So... Received my (Brad supplied) Snellerized '201t right around Christmas, but weather and other crap kept me from getting any time with it - until yesterday. Yeah, yeah, I know...
It was too windy yesterday (Nor 'easter spooling up off the coast) where I was in Bethlehem to do much more than work with what I'd dropped and left before the snow set in over the Winter. Still, I managed to run two tankfuls through it and while I never ran a '200 so I don't have anything in the same class to compare the '201 to, I just want to tell you this little guy does REALLY well. Tachs right up, and keeps those rpms up in most every cut I made in the walnut and ash I dropped last year.
Did I need this saw? No. I mean, I'm definitely not a pro, and I had a new cs341 Echo that I really was content with - or so I thought. When I ordered the '201, I gave away the '341 to a friend understanding that the '201 would replace it handily. Boy, was that ever an underestimation! I'm almost embarrassed to have given a real good friend such a lousy excuse for a saw, though I guess I won't let him know that. Hahaha.
I'd like to say, to anyone who's still on the fence about pulling the trigger on one of these, just go ahead and do it. I like mine enough to where I'm already thinking of asking Brad to pick up a rear handle '201 and doing the same mods to it that he did to this top handle - but with all the unused saws in my little collection already patiently waiting their turn in the sun I'd need it like a hole in my head. Although...