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Echo CS-352 Odds and Ends

Started by NorCalKuma, July 02, 2019, 06:44:22 PM

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NorCalKuma

After some research I decided to purchase an Echo CS-352. The saw was bought on ebay and should arrive next week.  I have owned a few saws over the years but nothing less then a 42cc. The lightweight advantage is the primary reason for the cs352. However, only having 34cc has given me some concern.  Then I read about MM's and have seen a couple pre and post MM vids and think it looks ok for 34cc.  But, my property is full of oak so how will it perform with oak.  Well once again youtube comes through:



echo cs-352 on solid red oak - YouTube


The cs352 in the vid is most likely moded as the owner has other vids of MM chainsaws. Also, gotta chuckle with the operators attire and coordination.


The decision to MM has already been made. Its just a matter of how long to wait, how many tank fulls of gas, and how much internal muffler to remove.  The question of how much internal muffler to remove got me thinking. Many say not to remove everything is the engine needs some back pressure. Others say its not necessary. After more thought I decided to research what non-EPA countries cs352 have for a muffler and found this:  








 

lxskllr

I completely gutted the cat in my cs400, but left all the stamped metal alone aside from a couple louvers under the redirect plate on the outside of the muffler. Also removed the spark arrestor. The muffler on my 362cm isn't much more than an empty can. I think you'd be fine doing just about anything as long as you're left with a semi closed can over the exhaust port.

ladylake


 The first thing to do is make sure its not tuned lean before cutting wood with it,  then cut some bigger wood with the clogged up muffler so you can tell how much it gains after opening it up.   Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

Fishnuts2

I now have two CS-352's, with the first one having the cat removed and retuned, and the latest one is all stock yet.  I guess I should run both in the same wood to see the difference before cat surgery.  They're nice little saws, and are my preference over other sub-40cc saws that I've had and run.

NorCalKuma

Quote from: ladylake on July 03, 2019, 06:24:53 AM

The first thing to do is make sure its not tuned lean before cutting wood with it,  then cut some bigger wood with the clogged up muffler so you can tell how much it gains after opening it up.   Steve


Like this:

Remove limiters first

Tune in wood

Run a couple tanks of gas

Remove cat

Tune in wood



Should the mixture be increased to 40:1? Or due to re-tuning it right away and addressing the lean issue 50:1 is good?  My other saw runs 40:1 and prefer to keep things simple with one mix. The other saw is MM and tuned in wood so maybe it could run 50:1 also?  

I already have some non-ethanol VP-SEF Multi-Mix 40:1/50:1 canned gas.  I run ethanol gas (no choice with that) treated with Stabil 360. When the last cuts are about to happen I use the canned gas to rinse out the ethanol mix and to store the saw.

btw  -  read oil threads and am thinking 50:1 will be good for both saws. Well,  then again, other oil threads say 40:1 is the way to go. lol


ladylake


 Sounds good. 

  I run 40 to 1 but don't think 40 or 50 to 1 makes much difference.   Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

kenskip1

This operator is asking for trouble. A cigarette, shorts,no gloves or hearing protection.A apparently he has not witness a chainsaw accident. I have and it was a bloody mess.
Stihl The One
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NorCalKuma

The cs352 was delivered. Weighed it on the scale - 10 lbs 4 ounces with 16" bar.  The 46cc Craftsman 18" weighed 15 lbs.  And thats with the cat removed. lol   The scale maybe off a few ounces but clearly the weight difference is awesome!

The saw seems nice. The only questionable things upon initial inspection are the throttle lockout and trigger. The plastic seems light duty, time will tell though.

Read a lot about better chains to install.  Seems like an Oregon VXL is good or the Stihl PS3 is better.  For home owner that cuts maybe 2 cords of Oak, sometimes dirty, a year is the Picco worth the extra $$?  And would this be the correct Picco?


-----------------

Stihl 16" 63PM3 Chainsaw Chain Loop (3/8LP x .050) 56 Drive Links, 63PM356
SKU
STL 63PM356

Swiss made OEM chainsaw chain from Stihl. Stihl saw chain is made for the most demanding cutting conditions and is loaded with professional features. Stihl chain has Oilomatic drive link lubrication slots, which funnels oil directly to the rivet to reduce wear. Stihl chain is also pre-stretched at the factory, which helps eliminate excess adjustments during break in periods. 63 PM3 is part of the Picco Micro 3 series chains. This chain has reduced kickback and low vibration features. 63 PM3 has semi-chisel cutters which are easy to sharpen and it will stay sharp longer than a chisel chain.

------------------


Echo says cs352 uses 57 DL.  Could not find a Picco with 57 DL.   The Oregon program says a 57 DL fits oem bar. Does not say that about the 56 DL chain options.  Also, I will be using a pferd to sharpen the chain.


I appreciate every ones help. I realize this saw has been out for several years and this maybe old stuff to discuss...


btulloh

Quote from: NorCalKuma on July 05, 2019, 12:26:14 PMThe 46cc Craftsman 18" weighed 15 lbs.


That's a lot of weight for a 46cc saw.  It must be old enough to belong in a museum.

Good luck with your new saw.
HM126

NorCalKuma

Quote from: btulloh on July 05, 2019, 12:35:15 PM
Quote from: NorCalKuma on July 05, 2019, 12:26:14 PMThe 46cc Craftsman 18" weighed 15 lbs.


That's a lot of weight for a 46cc saw.  It must be old enough to belong in a museum.

Good luck with your new saw.
Weight is with bar and chain. Its just a typical MTD/Chinese/Remington/Craftsman.... all metal saw.    Same as those ebay chinese saws that can be bought for $80.   Didnt know that or would have bought one of those for 1/2 the price. lol    

CS352 chain suggestions anyone? :)  

"Read a lot about better chains to install.  Seems like an Oregon VXL is good or the Stihl PS3 is better.  For home owner that cuts maybe 2 cords of Oak, sometimes dirty, a year is the Picco worth the extra $$ ? "

lxskllr

I have a 25' reel of Stihl pm I save for "good" cutting, and a 25' reel of WoodlandPro(Carlton) semichisel I keep for beater duty. I like both better than Oregon. Stihl chain is hard, and takes a good edge, Carlton is cheap, and harder than Oregon, but not as hard as Stihl.

My goal with my small saw collection is to standardize as much as possible, and not necessarily have peak performance. My work is predominantly dirty, so aside from a couple loops I've accumulated, I stick to semichisel chain. If I got a saw in .325, I'd seriously consider converting it to 3/8 or 3/8lp to reduce chain variables.

I mention this so you know where I'm coming from. From a pure performance perspective, I'm sure I could do better, but what I have will plod along, and get the job done with little fuss. Russian engineering vs German engineering. I'm more aligned with the Russian ethos.

NorCalKuma

Quote from: lxskllr on July 06, 2019, 11:37:56 AM
I have a 25' reel of Stihl pm I save for "good" cutting, and a 25' reel of WoodlandPro(Carlton) semichisel I keep for beater duty. I like both better than Oregon. Stihl chain is hard, and takes a good edge, Carlton is cheap, and harder than Oregon, but not as hard as Stihl.

My goal with my small saw collection is to standardize as much as possible, and not necessarily have peak performance. My work is predominantly dirty, so aside from a couple loops I've accumulated, I stick to semichisel chain. If I got a saw in .325, I'd seriously consider converting it to 3/8 or 3/8lp to reduce chain variables.

I mention this so you know where I'm coming from. From a pure performance perspective, I'm sure I could do better, but what I have will plod along, and get the job done with little fuss. Russian engineering vs German engineering. I'm more aligned with the Russian ethos.
Less is best, agreed. My original larger saw is .325 and already have an extra chain for it and a pferd .325 sharpener.  Does not make sense to invest in a 3/8 on it.  Now that its my backup saw, it will not get used much.  But, if the cs352 could run a .325 I'd use the oem 3/8lp chain up then make the switch on it to .325.  But, that cant happen for several reasons.

lxskllr

To more directly answer your question, I'd get Stihl pm chain. If you're only cutting a couple cords/year, the added expense won't be that great. You could also try a loop of Carlton for little cost. Since your saw came with Oregon, you'd have a good representation of the quality players currently on the market, then make up your own mind.

Generally speaking, semichisel will hold up to dirt better than full chisel, but won't cut as fast. I haven't tried them back to back in the same wood to judge which gives the better time(Time spent with a file in your hand negates to some extent the quicker cut through the wood), but my feeling is semichisel would be faster overall.

NorCalKuma

I used the cs352 yesterday and was very disappointed. It stalled a lot when idling. After about every 10th-15th cut the saw would return to idle then die. And it would take 3-4 pulls to restart. It was also a bit slow, hesitant, from idle to mid to high speed. After 10 mins of this non sense I bagged it for the day and moved onto something else.

This morning I decided to take advantage of removing the limiters and tune the saw. But, before that, I took a look at the muffler and decided to do a minor mod. Their is a deflector at the output of the muffler that redirects half the exhaust at ninety degrees back into the other half of the exhaust flow. I removed that, left the spark arrestor in place, then tuned the low speed and idle. I also tuned Hi speed in the wood. The saw runs very good now and given the weight to power ratio, I really like it.

The largest branches that needed attention were not over 8 inches although clearly the saw is capable of more. And, it was actually fun to throw around this light of a saw. I should have bought a second smaller saw years ago   8)




 

ladylake

 
 I think Echo clogs up the muffler on purpose to get by EPA regs but they sure make it easy to open them up like the deflector on this one .  Also come tuned lean for the same reason.  Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

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