chainsaw recommendation.

I'm sure you'll be fine with any of them. I have an echo cs300 and it has been very good to me. Flip a coin...

dakjd03 said:

I'm looking at getting a new saw and am looking for some input. I bought one last week from sears based on the price and reviews. it was garbage and got returned. I looked at stihl but they are out of my price range, so I am looking at either the Husqvarna 445 for $329 at lowes or the echo cs400 at home depot. now from talking to the salesman the echo has a 5 year warranty compare to the husqvarnas 2 year. and I can take the echo back to the store for service but I couldn't find a Husqvarna dealer in my area. thanks any advice is appreciated

Click to expand...

I own the 400, i've had a 20" bar on it until i got another larger Echo. The 400 is a reliable workhorse and the warranty is hard to pass up. Just make sure to fill in the product registration and look into finding a private echo dealer other than Home Depot (bunch of twits) just in case you actually need to use the warranty.

I own a CS-550P which I bought last year. I have cut around 8 full cord of wood with it and it has been a very good saw. I also own a vintage Echo CS-400EVL, and it is a good saw. I owned a Stihl 029 some years ago and it was also very good saw. My Echo's start a little better than the Stihl ever did but only by a hand full of pulls difference. I have friends that love the Husquvarna saws. So the good news is that if you stick with one of these three brands, you probably can't go wrong. Take care and enjoy the blessings that GOD gives us and praise him for them.

Without having direct experience with either of those models, I think BrotherBart is right that either is likely to be a fine choice so long as a 40-45cc saw is appropriate to the cutting you intend to do. Both are on the smaller side for bucking firewood unless you only plan to deal with small trees.

Check out the CS-590 from echo. Think you can still get one for $399 . Good all around size saw for a good price.

I've had the Husqvarna 445 for a little over 2 years now and I have no complaints. I process about 3 cords of hardwood per year. I was told early on to avoid problems, keep the chain sharp and the fuel fresh. I've done that and the saw gets the job done. I remember when I bought the saw from Lowes they threw in the saw case for free.

I have a husky 445 that I got from a logger for free. Said it had carb issues or something. Anyway runs fine now.

Make sure thats all the saw you want cause I am not impressed with it much. I dont care for 40cc for anything more than limbing or truck saws, there just way to slow for me. It seems like cutting takes FOREVER with them. I like 70cc class saws for a good firewood saw. Not to heavy to handle and can cut fast. A 60cc saw with a muffler modd is pretty good too. And now I have swapped to my ms650 which is 84cc for pretty much all my cutting. I love saws and running them but dont like to spend hours just bucking logs. I like to get In and get out in an hour or two!!

dakjd03 said:

Actually I would've liked something bigger but the need to finally buy one ASAP snuck up on me when I got my hands on a few truck loads of free wood. It worked great, at first. I ended up hitting some metal in one of the logs. Sharpened the chain and it was good for a while. Put a new one on and now I'm having nothing but trouble, it only wants to cut with the tip, and the chain keeps coming loose when it gets warmed up then tightens a bit when it cools

Click to expand...

I don't know what to think about the 'only wants to cut with the tip' aspect, but the loosening and tightening chain makes me suspect the bar oil isn't getting to where it's supposed to go. Pull the bar off, clean the oily sawdust out of the bar's oil hole and make sure the side of the bar and the flat surface of the saw it clamps against are both reasonably clean before you put it back together.

Also when you tighten the chain pull up on the bar a little and make sure it's not too tight when your done by running the chain around by hand

And to add to what they just said make sure your rails are not flattening out. There is probably a lip where the rail has worn and does not allow the bar to slide thru the cut. Take the bar off and grind the bar back flat.

The echo certainly seems to have the advantage in warranty and service based on your statements. Warranty is always a bit of a crapshoot IMHO. Modern manufacturing is pretty tight on tolerances and low on failure rate... sure there is always that one in a million, or one in 100,000 but chances are pretty slim for an actual manufacturing defect (unless it's a Stihl - or so recent posts would seem to indicate! ) Plus, they are just as likely to point out some fault you did which voids the warranty ie - didn't bring it back for routine service / check-up, etc.

I can't speak for echo quality, though they seem to have a good reputation. Really I guess I can't speak for 'modern' Husky quality either. But my 'ol Husky 350 has been chewing through ~3 cords of hedge and about 1/4 cord of poison ivy every year, for around the past 12 years ...and using that insidious ethanol blended gas all the while. Only thing I've really done was to richen the carb for break-in, lean it out to a 'proper' level after 2-3 tanks of gas, and keep the chain sharp, lubed, bar flipped occasionally, etc. Being in 'tornado alley' and 'ice storm row' I just sharpen the chain after each use, top off the gas and bar oil. Never know when you might need to cut yourself out of a 'bad' situation, so I always make sure it's ready to go. Keep thinking one of these years, I might have to change the spark plug, but haven't got to that point yet... maybe after 15-17 years?!?!

Spark plugs last forever now. Pull it and regal it then next time put a new one in! The modern oils esp syn sink coke up like old 30wt