The Perfect 2-Chainsaw Combo for Pros

Hi there, I'm Mark Thomas. I run the YouTube channel Mark Thomas Builder. I'm also one of the members of the ECHO 2025 User Advisory Group, and today I'm going to be talking about my favorite two saw combo—specifically two of my favorite ECHO chainsaws, which I have right here. This is going to be my personal opinion, so I invite you to leave comments down below and let me know which two ECHO chainsaws are your go-to.

So in this video, I'm going to talk about each saw, what I like about it, why I chose it, and then I'll also talk about some of the upgrades that I think would be good for these—some things I'd like to see them change for the future. We're also going to be making some sawdust with these so you can see them in action and see how they perform.

All right, so let's start out with the smaller one first. Right off the bat, a couple quick things I want to point out about the ECHO CS-2511PN rear handle saw: you can get this in a 12-inch bar or a 14-inch bar. I put the 14-inch bar on right now. I have it filled, and we're going to see what the weight is—7.67 pounds. So a 14-inch bar is really going to give you a lot of versatility. You can cut some smaller trees with it, some decent-sized trees, and especially for limbing a tree that's fallen down, this is going to be the go-to. It can just go through, and when you're raising it at all different levels, you won't get tired as fast.

The setup right here with the nano chain is going to give you a faster, smoother cut. I did have to put a little bit of thought into which small saw I wanted. I've also had this saw right here for much longer—this is the 2511 TN, the top handle. This has been a great saw with a 12-inch bar. This really can get in there and do some slicing and dicing as well, taking the limbs off trees. But I really want to stay consistent with the rear handle right here and then go with the 14-inch bar, so I think this right here is going to be my go-to.

Then the big saw I have is the CS 620PW. This has the full wrap handle right there, which I like. Let's take a look at this one right here—I have a 20-inch bar that seems to be like a good all-purpose size. This gets a lot done for me. You can get as small as a 16-inch bar with this, and then you can put up to a 27-inch bar on it. I've used this one quite a bit over the years and it's really come in handy for some of those really large projects. I don't come across those projects quite as often, so I'm going to pretty much keep the 20-inch bar on it—that's going to be a good size for me.

Here's a look at it all the way around. This is where the air filter is. Probably need to switch that out, so I'll put that on my list. With a bigger saw like this, we have a compression relief valve right there—you actually push that so it's easier to pull.

On the 620, there's a couple things I would like to see upgraded. This does not have the captive bar nuts, so in case you loosen those, they can fall on the ground. What I do is I just have a couple spare that I keep in my case, just in case I lose them. Sometimes in the woods, when it falls between all the leaves and twigs on the ground, it's not that easy to find.

I'm noticing ECHO is putting a lot of the captive bar nuts on many of their saws, like this one right here. So there is a big difference between these two saws right here. But I'm quite certain if this one gets stuck, I can put some relief cuts in the log that I'm cutting and be able to free this one up. If you only have one saw and you get it stuck, you may be limited to having to take the bar off and then hopefully you have another one that you can get and put on to do your relief cuts.

Okay, so I'm ready to go out in the woods. I've got my chaps on, boots, gloves, hearing protection, eye protection, and head protection. Let's fire these up.

About four months ago, I dropped this big cottonwood tree right here, and I used the 620 PW saw. Did a really nice job—I had the 27-inch bar on, and it really went well. One of the first things to do when you drop a big tree like this is to take the limbs off. Instead of lugging a bigger, heavier saw like this around, I prefer to go around with something like this that's really light and nimble. So that's what I'm going to do right now. I'm going to go ahead and cut with this, and then we're going to do some bucking with the other saw.

So now we're going to use the 620 saw with a 20-inch bar and we're going to buck that up a little bit. I'm not going to do the whole tree, but I'm going to do enough so you can see how well this performs.

Oh, got stuck. All right, this is why you want to bring two saws out.

So I'm glad I was able to get that saw out there with my relief cuts. I often use these wedges right here when I'm bucking a tree, so I'll show you how this will prevent the saw from getting pinched in there. Let's go somewhere else over here where I know it'll get pinched if I don't put that wedge in.

All right, I'd say that was a successful demonstration seeing how these two saws work together.

All right, so if you enjoy this kind of video, I recommend you check out ECHOmeansbusiness.com. There you can see other members of the User Advisory Group and find out more about the landscape, hardscape, green industry, forestry, things like that. It's definitely a great place to get connected and learn more.

So that's it for now, friends. Thanks for watching. See you next time.