Anyone with REAL experience with the new Echo CS-530?

[weimedog]

Planning to buy a 50cc class saw for the wife.

We have hard wood for fire wood..we heat with wood..and I drop them and she tops them. We also do tons of trail and fence / hedge row maintenance on our farm.

She's been using my goofy modded Homelite Ranger with a real chain, modded muffler and re-jetted to actually be effective....its light, safe, and just effective enough to keep her from getting impatient...but she needs a real saw. My old antique iron isn't the right path....so onto a newer lighter solution.

My origional choice was either a Husky 445 or Stihl MS-250 for her.

Then after a few weeks of spec sheet study along with a thorough trashing of the Stihl MS-250 over at the other place..I morphed to more "pro level saws....the Husky 353 and Dolmar 5100s.
Finally this weekend I decided the Dolmar wins the Spec. Sheet war....

THEN I saw an Echo CS-530 at our local dealer AND the mechanic there of something like 25 years stated his opinion of Echo's....he basically said they may not be the fastest or fanciest looking saws in their respective price and displcement classes, but they would outlast anything else on the market by a long  margin. Anyone "Echo" this with REAL experience? AND I found this thread...

Does the fact that a lot of part throttle work happens here enter into this discussion?

[ladylake]

I've been running a older CS510 for 5 years now, out of 14 saws (most brands)  it's my favorite, light, good cutting speed, handles nice and runs like a top. The Dolmar 5100s sound good also but might wiegh a pound more.    Steve

[Dale Hatfield]

I have used echo's to carve with now for 7 years. I have a little guy a 345 rear handle that i bought to detail with that has the snags run out of it. pull the trigger and dont let off cutting very little wood  while doing it basically  sand /shaving small bits of wood at full throttle. It still runs today Same plug new fuel line and a handful of bars and chains .
I have become a big fan of the 370/400 for carving with stihls micro pico chain its like a laser. Granted Im running shorter bars usually 2 inches shorter than stock. But they are wicked.
Overall Once I buy a saw Im my own warranty because of the abuse they get from carving. Outside of new air filters in 7 years Ive not had any trouble with an Echo product.
Honestly i dont know how they can sell a product as cheap that can last that long in my hands.

[Cut4fun]

I have heard from a guy in conversation that he runs a 510 and 520 and he swears by them. Key word I heard.
Only thing I would be scared of on new models is if it had a cat muffler that holds in heat.

[ladylake]

A cat muffler wouldn't last long around here or the limiter caps.   Steve

[SawTroll]

A cat muffler wouldn't last long around here or the limiter caps.   Steve

Cutting into a cat muffler might be dangerous to your health, some pretty nasty stuff in there.........

[Kodiakmac]

Time for my 2.32 cents worth (Canadian $$).  I have not had the pleasure of running a CS530, but I've had an Echo CS510 for 5 years now and it hasn't made 1 trip to the doctor's.  It is easily the best saw I have ever owned.  It is utterly reliable, light-weight and has more than enough guts for this old bush-whacker.  If it calves tomorrow, it owes me nothing...and I'll be buying another Echo.

[weimedog]

With the exception of one person from my area who posts here from time to time, Echo's are universaly loved..thats a hard thing to beat in the sales cycle...I see the CS-400's on ebay in the 250 range....wonder what the 530's will ebay for from those same suppiers? Right now the dealers have them for the 400 dollar range...in direct competition with pro Husky's and Dolmars.

I won't buy any of the new Husky's with the "one" bar nut deal. Thats just seems a bit cheezy. Especially when that old Homie ranger has to 5/8 across the hex sized nuts.

[Rocky_J]

The Echo saws are very good homeowner saws. They won't have the power of the pro Huskys or Stihls, but they are well built and mostly trouble free. If you pull the saw out of the shed a dozen times per year then the Echo will serve you well.

[Al_Smith]

I dunno Walter  but people that have Echos seem to like them .I can't say much one way or the other .I do however have one sitting on the bench as I type ,older of course . 40 some odd cc I think  which was used by a tree service for years and they liked it . As soon as I shoe spoon the recoil back together I'll give a little run and see how it does .

[DanG]

Rocky_J, I'm wondering what factors cause you to put the Echos in the "homeowner" category.   From everything I can see, their features rank right up there with Stihl and Husqie's pro models, and unless something has changed recently, Echo doesn't even offer a "homeowner" line like the others do.  I've never owned either of those others, but I have cut beside them with my Echos, and noticed no lack of power.  The only shortcoming I've experienced is that my little CS300 is a bit cold natured.  I have to warm it up for about 15 seconds before I stick it in the wood, or it will stall.  The CS670 doesn't have that problem, or any other that I can detect.

[Rocky_J]

Dan, perhaps 'homeowner' was the wrong word. Most casual and semi-regular saw users won't notice the power differences. In fact many 'pro' users may not unless they have had experience running many different brands and models of saws.

A correlation would be the person who has never driven any brand of car other than Dodge. In his mind, the Dodges are great and he cannot imagine how other brands might be better or worse. But he certainly isn't in a position to claim that the Dodge is the best, only that it is very good and he is more than satisfied with it.

On a heads-up comparison between the Echo 530 (a 50cc saw) and the Husky 346XP and Dolmar 5100, the Echo will lag far behind in power. But for someone who has never run a 346XP or 5100, it will most likely be more than satisfactory. But that doesn't mean it's the best.

My 'homeowner' comment only means that in my mind the 530 is not on an equal level to the pro saws I use to make my living.

[customdave]

[Merry Christmas Everyone .I am new member to the forum  & by no means a chainsaw size=expert but I own several echo products ,oldest@15 yrs.very pleasedand no troubles,echo has very heavy ball bearing crankshafts.my understanding from information is they have very good torque to weight specs.i will not heisatate to buy more echo                                                                                        Custom Dave

[ladylake]

 My CS510 was dead even with my brothers 346xp (old 45cc) so I'd think the new 346xp and 5100s Dolmar will cut a LITTLE faster.  If you call far behind a second or two in a 15 second cut I guess it's far behind.  No I haven't run a new 346xp or a 5100s Dolmar but have run a Stihl MS260 and the old 346XP and they have nothing on my CS510.  Doing timed cut my o44 Stihl took 19 seconds and my CS510 took 23 second 1  inch apart in the same log  both with sharp chiesel chains, I wouldn't even call that far behind.  Steve

[Al_Smith]

Most saws within the same size group will be pretty close to one another as far as cut speed . One might be a little more "user " friendly than the others .

I suppose it just depends on how you look at things .I've got big saws ,old saws ,not so old saws ,good and not as good . One thing they all have in common,they all cut wood .

[John Mc]

Doing timed cut my o44 Stihl took 19 seconds and my CS510 took 23 second 1  inch apart in the same log  both with sharp chiesel chains, I wouldn't even call that far behind.

I don't make my living with a chainsaw, and have never used a CS510, so the 4 second difference would probably mean little to me. But that is a 20% difference in times. I'd consider that significant, and not something I'd want to put up with if it was putting bread on my table.

John Mc

[ladylake]

Doing timed cut my o44 Stihl took 19 seconds and my CS510 took 23 second 1  inch apart in the same log  both with sharp chiesel chains, I wouldn't even call that far behind.

I don't make my living with a chainsaw, and have never used a CS510, so the 4 second difference would probably mean little to me. But that is a 20% difference in times. I'd consider that significant, and not something I'd want to put up with if it was putting bread on my table.

  That is quite a bit of difference but the 044  is 70cc and wieghts 19.5 pounds full of fuel and oil and the Echo CS510 is 49.6 cc and  wieghts 15# FULL,  guess which one I use more.     Steve

John Mc

[ladylake]

 And if you really care my 80cc CS8000 took 14 seconds in the same cut but wieghts 23# full, my CS510 still comes with me.  And if you'lve actully had any of these saws apart you can tell the quality.   Steve

[DanG]

So Rocky_J, what you seem to be saying is that I can't make a comparison because I haven't owned a Stihl, but you can make the comparison even though you haven't had an Echo?

If you're gonna compare cutting speeds and be honest about it, the only way is to make up new loops from the same roll of chain for both saws.  If you've ever touched them with a file, it ain't a good test.

[John Mc]

  That is quite a bit of difference but the 044  is 70cc and wieghts 19.5 pounds full of fuel and oil and the Echo CS510 is 49.6 cc and  wieghts 15# FULL,  guess which one I use more.

You don't have to convince me. I'm a fan of lightweight and shorter bars (around here, there is not much need for 20"+ bars). Up until this fall, my primary saw was a Jonsered 2152 (51.7 cc, 11.0 pounds without bar and chain -- book numbers, I haven't weighed it). I used it for everything... felling, limbing, bucking hardwoods.

This fall I got a good deal on a used Husky 357XP (56.5 cc, 12.1 without bar and chain -- again book numbers, and probably optimistic on Husky's part. I put a 16" bar on it, since I rarely need more). I have been mainly using that just to put it through it's paces. I haven't decided what will be my main saw yet. If I'm doing a lot of bucking, clearly it would be the 357XP. If I was out for a day of felling and limbing, it would be a tougher choice. The 2152 is a bit slower on the felling cuts, but the lighter weight is nice when limbing.