Thread: Excellent warranty support from Stihl

The timing of this, this is great to hear.

I was in my local Stihl dealer looking at the 881 just this morning about how it comes with a 30” but I was enquiring about the 36”. I think I’ll just go the saw body only with some safety gear and get a 42” bar with rip chain. Next on the list was an Alaskan mill or something similar

I’ll make sure I go over the filters that everything’s secured. beast of a saw!

Cheers
Nathan

I've purchased a couple of Stihl chainsaws and each time the local dealer has given the new saw a pre-delivery inspection, tensioned the bar/chain and filled the bar oil tank etc. Most recent purchase 2 weeks ago was a small battery chainsaw MSA 160, great service & support.

@tony_a what size bar did you get with your saw? What’s your primary use of it?

Cheers
Nathan

G'day Nathan
I primarily got the saw for cutting firewood and went for the 30 inch bar. I work in with a mate who has a lot of dead timber over one metre in diameter and a wood splitter. In bigger timber it is brilliant but for timber under about 500mm my smaller saw (461) is easier to use.
I haven't dome any milling for a while and for the amount I am likely to do the old 090 would have been fine. But I wouldn't use the 090 for multiple days work cutting big firewood with no chainbrake and no anti vibration and a couple of other quirks.
Chainsaw milling is hard work and its slow. To get good boards you need to decide whether you want quarter sawn of back sawn and then turn the log or flitches as you work away. You should be able to find info on this on Google. I prefer blackwood back sawn but eucalypt is generally more stable and less likely to split if quarter sawn.

My milling bar is 46 inch total length which I think makes it a 42 inch bar (amount of projection in front of the saw body). It comfortably fits a 36 inch Alaskan mill without the need to take the dogs off. The milling bar will fit the 881.

The filter on the original 881 was slightly cocked up on the bottom edge of the carburetor body and Im not confidant I would have picked it if I had pulled the cover off. There is a proper way to put the filter on and its very simple, get the dealer to show you how.

G'day Moby
The dealer said that this is the second time in 20-something years where something like this has happened. In the other instance someone is presumed to have taken the filter out of a machine on the display stand. They did check the filter on my new saw.

Love hearing stories like this, as someone who used to live and breath customer experience it surprises me that not more companies don't embrace the "surprise and delight" your customer mantra. Its doesn't take much, but in the grand scheme it a small investment but returns big dividends in the long run. As once you've got a customer for life they are more than happy to pay any asking price. Sure there will be those who will always go for the bargain basement option, but for many businesses these are not the customers you're trying to maintain.

I have a couple of Stihl items, including an 021 chainsaw and a petrol weed cutter. A while back, I had some problems with the carburetor on the weed cutter and took it to the local Stihl agent in Kalgoorlie.
Well, unfortunately the service here is worse than disgusting. After more than four weeks at the dealership, they had not even looked at the job, despite numerous promises that it would be ready "at the end of the week". On my final visit there, the business owner's wife basically told me - "if you don't like the service, you can always take it somewhere else". I have since heard stories from many people about the poor service from this business - to the extent that one of the local equipment hire companies which hires out some Stihl gear will not use them, and sends their gear to Perth for any repair / warranty work.

So in the end, I took it home, watched a couple of Youtube videos on servicing the carburetor, ordered the parts kit on line and did the job myself. It took me less than an hour to completely overhaul the carby once I had the parts and was armed with the knowledge how to do it. It now works better than it has ever done since I purchased it (new) and starts easily (which it has never done since new).

I recently decided to buy a new larger chainsaw as the Stihl 021, while still working fine, is getting a bit old and is also a bit small for some of the larger timber I have been cutting lately. I bought a Husqvarna 460 Rancher. While I like Stihl products, I will never go near their local agent in Kalgoorlie again for any reason - and so far, the Husky is doing a pretty good job (it is a lot easier to start than the Stihl and has way more cutting power - but it is a much bigger saw).

Stihl seem to be appointing a whole lot more dealers recently - we've gone from just one locally to having three within 50km. I still use the largest one for parts and new stuff, as they are by far the most clued up, but they put their service work onto another company based in a building next door. Without fail, over the last 20 years, every time I've take a Stihl tool to them for service the estimate has been about the same cost as replacing with a new saw, brushcutter, etc. Most recently, their estimate to replace the crankshaft seals on my ancient Stihl 025 saw was something like $700 including labour. Rather than junk the saw, I purchased a new set of seals online ($40), watched a few YouTube videos, and did the work myself. The saw is working as well as ever, and should be good for many more years of service. I have a bigger saw for heavy work, but the 025 is a nice size/weight/power for smaller lopping etc.

My local agent was brilliant. I could tell that he was unsure how Stihl were going to respond to this issue and he told me that if Stihl wouldn't accept the warranty claim he would replace the bearings and piston himself, at his cost.

I have a feeling that you cant go too far wrong with a Husky.

Oh boy! Here we go again, Stihl vs Husky.
From another perspective - A mate of mine had two working cattle dogs that were a cut above the rest. Husky was a red heeler dingo cross and couldnt bark to save his life but had a bite like an aligator and speed to burn. While Stihl was very given to overthinking things and overly thorough. Things like, still gettin round them. She's still not sure. Still no pups. Still eating. Still asleep. Still barking. Still sulking. Were all common comments from Johno.
Both top dogs with top names.

Originally Posted by rustynail

Oh boy! Here we go again, Stihl vs Husky.
From another perspective - A mate of mine had two working cattle dogs that were a cut above the rest. Husky was a red heeler dingo cross and couldnt bark to save his life but had a bite like an aligator and speed to burn. While Stihl was very given to overthinking things and overly thorough. Things like, still gettin round them. She's still not sure. Still no pups. Still eating. Still asleep. Still barking. Still sulking. Were all common comments from Johno.
Both top dogs with top names.

Can't see where anyone has brought up the "Stihl vs Husky" argument in this post. I stated that I bought a Husky - because of the absolute crap service of the local Stihl agent and not because of any poor opinion of the Stihl saw. I now have one of each brand (plus a different brand electric one for small jobs inside the shed) and am happy with all of them. Had there been a decent Stihl agent in Kalgoorlie, I would probably have two Stihl saws at the moment.

They keep telling us to "Buy LoKal" but quite a few of the local businesses around here do nothing to attract / maintain customer loyalty.

The "argument" is not limited to machines themselves. It has oftem been the supply chain that has been taken to task. You can have the best product in the world but poor marketing can ruin all that.
By the way, my comment was not directed directly at anyone in particular. It was a general observation and reflection that spans about fifty years. To be honest I am sick of listening to sob stories.

Originally Posted by rustynail

To be honest I am sick of listening to sob stories.

Yet here you are "sobbing" about a post you don't seem to be able to understand.

My brother had a Stihl outlet some years ago ( long since retired now in his 80's) whilst he of course endorsed his product ,he also said he liked the Husqvarna as good saw.

Interesting thread. I have Still, Husky, McCulloch and Ryobi electric. I have had an excellent run with the Still, it's now 38 yrs old, but I absolutely hate the local dealer. I buy all my parts online and a privateer does the work for me. When I went to buy a big saw for slabbing that had an influence on my decision, but I bought a Husky 3120 because I couldn't manage the weight of a Still 090. Service for the Husky was good, then the agency changed and they were worse than the Still dealer. Luckily they went broke and original dealer has Husky back again, and all is good. I don't have any brand allegiance, just the ethics of some businesses drives me crazy.
I could write for an hour about my battles with the Still dealer, no idea how they survive, probably all government work.
Rgds,
Crocy.