Husqvarna vs. Stihl vs. Echo??

I only do general logging work and small trees mostly, however I do get a good few hours done every week so I like to use good saws rather than cheapo ones. I'm shipping my Huskie 350 to my old man and going get myself a new model and fancy giving the Echo a try, possibly the Echo CS4400.

I thought it might be interesting to hear peoples opinions on their preferred brand of Chain Saws.

I personally rate Stihl as the best saws, but think them to be a little pricey so I tend to opt for Husqvarna, however I've been hearing good things about Echo chainsaws recently and I am contemplating going down that route, especially with the 5 year warranty.

Thanks for your time, looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Husky all the way, especially for what you are doing, you cant beat a 346xp/357xp, The echo......ummmm well my mrs was thinking of getting one to dry her hair!!:wave:

Im a Husky man

I used the stihl for one week and went through 3 of them as they did nothing but cut out,the worst was 15 times in 1 hour.But thats just me as every stihl i lift never works bar the ms200.The Husky 350 is a good saw,i have one myself.

The top saw for your money in my mind has to be the Husky 346xp

Stihl all the way ,here from saws to blowers to pole pruners/hedge trimmers ,Had an echo pole pruner ,,,for two days brand new ,wouldnt oil or stay extended,,,,Husqvarna imo dont compare to well maintained Stihl gear,

any saw that cuts out that much is simply set wrong. both husky and stihl make great saws...i have different favorites within each power range.

stihl and husky but mainly husky as thats what the local shop holds.

give the echo a go if you can get a good deal on the saw you want,i ran an oleo mac (same company and saws) that i got real cheap,parts where a problem so if you do make sure you have a dealer close bye.....no matter how hard i tryed i could not kill that saw i could not, its still going now,would of kept it or experimented with different models but no local dealers at all.

stihl and husky but mainly husky as thats what the local shop holds.

I Think that would be the main decider as to what brand of saw i bought. Knowing that the aftersales support was within easy reach! Arborists saw have tough lives and need TLC from time to time!!

By the sounds of it then there aren't many people favouring the Echo. I think your right MattyF when you say that parts could be a problem, I've don't think Echo even have price lists for their spare bar and chains, and I go through chains quickly enough.

I think I might just stick with Husqvarna after all, they've never let me down.

I agree with you Steve the tree on the blowers and hedgetrimmers - at work we probably sell 15 stihl blowers to every one of the husqvarna's and we get roughly the same amount back with problems. And we have nothing but problems with the Huskie hedgetrimmers, mainly bending in the blades and a few handles snapping off, but thats the first problem I've heard about the Echo pole pruners, the telegraph did a test against Stihl and four other brands and it came out on top by a country mile.

Cheers for the feedback guys, I think I'm leaning towards the 346xp becos its got the 50cc engine and same weight as the 350, but its from the professional range so you know its going to be good and last a long time.

Treemonster I think the MS200 was probably the best saw that I ever had, doesn't look great on paper but its got a really good balance to it - i would get another but the models getting on a bit now, and the new updated version doesn't have the same feel as the old one.

Cheers for the feedback guys, oh and Steve Bullman I loved the website btw, really slick intro - sorry to post another subject on the same thread, but I noticed you do stump grinding work - have you ever heard anything about or used an "Alpine Magnum" stump grinder? I'd never heard of it until recently but a guy I was talking to picked one up in America and brought it back here, supposed to attach the grinder to the engine of a Huskie 3120xp and is really portable. We were thinking of getting one in but I haven't heard much about them apart from the usual sales talk and the feedback from one guy - if you or anyone else has heard anything about them or if you come across them in the future I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mind sending me a post and letting me know if they're any good.

Cheers guys, really good forum.

there are a couple of americans i know who have them and swear by them....never used one personally, but if you're comparing to one of the smaller grinders they seem to generally get the thumbs up....then of course theres the fact that you can take them literally anywhere!