Echo / Gas
~$499
Echo CS-355T
30cc class
- 35.8cc
- engine
- 14 in
- bar
- 8 lb
- bare
Tree crews and serious property owners who want near-MS 201 T capability at two-thirds the price.
Arborist4.6/5 Home Depot
At $499.99 this is the cheapest way into a professional Echo top-handle, and the only one in the range built around the i-30 starter rather than a spring assist — which matters when you are restarting at the end of a lanyard rather than on the ground. The 26.9cc engine gives up almost nothing to the 30.1cc CS-303T that costs $50 more, and climbers who have run both describe the 271T as the livelier of the two on throttle response. Watch the weight basis before you compare it to anything: Echo's 6.6 lb figure is the bare powerhead, and reviewers who have weighed one fuelled with a 12-inch bar and chain fitted put it nearer 11 lb in the hand. The limitation is hard-coded — Echo lists exactly one bar length for this saw, 12 inches, so there is no growing into it. For in-tree pruning and tip work that is the point; for anything that needs sectioning, the CS-355T is the saw.
Best for: Climbers and tree crews who want a dependable pro top-handle for pruning and tip work at the lowest price Echo sells one.
Specifications
Manufacturer figures except the engine class and single-pass cut, which are derived here. What each spec means
- Cheapest pro Echo top-handle at $499.99
- 6.6 lb powerhead
- i-30 reduced-effort starter
What owners like
- $499.99 — $50 under the CS-303T and $100 under the CS-2511T, the cheapest pro top-handle Echo lists
- i-30 starter cuts pull effort by a claimed 30%, which tells aloft where a hard restart is genuinely awkward
- 6.6 lb bare powerhead keeps end-of-day fatigue down against heavier 30cc-class climbing saws
- G-Force engine air pre-cleaner meaningfully stretches the intervals between filter cleanings
- Metal lanyard ring, inertia chain brake and side-access tensioner are all standard
- 5-year consumer warranty on a saw sold as professional-grade
Common complaints
- Echo lists a 12-inch bar and nothing else — there is no 14-inch option on this model
- The 6.6 lb spec is the bare powerhead; fuelled with bar and chain it is closer to 11 lb
- 26.9cc is strictly a pruning and tip-work engine, not a sectioning saw
- Standard recoil pull plus i-30 rather than the spring-assist start on the CS-2511T and CS-355T
- Top-handle design is for roped-in climbers — it is a poor and less safe choice for ground work
Nearest alternatives
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