ECHO SRM-3020 vs. STIHL FS-111 

Don't you mean UN-biased?

I had a model older than this one that I love. My sister has difficulty with tools that are too heavy and she actually loved mine and found it easy to use ru-vid.comUgkx_rBCFuDW1zD6blTGhLkvAkxU657uR_lG . This is a newer model but was even lighter which she really appreciates. She enjoys it and I no longer have to go to her house to trim as she can handle it fine. Haven't used it enough to comment on the battery life but lithium batteries last longer than the old style. Being cordless makes it easy to trim the far edges of the property. The entire yard can be trimmed with one charged battery.

Got the 3020T about 3 weeks ago and loving it! It's a beast of a string trimmer. Also got the brush cutter conversion kit for whenever I need it as well. Started with the home grade trimmers from Lowe's and with the tougher weeds it just wasn't cutting it so based on the reviews...yours being one of them I bought one and couldn't be happier. Your reviews are awesome!

INCREDIBLE! Fantastic video Bradley and very well done. You thoroughly covered both and you were very informative. Keep up the good work.

Very good un--biased comparison -- appreciate the excellent videography and scripting

I love my Echo 400U brushcutter which is essentially the same as a 410U. I am not a professional but, I have had mine for 12 years or more with several hundred hours of hard use and have never had a problem with it.

I’ve used the sthil 4-mix and echo professional tools for 15years. Never had a problem with either brand. The 4-mix warms up way faster than the 2-strokes and the low end grunt is awesome for weedeating. The valves aren’t hard to adjust AT ALL but I like both, they are both quality machines.

I have a Echo 3020 and been running Stihl 94rs for years. I actually like the Echo better as its lighter. Great video.

Great review. My new Echo will arrive on Wed. Thank you for your review.

Copper Creek i like your style man. Like you im a solo lawn guy in Texas. You are always clean and professional. I'm striving for that in my business. Keep up the hard work and great videos. I'm shocking myself with all the tips and tricks im picking up.

I think you did a great job keeping it unbiased. I would have liked to seen a comparison using blades though. Great work Brad!

I just bought a Stihl FS91R a couple of weeks back and I'm loving the extra torque that comes with the 4-mix engine. It eats through stuff that used to take me an age even with my FS94. All my guys love it now lol I did find that with the Stihl speed feed head and guard on though I could hardly get any line out so with it off it runs 10x better because I can actually run a normal length of line

Thanks much for your unbiased video. I found it helpful, the point, which is not common on this platform.

Great video brad I've seen a lot of them now. You make good points about the Echo advantages and cheaper price point as well. People seem to be happy enough with Echo build quality. I recently bought a Stihl kombi 131 and I like it but it costs over 100 bucks more than the srm3020 (attachment version). I also recently got an echo 8010 blower and I love it. Lately.. I started getting more serious and taking my landscaping from a weekend thing to full time. I still have all my electric stuff and I like it but.. .when I'm string trimming the weeds down in a big lot on a hot day I need my gas string trimmer. My Milwaukee 18 volt string trimmer overheats every time under heavy use on a hot day. It takes maybe 15-20 minutes for that thing to overheat on a 90 degree+ day , just like you showed with the Ego backpack battery unit overheating while use on a hot day in your other video. I have an Ego backpack blower and I use it all the time for small jobs but its obviously very weak compared to the echo 8010 gas blower and I'm glad I have the 8010 ready to go for next fall. Please excuse my rant and thanks for the videos man!

thanks for the great video, this helps me a lot for the first-time owner

love watching your videos i always have a good laugh 🤣🤣🤣

You're not a moron, another well explain broken down video, for those of us that don't know, or have any knowledge..! Good to know, and compare the differences..! 🤗👍

I know you have a bias towards echo because of the weight, but props to you for still making it a fair review!

I'm becoming more of an Echo fan with each purchase I make👍

great review, thanks Brad

Just bought echo, went to get another 280 but not made anymore. Upgraded to 3020 and I’m very impressed with its power. Seems to be well balanced when using. Hoping to cut a little time off my trimming with the extra power and wider cutting swath.

Have used echo for 30 + years always great.

The dealer that I deal with has both Echo and Stihl. I have an Echo trimmer and a stihl blower/vac. Both are great.

I highly recommend Echo! Dad bought a couple of SRMs back in the early 90s. Still use them to this day, they haven't blown up yet. I bet they have somewhere over 1000 hours on each one, by basic estimation.

Echo has some of the best equipment one can buy and their products last!

I have a 111r (loop) Stihl. My first modification, was the 450 Speedfeed. I wouldn’t even consider leaving the autocut, on a Stihl. 🙂

Nice to know. Thanks for that!!

The stihl autocut 25-2 head holds 25-30 feet of string vs the 12-15 feet of string that the speedfeed 400 holds. I have a echo srm280t and a stihl km130r and I always see myself going to my stihl over my echo.

Echo will always be my first choice. I tried a stihl farm boss I sold it and bought a timber wolf verry happy. All of my equipment is echo I would highly recommend this product

Marathon Watching 9/5/21 This is a personal pick item to use. 😍😍

Nice review, never seen anyone use a brush cutter on their left side before, always used Stihl streamers and used those bump heads all of 8 years, going over to echo as Stihl is going down hill.

That echo SRM 3020 is a Beast of a Trimmer 👍

Both are good. They definetly have a lot more power than my Echo SRM 225. I think I'd have to go with Echo. Both are in my area, so equal dealer support.

I have an echo srm 266T and a srm 230 trimmer.Also a CS 450p and a cs352 chain saw.....great machines period.

Great review!!

I'm about to get ready to switch my equipment to echo and I like to hear if you reccomend echo products

Great comparison, watching i felt the echo was just ahead of stihl. But a permanent on switch on the echo would be better. 👌👍👍👍👍

You need to adjust valves on the stihl. I recommend adjusting them when brand new just so you don't have to think about it. I prefer adjusting the valves tightly.

Hello from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 I have echo 3020 beautiful trimmer

Good review 👍 the echo switch would be my complaint as well. Id like to give the echo a shot.

You literally have to buy an 111 or a 131 to run real blades for brush cutting..I really wish echo had more dealers around the Ohio valley because I’d have went with the echo all day. I own a lot of stihl equipment and have no real issues other than how they get you on the little things like mentioned above. My old man has ran an echo for ten years and the thing is a monster, no issues AT ALL. one of the old grey ones.

I never wrap the strings twice on my sthils. Just wrap once, fix the strings still, cut, install and pull the starter and start trimming!

Considering the echo has a larger swarth than the stihl, the echo did well. parents had a lawn mowing business( wouldn't call it a lawn care business as they just cut grass and did property clean ups) and they ran an echo with the multi tool bar on it, so it had the use of the hedge trimming and cord attachments( more were available but those two is what they had) that machine paid for itself many times over

I will say the Echo,I love the 5 year warranty on them.

Thank you, good video !

Nice video man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That sthil is looking 👍

May as well use stihls top of the line instead of midgrade if your going to go against echos top of the line? Real test would he FS130 or FS 240 vs 3020

It only takes about 10 minutes or less to adjust the valves. The same thing would have to be done to OHV mowers eventually. I like both brands but would rather listen to the 4 stroke than a 2.

Stihl has 26-2 auto cut that winds it self. I have one and I like it

I use my Stihl FS120 weekly and it still has the original 19 year old air filter.. Nothing was ever touched on that thing. good luck echo

does the echo also have a 1.8meter shaft as apposed to 1.5?

I take back what i have said bout these type of trimmers be great in heavy brush situation

Dang, I need one of these for my field.

I have an Echo SRM 4600 a 46cc beast with aluminum body not plastic rubbish. A little heavy but i love it . Easy to start and just runs like a dream. Have run 4 tanks of fuel through it one session running it at full throttle 98% of the time and it didn't miss a beat! Bought it used and have had it for 5 years and only replaced a starter rope and spark plug.

I have used both Echo and Stihl equipment. The review was nicely done; however, wouldn't the correct comparison be the FS 131 and the SRM 3020? The FS 111 competes with the SRM 2620 in price and specs. I am very glad you did compare the big two brands used in my area.

Thanks for the info, both brands has their pros and cons but the echo seems to have the edge.

The Stihl 4mix run great for the first one or two years after that they start running like crap after the second valve adjustments they never run right again I have echos 266T 280T that are over 6 years old and never have major issues like Stihl another problem we have with Stihl are the timing gears go bad and also melt cuz they are plastic and it cost over $100 to replace and fix echos all you have to replace every two to three years is there carbs which it's only $40 bucks to replace if you do it yourself and on echos you don't have to spend a ton of money buying fully synthetic oil like 4mix requires just regular echo oil or Stihl orange bottle oil which is a lot cheaper echo is the way to go me and my pops have been using echos for more then 30 years.

Bump feeding isn't that hard with the U handles. Set your harness back a little closer to the engine and pull the handles back to get comfortable. Then the balance is more biased towards the cutter head and you don't have to wave it about like you're trying to snap it in half to make it feed! It's much easier to pull the handles to lift it and then let it drop than it is to try to push it downwards against the weight of the engine. It should feed just with it's own weight from around 12" off the ground.

I like Sthil, Echo Husqvarna and Shindawa.+Hitachi

I will be going echo true good old 2 stroke easy to work on no special tools needed no need to adjust valves every 100 hours

I picked Echo products over Stihl due to them being as good but cheaper. For a Chainsaw Id prefer a Stihl.

So is it normal when weed eating your lower back hurts and your shoulder starts to hurt as well? If so I wonder if the Echo fixes that problem

The sthill is a solid dhaft big plus the echo is a wire cable inside the shaft correct?

I live in Kilgore Texas and Longview has Longview lawn and garden they are Stihl and Echo dealer and they do a little different layaway then you would normally think they don't have the warehouse to store product so their layaway very different Dell store your money I like a piggy bank and when you get say that $399 for either one then it's a really good deal

To me it doesnt matter but honestly id probably take the Stihl over the Echo or if somehow I had a really profitable year I wouldn't mind buying both just to see which one I personally like more now I have a Stihl FS70 and an Echo SRM266 ive had the echo for going on two weeks but I usually go with the Echo maybe just because its ne or maybe because deep down I truly like it more I don't really know!

like the video but in the end in i look at power to weight ratio. stihl here in canada gives you the option at no cost for a quick spool head or manual spool. when you mention about harness stihl gives you a cheap harness which ill admit its not the greatest but they also sell double harness which fits like a backpack arround your body and also a easy lift harness which i have for hedge trimming and for prunning, no supporting machine by arms, just directing

Both are great, but Sthil is#1 period, nothing beats Sthil.

I just bought an SRM-3020U. So far it is working OK but the handlebar is not adjustable enough for a short person to reach the handles without it bumping into your legs.

Rookie with that Stihl Head

Hey c opper creek cuts. i have upgraded my stihl to a speed feed head and it woeks great. Stihl are making a better speed feed head.

In my opinion, I prefer the Stihl autocut, higher quality, and the bump caps last forever, even on concrete

"Biased" you mean unbiased and you hated on stihl the whole time and gave so many points to echo.

You need a tool to take out the spark plug anyways and the stihls tool includes both the air filter is a different story

Hello Brad, have you done a compare of a Stihl Kombi to Echos version? If not would you be able to? 🤔 I'm a Stihl owner and concur that after 2 years Stihl does tend to act kinda wonky so now I'm considering echo but would feel better if I could see some compared and reviews.

Hey man I'm In the market for a trimmer debating on the echo 3020 or the d's 131 any suggestions

I enjoy my Sthil Fs 131 ! There are more Sthil dealers in my area and neighboring towns ! But there are two echo shops too , but one has bad service reviews and the other one is not any better .

Your Stihl dealer gave you the wrong harness, the bike handle Stihls come with the double shoulder harness.

Echo is better. My guys ALWAYS go after my echo trimmer first. They jump out quick.😂 Easier string load, lighter weight and easier start. I'm telling you, I use both...a lot. Echo is better. Stihl is good tho...very good!

That is the speedfeed 450 head for the echo head

I really and I mean REAAAAALLLLLLYYYYY prefer the stihl head over the echo one because it will last years without modification, and it holds more line, that's one of the only biases I found, that is more of a matter of opinion

The stihl fs111 is heavy as well i run both a fs90r and a fs111rx at work and prefer the fs90r over the 111rx becausw the 111rx gets heavy when u use it fir a long time

Do you use fs450?

Stihl 4 mix engines are easier to pull start but you have to adjust the valves once a year most people use cheap oil so there is a big wear factor if you use Stihl ultra oil once a year is sufficient 👍👍

I love Stihl but I'm leaning toward Echo because Stihl is sometimes hard to start.

I have all echo, and one stihl unit (hs 45 hedge trimmer) - echo are easier to service, and I got the stihl used, so I would not say no, but I would have bought echo

yes

The thing about the stihl is that it's more covered up so you can't accidentally hit the spark plug Cap and get burned

I got a echo 2620 after running redmax for years and I have been really impressed with it. I’m sure this 3020 might be in the future at some point, for those really overgrown jobs.

You said “The Echo did just as well as the Stihl on power.” I should hope so considering that the Stihl is significantly less powerful.

I have a old 22 yr old echo 20cc, great for all the smaller more delicate cutting around the garden beds. good quality brand, if they just marketed as well as stihl they would dominate the market.

echo all the way for me

I hate the vibration from the stihl trimmers

What’s the mask called you have on

I work at Kilgore College as a grounds keeper, all the equipment we use are STIHL. They are running from 7AM to 3PM and very rarely have a problem with anything. But if something does happen we just drive 10 minutes to Walden Power Equipment and get it fixed either the same day or the next day. The equipment is over 6 years old at this point, some even older. ECHO is a high up brand, I've used them before, I have nothing against the brand, but in my opinion STIHL is a little better.

Echo Trimmers are too heavy for the power they put out, the Husky 535LS weighs 12.5 pounds and will put to shame any of the echo trimmers. The FS 94R and Husky 525LST will perform in the same ballpark as the 2620 or T262 and weigh 2 pounds less. If you only trim a few minutes at a time...the Shindaiwa T282 and T344 are great for doing anything needed...the FS240R is also a great beast of a trimmer, but it weighs in around 15 lbs.

Just cut the length of line put bothe ends of line in the holed then wind both sides at once then just cut it and it makes it a lot easier

I mean why are you comparing a FS 111 to a 3020 instead of comparing it too a FS 240?

3:55 SpeedFeed 450**

I find Echo is better stuff no matter what model.

So a dogleash stuck on your trimmer and a clip instead of just a clip...