Echo CS-670 keep or sell?

[Fordiesel69]

So I have had this since 2020. I used hydrochloric acid to clean up the cylinder in one spot where there was aluminum transfer. I put in a new echo piston, wrist pin, bearing, and rings. I installed a new base gasket, new intake bellows, and went thru the carb. Runs really good, does not scream like a husky but starts and runs really nice.

Should I keep or sell and aquire a pro husky?

Is this a decent saw overall?

 

[oldcodger]

Keep it if it suits your needs. Buying new today is a crap shoot.

 

[stangguy]

I'd keep it, nothing is any better than an Echo. Not to say that some others are not good, just that nothing is better.

 

[aquariuscsm]

After performing all of that maintenance upkeep, definitely keep it.

 

[Cujet]

That is supposed to be a good high torque saw. I know some folks do a muffler mod on these, which they claim wakes them up.

I'm not at all convinced today's modern saws are "all that".

 

[gman2304]

Echo makes a fine saw, I have a CS450 and love it! That 670 is a beast for sure.

 

[jeepman3071]

That is supposed to be a good high torque saw. I know some folks do a muffler mod on these, which they claim wakes them up.

I'm not at all convinced today's modern saws are "all that".

+1

I'd keep it with all the work done, and open up the muffler a bit to make it run a bit better. They are good torquey saws.

 

[Fordiesel69]

How about the lack of popularity? Example, take a SRM-225 echo trimmer and there is pages upon pages of used and new parts. Take a CS-670 and there is very limited parts avail. Tells me this may not be popular.

I really liked how this saw has a real full aluminum side case style crankcase instead of cylinder sandwich that husky used. Seems like it might make it more durable.

 

[Cujet]

How about the lack of popularity? Example, take a SRM-225 echo trimmer and there is pages upon pages of used and new parts. Take a CS-670 and there is very limited parts avail. Tells me this may not be popular.

I really liked how this saw has a real full aluminum side case style crankcase instead of cylinder sandwich that husky used. Seems like it might make it more durable.

The way I see it, to get equiv quality will take $1000 or more. As that's where the big Husky saws with metal crankcases are priced. Why did the piston stick? Most of the time, it's inadequate warm up time. As the piston expands faster than the cylinder. But if not, then it's inadequate oil or worn rings allowing too much blowby. In any case, I suggest a quality oil at 32 to 1, ethanol free fuel (not the canned fuels) and at least 30, preferably 60 seconds of warm up.

 

[jeepman3071]

How about the lack of popularity? Example, take a SRM-225 echo trimmer and there is pages upon pages of used and new parts. Take a CS-670 and there is very limited parts avail. Tells me this may not be popular.

I really liked how this saw has a real full aluminum side case style crankcase instead of cylinder sandwich that husky used. Seems like it might make it more durable.

They are good saws, but one reason the SRM-225 is so popular is the price point for what you get. Like stated above, the equivalent quality from other brands is much more expensive (professional versions) and most professionals tend to gravitate to Stihl or Husky based on brand loyalty. Lately I've been seeing a lot more tree trimming guys with Echos because of Stihl quality issues in their smaller saws.

I really like the Echo saws (own a CS-310 for light stuff) and Dolmar chainsaws (own a Makita DCS5200i) are also very good quality (made in Germany). Both are quality brands that are overlooked in favor of the bigger names.

 

[fisher83]

I'd keep it. I don't have much experience with Husqvarna to compare but all my Echo stuff has been dead reliable. I have used and abused my CS-310 and it just plain works every single time without issue. As far as I know that's one of their cheapest saws so I'd expect the model you have to be of even better quality than mine.

 

[Fordiesel69]

You guys are really talking me into liking this saw. I am a fan favorite of echo stuff but never gave them any thought for saws. I always heard stihl or husky and thats all I ever here about.

Why did the piston stick? Well I can only give an educated guess. I got it used in summer of 2020, and it pulled over strong, but would absolutely not fire at all. Upon rebuild / re-assembly it ran really lean and crappy. But I never cut with it so it never got damaged. Every time you touched a screwdriver on the L / H needles without even making the adjustment yet, it would lean out and stall, like as if just touching the carb caused an air leak. It sat since fall of 2020, and someone local suggested that I replace the intake bellows. I just did that and discovered the old one was not bad. So what I think happend is two things and maybe both of these things.

1.) I think I could have pinched the crankcase to carb pulse line when I re-assembled the first time. I paid extra attention to it this time and got it perfect.
2.) I took the diaphram side of the carb apart and found the air side of the metering diaphram under the metal cover was packed solid with wood finings, and it must have blocked the diaphram from moving and metering. Inside the carb was mint however but I still did a complete cleaning on every single hole.

It was not run low on mix oil as the rest of the piston was good, just one hot spot when it got lean. I will run this one at 40:1 to be safe and I already have the high side fat on fuel. I do not need that extra 500 RPM for what I do with it.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Before the echo cs 680s are out of production would it be worth picking up a new one?

 

[Cujet]

Before the echo cs 680s are out of production would it be worth picking up a new one?

I can't say.

Here is what I think about saws. There are some saws that just "agree" with me, and some that don't. It may be akin to a car you prefer, on a much smaller scale. The saw I like most is a muffler modified Husky 346xp, because it's a "ripper". It's light, I shut it off the instant I finish a final cut, half a pull and it's up and running when I'm ready to cut next. It fits my use profile. But I no longer heat with wood, and I don't have the energy to do a lot of work.

 

[Fordiesel69]

I returned home and had a huge tall pine hit the ground and explode. Got to run a few tanks of gas thru it and I think I finally have the carb perfect. When some decent weather hits, I will make a video so you guys can critique my tune job on it.

Now what I did discover is that I need to learn some skills on how to operate a chainsaw without pinching the bar and chain when the tree is stuck on the ground and cannot be moved.