New Wood Cutting Tool

My old chainsaw was a Stihl 021 that was 22-23 years old. This year it started to act up by running irregular. I tried all the quick fixes but none worked. It is after all an old saw. I have three main chainsaws that together cut 10-15 cords of firewood each year. I bought a Husquevarna a few years ago anticipating that my favorite Stihl could one day soon give up the ghost. The Husky works well but is a pain to change the chain or clean and I am not happy with it at all. Even though the bar was greased regular and I use the highest quality bar oil it locked up and froze and I had to replace the bar.
I still have a Stihl 'Farm Boss" that cuts firewood like a champ but is heavy and leaves me with a back ache after using it for a few hours. I now have an Echo which is rated as good as the Stihl and comes with a 5 year warrantee.  I did an online search and read dozens of owner reviews and decided that a Echo might be the answer.

Yesterday I had to have some work done on my tractor tire chains and checked the Echo saws out while I was at the Co-op. I had my good friend Skip with me and between us we asked the questions needed and got favorable replies. I am now the new owner of the Echo 400 chain saw in the photo above.

When we left Skip asked me about why I shop at the Monte Vista Co-op. I advised that they took the chain saw and fueled it up and ran it to make sure it was going to run right for me, they threw in a carry case that makes it easy to transport with all the tools  They also gave me a quart of bar oil and a container of fuel mix along with a new Echo ball cap. They repair it under warrantee on site if I ever need warrantee repair. A five year warrantee tell me that they believe in their product to perform as advertised.

Our chain saws cut a lot of firewood each year and I need a chain saw that will do the work with as little down time as possible. This winter when I have time I will take the Stihl 021 apart and repair what is making it run irregular. It will be a good back up saw that will most likely last many more years, but when we are in the middle of cutting trees doing major repair on it is time I can not afford. The price of the Echo is good and considerably  less than a comparable Stihl model. I have fingers crossed that the saw will preform as anticipated which I will find out later today.

Both Carol and I have taken Small Engine Repair plus the advanced course so we repair and maintain our saws ourselves. That is why the  Stihl 021 has run flawlessly for 20+ years and has run so well up until this year. If The Echo doesn't measure up I'll report same on this blog but I expect it to perform as indicated by other owner reviews. What I do know is the Husky requires more detailed and frequent cleaning and it hard to put back together. The automatic oiler also has never worked right allowing to much oil to be used. It will be good to put it on the shelf and not have to rely on it and have it strictly as a back up tool.