How'd it go today?

[CurSedVoyce]

590 will not disappoint

 

[lxskllr]

Is that a 20" or 24" bar? It'll pull 24", but 20" is a better match imo.

 

[Jomo]

Just bought a 500i and am blown away by the throttle responsivenes and power once both dogs are dug in and leverage comes into play.

it’s a friggin wonder we won World War Two!

Reminds of the Saturn Five rocket, but far more responsive throttle wise.

Jomo

 

[davidwyby]

Just bought a 500i and am blown away by the throttle responsivenes and power once both dogs are dug in and leverage comes into play.

it’s a friggin wonder we won World War Two!

Reminds of the Saturn Five rocket, but far more responsive throttle wise.

Jomo

Once your wallet recovers, send it to @huskihl 😁😉

 

[davidwyby]

@Trains I tried a 20” .404 on my 2166 yesterday. I could lever it well enough but it was too short for the wood diameter. I haven’t tried that blocking thing y’all do yet. Need to put shorter dogs on it…stock 288 24” would probably be better.

Your semi angles are very blunt and rakers low compared to my norm…I will have to try them.

Today the 461 30” got .404 full chis and that worked well minus dulling somewhat quickly. Still way better than Oregon 3/8” semi. It either wouldn’t feed (couldn’t lever it) or if I make it aggressive enough to cut well, it would either dull quickly or stall the clutch too much or both.


My favorite is 36” stihl .404 square on the 395, but I don’t have a square grinder.

 

[davidwyby]

42” .404 raisman semi works well on the 395 or 3120 as long as the bar is not buried.

 

[Trains]

dont confuse less hook with being blunt, that chain is sharp, and quick for hardwood, and lasts longer than chain with more hook.

you saw that video I sent you of me dropping that dead euc, 660 with 36" 3/8 semi sharpened like that, it cut well.

Depth gauges, or rakers are set with a progressive guide, and set to hard wood setting, dont just file away the rakers hoping for an improvement, you will wreck your chain, it will be grabby, and you will break things.

pic for example.
husky roller guide with progressive depth gauge, raker guide on a cutting tooth near end of life.



one on a new stihl chain for comparison.




stihl FL series guide on well worn tooth.


I dont recommend using the soft setting for hardwood, it just stalls the chain, and its grabby.

The file angle across the top of the tooth would be 30deg, not the 35 that most guides give.
I think west coast saws have a few progressive raker guides available, but I just used the cheap stihl FL series guides, or the one on the husky roller guide.

each guide is for a specific chain size, ie one for 1/4p, different one for 3/8p, different one for .325 etc etc.

 

[Knotorious]

Well, everyone...

Today I fly back to Arizona. Had another, final night of horrible sleep at my parent's house (3.5 hours) and so I'm really looking forward to getting back to my own bed. I've had a truly wonderful time with my parental units and I will certainly be missing them, and I will most definitely miss my dog. Ever since someone very close to me in Arizona completely betrayed my trust two weeks ago, I have had plans to move back to Massachusetts when my lease is up on June 15th. So I won't have to wait an entire year to see my family again, which is really nice!

Anyways, I'm deathly sleep deprived at this point, but I must make my way to Logan airport at 9am this morning. My flight boards at around 12:00pm EST and arrives in Arizona six grueling hours later at roughly 4:00pm MST! Usually I'll spend my flights staring off into space, focusing poorly on a book and/or trying desperately, but unsuccessfully to fall asleep. Since this flight will be mind numbingly boring, and considering my long track record of hardly ever falling asleep (although, I'm tired as all hell right now), I've decided I'm going to pay for the airplane wi-fi access so that I'll have something to focus on.

Sadly, I just realized I don't have any headphones with me on this trip, so I won't be able to watch any videos unless I make a quick trip to Walgreens for an inexpensive pair...so I guess I had better do that. Wish me luck!

 

[vharrison]

Hey Pat, (pigwat) hope you are feeling better.

Years ago, and I mean like 20 years ago, all we ran were Echos in the tree. They worked okay till we found the 200. Recently John bought an Echo because they were not happy with the Stihl performance, mechanical issues. The small Echo is doing the job again.

 

[Treeaddict]

Is that a 20" or 24" bar? It'll pull 24", but 20" is a better match imo.

A 20”. I’ll order a 24” b&c for it at some point.

Do you have any use for the case? I’m not a case guy.

 

[cory]

Echo is doing the job again.

Echos won't die, ime.

 

[lxskllr]

A 20”. I’ll order a 24” b&c for it at some point.

Do you have any use for the case? I’m not a case guy.

Yea, I think I could use it for my work saw, though I'd encourage you to give some thought into keeping it. A case like that can make a nice kit as a quick grab saw for some fast work. A quart of fuel, quart of oil, spare chain, brush, scrench, bar cleaner, file... It all sits ready to go, and you only have one box to take with you. That 590 or your rancher are both good quicky saws. Big enough to do some sizable work, but will also acceptably do small stuff.

Good luck on your trip Knotty!

 

[Kaveman]

Hey Pat, (pigwat) hope you are feeling better.

Years ago, and I mean like 20 years ago, all we ran were Echos in the tree. They worked okay till we found the 200. Recently John bought an Echo because they were not happy with the Stihl performance, mechanical issues. The small Echo is doing the job again.

I ❤️ Echo top handles. I recently ran both the 194t, and 201t and found both sadly lacking compared to my 355. Haven't got to play with the 2511 yet, but I'm sure it's just as awesome.

At my elevation, there is no replacement for displacement.

 

[stig]

As W.O Bentley would have said.

 

[davidwyby]

dont confuse less hook with being blunt, that chain is sharp, and quick for hardwood, and lasts longer than chain with more hook.

you saw that video I sent you of me dropping that dead euc, 660 with 36" 3/8 semi sharpened like that, it cut well.

Depth gauges, or rakers are set with a progressive guide, and set to hard wood setting, dont just file away the rakers hoping for an improvement, you will wreck your chain, it will be grabby, and you will break things.

pic for example.
husky roller guide with progressive depth gauge, raker guide on a cutting tooth near end of life.

View attachment 134911

one on a new stihl chain for comparison.
View attachment 134912



stihl FL series guide on well worn tooth.
View attachment 134913

I dont recommend using the soft setting for hardwood, it just stalls the chain, and its grabby.

The file angle across the top of the tooth would be 30deg, not the 35 that most guides give.
I think west coast saws have a few progressive raker guides available, but I just used the cheap stihl FL series guides, or the one on the husky roller guide.

each guide is for a specific chain size, ie one for 1/4p, different one for 3/8p, different one for .325 etc etc.

Yeah, I shouldn't have said blunt, I know that's aussie for dull. I meant less acute.

It's interesting you're able to go less aggressive on the hook and the rakers...if I do that the chain doesn't get any bite and the saw just screams. 'course the only saws I have left that aren't ported are my 266s...I need to put some stock 288s together. I have found the thing with the hard euc is that the window for good performance is narrower. Not enough grab, and skate. Too much and stall. Self feed with longish bars and semi chisel, especially buried, forget it. I have the WCS guide, just have never played with it. Been using my husky ones.

 

[Treeaddict]

Yea, I think I could use it for my work saw, though I'd encourage you to give some thought into keeping it. A case like that can make a nice kit as a quick grab saw for some fast work. A quart of fuel, quart of oil, spare chain, brush, scrench, bar cleaner, file... It all sits ready to go, and you only have one box to take with you. That 590 or your rancher are both good quicky saws. Big enough to do some sizable work, but will also acceptably do small stuff.

Good luck on your trip Knotty!

I see what you do with the cases but I just grab 3 saws (minimum), ammo can with all accessaries, can of gas, and Tide jug with bar oil. I think the case suits your M.O. better.

 

[pigwot]

I have a 288 I ran hard for a looong time. It’s tired and set aside, but I have the replacement jug, piston, rings.
Just need to retire to have the time to properly restore it!

 

[pigwot]

I’ve never owned an Echo saw myself. A landscaper I did climbing for when he had trees in a bid had a fleet of them, and I never found fault with his saws as they ran well. I had a couple Echo backpack blowers and sold them when I upgraded to a Stihl. Hope you enjoy that saw Mike!

 

[lxskllr]

I have one more echo than I do Stihl at this point, maybe more if the legitimacy of the ms170 is up for debate :^D I like both brands. I feel like I got what I paid for with Stihl, but I think I got more saw for the $ with echo.

 

[davidwyby]

My only exp with echo is a string trimmer and hedge trimmer that continue to run despite mostly sitting in the heat with ethanol gas in them long after anything else would have quit.

And my 2511, which I like other than being a bit of a booger to tune.

 

[davidwyby]

I have a 288 I ran hard for a looong time. It’s tired and set aside, but I have the replacement jug, piston, rings.
Just need to retire to have the time to properly restore it!

🤔 maybe send it down this summer when I do mine

 

[cory]

I've probably mentioned before, I had a small echo, not sure which model saw, sitting under my bench for 3-5 years untouched, after a few years of steady use. I pulled it out a couple months ago, it started after 3 pulls and ran perfect, I gave it to the new ninja.

 

[Treeaddict]

I’ve never owned an Echo saw myself. A landscaper I did climbing for when he had trees in a bid had a fleet of them, and I never found fault with his saws as they ran well. I had a couple Echo backpack blowers and sold them when I upgraded to a Stihl. Hope you enjoy that saw Mike!

I put a new chain on her and buried all 20” in river birch-ate it. Did a good job buried in dry red oak as well. I think I’m going to be using it frequently. Thanks for asking John and I first.

 

[Burnham]

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.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Every MFG has good and bad machines. You just find something that works great and go there. I am hardly brand loyal. But I'll pick up my certain Stihls for what they do, My last Husky for what it does. Echo machines on certain classes for what they do. By far, the Echo saws I have bought certain ones of are consistent in reliability. They honored their warranty when I got a lemon or a mfg issue. That goes a long way for me. Especially when I got $2100.00 worth of Stihl FS250s that were crap and never got any warranty relief for that episode. Where they had a great track record in the past. Then boom. Rob bought one later and had good luck with it. I never went back. Pissed me off too damn much.