Echo cs680

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Jwilliams

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Looking for a new saw had a ms290 and 390 and currently sold both for a lot more then I had paid for them. Currently looking for a new saw to do my firewood and was looking at a echo 680. Local dealer within walking distance of my house and know the owner pretty well. Not sure if I wanna take the leap over to echo as a current stihl guy but was looking at a ms362c and they are just expensive so for 615 could have the 680. What's your thoughts. Good/bad. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you
 
Looking for a new saw had a ms290 and 390 and currently sold both for a lot more then I had paid for them. Currently looking for a new saw to do my firewood and was looking at a echo 680. Local dealer within walking distance of my house and know the owner pretty well. Not sure if I wanna take the leap over to echo as a current stihl guy but was looking at a ms362c and they are just expensive so for 615 could have the 680. What's your thoughts. Good/bad. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

I'm not at all impressed with my CS303T. I had (until it took a walk) Stihl 192T, replaced with 193T. sI bought the Echo to fill in while my 193T was at the dealers for surgery. The Echo is heavier, runs slower and has a dinky little fuel tank. It is, however, homeowner grade so may not be representative of the bigger saws.
 
Dang JW, what kind of can of worms are you trying to open. Your on the firewood forum, but you are also on a website that panders to saw collectors. I have around 40 saws, 2 Echos, 4 Stihls, and the rest Homelites. If you ask me, I say go find a Homelite XL 925 @ 82CC's for a medium saw, a Super 1050 @ 100CC's for a big one, and a 7-29 @ 129CC's for anything over 5'. If I don't want to get one of my good saws dirty I use a 3 year old Stihl 660, 15 year old 290, or a brand new 170. If I'm feeling wishy washy about what saw to use I'll grab the Echo 750 or 305, I like both of them, Joe.
 
680's are solid and very simple. Biggest concern would be having a good dealer to prep the saw as to not void the warranty. (Even though all experiences have proven it to be useless)
They take to muffler mods and tune very nice. Not as bad power to weight ratio. As others say. They have a very wide powerband from what I have experienced. They run real close to 272, 372, and stihl 440's.


Steven
 
I have a dealer within a mile and local hardware store been going there for yrs and have been great with any help I need. He always tells me to buy a real saw and get rid of the stihls. Said he can do 629 with a 24" bar But might be able to do better tomorow once he is open and can do some figuring Other option if went with stihl was found a man 441 online with a bb and owner claims to only have ran 9 tanks of fuel threw it. So not sure on that one but he is asking 475 for or
 
I really like mine. Pulls a 24" bar just fine. Plenty of torque. I did cut the limiter tabs and tuned it but no muffler mod yet.

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You'll like it. All my echo saws have been extremely reliable and very easy to start. If you have a good dealer, that's a plus too.

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Very happy with my Echos. 670 just keeps going and going.
My newer 370 seems to go forever on a single tank. I don't know if they upgraded the tank size on the 680 or not, but it could be bigger. Still, no complaints here on the 670.
 
Just spoke to my dealer today gave me a price of 636 out the door for the 680 and 560 out the door for a 620. And said he would be glad to retune after I do a muffler mod
I just read the specs on echo's site. The 680 is bigger but actually weighs less. The 620 is the newer design. Probably very close in performance with a 20 or 24" bar. The filtration may be better on the 620 but my 680 filters fine too.

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I have an echo 8000 and when it runs, it runs great but I have had my share of problems with it - nothing major but inconvenient for sure. It also doesn't have a decompression button and will damn near pull your shoulder out of socket when starting cold - even when it's warm out.
 
I'm loving my 680. I also cut with a Stihl MS261 and an Echo 370. The 680 is quite a bit bigger than both but it is a very strong saw. I've been running mine with a 28" bar lately and it feels like it pulls it just like the 24". Can't tell a bit of difference and I've buried it a few times cutting low on some stumps.

I did tune it plenty fat and I'm not getting anywhere close to the 14,000rpm max, more like 12,400 where is seems to want to pull the hardest. I'm at a very high altitude though.

One thing that I notice about the two Echo's compared to the Stihls is, they seem to run really cool. When I shut them down to maintain my chain or whatever, I can easily handle them, whereas the Stihl is cooking, which is weird considering it has the most least restrictive muffler. The 680 muffler is stock, but has no cat. The 370 is gutted but I didn't open it up any more than just removing the cat. It could be the superior oiling of both of the Echos but of all the saws I run the 680 the longest and hardest.

I would get the 680 over the 620, mostly because there will be plenty of time to get saws similar to the 620s in the future. Old school but new saws like the 680 will go away. The 680 is a stronger saw than the 620 is as well.
 
Very happy with my Echos. 670 just keeps going and going.
My newer 370 seems to go forever on a single tank. I don't know if they upgraded the tank size on the 680 or not, but it could be bigger. Still, no complaints here on the 670.
I'm quite happy with the fuel capacity of my 680. I've got a 370 as well, and you're right, I'm usually done cutting with it before it runs out of gas.
 
OP did you get the saw?

True Echo dealers are pretty thin in my neck of the woods otherwise I would give them a strong look for more than my little saws.
 
OP did you get the saw?

True Echo dealers are pretty thin in my neck of the woods otherwise I would give them a strong look for more than my little saws.
Same here. There's no one around where I live. I would have to drive over an hour and even that place just handles most of their small stuff. When I lived in south Texas I remember there were pockets down there where the Echos were the popular make, and they pushed them pretty hard. Fortunately I find them very easy to work on, which is another reason I like them. I can take most of the Echos and 3 series Huskys apart and put them back together myself.
 
OP did you get the saw?

True Echo dealers are pretty thin in my neck of the woods otherwise I would give them a strong look for more than my little saws.
I wouldn't worry much about a dealer. Keep it tuned right and you'll be fine. Parts can be ordered online if needed but with good maintenance, it's doubtful you'll have any issues.

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I wouldn't worry much about a dealer. Keep it tuned right and you'll be fine. Parts can be ordered online if needed but with good maintenance, it's doubtful you'll have any issues.

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I wouldn't worry about repair in my case because I have several saws but it would be nice if we had an echo dealer on here like spike60, fordf150, or millermodsaws who are good ambassadors for their respective brands.
 
I wouldn't worry about repair in my case because I have several saws but it would be nice if we had an echo dealer on here like spike60, fordf150, or millermodsaws who are good ambassadors for their respective brands.
Certainly agree.

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