echo 4910

[bluthum]

When I joined this forum some one told me that chainsaws can be addicting. I snorted at that notion, having been content with only having 2 running saws at a time for over 40 years. Since then I admit to being addicted and keep several running saws. My excuse is that as I've grown older and punier I have greater need to match the saw to the work. Like 30-40-50-60 cc steps. Ranch grade saws suit my needs fine these days.

Anyway to the point, I had a new gap at 50cc level so I bought an Echo 4910 yesterday. I'm liking it a lot so far, particularly the outstanding balance, light weight and decomp feature, critical to puny geezer production. The saw seems a little anemic for 50 cc especially at low end torque but it's only had 2 tanks so hopefully it will perk up. Seems the carb is fully adjustable and rpm settings are given in the manual. Oddly I can't find any mention of HP even on Echo website.

Other oddity is the oregon versacut bar [by request they swapped out the 18" supplied for a 20"]  has an aluminum center lamination and a nonreplaceable sprocket tip but no grease hole.   the Oregon website has no explanation for that. Strange, I suppose the theory is bar oil will lube the sprocket?

[sawguy21]

That is the theory. Once the tip is greased it attracts crud which has to be flushed out with more grease. Most consumers will never use the saw enough once the novelty wears off to worry about it.

[bluthum]

Thanks sawguy21, I respect your knowledge. I pondered trying to drill a greasing hole but maybe I'll just try it as intended. It does go against my grain not to grease the tip. Back in the 70's when sprocket tips first came into my life I complained to the farm store that the new fangled sprocket bars didn't seem to hold up as well as the hard nose and the guy said "are you greasing them?" "Grease it?", I said.  I've been devoted to grease  since. But modern bars are far better today it seems.

[lxskllr]

I've never greased a tip, and Stihl bars don't come with a hole. Regarding the saw's power... I think there's a stove pipe insert in the muffler. Try taking that out. Access it from the spark arrestor cover. You can remove that too if you don't cut in fire hazard areas.

[beenthere]

No grease hole for my two Stihl rollomatic bars. My first Stihl 041 (new '75) had a 20" Windsor bar with a hole to grease the roller tip. It held up well over the life of that saw. But heard often that my greasing didn't really help, but may hinder longevity.

[bluthum]

News to me that there's a big name no greasing camp, very  interesting. I've been around no greaser fans but just thought they were uninformed. My ignorance exposed. I didn't realize Sthil was in that camp till now as obviously they have major skin in the game plus expertise and engineering so it's hardly a cult or uninformed notion.

Echo maybe on the fence, the 590 I bought last year has a big grease hole in the Echo branded bar. I don't recall if the manual said to use it. I don't think the 4910 manual gives any bar maintenance past auto oil and clean the groove.

 Strange the industry haven't sorted that out before now, the last Husky plus those before I bought new had a greasable tip and seems like the manual gave the every other tank advice. I'd suppose based on that the answer isn't black and white or may be a moving target based on details. Interesting argument but seems not worth losing sleep over if the big boys can't decide.

[Old saw fixer]

Back in the day I greased the bar on my SXL12 Homelite, but the Stihls that followed that didn't have a grease hole so that was that for greasing. 
To keep on point, when my 017 Stihl went in hospice care I replaced it with an Echo 3510 and am happy with it.

[bluthum]

I have an 017 Sthil which I don't use much and had assumed it had a solid nose bar since it lacked a grease hole. I looked at it yesterday and discovered to my surprise it is a sprocket nose. I'm a little surprised that I didn't know there was a no grease camp until I started this post. You don't know what you don't know........

[RCBS]

The 18" Husky bars I used to purchase had the hole, the new ones do not.  Have recently purchased Makita and Tsumara (Total branded) bars.  The 28" OEM Mak bar has a hole, while their 20" does not.  Tsumuras have em. (16, 18,20,24)  Neither of my small bars have them and they are newer.  Echo 12" on a pole and an electric 10" Makita top handle.

[bluthum]

Sounds more and more like the no grease theory is gaining support from the industry. 

Of course, that could be because people don't grease their greaseable tips or rather because it doesn't help, no way I could ever figure that out. I suppose I'll go on greasing bars with holes and not worrying about the others.

I needed a new tip greaser a couple years ago and had a hard time finding one on a reasonable deal, perhaps that was some writing on the wall. 

[schmeg]

You want to perk that saw up? Pull the cylinder, delete the base gasket and glue the cylinder down with Motoseal or equivalent, do a simple muffler mod by pulling the tube inside the muffler by unscrewing the deflector, then open up the front of the deflector with a Drexel tool or a file. You can still run the spark arrestor screen. Then pull the carb limiters and do a proper carb tune. That will wake that saw right up. I know, I have one.

[ButchC]

I am not an Echo basher, I own a couple, but enemic best discribes most any box stock Echo I have ever run as compared to a similar sized Stihl or Husky.  Then only one I have run that impressed me size for size in stock form was a 510. 

[ladylake]

 Yes most new Echo saws are dogs as they come with a clogged up muffler and lean tuning.  Open up the muff and tune good they wake up real good.   Steve

[bluthum]

I certainly appreciate all the advice and comments. The saw has picked up power notably with some run time. 

I likely will tinker with the exhaust. I think I'll try a carb tune with a tach eventually and see if it can be done without fooling with the limiters. I suppose removing the limiters would void the warranty?

Not likely I'll do a base gasket delete, I'm past the stage of wanting to seriously work on chainsaws unless a have to case. Cataracts may be an influence there.  

[lxskllr]

I wouldn't worry much about the warranty. The little bit I read said it's a hassle to make a claim. One of those companies that does what they can to avoid paying out. So, to answer your question, anything that deviates from as-sold condition will give them an excuse to not pay out on a claim.

What /I/ would do if I were concerned with the warranty is leave it stock until one chain is consumed. Anything that's not right from the factory should showup in that time, and if it hasn't, the saw will last indefinitely. I'd then take the stovepipe out of the muffler, and maybe the spark arrestor screen. See if you can tune it with the limiters in place. If not, remove them, tune it properly, and enjoy your saw. Slightly more labor intensive is opening up the muffler more. You can do that if you feel like it, but the previous items should be good enough, and easy as can be.

[Greenhighlander]

I wouldn't worry much about the warranty. The little bit I read said it's a hassle to make a claim. One of those companies that does what they can to avoid paying out. So, to answer your question, anything that deviates from as-sold condition will give them an excuse to not pay out on a claim.

What /I/ would do if I were concerned with the warranty is leave it stock until one chain is consumed. Anything that's not right from the factory should showup in that time, and if it hasn't, the saw will last indefinitely. I'd then take the stovepipe out of the muffler, and maybe the spark arrestor screen. See if you can tune it with the limiters in place. If not, remove them, tune it properly, and enjoy your saw. Slightly more labor intensive is opening up the muffler more. You can do that if you feel like it, but the previous items should be good enough, and easy as can be.

Thank you for that bit of great info.  I have never had to make a warranty claim on my Huskys or Stihls so I am wondering if they are both known as being better customer service wise then Echo ?    
I have thought about pulling the trigger on a cs 590 a few times now.  

[sawguy21]

I sold Echo products and owned a few, never had a warrantable complaint and never heard of them being difficult to deal with. As @lxskllr points out any defects are going to show up quickly. As long as your dealer stands behind what he sells don't worry about it.

[lxskllr]

I don't remember the context of the complaints I've read. It was quite awhile ago, and echo complaints seem rare. I'm sure there's little hassle in dealing with "lemons". You take it back to the store a month later, and they fix/replace it for you. It was probably further down the line, and the issues less clearcut. Doesn't make it right, and as Sawguy said, a good dealer will fix it for you, knowing that removed limiter caps didn't cause the oiler to stop working(as an example).

If you want a 590, you should get a 590. I love my echoes, and think they're the best deal going. They may or may not be the absolute best in whatever class you're comparing, but I think they're all worth more than they cost, and a saw like the 2511T stands alone in it's class.

[motzingg]

I wonder if the nature of the complaints are that Echo are often sold at big box stores, farm stores, etc. than the other name brands? Perhaps they also have more weekend warriors buying them.

I don't have much experince with them but the few i've worked on (trimmers and rototiller) are very chincy, maybe in places that don't matter, things like the plastic shrouds, grips, triggers, stuff like that. Engines seem stout.

I like that most of their stuff still gets a fully adjustable carb, but it seems like they don't put as much effort and money into the engineering and cut corners on fit and finish. Model to model is obviously different but generally they just don't seem as sophisticated for almost the same price as a competitor unit.

[lxskllr]

I had the srm410u brushcutter from echo. It was the biggest one they made. Compared to Husky and Stihl, I'd describe it as "primitive", but it was fully functional, and if used reasonably, should have provided long service. Mine got stolen, so I can't speak to the long term reliability, but I blew out a shaft pushing it far beyond what it was designed for. I wasn't upset. I replaced the shaft, and everything was good again. It would have been nice having bushings available as a separate part# though.

I haven't used their other gear aside from saws, but I'd buy any saw from them without giving it much thought or research. I'd certainly take an echo over the homeowner/farm saws from the big two.

[bluthum]

I very much like the notion of going through a chain before making changes that might void a warranty. That's my new plan.

 My opinion of most warranties on all things is low, they seem to be often void on days ending in "y". I've never had a warranty claim on a chainsaw, for that matter, ever even been disappointed in the long run longevity of a name brand saw. But no doubt it could happen.

I knew a fellow who had a Husky brush cutter that roached the p&c early on, Husky said it was straight gassed. Nada. The guy had to have the saw for a contract so he paid the dealer to rebuild it, a month later Husky gave the dealer back his money. The dealer went to great lengths to find the brush cutter owner who had moved out of state by then, but he was able made it right. That's good business.

I own 2 Echos for the first time in my life. I bought the 4910 based on weight, handling and the decomp button [bad shoulder]. The 590 was value priced at $409, compare that to any other 60cc saw. It has all the power I'd expect but could be lighter. The only complaint I have is the see through gas tanks look a little cheesy and weak, we'll see.