[BamaBoy96]

I'm thinking on buying a Chinese 51.7cc brush cutter and 62cc 20 inch chainsaw from wemars. It appears as if these particular units are rebranded by a few different sellers. Does anyone have any experience with these units or even any of these brands?

I got about an acre of extremely neglected family land. It has 6-12' thick brush. Also numerous fallen trees towards the back of the property. I'm not looking at breaking the bank to get the equipment to do the job but I'm not wanting to buy junk either.

 

[Ridin' Green]

It's chinese junk made by ripping off American companies intellectual property. I avoid buying chinese anything wherever and whenever I can. I do NOT want to help the chinese take over as the world's leading economy nor currency. When it breaks, who's going to service it? When can you get parts, How long will that take. No thanks. Buy once, cry once, and get something made here or in europe that will last.

 

[BamaBoy96]

Well I figured it wouldn't be much of an issue since a lot of our name brand stuff that's being sold as made in America, is in reality mostly just assembled in America.

The big difference I was expecting is QC standards and warranty issues. So as long as the products worked properly out of the box I was figuring I'd be good as long as I don't abuse them too much.

 

[stihlfan05]

They’re all junk. Those Chinese knockoffs are terrible as far as quality and support goes. Get a CS590 for the saw and a SRM410 for the brush cutter. Both are very reasonable as far as price and they’ve got Echo reliability on their side

 

[BamaBoy96]

Just an update. I'm rolling the dice on the Chinese brush cutter. If it survives what I'm going to put it through it will have payed for itself. I guess I'll buy a nicer echo or Stihl weed eater to use regularly once I knock all of this stuff down. Leaning more towards the echo tho.

 

[stihlfan05]

Go with the Echo right off the bat. It’s $600 and it’ll last you forever

 

[BamaBoy96]

Go with the Echo right off the bat. It’s $600 and it’ll last you forever

TBH curiosity is killing me on these units. I'm also wanting to play around with porting. So I'll get my money out of these cheap things then try that out on something I won't be too upset if I ruin.

Would the 3020 be a good one? Is there any particular echo models to stay away from?

 

[stihlfan05]

TBH curiosity is killing me on these units. I'm also wanting to play around with porting. So I'll get my money out of these cheap things then try that out on something I won't be too upset if I ruin.

Would the 3020 be a good one? Is there any particular echo models to stay away from?

Anything under the 3020 may not have the torque you need. The 3020 is already maxed out for port timing but the muffler is pretty restrictive. The 410 has the same issue with the restrictive muffler but the 43cc Echo engine is just as strong or stronger than the 52cc Chinese engine.

I’d say get the 410 because it’s every bit as strong if not stronger than the 52cc Chinese brush cutter. Hell, my 36cc 131R isn’t too far off from the Chinese engine as far as power.

If you want one for the sake of porting it, the Chinese is the way to go. Port timing and compression is really weak so they’d wake up a lot if you know what you’re doing. Be prepared for it to break really fast though.

The Echo 590 is also a great saw for porting if you’re set on that for a saw. It’s a nice saw stock, but mine has been ported, muffler and intake mod, timing advance, and a 620 carb and coil. Runs a 28 effortlessly and I’ve ran a 36 nicely on it too. Keep in mind that I got it ported by someone who’s been in this for 25 years so that’s why it’s so strong

 

[sidemouse]

Just an update. I'm rolling the dice on the Chinese brush cutter. If it survives what I'm going to put it through it will have payed for itself. I guess I'll buy a nicer echo or Stihl weed eater to use regularly once I knock all of this stuff down. Leaning more towards the echo tho.

I would appreciate it if you reported back to us after about 2-5 years of heavy use...

 

[BamaBoy96]

Anything under the 3020 may not have the torque you need. The 3020 is already maxed out for port timing but the muffler is pretty restrictive. The 410 has the same issue with the restrictive muffler but the 43cc Echo engine is just as strong or stronger than the 52cc Chinese engine.

I’d say get the 410 because it’s every bit as strong if not stronger than the 52cc Chinese brush cutter. Hell, my 36cc 131R isn’t too far off from the Chinese engine as far as power.

If you want one for the sake of porting it, the Chinese is the way to go. Port timing and compression is really weak so they’d wake up a lot if you know what you’re doing. Be prepared for it to break really fast though.

The Echo 590 is also a great saw for porting if you’re set on that for a saw. It’s a nice saw stock, but mine has been ported, muffler and intake mod, timing advance, and a 620 carb and coil. Runs a 28 effortlessly and I’ve ran a 36 nicely on it too. Keep in mind that I got it ported by someone who’s been in this for 25 years so that’s why it’s so strong

Thanks alot for all of the insight and recommendations. It's been appreciated.

I would appreciate it if you reported back to us after about 2-5 years of heavy use...

I'm probably going to lend out the brush cutter to a couple of friends who have the finesse of a bull. So I'll be sure to make a post if it goes belly up before a year and do a 1 year review. I'll try to keep track of the hours on it too but it'll most likely be a relatively accurate guestimate.

 

[sidemouse]

Thanks alot for all of the insight and recommendations. It's been appreciated.


I'm probably going to lend out the brush cutter to a couple of friends who have the finesse of a bull. So I'll be sure to make a post if it goes belly up before a year and do a 1 year review. I'll try to keep track of the hours on it too but it'll most likely be a relatively accurate guestimate.

That's fine, my biggest concern with these chinese machines is longevity...
Some will work amazingly well the first time or so...
They'll even work quite well for about two weeks or a month...
But it never takes long before the problems start, and they're relatively simple repairs at first...
But it doesn't stop, the dang thing keeps breaking down...

That's just been my experience.

 

[Simian]

Soooo... howd it go? Did it kill you?

 

[kohnke4650]

I love my proyama chainsaw so much I bought another one…. I have the 68cc and the 58cc is on its way.

 

[Smpaul]

I have 20 acres of woods and heat my home with wood. I have a 18 inch husqvarna 440 and a echo cs590 with a 24 and 28 inch bar. Both very good saws that always start but are finicky.
I bought a jpntech saw off amazon for a beater to do things I wouldn’t want to do with my two good saws.
I found that the new saw is more powerful than the other 2 and it is not finicky plus it usually starts on the first or second pull. so… you can listen to all the people who have never used one and trash them for whatever reason or someone who has been using chainsaws most of their life and actually compared them.
By the way I am not saying all chinese saws are good but some of them definitely are. 🙂

 

[glitchesgetstitches01]

The problem with Chinese knockoffs is the quality control. If you bought 5 chainsaws for example that were the exact same, I would be willing to guarantee at least 90% of the time only one would start as advertised. One will be so shotty in its build it won't start, one will have a bad carb, one will need its carb tuned and one will be missing parts. I've been a 2 cycle tech for years and it never fails with the cheaper knockoffs. Now, when you can get them running, they are relatively solid and you can usually find replacement parts that fit from Stihl or Husqvarna but it's still rolling the dice. Also, they are never what their power says. Again because of qc in China it will be stronger or weaker than what it's knocking off. Next issue you're gonna run into if you're in North America or Europe is is the fuel mixture. If it says 32:1 for example and you're in the US, you're going to deplete the life of that saw with that mixture as the fuel and oil standards in China are significantly lower. So when you run an ethanol free fuel and a decent 2 cycle oil you'll be doing so without knowing the actual engineering standard for that saw in the western world. Where people have good luck is finding out what saw that's knocking off and using that fuel mixture. Anymore it's 50:1 to get the most out of it and that changes further if you're running like Amsoil in it. If you have the money, buy quality. If you don't, at least get one of the bigger Chinese brands like Proyama, Wild Badger, Farmmac, Salem Master, Supmix, neo-tec and even some Vevor. I've had good luck with all those as far as repair and finding quality replacement parts from more reputable brands like Stihl, Husq and echo. You're going to be told to stay away but your budget is what it is and there solid options. Just be prepared to potentially have to send it back for replacement right out of the box. Lastly, if you don't already know, learn to tune a carb and get a universal carb adjustment tool kit from Amazon

 

[dayrhond]

My dad bought a wemars chainsaw from Amazon last year and within a few months it was in need of repair. This could happen with any chainsaw but we've experienced a broken tensioner and no way to replace it. I tried ordering some from amazon but it was too short. And now it's difficult to get a hold of anyone from wemars customer service to get help with this item.

 

[Scott87]

the cheap always comes out expensive.

 

[Scott87]

I was running my old 036 saw yesterday and I was thinking what a great piece of equipmment this is. Atleast 30 years old. Stihl running the original bar. Never put a penny into it other than chains and a spark plug once. Paid less than 400 bucks for and would be over a grand to replace now. A new one would never be the same as that old gal.