I come from a place where Stihl reigns supreme and mention of anything else is blasphemy. Abit later on this year I am going to replace my old McCulloch MAC 10 which has a cracked block(luckily its below the piston skirt so at tdc there is no loss of compression and it only smokes but runs great). I have been offered an excellent deal on the MS290 FarmBoss Stihl and offered good dealings on the MS-310 which isn't kept instock which is whati originally went in to price. I noticed at the local Honda shop they sell Echo products which formerly I hadn't heard of. It claims to have a 5 years consumer warranty and to be an excellent no b.s. saw. But having never used one before I don't know. I can get one for about $100-150 less than the Stihl models I'm considering right now, particularly the CS-440 model w/ 20" bar. So if anyone has any experience of input i'd appreciate it.

I hear Echo makes a good saw but in my estimation you would be much better off getting a Stihl or Huskevarna. With tools you get what you pay for and it is myfeeling that all tools need to be the best available if they are expected to last. I own Stihl products and use them all the time without any problems. Some of my friends have Huskevarnas and they say the same thing about their machines.

Stihl... the only way to go. I've used one for years.

I've got a Echo and so far its worked great, but I've only had it for 2 years. It did cut a lot of hedge this year and what really attracted me to it was how light weight it was. I hadn't heard of them before either, but a guy started selling them close by and I noticed the county workers were using them so I tried them. I had a 16 inch saw crap out on me so thats what I got, but if my 20 inch goes on me and I'm thinking it will before too long then I'll be replacing it with an echo too. My 20 inch is a Poland, whichis not ahigh dollarsaw, but its older than me lol

Husqvarna.

Got a Stihl, Poulan and Husqvarna. Husqvarna is the best in my opinion. Stihl is a fairly close second. Poulan [:'(].

I have had a Shindiawa 488 20" saw for the last 14 years and it has been and continues to be a great saw. It's cut many a cord of oak and has been through a few bars and numerous chains and I can choke it and it's going to be ready in 3 pulls of the rope regardless of how long it has sat.

With that said, 2 years ago I was in the market for another 20" and a smaller 12-14" pruning saw. I went to the local small engine/lawn care shop with my heart totally set on Stihl brand because of their reputation of being a good saw.
This shop sold Stihl, Shindaiwa and Echo brands and the salesperson talked me into an Echo over the other 2. I thought is was strange of him doing that but did take his advise and after 2 years of usage with these Echo's I havent had even a hitch with either of them. Only time will tell of course but I think the Echo line of tools is simular to Savage firearms, they offer a great product at a lesser exspense.

A few of the guys haveEchos as power heads for their ice augers and they aren't all that good. They don't seem to put out enough power for that application. Best unit is the Tanaka head on the Nils Master auger.

STIHL....my brother inlaw swears by it. he runs a lawn bussniess

I used to have a stihl 290 farmboss, from when they were still made in Germany, but it was stolen sometime during my wedding. All I know is that when we got back from the honeymoon it was gone. I ended up buying a stihl MS390. I wanted another 290 farmboss but the store owner told me that the MS 290 was not as powerful as the old 290 built in Germany. I don't know if he was full of it but he gave me a good deal in the 390 which he had in stock.

Its a good powerful saw, but two years after i got it it started running rough and cutting out. After about 30 mins of checking the spark plug and so forth I realized that the fuel line was rotten and had a hole in it. I went to my dealer and showed him the rotten fuel line, he said "oh yeah I always replace the fuel lines on those saws when I am doing a tune up, they go bad". I asked him why stihl didn't change how they made the part if they were always going bad, his response, " they're only $7.50".

I wish I still had my 290 farm boss.

Also i have a 22 year old Shindaiwa 450 chainsaw for limbing and such. It"s a great saw. Been though a bar or two with it and only had to rebuild the carb about 4 years ago and replace the pull cord once. Great saw.

My son-in-law cut's trees for a living and all he has are Husqvarna saw's...