Spike60
Here For The Long Haul!
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- Feb 8, 2016
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- Ulster County, NY
Hey, anybody feel like reading today?
Don't want to take the Echo 355T thread that @rocco490 started off course, so starting another Echo top handle thread here. Primarily concerned with Echo top handle saws in professional tree company service. Laying this out with one of my long winded posts...……...sorry. LOL
Let's eliminate 2 right off the bat and sort of begin with this unfortunate, yet undeniable reality: The 2 major players here, the Husky T540 and the Stihl MS201 m-tronic are both JUNK. No brand bashing or defending necessary here, they both rot. This discussion isn't really about them, but a brief, (for me), explanation of why I'm asking about the Echo stuff. The 540 and 201 have essentially the same technology, and both suffer the same or similar problems. Part of it is related to the AT and MT technology in an environment with excessive idle time, often in a bucket. Idle times on 550's and 562's in the 60%-70% range is considered a little high, and above that fuel and calibration settings can be affected. The 540's are coming in with idle times in the 80%-90% range; some above 90%. So we reset them, they go out OK and invariably come back "doing the same thing", "hard to start", "keeps stalling". Difficult to keep these saws out there preforming properly. And it's the same with the 201's. One guy who runs all Husky's other than his 201's came in to ask about the 540. Told me he has five 201's and they are ALL in the shop with the much the same problems as the Husky's. And it's a VERY good Stihl shop across the river, not a dealer who doesn't know what he's doing. For the most part, weather they are running 540's or 201's, nearly everyone around here is unhappy with them. I've stopped selling the 540 myself. As of now, I'm covering this market with the T435 and the T536 battery saw.
There are other things that affect most top handle saws, that are simply worse with the 540. Most top handles don't like to be yanked on. Lot of the problem stems from the fact that each side of the intake boot is on either side of the AV system. So, ripped and torn boots are a common problem. But if you really yank on a 540, in addition to breaking a $115 tank, you run the risk of ripping all of those wires out and maybe needing a coil as well. Everything takes longer with these saws, so what I call "body work" type repairs can get expensive pretty quick.
Husky does have the T525 coming out in Feb along with the 572. It's non auto tune, hooray, but pricey for a 27cc saw with a MSRP of $489. Let's just say that my dealer cost is higher than the MSRP of any of the 4 Echo top handle models. So, we are in the early stages of taking a close look at these Echo saws as an option for our pro guys. Same distributor that we get Exmark from, so it would be easy to do this if we decide to go that way. I am not considering any other lines. Echo has 4 models in their line up, all reasonably priced.
I can check them all out at an Exmark meeting I'm going to next month, but I really want to hear some real world stuff from you guys here, rather than a sales pitch, although my rep is really good and not a "FOS" type. Again, the context here is primarily "toppers" in professional tree service use. Fire away men, and thanks for everyone's input.
Don't want to take the Echo 355T thread that @rocco490 started off course, so starting another Echo top handle thread here. Primarily concerned with Echo top handle saws in professional tree company service. Laying this out with one of my long winded posts...……...sorry. LOL
Let's eliminate 2 right off the bat and sort of begin with this unfortunate, yet undeniable reality: The 2 major players here, the Husky T540 and the Stihl MS201 m-tronic are both JUNK. No brand bashing or defending necessary here, they both rot. This discussion isn't really about them, but a brief, (for me), explanation of why I'm asking about the Echo stuff. The 540 and 201 have essentially the same technology, and both suffer the same or similar problems. Part of it is related to the AT and MT technology in an environment with excessive idle time, often in a bucket. Idle times on 550's and 562's in the 60%-70% range is considered a little high, and above that fuel and calibration settings can be affected. The 540's are coming in with idle times in the 80%-90% range; some above 90%. So we reset them, they go out OK and invariably come back "doing the same thing", "hard to start", "keeps stalling". Difficult to keep these saws out there preforming properly. And it's the same with the 201's. One guy who runs all Husky's other than his 201's came in to ask about the 540. Told me he has five 201's and they are ALL in the shop with the much the same problems as the Husky's. And it's a VERY good Stihl shop across the river, not a dealer who doesn't know what he's doing. For the most part, weather they are running 540's or 201's, nearly everyone around here is unhappy with them. I've stopped selling the 540 myself. As of now, I'm covering this market with the T435 and the T536 battery saw.
There are other things that affect most top handle saws, that are simply worse with the 540. Most top handles don't like to be yanked on. Lot of the problem stems from the fact that each side of the intake boot is on either side of the AV system. So, ripped and torn boots are a common problem. But if you really yank on a 540, in addition to breaking a $115 tank, you run the risk of ripping all of those wires out and maybe needing a coil as well. Everything takes longer with these saws, so what I call "body work" type repairs can get expensive pretty quick.
Husky does have the T525 coming out in Feb along with the 572. It's non auto tune, hooray, but pricey for a 27cc saw with a MSRP of $489. Let's just say that my dealer cost is higher than the MSRP of any of the 4 Echo top handle models. So, we are in the early stages of taking a close look at these Echo saws as an option for our pro guys. Same distributor that we get Exmark from, so it would be easy to do this if we decide to go that way. I am not considering any other lines. Echo has 4 models in their line up, all reasonably priced.
I can check them all out at an Exmark meeting I'm going to next month, but I really want to hear some real world stuff from you guys here, rather than a sales pitch, although my rep is really good and not a "FOS" type. Again, the context here is primarily "toppers" in professional tree service use. Fire away men, and thanks for everyone's input.