What Happened to Partner Chainsaws?

[darren_nh]

My father runs an older Partner chainsaw. I don't see much discussion about them here. Are they still available new in the US? Are parts for older saws hard to find? Thank you.

 

[PB]

They became part of the Husqvarna group back in the 80's. You can still buy a new Partner in Europe but they are basically rebadged Poulans from what I gather.


SawTroll will be along soon to set it straight and correct me that it was Electrolux in the 80's that bought Partner.

 

[chainsawwhisperer]

Somewhere I read the history of Partner saws. I just looked for it but couldn't find it. I think that Partner is now owned by E-Lux, Partner 'named' saws are still for sale in the UK and probably other areas. I do not think that they are offered for sale in the US, as Partner ( maybe Poulan?).
The Partner/Husky demo saws are still made. CSW
Use your search function, there's a lot of threads about Partner

 

[chainsawwhisperer]

You beat me to it PB.

 

[SawTroll]

From an old tread;

I have later found out that it really started in 1949, with the Be-Bo saw.

The 1955 saw (C6) was the second model, and Partner didn't become the company name before in 1963....

I certainly am no expert, but I have picked up some info here and there.

Based on the info I have, I think the story is about like this;

Partner started making saws in about 1955, and as far as I know they were independent until 1979. They made mostly Pro saws in that period, but some Semi-Pro versions were made.

About the same was the case with Jonsereds, from 1954 until 1979, and Husqvarna from 1959, until 1978 (or a bit earlier).

E-lux first took over H, then J and P, and they also started taking over several less reputed chainsaw manufacturers like (but not restricted to) Pioneer (about 1980 ?), McCulloch Europe, and Poulan (1987) - and entering the "Homeowner" market. Soon products from the less reputed manufacturers started appearing in the model line-ups of the Swedish trio.
The Emab pruducts (mostly 34/35 cc homeovner saws) made at Huron Park, Canada and sold under a lot of different trademarks, among them Partner, Husky, Jred, Skil, Frontier, Poulan, Jo-Bu, Norlett, Campbell Housefield and were also a part of this, but that project started a bit earlier in the 1970s to my knowledge.

About Partner, the first major thing to happen was that they were merged with Pioneer in North America (but not in Europe). The Pioneer/Partner labelled saw were really either pure Pioneer or pure Partner designs anyway, and easy to distinguish from each other even though they had the same label.
In Europe, the Partner designed saws were still sold as Partner, no mention of Pioneer, and no models of Pioneer origin.
When E-lux took over Poulan, they created the Poulan Pro trademark on the remnants of Pioneer/Partner. The connection to Partner/Europe was still there, and many models were the same initially (remember, E-lux ruled). Regular Poulans also entered the Partner line, and a few even entered the H and J line-ups.

After Poulan Pro was established, I don't think many saws were sold in North America as Partner.
In Europe they carried on, but most of the Pro/Semi-Pro models disappeared during the late 1980s.
The P7700, 660 and 710 carried on a bit longer (the 710 until about 2000), and variants of those were also sold as Poulan Pro 415/425, 445, 475 and 505 - and the Jred 2077, 2083 and 2083 II. I suspect most of these saws were made at the Jonsered factory (the -s at the end disappeared in about 1985), but I am not 100% positive of this. Edit, They were all made at the Husky factory.

Edit, removed something that likely wasn't 100% true.

Today, all Partner saws are "homeowner" types of different quality.
The cheapest ones are made by Poulan, and the better ones by Poulan Pro and at the old Italian McCulloch factory. I think that the Italian made saws are still more or less related to the P500 from the 1980s.

Of course there are omissions in this story, and there may even be mistakes.
:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :greenchainsaw: (cool smilies)

A couple of years ago, the OPE brands of E-lux was formed into The Husqvarna OPE Group, and the group is no longer a part of E-lux.

 

[csx7006]

is Jred still owned by E-lux?

 

[SawTroll]

is Jred still owned by E-lux?

Look at my post above......

 

[PB]

is Jred still owned by E-lux?

No they are owned by the Swedish Ministry of Beautifulness.

 

[Modifiedmark]

My best buddy is in the concrete business and will ONLY use Partner demo saws. He told me the other day that he can no longer buy a Partner saw and that there all branded Huskvarna now.

I questioned if there still Partner saws and he said that they were, just orange, branded as Husqvarna.

I'm just stating what he told me, as I have not seen for myself.

 

[Hugenpoet]

I know what happened to my trusty, but worn out, Partner P70. I couldn't find parts that I needed, so I traded it for a JRed 2171 this past January during JRed's Trade-Up sale.

 

[SawTroll]

My best buddy is in the concrete business and will ONLY use Partner demo saws. He told me the other day that he can no longer buy a Partner saw and that there all branded Huskvarna now.

I questioned if there still Partner saws and he said that they were, just orange, branded as Husqvarna.

I'm just stating what he told me, as I have not seen for myself.

I don't really know, but I suspect those Partners actually has been rebadged Huskys for some time........

 

[PB]

I know what happened to my trusty, but worn out, Partner P70. I couldn't find parts that I needed, so I traded it for a JRed 2171 this past January during JRed's Trade-Up sale.

What was wrong with your P70? I just found a gold mine of parts for mine. Too bad you still didn't have it or I could help you out.

 

[MAG58]

More or less all parts to the descendants of the 5000/500 seems to be made in Sweden, and then the complete saws is put together in Italy

US Poulan (Partner/Mac)

Italian Mac (Partner)

This is Partner today......

 

[Justsaws]

I don't really know, but I suspect those Partners actually has been rebadged Huskys for some time........

Certainly now that is the case. The last couple model designations also. When I am at the Partner dealer he has both brands on separate racks.

 

[teacherman]

That Partner 543 is a cool looking saw! I like the recoil cover, it looks like it could pull some serious air through the cylinder fins.

 

[MAG58]

Here are the "Made in Sweden" Partner saw's

This one is sold as Partner and Mac, but where is it made?

 

[PB]

Those saws look a lot like the JRed 2036's. Same chassis?

 

[SawTroll]

I believe the innards of the P540 is mostly the same as in the Husky 55 - may be the case with the 543 as well, but minus the air injection....

 

[Mange]

Here are the "Made in Sweden" Partner saw's

This one is sold as Partner and Mac, but where is it made?

OK..

Lets see here... Those you posted here are likly Italian saws all but the top handle, that is a Jap decendant from Zenoah that now is owned by Elux/HVA.

 

[dustytools]

I was in a Sunbelt Rentals store in Louisville about six months ago and they had new Partner cut-off saws on the display rack for sale.