remember the file size. It worked great for small stuff.

Mine is an 18” bar. Don’t know the CC. The chains in stores are a safety chain, which isn’t as aggressive. I went online and ordered a few “full chisel” chains and it really woke up the beast. It tears through logs like crazy.

 

[Ashful]

The Poulan/Craftsman I had was, I think, 42cc and 18” bar. It had a crazy small chain. I can’t remember the file size. It worked great for small stuff.

One thing that still amuses me is remembering my 1970's Homelite Super EZ-Auto, which ran standard 3/8" chain on only 41cc... and never bogged. The saw was not fast by today's standards, but it had serious "grunt" for its tiny displacement.

It had a smaller bore and longer stroke than what you'd see in a modern saw, which I guess helped with the torque. RPM was only 11k.

 

[blades]

Yep the saws of days gone by were big on torque but lower chain speed.Chain speed is noticable but really not a problem, as they just grunt a little and keep on trucking. new tends to cry mommy. The other problem with these high speed rigs if your bar oil isn't up to snuff you will fry a bar right quick. which for me brings up a pet peeve on the bar oils $$$. that's been hashed out already multiple times.

 

[ABMax24]

Lots of the older saws ran smaller chain drive sprockets too that gave the impression of higher torque, which of course lowered chain speed.

I just want a reed valve, fuel injected 2-stroke with a tuned pipe stock from the factory. Could be the most powerful saw on the market and only be 60cc.