Hutzl

[jon jameson]

Sounds like a good reason to have several saws. I would usually take 2 or 3 to do a partial day's cutting.

I do have other saws. I have a Sears, if you can call that a saw and a small Stihl. The Husky is what I depend on, or rather, prefer to use.
When I repair something, I expect it to be repaired. Playing musical recoil starters is not my idea of pleasant activity. I wouldn't even consider depending on internal parts or carburetors from Hustle.
I'm still amazed at the flimsy recoil....I mean, how much more could a housing of the correct gauge have cost? The rope was shoestring quality and don't get me going on the springs.
Maybe the engine parts are better.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I bought one of their clutch side covers and haven't had any trouble with it. I've never had any trouble with the recoil on my Huskys because of the compression release, it takes the strain off the starter..

 

[spike60]

Consistency is the big variable here. One kit works, another doesn't. I did some experimenting with this crap and found too many instances where the same pretty box with the same part number contained a kit from a different source. It was like a box of Crackerjack, always a surprise. It was worth a look for me, and my goal was to see if these parts might be an option for rebuilding lower cost saws like 55's and such. I never thought it was a good idea for saws like 372's because they will be used hard and the typical 372 buyer has an expectation as to what that saw should be.

The conclusions I've come away with? The rebranded Chinese stuff is a big crap shoot both in quality and sources. Too unreliable for a shop like mine where my sales mix is 85% pro saws. It's still a crap shoot for the hobby guy, but with small dollars it may not matter. I want nothing further to do with this garbage and gave away what kits I had left from my experimenting. In a word or two: JUNK. And lot's of BS from the various sellers peddling this stuff all claiming that THEIR parts are better and THEY have it all figured out. Guys, there are just too many people between the factories and us for anyone to really have a handle on it. It's a scam IMO, to create these fake "brands" by putting the same stuff in different colored boxes and trying to market it as something unique.

And please understand: Don't dismiss my comments on this junk by saying that I'm a dealer and I don't want to have to compete with AM parts. Wrong. I have wholesale access to AM as well as OEM parts, and I could easily, and competitively, sell both of them if I wanted to.

 

[MikeSaws587]

Having worked with the OEM, aftermarket, product development and sourcing sides of this business that is absolutely correct. Consistency isn't a strong suit in Asia. Hutzl/Farmertec is nothing more than a trading company/warehouse that doesn't make any of their own parts. I have met Manny several times over the years. They simply source parts and warehouse them. They came up with Hutzl to sell direct on ebay, not to mention tick off a lot of their customers in the process. There might be 1000 factories in China that make cylinders, and they all cross supply each other. That's why some are light gray, some are dark, some of the chrome is junk and flakes, some is ok. They are very good at copying, but not so good at understanding the use of the product. Unless they happen to have a American presence running their plant. Most of them don't do their own plating nor do they make their own pistons. Ever get a AM cylinder and the piston doesn't fit exactly right, or hits a tight spot in the cylinder?

The companies in China will tell you that they cannot compete with the Taiwan companies such as Easysaw (Hyway), or NWP. They guys know there stuff, and do all their manufacturing in house which is why the price tag tends to be so much higher. But you'll get the same product every time. Most US companies simply can't afford to have an American company tool up to make cylinders and the companies like Mahle that are making the OEMs won't sell to them.

By the way, the last cylinder factory I visited in China, around 2013, the workers were pouring molten aluminum into the molds with soup ladles. That's a great way to make sure you have pitting and flash in the finished product. Oh, and some of the floor was dirt. God bless America.

Keep buying the brands you know and trust. And if you see a 660 or 372 cylinder for sale for $40, trust that is what its worth.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I have a MS250 that has a bunch of Chinese parts in it including the piston, cylinder, both side covers and probably other stuff. I built it up for my own use and to experiment with, cut some firewood with it yesterday and was impressed with it. It didn't keep up with the Huskys I own but doubt it was supposed to.

 

[PogoInTheWoods]

It's HUZTL.

 

[Gypo Logger]

I get my carb kits from them now for about 1.99 shipped. It takes about amonth to get them, but beats buying the same thing for 35$ here, plus the kits are more complete.

 

[weimedog]

Misinformation & Generalizations are equally annoying. "Manny" is the contact name on Alibaba, the website. Doubt "Manny" exists with that name for real. Here is what "Jinhua Manufacturing" says about themselves. Huztl is the eBay store front for that manufacturing operation.

"FARMERTEC POWER MACHINERY is a professional manufacturer and exporter of the chainsaws,brush cutters,earth augers,lawn mowers,cultivators,concrete saws,generators and aftermarket Chainsaw,brush cutter parts, located near Jinhua-Lishui-Wenzhou Expressway, enjoying ease access to Ningbo, Shanghai and Hangzhou cities. Our company is specializing in producing tools and parts. Now our company covers an area of 3000 square meters, with more than 100 staff members and fixed assets of 50 million RMB. We have production capacity of 1.5 million sets yearly. Our enterprise has been chosen as an "Advanced Enterprise in Zhejiang China", and has several business partners in this industry. Our company has abundant technical capability and strong ability of new product development with the best quality production equipment and advanced technology. The adoption of advanced detecting device and complete detecting method give an effective guarantee for quality. Our main products have passed certifications of CE, EEC, GS, ECM and EPA, and have been sold in more then twenty countries and regions such as Australia,New Zealand,Europe and USA. Adhering to the tenet of "Customers are supreme, and service is prime", our company is devoted to management, integrating the management mode of modern enterprise into the development of social enterprise. We will provide the best service to customers at the fastest speed and the most preferable cost performance on the premise of quality guarantee. We warmly welcome our customers to visit our factory. We hope to establish good and long-term business relationship with your company, looking forward to receiving your inquiries soon."

Now MY personal experience....
So far I've had pretty good luck with parts that have the Farmertec brand. I have an interesting pair of MS660 cylinders. One actually manufactured and sold by Jinhau Farmertec and another from a Chinese trading company that does in fact source part from a variety of manufacturing outfits, including Farmertec. The one cylinder (Huztl/Farmertec) is a pretty nice part. The other..... obviously NOT made in that same mold although to an unpracticed eye you might think they are, is an unusable part in my mind. Which is why if its from China, I want to have the Huztl store and Farmertec box because to this point in time the parts have in fact been consistent and I've had a lot of fun for not very much money building saws and running them with those parts. So I'll throw my hat in the ring. And Until I actually see evidence of the horrors assigned to those "Huztl" parts...I'm going to continue using them in my project saws for my use.

The reason I brought up the "two cylinders" is it took me a while to be able to recognize the differences between many of the cylinders, especially for the 372's; that came from multiple marketing channels and actually LOOKED very much alike. Especially on eBay listings... But I was shown cylinders that had failed and LOOKED very much like the parts that came from Huztl...but I now realize they first did not, and second the places that sold them have NO idea who in fact manufactured those parts. I'll see if I can upload pics.

 

[PogoInTheWoods]

Now ya went and confused folks with a few facts. I hate when that happens.

 

[beaglebriar]

I have a Huztl fuel cap on my freebie Stihl leaf blower. Works great! I'd probably skip the top end parts though.

 

[weimedog]

Forget Manny, call Helen..

http://farmertec.en.made-in-china.com/


Factory View:
http://farmertec.en.made-in-china.com/custom/EnxEJEmDQQbE/Factory-view-1.html

CNC's are everywhere now..
http://farmertec.en.made-in-china.com/custom-detail/EnxEJEmDQQbEmmQJEfnuMxRQ/PROCESSING.html

 

[Definitive Dave]

Are OEM cylinders better, yep, in most cases.
Are Meteor/Hyway/NWP cylinders better, a lot of the time yes.
Does Farmertec have a better warranty, yes.
Do Farmertec parts work well the vast majority of the time, yes.
Are there Farmertec parts that are better than their OEM counterparts, yes.

On the Stihl side I would use their MS200T and MS390 cylinders without hesitation over any others on the market.

All the eastern aftermarket folks want you to believe they make everything in house, but none of them really do.
So far each of the Farmertec products that they have the parts labeled Farmertec has been outstanding, they are putting a lot of money into developing new great parts.

Full disclosure - I sell all the brands mentioned except Hyway (which has a single exclusive US distributer to my understanding).
Dave

 

[PogoInTheWoods]

As an indicator that AM manufacturing is making serious inroads regarding quality control these days, Stihl has dropped pricing for their top end components drastically and are even beginning to manufacture their own according to recent chatter.

I priced an OEM piston for a MS460 last week at $44.

There's a reason for that.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I have a Huztl fuel cap on my freebie Stihl leaf blower. Works great! I'd probably skip the top end parts though.

I didn't have a great experience with their flippy caps for Stihl, seems you have to buy a half dozen to get a couple of good ones, still cheaper than OEM though..

 

[fearofpavement]

There are other eBay sellers besides Huztl that sell Farmertec. Some sell some Farmertec products and it depends on what part you order as to where it was sourced from. Wangluo is someone that handles a lot of Farmertec parts as well. The seller "Machinesdoctor" is the same as Huztl. They have the same yellow tapeballs and Huztl business cards inside the packaging.
I have used a lot of parts from Asia and had mixed results but overwhelmingly favorable. The quality of the Farmertec parts has been acceptable in nearly every case. Most of the saws I rebuild wouldn't be feasible to repair at OEM prices. (which is how I wind up with them in the first place)

 

[Gypo Logger]

Here's some kits from Farmer Tec. Great packaging, however, when you order this many kits, it's hard to tell which carb they are for. Lol

 

[spike60]

As with any product, personal opinions will be based on personal experience. If these parts have worked for you, then you will say they are OK. If you've received some junk parts, they you'll say they are junk. These evaluations are all valid based on what you've actually seen. Applying those conclusions to others is where the generalizations come in. The smaller one's data sample, the less accurate those conclusions will be. The more info you have to work with, the more accurate your conclusions are likely to be.

But with so many layers involved here, generalizations are understandable when trying to figure all this stuff out. And if we're going to generalize, then how about this one: I think we all have a reasonably clear picture of how things are "generally" done over there. It's all wide open, with little regulation. The ethics, integrity and overall business culture in China are quite different than what we have here. There's a lot more smoke and mirrors than transparency in the way they do things. Except for @MikeSaws587, I'd guess none of us have seen this with our own eyes. So, it seems foolish to me for anyone here to believe that any of these outfits, on the other side of the planet, are very much different from one another. Especially if your basing that conclusion on what they are telling you. They ALL want us to think that they are the exception, rather than the rule. Same as the various jobbers and remarketers do. They ALL want you to think that their parts are better and that they do things differently. They ALL want to create a brand image that avoids the hodge podge feel that is so typical of how things are done over there. They want you to think they have their own act on firmer ground than their competition, so you'll buy from them. Now, I'm sure that some are no doubt better than others. But they do have a way of doing things over there, which is ingrained in their business culture. And that should be foremost in your mind when listening to the stories they put out.

 

[PogoInTheWoods]

While generalizations may be understandable, when not based on fact, they are little more than useless BS...., or one's smoke and mirrors opinion about "how things are done over there". Frankly. I don't pay much attention to "the stories they put out" in formulating my opinions of AM products produced "over there" any more than someone's opinion of "how they do things over there."

But I sure do feel safer knowing that's what should be foremost in my mind when listening to......, uhhhh, the stories we put out over here?

Bottom line to the whole issue is the integrity of the domestic retailer who sells any of these products to you, me, or anyone else. If the part is not acceptable quality and the retailer makes good on any problems with a purchase, no harm, no foul IMHO....unless of course you are using questionable AM parts in someone's rebuild project when they think they're getting (and paying for) OEM replacement parts....., ya know...., like some folks do "over here"?

You're supposed to get what ya pay for, and usually do....., but the stories I've heard....

 

[weimedog]

Guess its tough all over with brand names... wonder if any one is surprised to find a Husqvarna branded Poulan, or Red Max... or that Jonsered are essentially red Husqvarna's... Or Blue Dolmars are Makita's.... Think there are only two major brand's out there where they can honestly claim they are the only brand under the plastic.. AND one of those REALLY like plastic. Even those brands buy parts from suppliers not under their corporate tent. And some of those suppliers are now selling parts made in .... China. Carb parts too which would seem risky... where are Zama's made? How about some of the new Tilotsons? And I've been stung with Brazilian built Husqvarna Ignitions for the 266 series...

Riskier yet is buying parts from a local dealer at OEM prices.... knowing that they may be AM part in fact. How do I know... because after the experience of the last two year, I recognize Forester packaging & recognize some of the Huztl parts. I bought an Air filter, and was handed a forester part.. so I politely asked for the OEM version......I would have paid the same price. Same with little things like fuel tank caps & Stihl rubber parts.

One thing you can take to the bank is if you buy something from Ashokan Turf & Timber, its going to be OEM. Almost a religion...and that's a good thing.

 

[PogoInTheWoods]

Well, another thing that seems bank-able in the discussion is your actual experience with the Huztl stuff as demonstrated and explained to a significant extent in the video back in post #4. Unbiased, objective, no ax to grind....just a real-world testing and eval of the OP's original question. No smoke and mirrors, no BS, just you taking the time to USE the stuff as intended and evaluate its performance in the real world with an honest comparison to your experience with OEM.

I for one appreciated you taking the time for the benefit of the rest of us.....not to mention the guy in post #1.