So I got this Echo 520 on a trade deal with my cousin . It needed a little attention....but its up and running....very well I might add ! I had a new 16" 3/8 bar for this saw....so I changed the rim sprocket from .325 to 3/8. And a not so safety chain ! I was worried 3/8 might be too much. But instead..its perfect ! I also pulled the carb limiter tabs...and did a muffler mod. Fellas...night and day difference from stock form. I was kinda unimpressed stock. Now after the mods..very impressed ! I'm gonna hang on to this one. It's very comfortable and well balanced. I'm not shy about burying a bar in my tests. I could bury this in Ash and Cherry with a nice medium hand ! A nice limber too BTW. You guys know I've had alot of saws ..mostly in the 50cc range.. Out of all the recent saws......its closest to the Husky 545 I had ! It's a tad behind..but very close And yes...my chain is loose in the pic....it always is after a long test with new chain ..and no screntch in my pocket !
A muffler mod never hurts...but u gotta pull the carb limiter caps One thing I learned...so far only on Echo...is that they don't like too big of extra holes in the muffler. They will start running like crap at some point. On this one..I took off the muffler...made the baffle boles a bit bigger..and opened up the outlet a bit . Also removed the spark screen. It was a very conservative mod...but made a HUGE difference !
I like Echo stuff. Never considered "sexy", but always gets the job done! Your saw looks to be the counterpart to my CS3400. My 3400 is bone stock and already is louder than my 350 or 550! (might just be the tone) Always makes it sound like you're doing more than you actually are! Can't imagine how loud it'd be with a muff mod! It's been a good saw. My first back in '97. Still have it, still works good. Just picked up a new loop for it the other day. Tip for you guys with the old grey saws...they have a lifetime ignition warranty. Well, at least mine does...not sure which years/models exactly. Took into dealer to have it looked at about 4 years ago. Coil was dead. Replaced no charge under warranty much to my surprise!
Anybody have a top rpm recommendation on this saw ? I'm running about 13,000 rpm according to my tach . Still sounds rich to my ear....but not sure if it has a limited coil that I'll be hitting. Don't wanna toast a piston lol ! Checked the sparkplug while at 13,000....still showing rich mix. I bet 13,500 - 14,000 isn't out of the question.
Went out to clean this baby up. I'm always impressed with the air filters on these Echo saws ! So simple...and very effective. Plus they look tough
I keep my eyes open all the time for that saw you have in ur avatar ! I like em. Gotta be very handy !
Cool..thanks so much ! I've got it a 13,000....still seems "fat". Better safe than sorry I guess . Thanks for the info !
I have a CS 510. Bought it a few years ago for $10. $20 worth of parts and it's been dead reliable. +1 on the muff mod. Really a pleasure to run.
