Echo 590 or the X Series?

[Hay Dude]

Not everyone has a mini excavator.
Most people don’t own that many saws, either.
You have the luxury of both.

I took a few minutes to watch them on YouTube. I can see the appeal for cutting smaller diameter firewood on the ground but the vast majority of the users were sticking them in the dirt to finish the cut. My mini excavator fixed the bending over problem and the sticking the saw in the dirt problem. It seems like a bow bar on saw with the power of a 372 would want to run off the log into your legs and be a death machine. Even with a small saw I imagine the injury rate would be considerably higher on a number used basis.

 

[kenmbz]

I like having the longer bars. The 24" on the 620P allows me to stand up more , and balances better.
When bucking 20-36" trees it makes it less tedious.

For felling, it also means for most trees I can stay on one side to do the cuts.

Hauling it is another matter

 

[JeepHead]

@5030 Those 028's are a beast of a saw that just don't give up!

 

[xyz123]

Here you want to know what owner of those bows used for. He did a thread. Bow Bars Are Perfect For Firewood!

026 one = Brush bow and Christmas tree farms used those ones.

All I know is they aint for me.

 

[5030]

So, Eddie, curious as to if you like the 590 or not. I like mine as well as the price and the quality of the build. Right on par with Stihl and Husky, maybe better in some respects than they are. I especially like the old school gas and oil caps that don't leak but can easily be removed with the recoil handle in the field and the see through fuel tank. I don't particularly like the on off toggle switch but I can live with it (for now) at least and the choke pull is a bit clunky but overall, it's a fine saw and the OEM bar is greaseable which is a big plus in my book.

You can replace the high impact plastic clutch cover with an aftermarket Echo alloy cover with captive bar nuts but I have not bothered. It's an expense I cannot justify plus you can get aftermarket double felling spikes, another option I don't require.

Fine the way it is, plus some minor modifications, but then I do like fiddling with them and my loops are always sharp, remember, I grind chains all the time for my arborist customers as well as their chipper knives, nice side business besides farming for this old (73 years old) man. I have a Brush Bandit commercial chipper coming in that I need to make some changes in the delivery mechanism to. Tends to clog up when chipping resinous branches and is a PITA to unclog so I'm installing a access door in the delivery snout. Always something going on here to keep me busy and at my age, staying busy keeps me alive.

 

[5030]

@5030 Those 028's are a beast of a saw that just don't give up!

Yes they are. I have a feeling that in the near future, I'll be replacing the crank seals and then a new base and head gasket as well. 45 years is along run on any seals. Not passing mixture now but I suspect it will at some point. Best saw I ever bought, bar none and it's an RPM saw. it screams and it likes tt too. The model I bought was only in production for 3 years and limited production at that.

It pulls a 325 full chipper chain on the 20" roller nose greaseable bar just fine so long as I don't bear down on it and let the rakers set the cut/chip peel off and I keep my rakers at 0.020 all the time and never more on any of my saws and I set all my customers chains at 0.020 as well.

My customers have found out that with the sky rocketing cost of chains, it's become less expensive to grind them than toss them so I'll get 50-80 loops at a time to grind and full boxes if chipper knives as well.
The only chains I won't sharpen are ones with corrosion on the drive dogs. Ince there is corrosion on the drive dogs from not storing the dull chains properly, I toss them because the corrosion on the digs will destroy a bar quickly.

Been sharpening chipper blades from out of town customers as well. They send them to me and I send them back sharp. they pay the postage both ways plus my per inch sharpening fee and with my grinder, I can adjust the included angle on chipper knives as well. You want a steeper included angle when chipping softwood versus hardwood limbs. OEM chipper makers use an average included angle that covers every situation but not every situation.

 

[WinterDeere]

It seems like a bow bar on saw with the power of a 372 would want to run off the log into your legs and be a death machine. Even with a small saw I imagine the injury rate would be considerably higher on a number used basis.

Recoil will pull the bar away from you, not push it toward you. That's why they usually have a spur on the lower quadrant of the bow, to keep it from walking away from you, as you press it into the kerf.

 

[ericm979]

Local friend put 2 bows on some saws I sold him for same reason. Not bending over.

Husky was stock and 026 was ported.


I tell you what running the 371 372 saws even stock with a bow is scary as heck. To me bows belong on slower older saws.


View attachment 828639

When I was on thinning crew in Arizona we ran bars like the one in the back, but with full guards top and bottom. The trees we were cutting were 8" and under. The bars worked well and were very safe (for chainsaws). With the stinger seated and the chain cutting I could take one hand off the saw and use it to push on the tree. I once tripped and fell backwards with the running saw landing in my lap. The chain didn't even touch my chaps.

The design means less bending over but we constantly got complaints from the cat crews who were piling the slash that we were leaving pointy stumps.

 

[5030]

One was more than enough for me on the crappy Poulan chaionsaw.

 

[EddieWalker]

So, Eddie, curious as to if you like the 590 or not. I like mine as well as the price and the quality of the build. Right on par with Stihl and Husky, maybe better in some respects than they are. I especially like the old school gas and oil caps that don't leak but can easily be removed with the recoil handle in the field and the see through fuel tank. I don't particularly like the on off toggle switch but I can live with it (for now) at least and the choke pull is a bit clunky but overall, it's a fine saw and the OEM bar is greaseable which is a big plus in my book.

You can replace the high impact plastic clutch cover with an aftermarket Echo alloy cover with captive bar nuts but I have not bothered. It's an expense I cannot justify plus you can get aftermarket double felling spikes, another option I don't require.

Fine the way it is, plus some minor modifications, but then I do like fiddling with them and my loops are always sharp, remember, I grind chains all the time for my arborist customers as well as their chipper knives, nice side business besides farming for this old (73 years old) man. I have a Brush Bandit commercial chipper coming in that I need to make some changes in the delivery mechanism to. Tends to clog up when chipping resinous branches and is a PITA to unclog so I'm installing a access door in the delivery snout. Always something going on here to keep me busy and at my age, staying busy keeps me alive.

I've barely used it, but so far, I'm very impressed. I think I ran it for half an hour on Saturday, and maybe a little over an hour on Sunday. I'm surprised at how light it is and how easy it is to handle. Starting it is very easy, which is a big deal for me. I hate it when I can't get a saw to start!!!! I think the canned fuel makes a big difference too, so it might be the combination of having a new saw, and better fuel. I might like some of my other chainsaws better with this fuel!!!!

I tried the pull handle to open the fuel and oil caps and it works great. Thanks for that tip!!!

It's probably going to rain, or be muddy this weekend, so I'm doubt that I'll use it. I have 5 nice oaks on the ground that I dug out with my backhoe. I need to cut the root balls off of them and limb them so I can carry the logs to my splitting area with my grapple. If it's dry enough, I'm looking forward to seeing how the saw performs out in the field, on those trees.

The needle greaser for the end of the bar should be here tomorrow. I'm excited to see what it does. I've never greased a bar before.

For $419, I think I got a great deal.

 

[5030]

I've barely used it, but so far, I'm very impressed. I think I ran it for half an hour on Saturday, and maybe a little over an hour on Sunday. I'm surprised at how light it is and how easy it is to handle. Starting it is very easy, which is a big deal for me. I hate it when I can't get a saw to start!!!! I think the canned fuel makes a big difference too, so it might be the combination of having a new saw, and better fuel. I might like some of my other chainsaws better with this fuel!!!!

I tried the pull handle to open the fuel and oil caps and it works great. Thanks for that tip!!!

It's probably going to rain, or be muddy this weekend, so I'm doubt that I'll use it. I have 5 nice oaks on the ground that I dug out with my backhoe. I need to cut the root balls off of them and limb them so I can carry the logs to my splitting area with my grapple. If it's dry enough, I'm looking forward to seeing how the saw performs out in the field, on those trees.

The needle greaser for the end of the bar should be here tomorrow. I'm excited to see what it does. I've never greased a bar before.

For $419, I think I got a great deal.

I think you did as well. Keep that sprocket grease (I grease mine after every use, when I take a compressed air gun and blow out the accumulated chips and dust from the saw before I put it away. For some reason all my saws run better on canned fuel, especially the Red Armor 50-1. If I was using multiple saws everyday then Maybe I'd go with non-e gas and add bottled oil, but I'm not so the additional cost isn't a factor for me. Interestingly, I took some canned fuel and put in my 4 stroke pressure washer because I was out of regular e-gas and it would not run in it. had to go to the filling station and buy some regular weasel pee and add that to get it to run. Very strange. Echo's are hard to beat for the price and quality saws as well.

 

[WinterDeere]

The needle greaser for the end of the bar should be here tomorrow. I'm excited to see what it does. I've never greased a bar before.

There will be debris in the grease hole, which you don't want to push thru the bearing if you can avoid it. The plastic toothpick on a Swiss army knife I had mentioned earlier works great, but any sharp tool does the job. Then it's just one shot on each side. If you have the chain off, you'll see the fresh grease press out thru the sprocket slot, but there's no need to remove the chain for this.

I grease mine once per day. I go thru two chains in a day of cutting, so it's basically every second chain swap. Be sure to flip your bar with each chain swap, or after each day of cutting if you sharpen on the saw, to maintain even wear. If you're new, wearing out a bar sounds far-fetched, but a few years from now you'll look back and wish you'd done it.

 

[319Quahog]

I bought a can of Husqvarna premixed fuel because I was walking down the isle in Lowes and saw it, so I bought it. It has an octane rating of 95. I didn't compare the other brands to see what their octane rating was, but I did look at the pump that sells Ethanol free gasoline. It's 91 octane. The Supreme which is on the same hose as the 87 and 89 octane fuel has Ethanol. If I buy the Ethanol free gas, which has it's own hose, it's a lot less octane then the canned stuff, but it's only $3.50 a gallon plus the oil, compared to $30 for the Husqvarna fuel. Is the higher octane rating noticeable or needed? I'm committed to never using fuel with Ethanol in this saw, I'm just not sure if $30 a gallon for gas is being smart or wasteful?

IMO, you're wasting your money if you can easily get ethanol free gas and good oil. Your saw's manual likely has a minimum octane and you'll be hard pressed to find e free stuff in the Lower 48 that doesn't meet whatever that is. Here in NH it's mostly 91ish and I can get it almost anywhere near me.

For good oil, look for the JASO FD rating. Examples being Echo Red Armor, Husky XP+, and I'm about to dive into some VP Racing 2 stroke oil as it is FD rated but cheaper. Plenty others out there.

That's not to say there aren't cases for dudes to buy the pre mix. If it makes sense for your use case, rock on. You likely already know this, but you should tune your saw when you make significant fuel/oil changes. I'm too lazy for that which is why I'm all in on Husky autotune saws.

 

[Skeans1]

Don’t grease the bar tip you will take out a bar tip that way faster than just about anything. Those greasers are for doing your clutch bearing through the crankshaft if there’s a hole. The only time to grease a tip is when it’s brand new otherwise leave it alone you’ll save yourself a few dollars and some time.

 

[4570Man]

Don’t grease the bar tip you will take out a bar tip that way faster than just about anything. Those greasers are for doing your clutch bearing through the crankshaft if there’s a hole. The only time to grease a tip is when it’s brand new otherwise leave it alone you’ll save yourself a few dollars and some time.

I’ve always heard you should always grease it or never grease it. The logic being that grease seals it and stops oil from getting in. I never grease mine and I’ve never burned up a tip so I don’t see any reason to fix something that’s not broken. I put permanently sealed bearings in my lawnmower and never grease them either.

 

[Skeans1]

I’ve always heard you should always grease it or never grease it. The logic being that grease seals it and stops oil from getting in. I never grease mine and I’ve never burned up a tip so I don’t see any reason to fix something that’s not broken. I put permanently sealed bearings in my lawnmower and never grease them either.

One thing to think about is if you’re cutting wood there’s something that will be in or around that hole so why push anything in it unless you can completely flush that bearing out.

 

[Hay Dude]

I just flip my bars, thats about it.

 

[WinterDeere]

Don’t grease the bar tip you will take out a bar tip that way faster than just about anything. Those greasers are for doing your clutch bearing through the crankshaft if there’s a hole. The only time to grease a tip is when it’s brand new otherwise leave it alone you’ll save yourself a few dollars and some time.

Where do you come up with such lore? It's not correct.

Straight from Husqvarna: "It is recommended that you grease the bearing in the tip of the bar each time you refuel." Husqvarna FAQ : Product support - How often should I lubricate the sprocket in the tip of my bar?

The Oregon site contains the same advice. The only exception is Stihl, who went to non-greaseable bearings 10-15 years ago.

I put a lot of miles on my saws, probably more than any non-pro on this forum, and I've always greased my sprocket tips on bars where a grease hole is provided. I've worn out a few bars, and never had a sprocket bearing failure on any bar I've greased. In fact, the only sprocket nose failure I've ever had was on a non-greaseable bar.

I own both, and I prefer the greaseable style. Some of my saws came with Still Rollomatic ES bars, which are non-greaseable, but I replace them with greaseable sprocket nose bars (Total Tsumura or Carlson) when I have the opportunity or need for a new bar.

By your logic, why would they provide a grease hole, if the bar only ever required grease prior to first use? They'd just pre-grease a sealed bearing and ditch the grease hole (like Stihl did), if that were true.

 

[Skeans1]

Where do you come up with such lore? It's not correct.

Straight from Husqvarna: "It is recommended that you grease the bearing in the tip of the bar each time you refuel." Husqvarna FAQ : Product support - How often should I lubricate the sprocket in the tip of my bar?

The Oregon site contains the same advice. The only exception is Stihl, who went to non-greaseable bearings 10-15 years ago.

I put a lot of miles on my saws, probably more than any non-pro on this forum, and I've always greased my sprocket tips on bars where a grease hole is provided. I've worn out a few bars, and never had a sprocket bearing failure on any bar I've greased. In fact, the only sprocket nose failure I've ever had was on a non-greaseable bar.

I own both, and I prefer the greaseable style. Some of my saws came with Still Rollomatic ES bars, which are non-greaseable, but I replace them with greaseable sprocket nose bars (Total Tsumura or Carlson) when I have the opportunity or need for a new bar.

By your logic, why would they provide a grease hole, if the bar only ever required grease prior to first use? They'd just pre-grease a sealed bearing and ditch the grease hole (like Stihl did), if that were true.

Where did I get that from? Many years of running both hand saws as well as mechanical cutting systems from 3/4” to 404” and doing testing for chain/bar manufactures. When speaking to their engineers they say exactly that only grease when first installing by greasing well in service you are more likely to grit up the bearing. Most or the mechanical systems have gotten rid of the grease holes in the tips for that exact reason.

 

[John_Mc]

I’ve always heard you should always grease it or never grease it. The logic being that grease seals it and stops oil from getting in. I never grease mine and I’ve never burned up a tip so I don’t see any reason to fix something that’s not broken. I put permanently sealed bearings in my lawnmower and never grease them either.

Exactly. I greased my bars regularly 20+ years ago. Heard the argument about "always grease or never grease it". So when I replaced a bar, I never greased it. That was about 17 or 18 years ago. I've never greased a bar tip since. I've blown out one bearing in a bar tip since then, and it was in a bar that got severely pinched.