stihl HT131 vs echo ppt300es

[imagineero]

Anybody used both these polesaws? I've used the 131 but never the echo, and I don't even know anyone who has used one. They seem to get pretty good reviews and people say that the shaft is better on the echo but the engine is underpowered. The shaft is definitely the weak point on the stihl

I'm looking at picking up a pole saw soon but don't really know which way to go. The HT75, 101 and 131 have very little difference between them in price in australia. They're all ridiculuously expensive at $1379, $1489 and $1589 respectively. Nobody offers much of a discount, maybe $50. The difference between the 75 and the 131 is only a couple hundred which isn't much at that price level.

The echo is priced somewhat similar at about $1400 retail, but I have a dealer who offered me one for $995. He also offered me a hedging head which he says is very good quality for about $500. I'm inclined to believe him. From what I understand the stihl can't run a hedging head. It's not a huge selling point for me, I dont do many hedges but I do rent a pole hedger a few times a year at about $100/day. Im almost inclined to not get the hedging head just because I hate doing hedges and if I have a hedger I'll end up doing more of them.

On paper the echo doesn't look much good. It's 28cc, 0.9kw and 8.2kg. The 131 is 36cc, 1.4kw and 7.8kg. the HT75 is 25cc, 0.95kw and 6.9kg. I'm after whichever of the pole saws is going to work reliably, last a long time and possibly have a decent resale value. Stihls hold their resale good in australia. Heavily abused HT75's go for $500~$600.

As an aside, anybody muff modded a pole saw?

What would you buy?

Shaun

 

[Hank Chinaski]

I've got an Ht131 and am what I consider an "advanced" home user. I use it around the house as well as on disaster relief work w/my church.

It's a very good saw, but I have broken one of the shaft parts without having a lot of working hours on the saw. It was easy to order and kind of easy to replace, but there are a TON of parts in that extending shaft.

I had thought of doing a muff mod, but not sure I want any extra power torquing on the extension shaft and internals.

Hate that they cost so much over there. I got mine for $600 here 5 years ago and included a spare bar and 2 extra chains.

Good luck with it.

 

[tallguys]

Chalk up yet another advanced amateur doing work around the home, or helping out friends and family. I rented a Stihl once, think it was the HT75 or something like that. I believe smaller displacement than those you're looking at, but it worked just fine over the couple of days I had it. I ended up purchasing an Echo just because it was a good used deal and can honestly say that I don't see any difference between the two in actual use.

Any and all Echo OPE I've ever used has been reliable to a fault so I don't think you can go far wrong whichever one you choose. Whatever deal is better is the way to go IMHO.

 

[nmurph]

I have a HT75. I really like it. It isn't as strong as the 131, but it is lighter, which is more important when you are constantly lifting it above your shoulders. It is also a very basic motor design, used in trimmers, blowers, and edgers. The four-mix design have to have the valves adjusted every so many hours. The 75 does give up some power, but it can be MM if you replace the carb with an adjustable version, and it will cut up more in 30 minutes than you can clean up in two hours.

 

[sawfun9]

If you can used a fixed pole saw and a small ladder it is much easier on your body. I haven't tried the echo but do see a few in use with landscape people. I have a ht100, ht131, and an ht250 and the 131 is the last one I want to use. Its just to heavy when fully extended, that said, it will cut a 6" limb fairly well you just have to plan your cut so you don't pinch it. I like the 100 for anything under 4" and the 250 which is a 40cc two stroke is very fast for anything above 4".

 

[saxman]

I have a HT131 and it is a beast. I love everything about it except the weight. But as murph stated after you cut for 30 minutes you can take the next two hours to clean up the mess. I don't think I could run mine for the full 30 minutes without a break. It is harder on me than my MS660 with a 36" bar

Steve

 

[PJF1313]

I agree with "nmurph" and "saxman" ... the 131 is one heavy SOB!

I used a borrowed one over my weekend, with a 12" bar and "yellow" 3/8 picco/LP, and it did make some short work of some widow maker blow-down branches. But after a half-hour/ 45 mins. it got HEAVY; even when it wasn't extended...

Haven't used an Echo, but did use an older RedMax. The RedMax seems to be lighter than the 101's, but with similar power/oomph... Maybe because it uses a 1/4" instead of 3/8"LP? Also seemed to rev higher? Could be just me!

 

[oldiron]

Subscribing to this thread, I am also looking for a pole saw and torn between the Stihl, Husky and Echo. Is the HT131 the only Stihl that uses the 4mix engine? What about the E-tech Husky engines are they also a 2/4 stroke hybrid?

 

[imagineero]

Just wanted to say thanks to all that helped out with advice. I went in to my dealer today with hopes of handling the echo which people say has a better shaft than the stihl but they were out of stock. I compared the ht75 and 131 and they felt similar in weight. Most of the components are shared - they have the same weak shaft. The same head, only the motor is different. The weight difference is only half a kilo, or for you yanks a little over a pound.

The 131 has 1.4kw on paper compared to the 75 at 0.95kw so I went with the 131 as it was only a couple hundred dollars more ($1589 compared to $1389) which really adds up to approximately zero over a 2 or 3 year period. While I was waiting at the counter to pay I popped out the back to talk to the sevice department who radically changed my mind.

According to the tech guy, the 4 mix motors have been discontinued due to all the problems they've had. Part of the trouble is the name - '4 mix'. Seems a lot of people have been straight gassing them. The rest of the troulbe is that it's just too small of an engine to have valves etc. Apparently the new range is called '2 mix'. No idea of whether it's 2 or 4 stroke etc.

I talked to him about the ht75 and voiced my concerns about being unable to tune the carb, and he promptly stripped one down. They have a fully tunable carb now. They have limiter caps like all the newer saws, but you can buy the tool to remove them, or just dremel them off. The way the shaft attaches to the head is also a lot better than my old one, they have a circlip which keeps the shaft captive. He also mentioned that a lot of the problems they have with them are related to people running the saw at only 1/4 throttle for extended periods of time which causes the clutch to slip and burns out the plastic parts of the shaft.

So I walked out with a 75. It's hard to not believe a dealer who says to you "dont buy the more expensive one. It's a pile of crap. Buy this one, it will work a lot better". I'll probably strip out the screen and re-tune it once its worn in a bit. It came with the 12" 3/8" .043" bar which I'll change out for an .050" once the chains done because thats the same size as all my climbing saws and I have a stack of chains in that size. I popped a tach/hour meter on it today before putting it into service tomorrow too. The tach costs about $40 and makes tuning a snap. It displays max rpm when you shut the saw off which helps prevent you running lean and lets you see how many housr you've got on your gear. Hoping to get at least a couple years out of this saw. The shaft is the biggest thing that breaks on them, and its about $800 in aus, which I think is a couple hundred more than you guys pay for the whole saw over there.

Shaun.

 

[nmurph]

Very nice...I bought the adjustable carb so that I could MM my 75 but I have never done so...I don't know how much you have used a PS, but one tip is to make an undercut on limbs that are more than inch or so in diameter. Otherwise, the limb will barberchair and pinch, and if you think it is trouble to have a tree set back on your bar, try getting a bar pinched 15ft up a tree.

 

[imagineero]

A lot more hours on pole saws than I'd like to have. I've gone through a few HT75's and it's always the shaft that craps out eventually. I was pretty impressed with the newer attachment of the internal shaft to the head, and the adjustable carb though. I'd thought of modding my old ones with a grub screw or something, but a circlip can work just fine.

Operating pole saws is definately a whole other skill. Most guys who can climb do ok, but most climbers climb rather than run a pole saw. The hardest part is reading the side lean on a branch. It would be nice of you could rotate the bar to get a true undercut and top cut, but what ends up happening at full extension is that you can only side scarf. You better pick the 'side' right as you say, or you'll be putting a harness on and getting up a tree shortly after.

One thing that works well for me in low clearance jobs is using a pole saw together with a groundie with a couple jamison poles with a hook on the end. The groundie can lift, pull or push the branch as needed while you cut it. Helps a lot with clearing fences, power lines etc. It's quick and effective.

Shaun