Battle of the Top-Handles /climbing saws

[Stumper]

As RB stated "few" people like the 019T. I'm one of those few. I like the handle set up and haven't found mine to be underpowered. It is heavier than the other climbing saws but I liked the way it handles/balances.

 

[stihltech]

019

The newer 019 has a power upgrade, is anyone using it and how is it working for you?

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I wish you guys would stop comparing the 020 stihl to the 3400 Echo. The Stihl will have the whole log cut up into firewood, be put away, and cooled off, before the Echo finishes it's first cut.
Rb, maybe 20%, HA! Closer to 200% is my bet.

 

[treeclimber165]

Originally posted by Mike Maas
I wish you guys would stop comparing the 020 stihl to the 3400 Echo. The Stihl will have the whole log cut up into firewood, be put away, and cooled off, before the Echo finishes it's first cut.
Rb, maybe 20%, HA! Closer to 200% is my bet.

Mike,
That is because you put the chain on backwards on the Echo. If you let somebody install the chain properly for you, you will discover that the Echo isn't a bad little saw.

 

[Ryan Willock]

George, i have a ms191T (019) and while its decent its nothing to write home about if i had had the $$$ at the time then i would have bought the 020 i'm just hoping that it doesn't last all that long, that way i can have an excuse to buy a new ms200T or 335xp

 

[rbtree]

Mike, I thought you liked your 3450...

Anyhow, after tweaking my 3400 muffler, it cut 10-15% faster, but still about 10% slower than an old 335, which is 10-15% behind an 020T, which is 10-25% slower than my modded 335.

200%, not hardly

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

i luv 020, have all Stihls; don't think that an 019 '...would even make a good tire chock'!

i have had several; in fact am running a $50 used one now to take the wear off my 'real' saws on the ground; it seems to be the best running one i've had; it seems i have bought 3 new over time; including one of the first ones, plus some used; seeing as i had parts.........

One of my biggest pet peeves about is the long tunnel for fuel/air mix to run from the carb to the cylinder. The longer distance of thin stiff plastic seems to add to troubles including condensation, cold starts, easier to get violated with a pure air leak in already mixed fuel/air to fry cylinder.

Well i guess that .02 is up!

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Rb, I do like the 3450 and that's what I use daily.
I use it because top handled saws are awkward to use IMO. As you noted it has much less power, but I still perfer it.
It is a dis-service to those that read these threads, to say the Echo is almost as strong as the Stihl. I would be mad as heck if I bought a 3400 top handle because of what I read here, and when to cut up a big log, only to find out it is a dog.
Would you use a 3400 to chunk down a 12" to 14" spar? Heck no!
Would you use a 020 to chunk down a 12" to 14" spar? Of course, no problem.
When making the little cuts the Echo is fine. Get into the 12" wood and it cuts at less than half the speed, I would guess.

 

[treeclimber165]

The opinion of someone who owns four Echos but badmouths their lack of power, even though he hasn't bothered opening up the mufflers, has no credence. RB thought his Echo was a dog too, until he opened the muffler. I do not consider ANY saw with a stock muffler as running anywhere near it's designed potential. If you are going to test stock saws, you gotta put the tip wanker back on the Echo (If you actually took it off) and run safety chain.

 

[GeorgeWLogger]

Ok Guys,
Lets try this again. How does the 019T compare to the CS-300 with the muffler opened up?
Thanks,
GeorgeW

 

[tony marks]

ive been playin with my xxv poulan.
this thing aint nothin like the current green saws,and yes is green. just bought 3 10 inch chains on ebay for 3.99.
still prefer the echo in the tree but dont worry if it dulls out,i dont worry ,as this little 10 inch saw is hungry. got me thinking about grttin a 10 inch bar for the echo. if they gottum.

 

[Stumper]

Tony, I always ran 14"or 16" bars on my Poulan top-handles. They seemed to perform okay with those bar lengths. shorter bars seem awkward to me. FWIW I had one Poulan (in Sears guise) that ran away from all the rest. I didn't have a tach but the calibrated ear said it was turning 2000+ more rpms than my other Poulans. (Yes , I had backed off from max rpms by richening the mixture.) It only lasted a little over a year in service but was an absolute screamer. One of those "opposite of lemon" saws that occassionally happen in mass production.-Hope yours keeps cuttin' a long time.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Brian,
Nobody's opinion has credence with you, unless they agree with you, at least that's how it seems.
In fact, I have opened the exaust on the Echo I 'm using now, and it did perk it up a little. What makes you think I hadn't?
I suggested a test between a 3450 and a 020, both unmodified for fairness.
Now you want to test a modified 3450 against an un-modified 020. That won't help determine the power difference of the saws unless we modify both. That complicates things quite a bit.
Rb's comments put a stock 3400 at about 45% slower than an 020, and I think there's more of a difference than that.
Does anyone else out there have both a 3400/3450 and an 020, to get some input?

 

[treeclimber165]

Originally posted by Mike Maas
Brian,
Nobody's opinion has credence with you, unless they agree with you, at least that's how it seems.

NOW yer getting the idea! You see, there are the smart people who agree with me, and all the other idiots.

I live in my own little world, but it's ok because they know me here.

 

[rbtree]

Yep, but we still like ya, Brian...

Mike, it will be a while, but I'll put the stock muffler back on my 3400 and run it against Dave's 020. It will be 16 inch bar versus 16 inch. Have to switch handles with my parts saw first, as I think someone left the 3400 under a tree I was removing. Reckon I dropped a chunk on it. I'll also test it with the modded muffler and my 335. I'll use small wood and some ~16 inch stuff. Haven't run my old S 25 Poulan in ages, but if it will fire, I'l bet it will be just behind the 020...

I'm sure the 3400 hp is about 1.8, which if accurate versus the 020T's 2.2 would be 20% slower. I'll guess that it will be 35-40% slower.

We're currently having fun felling about 28 doug fir and two white pine, about 2.5 truck loads. A few have to be climbed and topped. I'm sharing the $ with the tree service who called me to help, but we may get about $3500 for the wood and $3100 from the two customers--not bad for 4 guys for 2.5 days. Plus he and his helper are a bit on the slow and less than smart side... no worries tho...

 

[Ryan Willock]

Roger, you'd love the guy we have at work, i think i can honestly say that i have met Forest Gump!!!LOL nice enough guy, just not the sharpest tool in the shed!! oh, and you don't want to stand down wind of him!!! my boss uses an old 017 with a 14'' bar for a climbing saw, talk about gut less

 

[tony marks]

im bettin that poulan 25 surprises even
u. im sold on mine. it just out classed my 3000 today in a bad way. kept thinking ,man did i just not get the echo sharp.
dont think so. id just been using the 25.
might not be manly but i really like the 10 inch. got 3 3/8 chains from ebay.
hope that dont turn out to be a mistake.

 

[arborman]

I got the solo 633 Now. Just got it broken in a few days ago, i really like it so far. starts good. Runs good , Has ok Power. in my mind it seems to hold up better in a cut then the echos. i had the 14 inch bar buried in an oak leed the other day and it didnt bog out nearly as bad as i would have expected, As a matter of fact it kept on cutting , with seemingly very little hesitation. The saw is not as fast as the 335xpt or the ms200. but as far as reliability, price and warrenty. you cant go wrong with the solo.
the one thing i did not like that i geuss may have been done bye the dealer that i bought it from Was it came with a microlite bar and chain. i took that off right away and went with the oregon 91. What a difference that maDe!
2nd time i was up a tree with this saw i realized that the dealer who put this together has a problem tightening nuts. because the nut that holds the side plate/ bar and chain on, came off when i was standing out on the end of a limb experimenting with jump cuts. Well as you can geuss the limb did not jump. But my bar and sideplate jumped right out of the tree And my chain stayed in the limb i was cutting. it was rather funny though once i figured out exactly what happened and put humpty dumpty back together again.

 

[Dennis]

I have a 633 Solo as well...I did some cutting with it stock and liked it...I have now finished modifying it(finally) and am waiting to do some cuts with it...I had to order a new inside bar plate, as mine seemed to "disappear". Will let you know how it goes.
The 2 year warranty for commercial use sure is attractive on the Solo.

 

[robedic]

I've heard the Stihl vs Husky debate over their respective climbing saws, but I'd be interested to know how each responds to modifications. I understand the 335 can gain 30-40%. Has anyone modified a 020?