Thread: chainsaws getting past the sales spin

It all come s under Dealer protection from what I can gather I hope BobL (a chainsaw collecter) And Travis Edwards (He knows his saw's as well)shed some more light on this. I agree its wrong but the same goes for lots of things. Mccullach is now a Husky brand its buillt I dont know. Where
the other excuse I ve been given is populations AUS 21million US 307 million I d be trying to sell more saw to a larger population too. how ever the fact remains it stihl costs the same to produce it where ever its to be sold
I know from what I ve read in here that each county has its own set of serial numbers especially for the big brands
My advise is forget husky an stihl and give the Makita a go (its a Dolmar) and it still comes out of germany or possibly a Shindawa but they have just merged with echo you have a bit more choice under 100cc chainsaws

Depending on what you're doing, I'd seriously consider the Shindaiwa range. I've got a 488 and a 757 and neither has ever let me down. now I don't drop trees for a living, but they've seen a hell of a lot of use docking for my mill and they're bulletproof. I'd suggest they're a much better saw than a McCulloch. Others may differ.

three to look at in the class, Shindaiwa, solo or Oleo mac/efco.

I know Sawchain lawrie had some specials on the efco's and the solos I think, look up sawchain on the forums here and send him a PM.

Have spoken to a local dealer in Bundaberg and one at Toowoomba who used to have Sindawa they dont sell them any more because distributer changes an price rises and are now selling Efco's oleo mac because they get better margins. Having said that they reckon the shidys were the best of the 3

Thaks for the help so far i am considering the cheap saw for the moment as i need to get cutting this weekend now and importing a proper one over the next month probably a stihl or husky, the next door neighbour has a shindowa and he hates it said i can have it and see for myself as he always borrows a stihl when he has real work to do he might have an isolated occurance tho.

I still dont know what the difference is between the US and AU saws

Originally Posted by daniel_veld

Thaks for the help so far i am considering the cheap saw for the moment as i need to get cutting this weekend now and importing a proper one over the next month probably a stihl or husky, the next door neighbour has a shindowa and he hates it said i can have it and see for myself as he always borrows a stihl when he has real work to do he might have an isolated occurance tho.

I still dont know what the difference is between the US and AU saws

There are differences between the US and australian spec saws, what they are varies from one model to the next, A lot of these differences relate to how they meet emission standards and some also relate to the fact that the manufacturers also use cheaper parts for the mass market US saws so that they can afford to sell them cheaper. Your dealer is correct about the legality things and what can be sold in the states may not meet the requirements of the legislators in this country. This said there are plenty of people who do import saws from the states. One other thing you may need to consider is the fact that you have no warranty and if something does go wrong parts obtainable locally may not be compatible.

I would say your neighbour has no technical knowledge when it comes to tuning a saw as I have talked to many shindaiwa owners and they have never had a problem and I have used a few of them myself of late and can say I was impressed by them to the point I nearly bought one. I am a stihl owner and fan personally and I ended up buying a bigger stihl than shindaiwa make. I know that the saw I bought in US spec has 5.2 kw output but the aus spec is 5.7 kw (quite a bit of difference really) I am led to believe there are differences in the carby, the exhaust and I am told that there are slight porting differences but I cannot verify this last one. When I recently bought my new saw I weighed up the differences between buying local or getting one from the states and the difference in price for the model I got was not worth negating the free first service, 2 year commercial warranty, and all the little odds and ends that the dealer threw in. worked out I would have only saved about $150 and would not have had the same saw or the backup, and to make the upgrades to make the saw equal would have cost me more than $150. At the end of the day if you want to import a saw do it but I have looked into it and found it not to be worth it.

I would buy a makita/dolmar from your local mitre10 before I bought a mcculloch, mcchuloch have changed hands too many times in the last 20 years and consistency of parts supply is none existent. 25 years ago they had a good rep but that was then now it is just a name. They were owned by talon until recently where the rumour is that husky bought out the name.

So buying the cheapy and then importing one will cost you as much as spending the money outright and getting what you need. And the us dealers are bound by the fact that they are not legally able to sell over the internet or telephone or outside of their designated areas, and can risk losing their dealership and legal action from dealers where they have breached contract by selling into their area. So honestly your dealer was not talking BULL.

McCullough chainsaws never seemed to enjoy a good reputation except for their professional range (which were well over a hundred ccs).

A long time ago my father in law had a McCullogh. It was 73ccs and close to useless. We ended up putting an atom post boring attachment on it and in that guise it was unstopable (being about three times the size of a conventional post borer).

It is the old story that predjudice created by a poor model reflects for evermore.

However, I would definitely think hard about buying a cheaper saw. Unless you know of someone doing the same work as you are contemplating and that it has worked well for them, I would steer clear of the cheapies.

Be aware that even among the reputable brands some saws are better than others. It could be the case with your neighbour's Shindaiwa.

Some good avice already from Travis Edwards, Itsposs and Exador. They are up with the latest models and their performance.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by daniel_veld

I orriginaly posted this in the Power tool section and someone said that it would be better here:


I am starting to get a little confused and anoyed in trying to purcase a chainsaw.

First off I went to the local dealers and found that the going price for what I wanted would be about 1k for a stihl 250 or a husky 450, I thought this was a little high considering the au dollar and found that I was right in the US they are arround 300 to 380. I asked a dealer why and was told that if I went to the US it would be illegal which I told him was bull, he than said that the US saws are not the same as the Aus ones and that they were no good for Aus conditions and that the parts are not the same even tho they are same model number.
Can anyone confirm if the US saws are the same or not if they are different than how?

There are slight differences in the saws for the US market, they have to comply with EPA regulations, so basically the emissions from these saws are lower than the saws sold here and usually more fuel efficient. Also these saws will exceed Australian requirments. Differences are carby and muffler.

Originally Posted by daniel_veld

Next thing he offers me a cheaper option the mcculloch m4620 the specs are ok being 46cc with a 20bar and .325 chain for 399, he said that these are US made same as the lower end husky and owned by the same, he also said that it has a proper bolt in air filter and a 2 year warranty, he also said that the bar and chain are oregon same as husky, when i asked what the differnece is between this and the husky he said that this one uses the tech the husky used 5 years ago and that is why it is cheap.
Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Bullsh*t, the McCulloch is nothing like a Husky, I put these in the same class as Chinese saws and they are owned by ELECTROLUX ( nothing sucks like an Electrolux )

Originally Posted by daniel_veld

As far as i can see it i can go cheap mccullach and see what happens or order a husky from the US landed would be about 480, until i can understand why our buy price is often 3x more than the US i will not purchase a husky or stihl from an Aus dealer.

Can anyone provide advice or reasons/awnsers to the above.

Keep away from the McCulloch - far too many problems, this is another brand of saw I will not work on.

Originally Posted by daniel_veld

also I recieved an email reply from one of the US dealers that I use for mower parts and all they would say was that they dont post CS internationaly and would not say why. this was Jacks Small engines which I have received some very good cheap parts for my 20HP ride on before and would have liked to use them again (i received a starter for $49 over there got quoted $427 here is AUS).

US dealers for Husqvarna & Stihl are not supposed to sell to other than personal shoppers due to having to give a customer instructions on how to use a chainsaw, this otherwise can become a liability issue if someone hurts themself and decides to sue either the dealer or distributor because of lack of advice on how to safely operate a chainsaw.

On the excessive prices we pay, well we are being royally screwed by those who import and set the list price for the equipment.
There is a different mentality when it comes to selling and marketing goods, In the USA the sales are based on volume and hence much lower mark ups, in Australia it is the opposite, we sell little at an extremely high mark up

Originally Posted by Travis Edwards

There are differences between the US and australian spec saws, what they are varies from one model to the next, A lot of these differences relate to how they meet emission standards and some also relate to the fact that the manufacturers also use cheaper parts for the mass market US saws so that they can afford to sell them cheaper. Your dealer is correct about the legality things and what can be sold in the states may not meet the requirements of the legislators in this country. This said there are plenty of people who do import saws from the states. One other thing you may need to consider is the fact that you have no warranty and if something does go wrong parts obtainable locally may not be compatible.

I would say your neighbour has no technical knowledge when it comes to tuning a saw as I have talked to many shindaiwa owners and they have never had a problem and I have used a few of them myself of late and can say I was impressed by them to the point I nearly bought one. I am a stihl owner and fan personally and I ended up buying a bigger stihl than shindaiwa make. I know that the saw I bought in US spec has 5.2 kw output but the aus spec is 5.7 kw (quite a bit of difference really) I am led to believe there are differences in the carby, the exhaust and I am told that there are slight porting differences but I cannot verify this last one. When I recently bought my new saw I weighed up the differences between buying local or getting one from the states and the difference in price for the model I got was not worth negating the free first service, 2 year commercial warranty, and all the little odds and ends that the dealer threw in. worked out I would have only saved about $150 and would not have had the same saw or the backup, and to make the upgrades to make the saw equal would have cost me more than $150. At the end of the day if you want to import a saw do it but I have looked into it and found it not to be worth it.

I would buy a makita/dolmar from your local mitre10 before I bought a mcculloch, mcchuloch have changed hands too many times in the last 20 years and consistency of parts supply is none existent. 25 years ago they had a good rep but that was then now it is just a name. They were owned by talon until recently where the rumour is that husky bought out the name.

So buying the cheapy and then importing one will cost you as much as spending the money outright and getting what you need. And the us dealers are bound by the fact that they are not legally able to sell over the internet or telephone or outside of their designated areas, and can risk losing their dealership and legal action from dealers where they have breached contract by selling into their area. So honestly your dealer was not talking BULL.

As far as I understand the regulations arround US and Australian are of the same standard or better, I know that standard's with European gear is better and we use at work for our riggers, and this was not the bassis that the dealer told me that importing was illegal he thought the Gray imports were illegal, I think he was thinking fakes which are illegal.

I do not know what the neighbours tech knowledge is like but he dose grow trees and is always using a saw, he is saving for a Stihl as he always has to borrow one when he has real works, hes words not mine I have not used the Shindaiwa so can not comment he has offered me a turn so we will probably trade saws and see what we think I will post my thoughts when I have seen it.

what odds and ends did you get that added up to being worth more than double the saws price? I am starting to see that there may be differences that might make buying in Australia worth while maybe I can talk to the dealer you used? I have never used a service company for any of my previous equipment as I find that I do a better job myself most of the time, I am not a big saw user so what do they do with a service and how much do they charge you?

I can confirm that Mcculluoch are owned by Husqvarna and can confirm that there current biggest saw is made in the US along with the smaller chaeper Husqvarna, they have the same warranty use the same service centre and use an Oregon made bar and Chain, I was on the phone to Husqvarna Australia for about 45min finding out all I can, they said that the other smaller Mcculluoch saws are not US made but are assembled there. Also she mentioned that the Mcculluoch saws have a high oil to fuel ratio and that the service centre will recomend more oil at 25:1 this is due to Australian conditions, also that the engine is differnt so is the air cleaner oiler clutch ect most parts are interchangable with Husqvarna for example the clutch is. According to Husqvarna Aust the big Muccolloch are the same quality but are a basic saw not having the Xtorch, triple breake and a few other items, they also said that if the saw was for comercial use or clearing a large property they would recomend the commercial Husqvarna as the smaller ones I was looking at were not intended for that type of work.

looking at Makita and Dolmar swas considering the price ect on these I would go the Husqvarna or Stihl over them.

I told the dealer that the US store would not ship items, that to import I would have to use a forwading service with assisted purchase (not that expensive) as they had seperate deals with the brands, So that was not the bassis of his assumption.

I am not having a go at you I appreciate all the different views on this subject but I am alittle annoyed with the dealers in Australia it may not be there fault it may very well be there suppliers but for example I needed parts for my 20HP ride on, a started from the dealer was $427 not even OEM, from the US it was $49 works a treat same with blades bearing's and spindle assemblys. I had a large box full of spares about 10kg cost me just under $200 including shiping to get it here same parts from the dealer were over $600 and so far there is no difference in qualtiy in fact the deck parts are the same brand with the same packaging as the parts I was buying at the local stihl shop.

I have to do some clearing this weekend and I only have $500 right now as alot of one of costs are due this month, however the next 2 months pay I will have about $800 left so I am looking at spending about $1500 max in June's pay (middle of the month). I am not into throwing money away so if I can get a US saw that is the SAME as the Australias saw at half the price landed than I will risk not having the warranty.
has anyone on here imported a US saw and know what the differencs are on there model or if the model they brough over was the same. I asked Husqvarna the same question and they cannot tell me the specifics but said that on some models there are differences in filters that would need to be replaced to suit Australian conditions.

Also can people recomend Stihl and Husqvarna dealers in Brisbane North? when I purchased my mower the first service they did was not worth it at all many items needed replacing and they said nothing such as belts and bearings, had the wrong oil and non genuine parts fitted such as filters ect.

once again thanks for the advice so far, I hope that people do not take my annoyance with the dealers as anything to do with the responses to my question.

bought a 50cc echo from usa excelent saw had a california carb took the limiters off and is great saw lots of power for its size . have a pair of shindaiwa 757s and they have been excelent as well . had several old mccullocks and gave them away absolute rubbish i found . try ebay if you want a us saw, worth the trouble .cheers bob

if you need a saw this weekend but cant afford a makita/husky/stihl yet why not hire a saw for the weekend.

ill also throw my support behind the makita's i have a makita 7901 (79cc) and love it

Originally Posted by daniel_veld

.... odds and ends did you get that added up to being worth more than double the saws price? I am starting to see that there may be differences that might make buying in Australia worth while maybe I can talk to the dealer you used? I have never used a service company for any of my previous equipment as I find that I do a better job myself most of the time, I am not a big saw user so what do they do with a service and how much do they charge you?

You obviously didn't read my response properly. cost of one from the states landed would have been $150 less but it was also less of a saw and didn't have any backup!!!! how is that double the price on a $2000 saw???

there are differences between the US and aus saws as attested by sawchain who probably has more experience with chainsaws than anyone who frequents these forums, so you can listen to the advice that is given or not.

In a service all they basically do is check the tuning of the saw (which is what your neighbour should have done) and maybe replace a sparkplug if needed. personally I do my own tuning and servicing, but for someone like yourself with little or no experience I would advise getting a service at least once a year, more if you are cutting any amount of firewood. Cost would be about $20 and could mean the difference between your saw running well for a lot of years or having a catastrophic meltdown after just a few short uses.

What Travis said x2 if ya want chumps they are on other sites realist live here and the reality is good as it sounds there are no short cuts no cheap an easy way either . Christ knows I ve tried em all in the last 18 months I ve been a member on this site from chainsaws to mobile an portable sawmills from China to Serbia Sweden an Poland to Canada Usa Brazil ffs even Mexico. At the end of the day at least a little of the price you pay might end up back in you or ya mates pocket

Originally Posted by Sawchain

US dealers for Husqvarna & Stihl are not supposed to sell to other than personal shoppers due to having to give a customer instructions on how to use a chainsaw, this otherwise can become a liability issue if someone hurts themself and decides to sue either the dealer or distributor because of lack of advice on how to safely operate a chainsaw.[/COLOR]

I think that only applies to Stihl.

Husky's can be purchased on line at many sites eg
eg: Bailey's - Chainsaws > Husqvarna Chainsaws > Husqvarna Professional Series Chainsaws