Someone has been at it again

[Ford3000]

 

[Ketchup]

Looks like a nice salami cutter. Is that a clothes line or utility wire with brush on it?

 

[Ford3000]

I do not know, it's not a utility wire, and I see some decorations hanging off it too.
The man in the video did the porting, so I have no idea whose garden that is or
if the cloths line bit the dust, hope not.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I just repaired a saw with an 18" bar and o.325" pitch chain. The owner bought it used 10 years ago. It ran fine today after I restored it. The saw is a Stihl MS290 Farm Boss. He asked me how old it was? I said about 17 years.

 

[00wyk]

I do not know, it's not a utility wire, and I see some decorations hanging off it too.
The man in the video did the porting, so I have no idea whose garden that is or
if the cloths line bit the dust, hope not.

The clothes line survived. It had loads of adjustment in it to get it mostly out of the way. I had to remove that cherry tree, so decided to do a vid. Since I am cutting at an angle, and it is wet gunky cherry, there's a fair bit of chatter from the stock oregon 325 chain. Prolly the Xl top plate and it being a bit loose.
I have to say I was impressed with the cylinder and piston on this thing. For an affordable saw, they are well made.
Kind of had a mini Dolmar 7900 design to it.
The only issue is, stock the compression is not amazing, and the gasket is only .011 or so.
Still, I got it up to 180psi after porting.
And it does have a cat in the muffler. I think the one Walt did stateside actually had two cats!
I didn't make a great video since I am not on the estate down in Waterford at the moment. Hopefully Ford3K can hook us up with more if he likes. But you can see here it will drag a grabby 325 chain on 18 inch of bar through cherry without any problem.

 

[Junkyard]

What else can you share about the Efco saws? One of my parts suppliers is a dealer and I can get them for a pretty good price but have hesitated as I know exactly zip about them….

 

[P.M.P.]

Those efco 5200 I believe are pretty much the same as the zenoah Redmax g5000 I got minuses the plastics. Or just a clone of it.

 

[00wyk]

Just going off the videos I've seen and the photos, the g5000 looks more like a proper Husky 350 clone.
The EFCO one is a bit different, but not by a whole lot. Very similar chassis design with a non clam shell P&C set inside a plastic chassis. But the build quality doesn't feel quite the same. I dunno, we'll have to see how long it lasts in the hands of Ford here.

What else can you share about the Efco saws? One of my parts suppliers is a dealer and I can get them for a pretty good price but have hesitated as I know exactly zip about them….

Well, it's a good saw, and it also isn't a good saw. It has a decent carb, and the P&C are excellent, if a bit low on compression(but that just means you can increase the timing more, really, if you use good fuel). It's an awful lot of cheap-feeling plastic in all the wrong places, tho. It does not instill confidence like a Husky 350 can. And the color is really in your face, so you always sort of have a feeling like you are using a toy. The brake feels iffy at best, and it has a tiny clutch for it's displacement. But the clutch does seem to grab, and it can be made to do some real work. For a homeowner, it's a nice saw. For a pro that does firewood, it would be very hard pressed.

Stock, these aren't terribly strong, especially since the exhaust is stuffed up and it has a cat in it. But if you can mod the muff, yer gonna be OK if you get one for a decent price.

But these are super easy to work on. So if you are not necessarily a porter, but handy with a saw, increasing the ignition timing and removing the gasket and hogging out the muffler should get you a runner for very little effort, at a good price.

If you wanna port it and don't mind the thing devouring itself, it has closed ports, and it has a round piston with no flats and loads of meat on the cylinder. You could go quite aggressive on it if you wanted to.

Aside from the plastic and the bright colour, I like it's looks.

Here's Walt's take:

 

[Junkyard]

Good info, thank you.

 

[P.M.P.]

Just going off the videos I've seen and the photos, the g5000 looks more like a proper Husky 350 clone.
The EFCO one is a bit different, but not by a whole lot. Very similar chassis design with a non clam shell P&C set inside a plastic chassis. But the build quality doesn't feel quite the same. I dunno, we'll have to see how long it lasts in the hands of Ford here.



Well, it's a good saw, and it also isn't a good saw. It has a decent carb, and the P&C are excellent, if a bit low on compression(but that just means you can increase the timing more, really, if you use good fuel). It's an awful lot of cheap-feeling plastic in all the wrong places, tho. It does not instill confidence like a Husky 350 can. And the color is really in your face, so you always sort of have a feeling like you are using a toy. The brake feels iffy at best, and it has a tiny clutch for it's displacement. But the clutch does seem to grab, and it can be made to do some real work. For a homeowner, it's a nice saw. For a pro that does firewood, it would be very hard pressed.

Stock, these aren't terribly strong, especially since the exhaust is stuffed up and it has a cat in it. But if you can mod the muff, yer gonna be OK if you get one for a decent price.

But these are super easy to work on. So if you are not necessarily a porter, but handy with a saw, increasing the ignition timing and removing the gasket and hogging out the muffler should get you a runner for very little effort, at a good price.

If you wanna port it and don't mind the thing devouring itself, it has closed ports, and it has a round piston with no flats and loads of meat on the cylinder. You could go quite aggressive on it if you wanted to.

Aside from the plastic and the bright colour, I like it's looks.

Here's Walt's take:

Husky 350 clone my ass get another clue haha thanks for the laugh

 

[Wood Doctor]

Here's one, perhaps in the same league, that I couldn't even remove the carb to fix:

As one guy told me, Tanaka's are great when they run and almost worthless when they do not. I doubt this saw had 20 hours on it. The Efco has to be better than this beast.

 

[00wyk]

Husky 350 clone my ass get another clue haha thanks for the laugh

Though we all appreciate a good insult, I really didn't mean it was an exact clone. I meant it's more a clone of the type of saw(plastic chassis with a non clamshell design), and decent robust design and decent plastics. The EFCO is not using decent plastics. They are of a much less robust manufacture than the Husky 350 and even the Redmax.

 

[00wyk]

Here's one, perhaps in the same league, that I couldn't even remove the carb to fix:
View attachment 330799
As one guy told me, Tanaka's are great when they run and almost worthless when they do not. I doubt this saw had 20 hours on it. The Efco has to be better than this beast.

There are an awful lot of near disposable saws out there of all makes. Though you can make these EFCO's run, I wouldn't get one for the estate I work. The only plastic saw we have if you'll give the ECHO 361 a pass, is an MS391, which is a storm purchase. There was simply no stock at the time, and we needed an extra saw badly. Having said it, the 391 with a muff mod and timing advance is 6 years old or so now. She's earned her keep, and has cut stuff she has no business cutting. And it was the saw I used to make this Ash bench:

 

[Ford3000]

What else can you share about the Efco saws? One of my parts suppliers is a dealer and I can get them for a pretty good price but have hesitated as I know exactly zip about them….

I would not pay full price for one of these Efco 5200 saws.
They are as @00wyk
says, cheap plastic, good enough engine, but they are not to be confused
with the older 947 952 or 965 model saws, they were made much better.
Buy a better saw is my advise, if I could get Echo saws at the prices people get them for in the US
I would not have an Efco, my experiment with Efco saws is over.

 

[Wood Doctor]

There are an awful lot of near disposable saws out there of all makes. Though you can make these EFCO's run, I wouldn't get one for the estate I work. The only plastic saw we have if you'll give the ECHO 361 a pass, is an MS391, which is a storm purchase. There was simply no stock at the time, and we needed an extra saw badly. Having said it, the 391 with a muff mod and timing advance is 6 years old or so now. She's earned her keep, and has cut stuff she has no business cutting. And it was the saw I used to make this Ash bench:

Nice creative work! I have now upgraded five Stihl 290 saws to 390's. I still do it for the enjoyment of saving a 290 from the boneyard. It's a dying art because you cannot upgrade a 291 to a 391. The two models are miles apart in parts.

 

[Ford3000]

Nice creative work! I have now upgraded five Stihl 290 saws to 390's. I still do it for the enjoyment of saving a 290 from the boneyard. It's a dying art because you cannot upgrade a 291 to a 391. The two models are miles apart in parts.

Yes, it seems the 291 is not as good as its older sibling, sad to see things
getting worse instead of better as regard to some of the newer incarnations.

 

[00wyk]

Nice creative work! I have now upgraded five Stihl 290 saws to 390's. I still do it for the enjoyment of saving a 290 from the boneyard. It's a dying art because you cannot upgrade a 291 to a 391. The two models are miles apart in parts.

It lives in front of a local schoolhouse:

 

[Ford3000]

Nice creative work! I have now upgraded five Stihl 290 saws to 390's. I still do it for the enjoyment of saving a 290 from the boneyard. It's a dying art because you cannot upgrade a 291 to a 391. The two models are miles apart in parts.

Is there much work to it, is it just the cylinder and piston that are different.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Top go

Is there much work to it, is it just the cylinder and piston that are different.

To upgrade a 290 to a 390 you do have to take the saw down pretty far, so yes, there is work involved. However, the new parts are just the piston and cylinder kit. You may also want change the seals if the 290 is old and used a lot. Figure 10 to 15 hours on your first attempt, and read the service manual.

 

[Ford3000]

Top go

To upgrade a 290 to a 390 you do have to take the saw down pretty far, so yes, there is work involved. However, the new parts are just the piston and cylinder kit. You may also want change the seals if the 290 is old and used a lot. Figure 10 to 15 hours on your first attempt, and read the service manual.

Worth the effort then, as long as the donor is not far gone.