mowoodchopper
Polar Bear
Tried to search didnt find much! Just curious about the 3400 echo if they are any good or junk?
echo 3400 anyone know anything about it?
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A workmate had one, I had a go with it for 5 minutes then handed it back in disgust. They're just another in a long line of typical sluggish echo TH saws, a 0.95 KW egg-beater, boring, dull, slow, infuriatingly weak, don't bother ... :bang:
The 3400 is a reliable lightweight saw that offers great value for money. It lacks some of the nicities that the MS200 has but at half the cost (and thats 800 dollars less here) they are a great saw which is probably 75% the saw the stihl is and better IMHO than the 019t at the time. I ran one side by side with an MS200 and after forking out $1500 for the MS200, I couldnt see where the extra $800 went over the 3400 at $700. But the MS200 got better with time and tend to live longer.
Alot of tree services ran nothing but 3400's here. I got a drum full of em!
Alot of tree services ran nothing but 3400's here. I got a drum full of em!
mowoodchopper
Polar Bear
Well thats good to here I bought one for 70 bucks so if its as good as it is supposed to be, ebay? It will be a good deal I hope .
Your right, but skoda is now made by VW, so its like a golf vs a ferrari.
At the time we did some timed cuts and it was a not to distant second, it was lighter to climb with, we used to drop them from epic heights without breakage where as the MS200 seemed to bust bits (VERY expensive bits) more. For the money, they were/are outstanding value considering what a dog the husky was (husky should hang there head in shame for that money waster) and we had alot of dud 019T and dont start me on the solo's.
And the big thing was the $800 difference in price tag. At the time that was more than I was paying myself a month when I first started out.
If well looked after the 3400 is a good, cheap pro top handle. They arent good to work on and age does catch up on them and I much prefer the MS200 as it "feels" so much better to use (hence the drum full). But emotion aside the 3400 will still get the job done for a long time for alot less.
I have a couple of 350T's, very good saws and can rev hard but there brake is so crap (like you dont want to use it because its a hassle to disengage it so they now are strict crap job only saws) and the sidecover is a right PITA.
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Up the tree the 3400 is bordering on dangerous, no sting, poor acceleration, piss-poor chainspeed for when you REALLY need it. ANY top handle saw that won't even crack a lowly 1.3KW is plain hopeless mate, and can't be seriously regarded as a pro-saw. 
P.S. Mac, you couldn't be more wrong about the XPT huskys, they're a comfortable light saw with a powerful, reliable, robust engine, BUT they definitely need a couple of areas tweaked to run well, and I'd always tell anyone non- mechanically minded to go with the 200T as they run sweet straight from the shop with no need to mod anything.
Here's a comparison of an XPT crank, rod, bearings and piston next to a chintzy 192T setup..
Here's a comparison of an XPT crank, rod, bearings and piston next to a chintzy 192T setup..
Up the tree the 3400 is bordering on dangerous, no sting, poor acceleration, piss-poor chainspeed for when you REALLY need it. ANY top handle saw that won't even crack a lowly 1.3KW is plain hopeless mate, and can't be seriously regarded as a pro-saw.
Was yours in good nick or was it a junker? They dont rev like the stihl but none of mine were that bad until they were getting long in the tooth. I did alot of dismantles with mine, as did those who I worked with.
I was kinda ticked at husky, guys saved and saved to buy them and were left having to buy echos or ms200's while the 335's dwelled in repair shops.
The 3400 is the larger displacement version of their reed valve engines used on many of their smaller top handle saws, and a few rear handle models, 300, 301, 3450, etc.
These engines are slow and considerably underpowered, no doubt about it. Reliable, yes, but you can go back in the house and have another cup of coffee and a donut before they'll get thru a 14" limb!
The CS-330 and CS-360 are modern piston ported top handles, and obsolete those older designs in every area. They have STRONG top end power, with a built in rev limiter at 14,500rpm's.
I find them a bit "bulky" compared to the MS200T, but for less than half the price, and they work equally as well, I'll take the money I saved and buy another saw or two!
I did a muffler mod and put some fuel to our CS-360T and it is a little BEAST. I sidelined or sold off my 300, 301 and 3400. I keep the 3400 at my dad's in case I'm over there and have to cut a twig or two......Cliff
These engines are slow and considerably underpowered, no doubt about it. Reliable, yes, but you can go back in the house and have another cup of coffee and a donut before they'll get thru a 14" limb!
The CS-330 and CS-360 are modern piston ported top handles, and obsolete those older designs in every area. They have STRONG top end power, with a built in rev limiter at 14,500rpm's.
I find them a bit "bulky" compared to the MS200T, but for less than half the price, and they work equally as well, I'll take the money I saved and buy another saw or two!
I did a muffler mod and put some fuel to our CS-360T and it is a little BEAST. I sidelined or sold off my 300, 301 and 3400. I keep the 3400 at my dad's in case I'm over there and have to cut a twig or two......Cliff
Yeah, those first 335's had major bugs, the rubber manifold would split, the tank breather wouldn't breathe, consequently their tune was all over the place.
Their skinny one-rivet oregon bar would chew out it's tip, the spark cover would fall off, the switch wiring would break at the connecters, the impulse hose would rub and get a hole.
The standard 3## series husky coil would sometimes die(didn't seem to handle the small TH saw sized flywheel) the fuel hose would rub on a sharp edge and get pin-holes. The standard sized fuel-filter was too big for the small tank and sucked in too much air...
They took about 5 minutes to heat up to running temperature, they'd only idle at high revs... errr, yeah, that's about it..
Sort that long list of bugs and they come right. But of course you couldn't expect everyone to sort all that sh*t themselves, and the chainsaw shops never had a clue either. Waste of time trying to get a shop to fix them...
Apparently the later 338's are sorted and they run good straight from the shop with no pissing around.
Those 350-360T's are the gruntiest of the echos, they were reasonable when not seizing bearings and pistons, Cliff obviously sorted his out, but compared to the husky and stihl they still 'feel' cheap for some reason. If not keen to splash out on the husky and stihl, for half price the 350-360T echo is probably best value
airbiscuit
ArboristSite Member
I like mine.
A professional arborist would no doubt spend big $$ for a top of the line saw. I bought mine for under $100 due to a weak moment with CAD. I don't have a need to use it much, but when I do, it cuts fine for what I'm doing and the weight and top handle design are just the ticket.
For those of us who are just having fun with our saws, it is a nice way to round out the stable.
A professional arborist would no doubt spend big $$ for a top of the line saw. I bought mine for under $100 due to a weak moment with CAD. I don't have a need to use it much, but when I do, it cuts fine for what I'm doing and the weight and top handle design are just the ticket.
For those of us who are just having fun with our saws, it is a nice way to round out the stable.
"Those 350-360T's are the gruntiest of the echos, they were reasonable when not seizing bearings and pistons, Cliff obviously sorted his out, but compared to the husky and stihl they still 'feel' cheap for some reason. If not keen to splash out on the husky and stihl, for half price the 350-360T echo is probably best value"
The built in rev limiter is the death sentence for the CS-330/360T's. It is among the most difficult saws I've ever tuned. The rev limiter comes in and fools the tuner into thinking you have plenty of fuel when it's actually quite lean.
The CS-360T I bought would have lasted not much longer than it took to type this, it was so lean right out of the box. It took me a couple of outings to find the ideal settings. The best method I could describe is to set it noticably rich, so the rpm's are very slow and it four strokes heavily. Then lean it up just a tad and start making cuts with it. With each cut make sure it cleans up when load is applied, and four strokes when the load is removed. Sort of like any other two stroke saw engine. As you reach a point where the saw hesitates just an instant when the load is removed and then starts four stroking, it's actually going lean and up on the rev limiter instead. This is very difficult to detect and takes quite a few cuts being right on the edge of being lean and making best power. When I get really close, I go about 1 screwdriver blade back in the rich direction (counter-clockwise). A final test cut to make sure it's still got plenty of power, and we're done.
I've logged a LOT of hours on ours at this point, and it runs perfect. I modded the muffler after it was well broken in, and installed a 12" bar/chain from Bailey's. It's quite impressive and I had over $300 left in lieu of buying the MS200T.
The reed valve top handles I've owned did NOT like a lean setting. If you attempt to set them for a lot of no load rpm's, they will go lean in the cut. You got to set them rich and let them "grunt", they are NOT high speed designs by any stretch of the imagination. They are very reliable, and well built, never had the first problem with any of mine.......Cliff
The built in rev limiter is the death sentence for the CS-330/360T's. It is among the most difficult saws I've ever tuned. The rev limiter comes in and fools the tuner into thinking you have plenty of fuel when it's actually quite lean.
The CS-360T I bought would have lasted not much longer than it took to type this, it was so lean right out of the box. It took me a couple of outings to find the ideal settings. The best method I could describe is to set it noticably rich, so the rpm's are very slow and it four strokes heavily. Then lean it up just a tad and start making cuts with it. With each cut make sure it cleans up when load is applied, and four strokes when the load is removed. Sort of like any other two stroke saw engine. As you reach a point where the saw hesitates just an instant when the load is removed and then starts four stroking, it's actually going lean and up on the rev limiter instead. This is very difficult to detect and takes quite a few cuts being right on the edge of being lean and making best power. When I get really close, I go about 1 screwdriver blade back in the rich direction (counter-clockwise). A final test cut to make sure it's still got plenty of power, and we're done.
I've logged a LOT of hours on ours at this point, and it runs perfect. I modded the muffler after it was well broken in, and installed a 12" bar/chain from Bailey's. It's quite impressive and I had over $300 left in lieu of buying the MS200T.
The reed valve top handles I've owned did NOT like a lean setting. If you attempt to set them for a lot of no load rpm's, they will go lean in the cut. You got to set them rich and let them "grunt", they are NOT high speed designs by any stretch of the imagination. They are very reliable, and well built, never had the first problem with any of mine.......Cliff
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mowoodchopper
Polar Bear
Thanks for all the info, I guess I didnt do enough research before i bought a top handle! But I bought the 3400 for 70 bucks and got a new 12 inch bar from baileys on clearance for 7 bucks . So it should be fine for a starter bucket saw, I have been using my 026 up till now and get along ok with it, Ill use the 3400 for the small stuff and if it gets to slow ill grab the 026!
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CHEVYTOWN13
Addicted to ArboristSite
Way to make it work Chops
JustinM
Addicted to ArboristSite
)
mowoodchopper
Polar Bear
update! got the 3400 and so far I really like the little saw. Excellent runner, very handy for what I gave for it ! 70 bucks I couldn't be happier. I may even buy another echo.
mowoodchopper
Polar Bear
ran the 3400 alot today ! nice little saw!
As usual, these saws are just as realiable as PGG knocking them. Steve
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