coppice cutter

@wyk One final thing, Echo list a 361wes and a 362wes and I'll be darned if I can see a difference between them with some places selling one and some selling the other. Any ideas?

So not an MS200 then?

So without pandering to clichés too much, 390 - 'pro saw', 361- 'homeowner saw'? That having been said, I tend not to abuse stuff and weight is a factor so with the 390 I may just be spending unnecessarily. Was hoping I could be certain enough to purchase unseen, but with these two both seeming like a good option, plus the new 3510es, that seems increasingly unlikely. Anyway, thanks for the help, much appreciated.

Good man, thanks for that. What about the price difference, would you see it in them? Do you think the 361 would have stuck the abuse that the 390 got?

Can't find it, in fact, couldn't find a new one anywhere. But then us oldies can struggle a bit with t'internet sometimes. Can you put up a link?

Is there any particular reason for that? Thanks.

Can you get me a new one?

@wyk Excellent reviews and very relevant to my own buying needs at present. Firstly, almost two years later, how are both saws doing? Secondly, there is a huge price difference with the 390 more than half as expensive again compared with the 361, having owned both saws for a useful period of time now, have you any idea why that should be? Thanks.

I've a Makita backpack leafblower which I bought new about 15yrs ago and it's been faultless, so I've no issue with the brand whatsoever. Just worried about long term ownership given their imminent abandonment of petrol engines. However, if I were ever to be considering battery power I doubt if I'd look anywhere else. Nonetheless, I'll check them out along with the two Echos. At the minute the new Echo 3510ES (not the auto choke one) looks like a strong runner.

Looking at the power and weight probably something you'd buy more as a 'do everything' saw, having the 266 anyway I'd probably be best going a bit lighter. But I'll bear it in mind should one turn up before I buy.

If there's no drawback with the 14in bar for coppicing, it would certainly make the saw a wee bit more useful overall and maybe even save me having to wrestle the 266 to life occasionally as well.

All excellent and useful advice Paul, thanks. I'll be coppicing similar to yourself, all native hardwoods. Firstly, do you ever see any reason why the 12in bar would be better, given that I have a larger saw as well, would the 12in be better for solely coppicing work or do you prefer the 14in in any case? Interesting that you mention the Echo 352, it's just been replaced with a 3510 although the 352 still seems to be available, I'll have a good look at both! Good tip on the five year warranty as well.

In fairness, I did post the question in the chainsaw section. Therefore your sarcasm probably needs more work!

I'm not, I was told by someone doing the same work that I needed a 12in. However, I'm not set on it as I don't know, thus I was asking. I did say that there were only two bottom lines! Anyway, why do you consider the 12in to be too short?

What about 12in bar vs 14in bar, is that splitting hairs if the saw was right? I'm not at all familiar with small saws, always been 18in or more since I were a lad.

My only bottom lines are that I won't be buying Stihl, or electronically fueled. If your only option involves either or both of these, then I guess you're not the person to be answering either!

Not really a job as such, it's my own!

I just think they're over-hyped, over-rated, and over-valued, like most German products. Then on top of that there's a Stihl dealer about 5mins away and they are worse than hopeless. Furthermore, whatever I buy will have a carburetor with screws. I'm also old enough to claim the right to be stubborn and intransigent. Lets face it, there's few enough benefits of getting older so don't deny me that one!

Everything will be being cut for the first time, highly unlikely there'll be anything more than 12in, most will be less.

I would have been except for the fact that I'd be buying something destined to be obsolete fairly soon, I read the thread. If it was something getting weekly use which would be worn out in a few years anyway that would be less of an issue, or if the price reflected their impending obsoleteness (is that a word?), I'd certainly give them consideration as Makita is generally good stuff, but that's not the case either. Assuming yours is 43cc, is that not a bit ott for 12in bar anyway?

Looking for some opinions. I will be doing quite a bit of thinning/coppicing work in a new woodland over the coming years (I hope!) and think I'll invest in a new saw for the job. 12in bar seems to be the preferred size ideally and as I already have a 266xp with both 18 and 20in bars there's little need to go any larger*. I was ready to pull the lever on an Echo 2511WES last week but they're such a teeny little thing I'm worried that it's just unnecessarily small plus the price seems to be taking the p*** a bit if I'm honest. The old formula would indicate that I'm looking something mid-30cc, don't like Stihl, sceptical of modern Husky but would always consider them given how well my 266 and the 61 prior to that have been. I do like Japanese stuff, so that combined with the warranty is pointing me towards Echo but to be honest they seem to have so many saws that it's bordering on confusing. Not so worried about weight as such, I imagine that any saw suited to a 12in bar will be light enough, but would especially like easily started as the nature of the work will be very starty/stoppy, plus while I'm still pretty strong the advancement of years and old injuries means that the quick snap required by some saws is getting increasingly dragging. Don't get me wrong, I haven't ruled out the 2511 yet, but I've a couple of doubts about it so thought I'd check first as I'd intend this saw to be working for me for many years hopefully. Thanks. PS - although I gurned about the price of the 2511, that's only the price relative to it. I'll spend whatever is necessary if I think it's the right article. * - unless there's something so good that I could use it with a small bar now and then put an 18in on it in a few years when I get too decrepit to pull the 266, but I think that's unlikely.