Great site, did lots of reading before I joined. Here is the scoop. I own 400 acres of timber here in Missouri. For years I have been borrowing my dads little 14 inch Stihl to do chores around the farm. Mainly clearing roads from downed trees. I don't cut firewood now, but plan on building a house on my property within 5 years and using wood for heat. After all, I'm surrounded by it! After my research I was torn between a Stihl 290 farm boss and the Echo 590 timber wolf. I've had problems with my Stihl trimmer that is just two years old, finally after a bunch of carb adjustments and no fix, I drilled a pin hole in the gas cap and it runs like a champ. I really don't have anything bad to say about Stihl. I have had awesome luck with Echo. I have another trimmer that I keep at the farm and use heavily and it has never given me any issues. Use It a lot harder than the Stihl I keep at home. I also use a echo blower that has been flawless for years. After comparing both saws, I decided to be different and go with the echo. A little bigger, 20 inch bar and just 40$ more than the Stihl. Now my buddies have been bashing me all day for buying the echo, telling me I should have got what all the pros use. Ohh well, we shall see. Haven't cut with it yet, but it seems to be very well put together.
