Echo CS 450

Hello all,

New to the site. Proud owner of a brand new Echo CS 450 saw, was thinking about a Pro saw but not sure if I actually need one yet.

I just had a couple of questions for all you saw guru's out there.

I heard Echo's sometimes run lean right out of the box..anybody have any tips on adjusting the H & L screws on the carb? A lot of people say that you should never tune a chainsaw by ear and you need professional equipment...I don't have any of that so what is my best bet.

Also, anybody know where I can buy a Full Chisel chain for this model? It has a 18" bar. The safety chain it came with definitely serves it purpose, but I need this saw to cut as fast as possible.

I already bought some Stihl ultra oil (silver container) and I going to run a 50:1 mix with 89 octane. Pretty much want to get this thing tuned, full chisel chain, and let her rip.

Any tips/suggestions feel free to let me know...thanks!

There are some very good safety chains on the market now, Stihl for example, that do everything but bore cuts quite well.

I'm not sure if your saw has 3/8" low profile or .325 chain.
One spans .730" between the drivers, the other .650".
Yours probably takes .325, Bailey's lists .325 bars for your saw.
I'm assuming that the drivers are 0.50" thick.
If you buy the chain locally, best bet is to take the saw, or at least the chain, with you so that they get the pitch, driver thickness, and length of the chain right.

I'm not sure of the power your saw puts out, it might cut better with a skip tooth chain, especially if it's a bit weak for an 18" bar.

Don't be running it without tuning it, at least no long hard cuts. Almost all Echo saws come way lean out of the box unless your dealer tuned it, I wouldn't count on that. You need to pull the limiter caps off then turn the high out untill the engine slows down with the throttle held wide open for a second or 2, usually 1 to 1-1/2 turns out the find a good size chunk of wood , make a test cut, then gradually turn the high back in 1/8 of a turn at a time untill it cuts the fastest. Use a sharp chain and apply enough pressure to work the engine some. I haven't run a CS450 yet but it's based off the CS510-530 series and should be a little hot rod tuned right with a small muff mod. Steve

mountainlake said:

Don't be running it without tuning it, at least no long hard cuts. Almost all Echo saws come way lean out of the box unless your dealer tuned it, I wouldn't count on that. You need to pull the limiter caps off then turn the high out untill the engine slows down with the throttle held wide open for a second or 2, usually 1 to 1-1/2 turns out the find a good size chunk of wood , make a test cut, then gradually turn the high back in 1/8 of a turn at a time untill it cuts the fastest. Use a sharp chain and apply enough pressure to work the engine some. I haven't run a CS450 yet but it's based off the CS510-530 series and should be a little hot rod tuned right with a small muff mod. Steve

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:agree2::agree2: pull the limiters and cut off the tabs and then put them back on so they can be adjusted like they should be and also pull the muff and take that stupid cat out. and it will be a screamer. take the echo safety chain and chunk it in the garbage can. this is what i have done to all my echos and like mountain lake said they come out of the box WAY to lean. what i run in all of mine is the echo oil with 91 octane gas mixed .9 gallon per small bottle which gives you a 45:1 ration
ohhh by the way. welcome to the site.. and as far as the echo goes GOOD CHOICE.

Great information guys, much appreciated.

I was just wondering...do I have to remove any plastic parts on the saw to pull off the limiter caps and adjust the carb? Or are they accessible with how the chainsaw is stock?

take a 3" wood screw. screw it into the end of the limiter,,it takes at least 1 full turn into limiter to get a good bite,, take the screw back out and turn the limiter full counter clockwise until it stops,, now your tabs are lined up with the slots.. next screw the wood screw back in. sometimes it takes a few tries because the limiter will turn.. just make sure the limiter is full cw..now you can pull the limiter off..sometimes it takes some wiggling to get it off,,do the same for the other 1..cut the 2 tabs off both of them and push them both all the way back on.. now it can be tune like it should be..

For as many Echo dealers as you see, you hardly see any around. I don't think they are a bad saw at all, there probably not on the same level as alot of others comparable cubic inch saws. Even here they are not spoke much of.

I'd like to see a comparison of 5100 and a comparable size Echo or even a 260 and 346 to get a idea of where they are in the performance catagory

I think it's an awesome saw, considering I bought it for $225 shipped :greenchainsaw:


On another note, I would love to open up the muffler on this saw...anybody have a how-to page on this? I don't want to take out too much and decrease performance.

gink595 said:

For as many Echo dealers as you see, you hardly see any around. I don't think they are a bad saw at all, there probably not on the same level as alot of others comparable cubic inch saws. Even here they are not spoke much of.

I'd like to see a comparison of 5100 and a comparable size Echo or even a 260 and 346 to get a idea of where they are in the performance catagory

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Bring over your muff modded 5100 346 or 260 and we'll run them side by side with my muffler modded CS520, there won't be much if any difference. With as close as my stock CS510 runs to my 2 044 saws I'm sure not scared to run them. Steve

I used to run a 260 Pro often and my Echo 530 is every bit the saw that is. In fact, I bought it and a 680 at a Stihl dealer who claimed that many of the techs preferred the Echo products to Stihl. I also ran a Stihl FS350 brushcutter for many years until I bought my Echo SRM410 and that holds its own too. Based on my time with both manufacturers products in my hands, I'll bet that cs450 would run the socks off stihl's ms250.

miking said:

I used to run a 260 Pro often and my Echo 530 is every bit the saw that is. In fact, I bought it and a 680 at a Stihl dealer who claimed that many of the techs preferred the Echo products to Stihl. I also ran a Stihl FS350 brushcutter for many years until I bought my Echo SRM410 and that holds its own too. Based on my time with both manufacturers products in my hands, I'll bet that cs450 would run the socks off stihl's ms250.

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Betting a CS450 would woop a MS250 would be like taking candy from a baby. Steve

mountainlake said:

Betting a CS450 would woop a MS250 would be like taking candy from a baby. Steve

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You like stirring the pot, don't ya Steve?

mountainlake said:

Bring over your muff modded 5100 346 or 260 and we'll run them side by side with my muffler modded CS520, there won't be much if any difference. With as close as my stock CS510 runs to my 2 044 saws I'm sure not scared to run them. Steve

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LOL, yeah I'll be right up in about 12 hours Only saw I have in that catagory is a 5100 and it is more than muffler modded. I think you took me all wrong, I wasn't bashing the Echo's I would just like to see where they stand with other comparable saws, for the fact that you never see any running around here or talked about much, I personally like the looks fo the Echo's.

The exterior build quality of my CS530 just plain looks and feels better than my Huskys. Now if it only has 90% of the speed and power of my 346xp but lasts two or three times as long it still comes out on top. If power was all that mattered then there would only be one 50cc saw, one 60 cc saw and so on. Nothing wrong with an Echo, depending upon how long the race is, it might just get there first. It even came with a better quality scrench than my Huskys. REJ2

gink595 said:

LOL, yeah I'll be right up in about 12 hours Only saw I have in that catagory is a 5100 and it is more than muffler modded. I think you took me all wrong, I wasn't bashing the Echo's I would just like to see where they stand with other comparable saws, for the fact that you never see any running around here or talked about much, I personally like the looks fo the Echo's.

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It sure would be intersting to see those saws muffler modded not ported run against each other on vids. Stock the CS510-530 saws muffler is too choked up and they make big improvements with a muff modd. the 260 might be the same but I think the 346 and 5100 have pretty opened up muffs stock and will not show the gains of the Echo and Stihl. Steve

EchoGuy445 said:

I think it's an awesome saw, considering I bought it for $225 shipped :greenchainsaw:


On another note, I would love to open up the muffler on this saw...anybody have a how-to page on this? I don't want to take out too much and decrease performance.

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take the muffler off.. on the intake of the muffler you will see the honeycomb. that is the cat.. take all the honeycomb out and then on the front is the silver exhaust deflector cut that and open it up like the one in this pic.. MAKE SURE YOU GET ALL THE LITTLE PIECES OUT OF THE MUFFLER

i know sawtroll is an echo hater..he needs to read this thread. would really piss him off

REJ2 said:

The exterior build quality of my CS530 just plain looks and feels better than my Huskys. Now if it only has 90% of the speed and power of my 346xp but lasts two or three times as long it still comes out on top. If power was all that mattered then there would only be one 50cc saw, one 60 cc saw and so on. Nothing wrong with an Echo, depending upon how long the race is, it might just get there first. It even came with a better quality scrench than my Huskys. REJ2

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I see you have both a 346 and CS530, which one do you feel is better, and I'm not talking longevity. I'm talking all performance speed and smoothness?

REJ2 said:

The exterior build quality of my CS530 just plain looks and feels better than my Huskys. Now if it only has 90% of the speed and power of my 346xp but lasts two or three times as long it still comes out on top. If power was all that mattered then there would only be one 50cc saw, one 60 cc saw and so on. Nothing wrong with an Echo, depending upon how long the race is, it might just get there first. It even came with a better quality scrench than my Huskys. REJ2

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I don't think you have your CS530 muff modded, these saws gain a lot with that but if I remember right you don't want the extra noise, you could mod it a bit to get up to the same noise level as your 346 . I don't know about the sound level difference between your 346 and 530 but I'd bet the 530 is quite a bit quieter. Steve

miking said:

You like stirring the pot, don't ya Steve?

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Just the truth Mike. Steve