How'd it go today?

Dunno. If I got 15 years out of any 2stroke machine, I'd be pretty happy with that, assuming it was regularly used, and not just an hour per year.

My only real OPE complaints are with my poulanpros, and then only the recent ones. My first saw was a poulanpro, and I thought it was great for what it was. Second one I got was a nightmare to tune, and the third one I found in the trash is inherently a piece of shit.

I also had a coil go bad on a Husky brushcutter. It normally wouldn't have bothered me, but it failed when I genuinely needed it, and I had to buy another one to get the job done. It was repaired under warranty, and it didn't turn me off on Huskies forever, but it acts as a modifier pushing me more towards Stihl or echo. That's in addition to the primary reason of not having much in the way of Husqvarna dealers around here, and tending to stick with what I know. Stihl for big saws, echo for little.
 
I have consistently gotten far longer life than that with every other two cycle machine I own. So for me, that 15 years and done was a fail. Homeowner use, of course.
 
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Burnham said:
The only Echo product I have ever owned, like @davidwyby is a string/blade weed/brush cutter. It ran fine and started easily for a long time, say 15 years. Never a powerhouse, but it got the job done satisfactorily. One of those tools that never was great, but wasn't bad either.

Then it became unstable. Start and run fine one time out, not start at all the next, or start and run all boggy, or start and run ok but not restart. Or various combinations of these woes.

I rebuilt the carb myself, but that didn't help much. Then I put a brand-new carb on it, but that was also generally disappointing.

So, I have a somewhat bad taste in my mouth about Echo machines. Probably not fair of me. Lots of you folks are fans, so I don't badmouth them if asked :).

But I doubt I'd ever buy one.
Click to expand...
B get you a Nutballed 2511 you will love it. Dare I say more than your rear handle 200.
 
I had to put in a short day. Flopped two tall skinny Norway maples. The bigger of the two was hollow and after taking out the notch it started spewing like an overflowing diaper in slow motion. This blob of poop brown mashed potato looking fowlness oozed out of the hollow for a good ten minutes piling, plopping, and splattering its squishy goodness at the base of the tree. Truly a sight to be held!
Then we drove up to Milwaukee to go see the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Good show lots of lasers. Tho I felt Angus Young was going to strut his way across the stage at any moment. Maybe just me, I can’t be sure, but it felt that way.
IMG_2451.jpeg
 
I think it might lose something in the rear handle version, not that I've used it. The 2511 is really interesting as a top handle cause it's a feather weight. In a rear handle, you're mainly using it on the ground, and getting a little more motor(weight) is less detrimental, but it really depends on what you're doing. Aside from the low weight, it starts very easily. I can sometimes get my 2511 started in one pull cold if I'm fast enough getting the choke off.
 
Took the girls sledding. The spot is kinda special to me, it was the first place my parents took me sledding, the first place that wasn't the hill in front of the house.

It's the Railroad Grade Trailhead, there's a telecom tower on the hill that overlooks the trailhead, and one side of the road is a perfect little hill for the kids. Very popular spot for decades now. Probably 200 people there by the time we left. 1000001330.jpg

You can just see the hump of the rail grade at the bottom. That used to be part of Apache Railroad (APA), once called "The longest, short line in America". They mostly hauled logs from the woods to the Transcon. Now, they fix railcars for BNSF, run 4 beautiful Alco 420C locomotives, and are owned by Aztec Land & Cattle Company, which long ago, was the Hashknife division of the Pony Express. They aren't what's called a "Fallen Flag", meaning they ceased operations/ went out of business, but they came close.

No gold, but a lot of awesome history in them thar hills.
 
davidwyby said:
very cool. Think the Rim could be driven this time of year?
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Hmm by which route? The Old Rim Road, ie FSR 300? Maybe, the road bed is trashed to the point that it'd a struggle in the summer. Flatlanders coming up with their side by sides, are hell on our dirt roads.

If you mean on the pavement, yes, 260 is wide open. The other night my protégé and I went out cruising the woods in Gertrude, had no problem with any of the various roads, never had to chain up, just put her in 4 high and rumbled on. We did the back way into Greer, the Big Lake loop, and a few others. It's been a mild year for snowfall so far, only about 1.5 foot of snowpack so far. 20231224_003738.jpg
 
There's still time, but it's looking like another snowless year here. But to make up for it, we're getting tropical storm level rains. That's just as good. If you hate yourself...
 
I arrived home yesterday evening at around 5pm MST after 10 hours of sitting around in either an airport or a plane. The plane ride honestly flew by after dropping $20 on the internet, so it was totally worth it.

I then proceeded to go to bed at 7:30pm and, finally, I slept soundly until about 6:15am and feel completely rejuvenated! I can't believe I struggled so much with sleep during my trip, but that was the unfortunate reality of the situation.

Today I'm going to open up some Amazon packages that came just as I arrived home, which contain my new GoPro and various pieces of equipment for said GoPro. My SD card didn't show up yet so I won't be able to take any video until it does. It should arrive today before 10pm along with a flexible mount to use in the tree. "The stoke is high," to quote every rock climber ever!

@Kaveman I just noticed the snow in the picture! It didin't click the first time you shared that with me. Damn, that's a lot of snow. We have zero inches of snow in Scottsdale!
 
flushcut said:
It’s funny but it’s snowing now and we only have half an inch on the ground and maybe four inches for the season so far. And I’m reading a guy in AZ talk about a foot and half.
Click to expand...
That photo was taken at 9200ft elevation above sea level. Most years these roads would be closed to everything but snowmobiles and cross country skiing. When I was a kid, the meadow in that photo would be under at least 7 feet of powder by Christmas. It's not that it's warmer, it's the fact that we're not getting the moisture.
 
Seeing your surroundings has been very interesting to me. Snow is about the last thing I think about regarding Arizona. It's bumped up a couple notches on my 'places I might move to' list.
 
lxskllr said:
Seeing your surroundings has been very interesting to me. Snow is about the last thing I think about regarding Arizona. It's bumped up a couple notches on my 'places I might move to' list.
Click to expand...
Saguaro to snowfall, Arizona is amazing! Our high country really is a hidden gem, and it's actually a large portion of the state. I'm on the wrong phone to be posting good pictures, they're all on the old unit. I'll faff about with trying to get some posted up. Like all the petroglyphs I've photographed.
 
lxskllr said:
I think it might lose something in the rear handle version, not that I've used it. The 2511 is really interesting as a top handle cause it's a feather weight. In a rear handle, you're mainly using it on the ground, and getting a little more motor(weight) is less detrimental, but it really depends on what you're doing. Aside from the low weight, it starts very easily. I can sometimes get my 2511 started in one pull cold if I'm fast enough getting the choke off.
Click to expand...
I've been thinking about this. You know what would be interesting? A 25cc rearhandle with huge oil and fuel tanks. It would add bulk, but not a lot of weight. It would make a really nice trail clearing saw. You could get a lot of work done without refueling if a saw had 661 fuel/oil tanks on it.
 
The 2511 has tiny tanks though. 6.4oz fuel, and 4.7oz oil. If I go up in a tree for more than a trivial trim, I take fuel and oil with me in liquor flasks. If my 25cc saw had 661 tanks on it, that's a day of work if no one's cracking a whip. Back when my only saw was a 42cc poulan, I mixed my fuel in a 1qt flask. Starting with a full tank, and a flask of fuel, that was good for about 4hr of work. That's cutting, splitting, and stacking wood. I called that good, and quit for the day. Fuel my big tank saw at the truck, and hit the trail for a hike. The only extra stuff you'd need is a file and scrench. Maybe food and water for yourself. You can stop the saw whenever you want. Maybe touch up the chain while you're taking a break.
 
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