Stihl-Husky-Echo Saws

[Reptile]

Now correct me if i'm wrong when it comes to the Stihl-Husky debate its better to go with whats easier serviced in your area. Now I have heard that Echo has droped there prices on there med to larger saws to get them in the hands of the pros. I have the Echo Cs-300 and love it but why do the big boys avoid the larger Echoes. I have noticed the commercial Stihl warrenty is for 3 months and the Echo is 1 year , I don't own a husky so i'm not sure of thee warrenty. Can you guys elaborate on this a little or alot what ever your hearts content is . Thanks Paul

[Kevin]

My reason is I like dealing with one place.
I have Husqvarna and Stihl saws, the same dealer handles both makes.
Echo seems like a contender, the price makes them very attractive.
I guess they all have their good points and faults.

[Lorax]

My Husqvarna 3120XP that I bought in March came with a 2 year warranty.  The price was several hundred dollars less than the Stihl 088 and the warranty was 8 times longer.  These were the 2 major reasons that I went with the Husky over the Stihl.  So far I have been very pleased with the Husky's performance.

[Reptile]

Is the Husky a 1 yr commercial warrenty. If it is its the same as the Echo and then the Stihls are lagging behind in that area. Thanks Paul :

[Kevin]

Here's the Stihl warranty ...
http://www.stihlusa.com/warranty.html

[Mark M]

Echo used to have a 2 cylinder chain saw. Anybody ever see one? I don't think they make them anymore.

I have a Echo brushsaw/weedeater. It almost always starts the first pull. I recently started using it after it had sat for several years and DanG if it didn't start the first pull. 8)

Mark

[SasquatchMan]

Reptile, I think a lot of it has to do with dealers, as you've noticed.  For instance, where I live, there's a Stihl dealer in each of the 4 directions within 30 km of me.  There's Husky dealers north and east, and further south.  There's an echo dealer 20 minutes north, and the closest Dolmar (or are echo and dolmar the same?) is the Makita dealership an hour south of me.  So I bought a Stihl.

You could plop a Toyota dealership anywhere around here, and the farmers would continue to buy Fords, for no reason other than that everyone does....

The "newer" saws are offering better warranties (and quite possibly better products!) in order to lure the diehard users of the other brands.  In 30 years, probably the debate will be between OleoMac and Echo...

[jokers]

Hi Reptile/Paul,
The main reason that pros don`t use Echo is that their mid to large saws don`t perform as well as larger Stihls and Huskies. The only "off" brands that offers anything competitive to a bigger Stihl or Husky in my opinion are the new Dolmars and Solos but the Solos are behind by about a decade in design.

Efco/Oleo Mac have a pretty good looking 62cc saw but their others are too heavy and require tools for filter cleaning. They don`t rev like a pro Husky or Stihl either. That may be something that you don`t miss until you`ve had it and it`s gone, but it`s a factor for most pros.

Another important factor is quality antivibe. Husky/Jonsered and Dolmar have the best on the market. Stihl is a close second while all of the other brands that I am familiar with either buzz too much or they feel spongy.

I could go on with my opinions but they are only my opinions. It`s too bad that Echo`s designs seem so dated. I owned and ran several Echos in the early eighties as I explored alternatives to the European saws. They were very well made as they seem to be now, but the current design and construction mimics that technology from 20 years ago.

Russ

[slowzuki]

I got a 2 yr warrantee on my new stihl by buying a 6 pack of mix oil for a few bucks when I got the saw.  I don't know if this is available everywhere?
Ken

[DanG]

I can't offer any input on the comparison, but I just want to say I'm really pleased with my Echo 6700. It is a real Cadillac compared to the Poulans and Macs I had used before, but then, we already knew that, didn't we? :D

[Stephen]

Mark M,
I worked at a saw shop 16yrs ago selling Echo, Sachs Dolmar and Husky and repairing anything else we could.

Echo was a good saw but there were alot of small screws and parts to them. At that time they were selling off the twin cylinder. It had a low flat profile so it wasn't balanced like most saws. The pistons were opposing, one plug forward, one by the hand grip. It wasn't a big saw, maybe 60cc, but it ran very smooth, it would idle on a concrete floor and never move.

The Husky-users are as Sasquatch said about the farmers and Ford. Some owners would complain about the price of a sparkplug and carb kit. The Pro-Husky owners would have us replace crank, piston, cylinder, bar, chain and a carb kit spending 75% of a new saw. They'd leave happy and come back again.

My two cents,
Stephen

[Gus]

I had know idea ANYONE built a twin cyl. chainsaw. These twin echo's, were they a decent saw? I would think they'd be expensive to build? Interesting!

Gus