What yer cheap saw favorites?

[mainer_in_ak]

Whats your cheap saw fix?

I like runnin and wrenching on the grey cs 6700's cs 670's and cs 8000's. Quality Made in Japan parts are readily available from scores of online vendors and the saws are cheap.

They cut good, really wake up with basic mods, are easy to work on and have filthy good oilers. Manual oilers too. The round automotive style filters flow well and never let in dust.

Unlimited coils on all and ive never seen one fail.

I've milled with em and cut lots of firewood. The cs 8000 even made it's way on a paid job last year, where I had to plunge cut 32" diameter leaning cottonwoods with a 36" bar.

Paid $400 for my cs 8000 $220 for my cs 670, $120 for my 6700 type 1 e, and $240 for my mint cs 6700 (in mill frame).

The 6700 type 1 e is torn down for a rebuild.

 

[mainer_in_ak]

milling white spruce with the $240 6700.
Base gasket delete.
Ignition advanced
Muffler opened up
Intake widened, lower transfers opened up, exauhst widened and only raised to to factory bevel.

G777 small mill
Gb 20" 3/8 low profile milling bar, gb 3/8 lp rim sprocket, redbeard bar adapter, stihl pmx 3/8 lp riping.

She just sings through bar-length Alaska birch and white spruce. That small exauhst port, pretty lame fart-knocker exauhst tone though.

 

[mainer_in_ak]

Random CS 8000 observations:
Entire fkn things are solid magnesium cinder blocks. Yes even the recoil, and the fuel tank are magnesium.

Once you start peeling back the mundane cinder block lines:
The flywheel is a sophisticated work of art. Never seen lines like that on on a flywheel on any other saw.

Wherever a wire passes through something solid, a nice rubber grommet protects it from vibration damage. Even at the unlimited coil, a rubber grommet is integral to the housing where the plug wire enters the coil.

 

[mainer_in_ak]

Forgot a coupla more tidbits regarding the 81 cc mundane monster:

1. CS 680 filter set up is a direct bolt swap. If u upgrade the carb, it has to be opened up slightly.

Stock 153b carb is a waste of good port work. HDA 45 carb is a direct bolt swap. I have 3 of them. I paid $45 a piece for my last 2.

AV is purdy rigid, has no problem with a 36" solid bar. The saw will over oil a 36" bar.

 

[smokey7]

Dang good saws. I have a few old echos as well. That flywheel air filter and the build quality is so sweet

 

[hacskaroly]

Whats your cheap saw fix?

I guess "cheap" is relative as the most I have paid for a chainsaw is $85 and have gotten over half the saws I own for free at the dump. Granted they all needed work and I am not a pro-logger/serious wood cutter, but I would say that my Husky 272xpg is my favorite to use. It was free from the dump and needed about $100 in parts and that included splitting the case and putting in new bearings.

I am glad you post about the Echo saws you use and abuse. If I buy and off the shelf/out of the box new saw (as the first owner), then I will probably go with an Echo.

 

[mainer_in_ak]

I guess "cheap" is relative as the most I have paid for a chainsaw is $85 and have gotten over half the saws I own for free at the dump. Granted they all needed work and I am not a pro-logger/serious wood cutter, but I would say that my Husky 272xpg is my favorite to use. It was free from the dump and needed about $100 in parts and that included splitting the case and putting in new bearings.

I am glad you post about the Echo saws you use and abuse. If I buy and off the shelf/out of the box new saw (as the first owner), then I will probably go with an Echo.

Nice save bud! Does the husq 272 take the common 6202 or 6203 crank bearings?

 

[FergusonTO35]

Whatever the pawn shop or Fleabay has in stock with low miles and a reasonable price. Scored a not even broken in 2024 Stihl MS-194C today for $175.00. Some others that come to mind are a very nice 2021 MS-250 for $200.00, a dirty but great running Echo CS-501P for $230.00, NIB Echo CS-500P for $265.00, and very low miles 2023 Echo CS-400 for $130.00. All of these saws still had the original bar, chain, and other parts as far as I could tell.

 

[hacskaroly]

Does the husq 272 take the common 6202 or 6203 crank bearings?

It has been a while since I worked on it, had to look it up, they are the 6202s.

 

[mainer_in_ak]

Dang good saws. I have a few old echos as well. That flywheel air filter and the build quality is so sweet

Yep, good ole saws. If a fella likes a husq 266 or a husq 181 or a 281, these are very similiar. Ill probably never get into the clone saws, with these 67 cc and 81 cc Echos floating around for next to nothing.

Echo 6700: dual port.
670: quad port
Cs 8000: duel port or quad port depending on the year.

I won't run fancy expensive light bars on the grey echos. 24" versacuts on the 6700/670, stock echo 28" and 36" bars on the 8000. All bars were $50-$60 a piece.