Agreed! A couple of weeks ago my fs100rx got stolen and I hadn't trimmed the property yet, didn't have time to go to the stilh dealer so i ran to Home Depot to grab one of the $199 trimmers. I figured it could be a back up once I had time to get a new 100rx. I was wrong, one property was all it took for me to return it. It wouldn't stay running/flooded brand new out of the box. It was an embarrassing piece of equipment.

 

May be that's the problem you are running straight gas you need to add some oil.LOL I know what you meant!

 

I'll gladly spend a little more $ for Shindaiwa from now on, rant over.

Time to start your rant up again I have some bad news for you they now own Shindaiwa.

 

Ive had some echo stuff for 5-6 years and they have been super solid. I have not used any recent (orange) stuff. There used to be a few dealers here but now its just Big R and Home Depot apparently.

One thing for sure is that there is plenty of hate on all brands. Im leery that the new stuff isn't up to snuff across the board.

 

Time to start your rant up again I have some bad news for you they now own Shindaiwa.

They don't run like Shindaiwa so what? Maybe they save all the crap parts for the Echo line.

 

Stihl. Nuff said.

 

like most manufactures , once they go to the big box they are all done, Mac and homelite were the best around years back and look where they ended up, also they use mainly junk zama carbs . and yes they own shindaiwa , what a shame

 

The only problem I've had with Shindaiwa is replacing the clutch on occasion unlike Echo that is crap from the get go with carb problems.

 

Gotta clean it once in a while. Little effort

 

Echo is busch league garbage.

 

Agreed! A couple of weeks ago my fs100rx got stolen and I hadn't trimmed the property yet, didn't have time to go to the stilh dealer so i ran to Home Depot to grab one of the $199 trimmers. I figured it could be a back up once I had time to get a new 100rx. I was wrong, one property was all it took for me to return it. It wouldn't stay running/flooded brand new out of the box. It was an embarrassing piece of equipment.

Why would you buy homeowner stuff when doing commercial work?

My commercial echos get up and go to work every day without issue.

 

Echo is busch league garbage.

Agree, no more for me, I started using Echo a couple years ago thinking I'm saving money, I should have stayed with Shindaiwa, I've replaced all the Echo crap and now I can just focus on making coin without some small piece of equipment slowing me down.

 

I purchase all my echo gear through a private retailer. A small shop. I have had zero problems other than the occasional recoil starter cord breaking from normal wear and tear. My units generally start in one pull for pas and whackers and two for blowers. Dead cold starts on my pas units, no prime one easy yank and im good. So i have a disagreement here. My two cycle is $1.88 per quart havoline 2 cycle oil......no prOblems there either. I rip my guards off and run my line long.....echo has been good to me, grey and orange models. I dont adjust the carbs or mod my units at all. They get pushed hard......and run

Now my agreement, i have 2 cs 400 chainsaws, both have a ton of hours on them, no issues, i also run two cs 341ts....again no issues. My dealer rarely gets stuff he sells in for repair. Yet for some reason the cs400s from the depot end up in for repair all the time. Him and i both swear there is a "b model" at the depot. Maybe thr tolerances are off.....his are 60 bucks more when bought new.....who know what the depot is paying. A homeowner i know used a few gallons of my two cycle mix in a depot echo trimmer and it killed the unit.

Note: a shindawa hedge trimmers is the only unit i had that died and he couldnt get to run ever again. 30+ years of repair work.....no go. Replaced the whole unit, motor and all....that Sob wouldnt ever fire up again. It got so personal he sunk 300 bucks into it trying to prove he could make it run.

 

I purchase all my echo gear through a private retailer. A small shop. I have had zero problems other than the occasional recoil starter cord breaking from normal wear and tear. My units generally start in one pull for pas and whackers and two for blowers. Dead cold starts on my pas units, no prime one easy yank and im good. So i have a disagreement here. My two cycle is $1.88 per quart havoline 2 cycle oil......no prOblems there either. I rip my guards off and run my line long.....echo has been good to me, grey and orange models. I dont adjust the carbs or mod my units at all. They get pushed hard......and run

Now my agreement, i have 2 cs 400 chainsaws, both have a ton of hours on them, no issues, i also run two cs 341ts....again no issues. My dealer rarely gets stuff he sells in for repair. Yet for some reason the cs400s from the depot end up in for repair all the time. Him and i both swear there is a "b model" at the depot. Maybe thr tolerances are off.....his are 60 bucks more when bought new.....who know what the depot is paying. A homeowner i know used a few gallons of my two cycle mix in a depot echo trimmer and it killed the unit.

Note: a shindawa hedge trimmers is the only unit i had that died and he couldnt get to run ever again. 30+ years of repair work.....no go. Replaced the whole unit, motor and all....that Sob wouldnt ever fire up again. It got so personal he sunk 300 bucks into it trying to prove he could make it run.

Hey, fair enough friend. An Echo line trimmer started having major problems in less than 1 year vs Shindaiwa trimmer that is as old as dirt still running strong except for clutch replacement. To each his own I guess.

 

I still can't figure out how so many have problems with echos. I have only 1 piece of the gray echo left. And have 5 of new Orange. Starts first pull and never bogs or floods. I use cheap ethonal mixed gas and echo oil. I change air filters maybe once a year and never change any of the other filters. Never do anything but put string and gas in it.
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My pb-610 blower has worked religiously for over 20 years. Just had a hiccup with the carb. Cleaned the needle and new plug. Runs like new. Can’t beat this $300 backpack for the quality

 

This sounds like the "Stihl sucks" thread. I switched a couple years ago back to Echo and love them. I have over 20 pieces and no major probs. Dealer support is awesome compared to my closest Stihl guy. Parts seem cheaper too. I still have a BR600 4mix I use at the house that starts first pull. I think some guys are just really hard on their gear.
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A friend of mine is a store manager for a large electronics retailer......its a new england company....not best buy.

I had beers at a local watering hole with him and a rep from a huge tv maker.....anyway, i was told straight from the horses mouth....the tv's we sell to walmart are different than the ones at say, Pc richard and sons. They save money innlittle places...like metal fittings on the expensive models and plastic on the cheaper. The model numbers are the same with a different sku or have a space and the a letter. They save ten bucks and blow them in volume tomthe big box discount stores, i wonder if some of our gear guys do the same

 

I have a echo a buddy brought me from a trash can that he found,it would not start.i dumped the gas out put in fresh an it is now what refer to as "The Screamer" it rocks!
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Echo switched to orange because it was bought by husqavarna

 

This was last spring. Add another year to what I said in this video.

 

It's all i've used, so i can't compare them to anything. When it gets low on power, i just scrape out the exhaust port. I take off the spark arrester. I cut away the plastic so i can have easy access to removing muffler. It's much easier than taking that shell off. I get lots of trouble free use out of them. Also, thumbs up to my husqvarna hedge trimmers.

 

I have a echo a buddy brought me from a trash can that he found,it would not start.i dumped the gas out put in fresh an it is now what refer to as "The Screamer" it rocks!
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Get back to me in 1 year and tell me what you think of it. Maybe I'm getting particular in my old age but I think for $250-$350 bucks a supposed commercial line trimmer should last a long time. Man they don't make them like they used to and it's not just the ethanol gumming up the carbs either.

 

My echo is 20 years old and still works with little maintenance

 

I still can't figure out how so many have problems with echos. I have only 1 piece of the gray echo left. And have 5 of new Orange. Starts first pull and never bogs or floods. I use cheap ethonal mixed gas and echo oil. I change air filters maybe once a year and never change any of the other filters. Never do anything but put string and gas in it.
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I agree with you totally. The problem is these guys can't do any maintenance beyond replacing filter and spark plugs. And they don't ever figure out how to find the adjustment needles. Our guys runs our orange units until the exhaust ports are practically closed then i clean em out and good to go. Sadly we lose more to the thieve than wear out.

 

Echo switched to orange because it was bought by husqavarna

I don't believe Husqvarna owns Echo they own Redmax.

 

Just bought a srm 266t and hope it serves me good like my srm210 did.
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I still can't figure out how so many have problems with echos. I have only 1 piece of the gray echo left. And have 5 of new Orange. Starts first pull and never bogs or floods. I use cheap ethonal mixed gas and echo oil. I change air filters maybe once a year and never change any of the other filters. Never do anything but put string and gas in it.
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I agree with you totally. The problem is these guys can't do any maintenance beyond replacing filter and spark plugs. And they don't ever figure out how to find the adjustment needles. Our guys runs our orange units until the exhaust ports are practically closed then i clean em out and good to go. Sadly we lose more to the thieve than wear out.

I agree with both of you totally.I've got 9 piece of Echo gear and only needed one carb adjusted......I'll KEEP BUYING ECHO.