echo 355T

Red

TreeHouser
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
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6
Location
Lynchburg, Virginia
Anyone running one of the new echo 355T's yet? I was gonna pick one up Saturday but the local dealer was out of stock. They should have one in around Thursday. Probably won't be able to pick it up till Saturday due to a shop hours/working hours conflict. This will be my first top handle purchase. I use 192's and 201's at work but don't have quite that many greenbacks set back for a purchase yet. Thoughts and opinions on the 355T from hands on experience only would be appreciated.

Red
 
I've used other echo products and was pleased. the backpack blower I have is pretty awesome but never used an echo chainsaw.
 
I am eager to hear your review, the echo top handle that is one step below the new 355 is utterly bulletproof, just needs more power, maybe the 355 fills the bill.
 
I run a Echo CS300 for the last 6 years now with no problem. Pump the bulb and it starts right up. But i don't do tree work like you guy. I would go buy if i had the money.
 

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I ran the 3400 new in about '99. I read up on it and it sounded like it would fit the bill. it was $275 and a 200T was about $525. I worked the snot out of it and it still runs but it is underpowered. I bought a 200 a while back. Much better other than the stupid cap design. The advantage to them is.......
 
Ive run plenty of echo climbing saws. They all were equally as weak as each other. They were more reliable then any 200T Ive ever owned though. If someone wants a sweet climber for cheap, go get a Jonsered 2139T. $400. Runs great, built well, oils excellent, starts every time.
 
That's my thought on Echos as well, having had two. Short on power. If you have all day to make a cut ......
 
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Picked up the saw Thursday evening. It came with the 16" bar and feels a bit tip heavy. Not sure how much a shorter bar will fix this, if at all, but I may try out one of the smaller bars off the truck at work to see if there is any difference. The carb was set full rich on both the L and H speed needles (as rich as the limiter caps will allow anyway.) Went ahead and put 3 tanks through it that night. Then pulled the spark arrestor and leaned it out a little. A little less than 1/16th turn on L speed and just over 1/16th turn on the H speed. This eliminated the slight stutter that was previously noticeable going from idle to power. Ran one more tank through it that night and called it quits. It still sounds blubbering rich. Got to give it a go in the trees yesterday, and on the ground dealing with the ivy and grapevine that had taken over the elms I was working on. It doesn't seem quite as quick in the cut as the stihl's at work, but it's stays running till I hit the kill switch. https://www.masterblasterhome.com/images/smilies/aaf_wink.gif The palm rest deal they added to the handle is pretty comfortable, but at this point it's not something I can say I couldn't live without. Given the budget I had and the price of the saw I am very happy at this point. I'm only using it on my personal side jobs, so there is no one but me breathing down my neck to get it done ASAP. When the budget allows I will be adding a stihl 201 (new) or 200 (fresh rebuild) to the team. Only then will I know in my head how the two really stack up against each other. The saws at work never get treated right by their primary user. I want to tune on it a bit more and see how much room the limiters will give me to work with before doing anything with the muffler. The dealer said should the need arise bring it back in and he would help me work around them.

A picture of it's first night home. The stump it's sitting on was it's first... https://www.masterblasterhome.com/images/smilies/aaf_twisted.gif
 

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If you unscrew the spark arrestor plate plate, you may find a restrictor plate as well in there. They had it in the last generation. Once I removed mine the saw ran a little better. Still never got the RPM the 355T is supposed to have now. But it did cut faster (360T). I can not remove the entire spark arrestor here in CA with out risking a huge fine or fire here in our wild lands. Probably would even do better if I could.
 
I've been running the echo 355t for about a month now...no problems, good power. I believe echo has entered stihl territory.
 
Well, Stihl seems to have left it somewhat, with the T201.
 
Is he sick? Is his mind gone? I have never heard Stig mutter anything close to that. Ill bet he is sawing wood with a big bar on a Husky right now.
 
I believe echo has entered stihl territory.

It's getting harder and harder to figure out who own what these days, but that Echo is looking quite clearly like they have had a Zenoah on the bench to closely replicate from, Zenoah now being within Husky's conglomerate. When you call a toll free product service number and get a lady on the line that knows absolutely nothing, you can figure that what you own has been manufactured as part of some group. Some cosmetic differences is about it, aside from how it may run. At least they are copying what is generally a good product. Perhaps the world is going closer to overall standardization, everyone will manufacture the same product, just the marketing name and websites will be different. Astrologers will have to tell us what to buy.
 
Is he sick? Is his mind gone? I have never heard Stig mutter anything close to that. Ill bet he is sawing wood with a big bar on a Husky right now.

That'll be the day:lol:

But they sure screwed the pooch with the T201 and have been WAY too slow to adress the problem.
 
I have 2 echo climbing saws the 330t and the 355t both saws run great especially after you muff mod em an get rid of those limiters but besides that I love em up in a tree
 
For the money, I think I'm going to try one of these. Speaking of money, when I started looking at them several months ago on Echos web site, they have dropped the MSRP on them by $100. So if any of you guys happen to be shopping for them make sure your supplier has also dropped the price. I've seen several that haven't.

Tee
 
That'll be the day:lol:

But they sure screwed the pooch with the T201 and have been WAY too slow to adress the problem.

I have a friend that runs a landscape business. He does a lot of tree trimming and removal. Before buying a new Stihl 201t all his equipment was Stihl.
He bought new when they first came out 2012? and worked reasonably well until shortly after warranty was out.
The first coils they used in early production were, defective but Stihl refused to address the problem. They told him he would just have to replace the coil--like over $100 if I remember. He even contacted Stihl headquarters and they denied having early production defective parts, but did offer to sell him what they called an "Enhancement Pack" for like over $200!
He has now slowly replaced all his Stihl equipment with Echo.
Tells me he is just as happy with Echo and has two of the 355t.
Stihl sure lost a devoted customer
 
I love my 355T, runs way stronger than my friend's 192, i'm hoping to compare it to the 201 he just got (from a pawn shop) before he moves to canada. Its the only top handle I've run besides my friend's 192 so I can't really compare it, but it balances pretty well with a 14" bar and always starts right up for me and runs till I shut it off. Winner in my book.
 
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