Tremble at my Mastery of Unimpressive Low-Paying Tasks

I am now a master chainsaw mechanic.

When I moved here, I managed three weeks before a hurricane came, and although we didn’t get the actual storm, a lot of trees fell. I was desperate for forestry tools, but they were not to be had. I managed to scrounge up a small Jonsered (Husqvarna) saw and a bigger Echo CS-590.

I have been lazy, and I didn’t know much about saws, and I could not find anyone around here who could fix one, so I had all sorts of trouble. I made dogged efforts to get good information so I could help myself, but I got misled over and over. Seemed like I never had a running saw when I needed one.

I just broke down and bought a pro-grade saw with a little computer in it. People call cheap saws “homeowner” saws, but the truth, I think, is that homeowners need the best saws, because we need tough equipment that can stand poor management.

I bought the new saw because I was really tired of trying to fix the others. Then once I had the Husky to rely on, naturally, I wanted to make the Echo run. I have turned it into a project saw.

Last year, I believe, I put a bigger carb in it. The carb comes from a 620P, which is a stronger saw with the same displacement. A week or two ago, I put a partial rebuild kit in the carb, which had been sitting since at least last year. That made it run, which was a huge improvement.

Today I added two other things: a better exhaust deflector to get heat out of the saw, and a little doodad that bumps the ignition timing 6 degrees forward to make the saw run more like Echo’s true pro saws.

I also tuned the carb myself, using a cheap Ebay tachometer and directions I stole from the Youtube Channel Steve’s Small Engine Saloon.

Echo says the saw should run at between 12,000 and 13,000 RPM. Web denizens say the ignition limits it to 13,000. Not true. Today I fired my saw up, and I got 14,000. It sounded really, really nice. Too nice. I didn’t want to blow it up. But I could not get the top speed to drop.

I finally realized I was turning the saw’s high-speed jet the wrong way. With that in mind, I started turning it the right way, and I settled on 13,300 RPM, roughly. Another Youtube saw guy runs his modded saws a little faster than that, and everyone thinks he’s a genius, so I guess my saw can take it.

Now the saw starts within about 6 pulls. Three with the choke in, and another two or three with it off. To me, that is astounding performance. Some people say their saws start on the first pull. Not sure how that’s possible with a choked carb, but they say that. After what I’ve been through, 6 is wonderful.

The little things I’ve done so far are supposed to bump the saw’s cutting speed up considerably, like maybe 15%. If I open the muffler up, I may see nearly 25%. That would be pretty nice. In truth, choosing the right chain and keeping it sharp make more of a difference than anything, but power is good.

Now what do I do? Use my big Husky because it’s almost guaranteed to work, or use the Echo in order to keep my nice new saw from getting dirty?

My plan is to put both in my cart when I cut big stuff. I’ll use whichever one works.

I feel almost competent.