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[Wood Nutt]

One of our box stores in the area had two boxes that have been sitting on the shelf since early November labeled "display" and were both Efco 3500 chainsaws.  When I bought my big saw (Stihl 660 Mag) last year, I had researched the larger Efco saws and there were a bunch of positive reviews of them.  The 3500's in the store sold for $250 ea and they had marked them down to $199.  The manager saw me looking at them and asked if I was interested and I said not at that price.  A friend and I offered them $150 ea if we bought both and to our surprise, they said yes.

After unpacking them, I am not all that impressed, they seem to be put together awfully cheap.  Also need tools to get to the air filter which I predict will be a pain in the rear.  And, although they are advertised as a mid size saw, it seems pretty small.  Maybe I am spoiled by my Stihl's?  Anyone have one of these and what do you think of them?

[dukethebeagle]

never had a efco chainsaw but had a string trimmer.my opinion junk.always had a problem
better of to pay the extra and get tried and true.

[swede]

I use both a 152 and 156 Efco.  They are excellent saws made in Italy....just a different name for the old Olympic brand

[juddspaintballs]

Anything you can buy at a box store is going to be sub-par, even if it carries the same name brand as others known for quality.  Husqvarna is a great example of this: the store bought stuff is junk but their XP line is phenomenal. 

[Speed]

Our local hardware carries these now after the Stihl dist pulled dealership for not enough sales. They seem decent and are getting good reviews. Locally they are having good luck from what I've heard. As stated, they are the same company that made the old olympik brand, so they've been in the game for years. They are more prominent in Europe. I ran a 156 and was impressed. As far as what you said about it being a medium size saw, its the smallest of their lineup. It's rated at 2.0hp which is equal to a Stihl 210. At the price you paid for a new saw, and the 5yr warranty, I'd say you did good. You have 5 yrs to run it before you put any money out of pocket for repairs and see if you like it. At worst, it's problematic, so you sell it in a year or two, you'll still get your money back at the price you paid. And it's still a better saw than a wild thing for quality!

[Wood Nutt]

I ran a couple of tanks of fuel thru the new saw today and started thru the break in.  I was surprised it did pretty well on the hackberry and hedge I was cutting.  What was really great was its a feather compared to my other saws.  May be using it on the smaller stuff for that reason alone.  More to come as I get it broken in!

[Speed]

Glad to hear you're liking it, nothing worse than buying something and hating it from day one. The little saws have their place, nice to have them when limbing. They're way easier to handle than the big ones when you start throwing them around in the brush. How does it compare with your 210 so far?

[Wood Nutt]

The 210 is tempremental to say the least.  I have adjusted and messed with it far too much and now tend to avoid using it much anymore.  In my opinion, it has one of the crappiest air filters I have ever seen on a Stihl and I have a theory that is what lets in too much dust/fine particles and why I have to continually mess with the carb to get it to run decent.  The guy I bought if from (he had 2 and I bought both in non-running condition and have got rid of one) said he could not keep them running and hated them.  Seems I have the same issue as he did.  I traded one in a little over a year ago and should have gotten rid of both looking back.  The one I got rid of had the EZpull starting and toolless chain adjuster which I could not get use to either.  Guess I was too old school to mess with that system.  The one I still have does not have either of those features.  Only reason i kept one was I also got over a dozen chains with the two saws and was going to run the one at least until I whittled down the number of chains.  Might not make it to that!  I might see if I can get a bar/sprocket for the Efco to use those chains on?

[racnruss]

OH MY!   

I could write for an hour on this one.  I will NEVER buy another EFCO.

I purchased their pole saw from Menards because the articulating head looked interesting.  Supposedly you could rotate the bar 90 degrees to get above a high branch to cut down without getting the bar pinched.  Cool idea and it cost me $700 to try it out.

It never had enough power to run the chain once it was rotated.  Dang.  But whatever, I could still use it as a pole saw just like my other power pruners. 

However, after only a few uses, the motor still ran but the chain would not turn.    Supposed to have a 5 year parts and labor warranty!  So, I call for a warranty repair and they tell me to take it to the only EFCO certified chainsaw shop.  40 miles away.  Menards is only 3 miles away!

So, I drive it all the way up there to the shop and leave it.  2 MONTHS later the shop calls me and says it is fixed and ready to go.  So, I drive up there again (80 miles round trip).  The shop tells me I owe him 135$ for fixing the saw.  WHAT!  this is warranty I say. He says warranty does not cover set-up and it was set up wrong.  He starts the saw for me and chain is turning. Over a barrel, I pay the crook.

About a month goes by due to weather.  Then I use the saw.  It doesn't even get through the bark before the chain stops and motor still running. Son of a boiler!

So, I call EFCO again and relate how their certified shop operates.  They don't care and won't let me take it anywhere else for service.  I definitely won't take it back to that shop again or sink any more money in it.   

Out over 900$ and a whole lot of aggravation.

Kind of sounds like a Shaver story huh?

[Wood Nutt]

Guess my Efco will go good with my Shaver!   No problems with either.....yet?

[racnruss]

Sorry Wood Nutt,  guess I should have looked at your signature before I said that.    I've never owned a Shaver, just a illustration due to the amount of comments in the shaver section.   

Happy cutting.

[Wood Nutt]

No problem or offense taken Racnruss.  I have read about the Shaver issues too, hopefully I will avoid most of them.  I have had good luck so far, but only my 2nd winter with the stove.  Time will tell!  I am accumulating parts to build my own if it does ever go bad.

On the Efco, I think it might be like the John Deere mowers, they have top of the line version that the dealers sell and a cheaper product line that Home Depot sells.

[juddspaintballs]

On the Efco, I think it might be like the John Deere mowers, they have top of the line version that the dealers sell and a cheaper product line that Home Depot sells.

That's true for just about every brand that has made a name for themselves now.  Spend the money on the "professional" version of the brand you like or you're going to wind up with a lower quality saw that bears the name of a once great brand.  Shindaiwa, Husqvarna, Stihl, Echo, Delmar, Efco, etc. all have a consumer line and a professional line and there's not much to compare between the two.  A great comparison is the Husqvarna 450 that you can buy at Sears or Lowes or Home Depot for about $300.  It's a 50cc mid size saw great for sawing wood.  The professional version of it is the 346 XP which is the same size but carries slightly more HP and more torque at a lower RPM and a higher chain speed overall, not to mention it's built out of higher quality parts like the grab handle being beefier and a better shape for extended cutting or the muffler having a secondary bracket in front of it to hold it on throughout lots of vibration and to protect it.  I would also assume that the piston has at least one extra ring on it as well as a bunch of other parts inside of the saw that really do make it better.  It's $600 and still better than two of it's cheaper "copies"...

[racnruss]

I'm keenly aware of the differences in saw grades within one brand. 

My story is really more about service (not!) after the sale.

[Speed]

I have a 210 Stihl so I know all about them, my Dad gave me one to use when he went to Florida said he had no use for it but didn't want to sell it. I'd rather he gave me the 038 mag II he had. But whatever. As for the air cleaner, put a bead of grease around it, it'll seal up fine. Now the rest of the saw.....I hate that little SOB! It has caused me to off all Stihl products on the premises. It sits all by itself on the shelf now, drained of fuel and oil. Not that I would have had too. Stupid flippy caps never sealed right, ever. This one runs decent, everything else on it just grinds my gears. Quick adjust? Yeah thankfully. Because you adjust it all the time since it won't stay adjusted. The fuel line nipple on top of the is cracked, so it needs a whole tank/handle/cradle assembly. How in blue blazes would that crack?

I just bought a Dolmar 421 to replace it, I've been running Dolmar since they were Sachs-Dolmar 20 some years ago. I don't think I'll venture off that path anymore unless I need a 100cc plus saw.

I loved the comment about the John Deere vs big box John Deere comment. Let me set this up. I have a Deere 425 garden tractor. Vtwin liquid 20hp, power steering, hydraulic everything. It weighs 1100lbs. Cost $8000 in '98. I've had people come over and see it( I've seen their $1000 home depot Deere). First thing out of their mouth? "Oh I have one just like it!" I say "Um, no you don't". They can't figure that out til I start explaining. Then they leave bummed.

Racnruss, wow that sucks. I can't believe you called efco and they could care less. That tells a huge story about them right there. That's terrible for a company that is trying to get back into the North American market. You would think they would try to remedy that somehow.