Best and worst chainsaw?

[walhondingMF]

I got my hands on an Echo battery saw at Bridgeport equipment in Marietta. They carry Echo, Stihl, Husky and now Ego. After handling all the battery saw, I am surprised with the weight. They are not light. I will probably still make the purchase at some point, but I don't see the Echo battery saw replacing my ms170 as a super light, small saw. It will be for convenience if anything and to have a saw between my 14" ms 170 and my 24" 562xp.

 

[IXLR8]

Almost a year ago I picked up an EGO 16" saw to add to my saws, an Echo 14" and a Stihl MS280 18". The EGO is my goto saw 95% of the time. I haven't used the MS280 since I got the EGO and only used the Echo twice. It's been so long that I need to drain and put fresh fuel in the Echo or Stihl before I use them.

 

[ultrarunner]

I got my hands on an Echo battery saw at Bridgeport equipment in Marietta. They carry Echo, Stihl, Husky and now Ego. After handling all the battery saw, I am surprised with the weight. They are not light. I will probably still make the purchase at some point, but I don't see the Echo battery saw replacing my ms170 as a super light, small saw. It will be for convenience if anything and to have a saw between my 14" ms 170 and my 24" 562xp.

I have 3 ms170 replaced with 2 battery Stihl AP series...

The gas saws took a beating with hundred of starts each day at the Christmas Tree farm plus we had a couple of noise complaints in the later evening hours with the gas saws...

Not a direct replacement in all cases... but great for Christmas Tree Farm at Christmas.

 

[lostcause]

I bought a Husqvarna 51 with a 16" bar as my first saw after the ice storm of 98. Used it for everything until I borrowed a larger saw from a friend about 10 years later when I was bucking up 8 cord of tree length hardwood. About then I started doing the mental math on how much of my life I had lost on the end of a smaller saw. I had looked at a 359xp, but by the time I got around to it, that saw was out of production and I ended up going with the 562xp with a 20" bar. It was a great saw and I did good with it for another 10 or so years. It was awesome for charging in to a big pile of tree length wood. not a lot heavier than my 51 really - mostly just the extra length and weight of the bar & chain. It eventually started to become a hard-start problem. I took it to a shop for a second opinion, and I got it - crank seals leading to crank bearings. The cost for parts & labor was going to be steep. According to the dealer, that saw (or any similar one that plugs in to a computer to be set up) may do this. Apparently the saw auto-corrected for the lean condition caused by leaking crank seals, up until it was too late? I ended up just shelving the saw and I bought an Echo 620P with a 20" bar on their "dealer days" promo for not much more than the rebuild would have been on the 562xp.

The Echo has been a fine saw, but make no mistake, it is not an equal to the 562XP, but it cost close to $200 less too. The 562xp is lighter, and turns a good bit faster - it just plain chews wood better. Eventually I will buy a short block for the 562xp and do as much as I can myself to put humpty dumpty back together again - minus the computer setup of course. As far as power per dollar though, that Echo is hard to beat right now.

Honestly though, the 51 is still my go-to saw for dropping smaller stuff and doing minor cleanup. it's light, compact, and dependable. I just picked up a Dewalt 12" saw since I have a dozen 20v batteries already. It is so convenient to just to be able to toss that in the truck or SxS on the off chance I may need to cut my way home in a storm, and not have to worry about fuel storage longevity.

 

[IndyIan]

I bought a Husqvarna 51 with a 16" bar as my first saw after the ice storm of 98. Used it for everything until I borrowed a larger saw from a friend about 10 years later when I was bucking up 8 cord of tree length hardwood. About then I started doing the mental math on how much of my life I had lost on the end of a smaller saw. I had looked at a 359xp, but by the time I got around to it, that saw was out of production and I ended up going with the 562xp with a 20" bar. It was a great saw and I did good with it for another 10 or so years. It was awesome for charging in to a big pile of tree length wood. not a lot heavier than my 51 really - mostly just the extra length and weight of the bar & chain. It eventually started to become a hard-start problem. I took it to a shop for a second opinion, and I got it - crank seals leading to crank bearings. The cost for parts & labor was going to be steep. According to the dealer, that saw (or any similar one that plugs in to a computer to be set up) may do this. Apparently the saw auto-corrected for the lean condition caused by leaking crank seals, up until it was too late? I ended up just shelving the saw and I bought an Echo 620P with a 20" bar on their "dealer days" promo for not much more than the rebuild would have been on the 562xp.

The Echo has been a fine saw, but make no mistake, it is not an equal to the 562XP, but it cost close to $200 less too. The 562xp is lighter, and turns a good bit faster - it just plain chews wood better. Eventually I will buy a short block for the 562xp and do as much as I can myself to put humpty dumpty back together again - minus the computer setup of course. As far as power per dollar though, that Echo is hard to beat right now.

Honestly though, the 51 is still my go-to saw for dropping smaller stuff and doing minor cleanup. it's light, compact, and dependable. I just picked up a Dewalt 12" saw since I have a dozen 20v batteries already. It is so convenient to just to be able to toss that in the truck or SxS on the off chance I may need to cut my way home in a storm, and not have to worry about fuel storage longevity.

This guy makes it look pretty easy to split the case, never had to do it myself but looks kind of fun?

 

[mx842]

Actually, Stabil does also remove water. The Marine Formula Stabil has more of the water-fighting additives, but both Stabil 360 and the regular red Stabil also remove water.

Actually, it doesn't remove water from the fuel system all it does is separate the water particles from the fuel so it can pass through the combustion chamber better. It basically wraps the water particles in the fuel into separate little cells that are suspended in the fuel. Water will always lay on the bottom of a tank and what it does is mix that water into tiny little bubbles so it can pass through the fuel system to where it gets vaporized in the combustion chamber and out the exhaust.
Depending on how much water is in the fuel will this work though. If you have a 20-gal tank and somehow 5 gals of water, find its way into the tank no product will eliminate that much contamination. The only way to fix that is to drain the tank and start over. Heck rubbing alcohol will do the same thing and it's cheaper.

 

[John_Mc]

Actually, it doesn't remove water from the fuel system all it does is separate the water particles from the fuel so it can pass through the combustion chamber better. It basically wraps the water particles in the fuel into separate little cells that are suspended in the fuel. Water will always lay on the bottom of a tank and what it does is mix that water into tiny little bubbles so it can pass through the fuel system to where it gets vaporized in the combustion chamber and out the exhaust.
Depending on how much water is in the fuel will this work though. If you have a 20-gal tank and somehow 5 gals of water, find its way into the tank no product will eliminate that much contamination. The only way to fix that is to drain the tank and start over. Heck rubbing alcohol will do the same thing and it's cheaper.

So what you describe is actually removing water from the fuel system. It doesn't just vanish, it passes through the engine.

Rubbing alcohol will combine with water and can help move it through the system, but it has the same issues as Ethanol (which is just one form of alcohol). Put too much water in, and it combines with the alcohol and settles to the bottom in a mix that is more corrosive than just water alone. (The process is known as Phase Separation.) I avoid alcohol/ethanol in all of my small engines. If I'm i a situation where I have no choice, I make sure to use it up quickly, since the shelf life of ethanol-laced gas stinks.

 

[Richard001]

This guy makes it look pretty easy to split the case, never had to do it myself but looks kind of fun?

Doesn't this guy own any power tools ? A battery powered, reversable drill or a screwdriver would have made taking that saw apart some much easier.

Richard

 

[Snobdds]

The mechanic at the ranch kind of taught me about mechanical stuff. He would get mad if he saw me using a power tool on equipment. He engrained in me that it was critical to hand break torque on a bolt to know just how tight it was. It was also a no no to put anything together with a power tool. Once you know break away torque on a bolt, you could then torque it back with a "feel" gained after doing lots of bolts.

He was right. I have seen so many people just run bolts down with an impact and mess up more stuff then they actually fixed.

Power tools have a place, but so does developing a feel for how to put stuff back together properly by feel.

 

[Richard001]

The mechanic at the ranch kind of taught me about mechanical stuff. He would get mad if he saw me using a power tool on equipment. He engrained in me that it was critical to hand break torque on a bolt to know just how tight it was. It was also a no no to put anything together with a power tool. Once you know break away torque on a bolt, you could then torque it back with a "feel" gained after doing lots of bolts.

He was right. I have seen so many people just run bolts down with an impact and mess up more stuff then they actually fixed.

Power tools have a place, but so does developing a feel for how to put stuff back together properly by feel.

The guy in the video was taking a saw apart. I agree that you have to be careful when assembling stuff, but even then, using a power tool to run down the bolts and nuts with a low torque setting is just fine. The final torquing should aways done by hand.