Well, first let me qualify my response by saying I don’t remember ever having personal experience with anything wearing an Echo badge… and I ain’t gonna’ mention any brand names, just colors.
I’m loyal to the Stihl brand… very loyal; right now all my two-cycle power equipment wears a Stihl badge, all were purchased new from a dealer 5 miles from me. I’ve owned the same equipment in various red, green, blue, yellow and black colors in the past and have had trouble with them all. Most would be good, reliable pieces the first year or maybe two, but then hard starting (especially hot), plug fouling, worn or loose bearings or parts, and flat out breakage begins… usually right after the warranty period ends. Even if the issue(s) began during the warranty, and because most were purchased at a big-box type store, finding warranty service and repair was near impossible.
Now here’s the real kicker… I started replacing my equipment with Stihl back in the early-80’s, and had it all replaced by the early-90’s, and I’ve never had to take a single Stihl piece back to the dealer for any reason… they just start, run and do their job… every time! I abuse the livin’ crap out of my stuff, I mean really abuse it. I don’t buy Stihl equipment designated as the “home owner” stuff; I pay up for the “professional” series type stuff… and it just flat works. For me, it’s “worth it” to pay the extra for the Stihl badge because of the piece-of-mind… I just know when I need it, it will start and run. I consider anything purchased at the “big-box” or “fleet” type stores (even the Husky models they sell) to be throw-a-ways.
Comparing the materials, design, machining and assembly between a 4-cycle lawn mower engine and hand-held 2-cycle designed to run at 10,000 RPM’s higher just ain’t a fair comparison. And although chainsaws may be overpriced, you still get what you pay for (relatively). Quality will cost you more; higher quality castings and machining, tighter tolerances, flawless and consistent steels and alloys, more aggressive quality control during manufacturing, the use of higher quality out-sourced parts, and building a huge dealer network as well as supplying them with high-grade parts, materials and training all costs money. And to say that they all have to out-source the same parts just ain’t true… did you know that Stihl is the only chainsaw manufacturer that makes their own cutting chain and bars? All others out-source it and have their name stamped on it. There is a difference between a saw that’s priced at $500.oo and one that’s priced at $800.oo… Is there a $300.oo difference? Well, that’s up to you to decide… How much is higher quality and piece-of-mind worth to you?
Is Stihl the only brand that will give you that piece-of-mind, high quality, and dealer support? Probably not, but where I’m at it is… I have two Stihl dealers within 5-miles from me, and ten dealers within 50-miles… and it seems like no matter where I go I see the black, orange and white “Stihl” dealer sign hanging from some little shop building (and I travel all over 6 states for work). I see a lot of loyalty for the Husky brand on this board, because of that I tend to believe that their “professional” type saws must also be top-notch… but I don’t see the dealer network, at least not yet. Echo? I can’t say I’ve seen an Echo dealer around here (but I’m not looking either), I only see them in the fleet type stores.
Just keep an eye out. I got my 681 brand new pho for $625.00 If I were you though, I would prolly just get a new Dolmar 7900.
