Are chainsaws expensive to manufacture?

[M.D. Vaden]

Never really thought about it before today -

But it seems that chainsaws are very expensive for their size.

Are any of the components expensive to produce?

Outside of the plastic and the metal, where's the cost in a carb and engine?

Is the profit high?

Feedback ?

 

[123Michael]

like most mass produced things, the big money goes on advertising, the actual product probably costs 10% of retail to make.

Its funny, something increase in price over the years, while others decrease dramatically... eg DVD players. remember when they used to be $1000+. now they are under $100.

 

[Bill G]

There is no way in heck you can compare the pricing structure of electronics to saws. The price of electronics is based on the amout of time in R&D. By the time the newest technology hits the market it my be the best for about 2 months. After it isn't the newest who is going to pay top dollar for it. No matter how much we would like they differently, saws are still the same BASIC design as they were 30 years ago. In electronics 30 years ago we were still spinning 33RPM plastics.


Bill

 

[123Michael]

Jumping the gun there a bit buddy...no-one is comparing the two...simply making an observation.

However, with the trend these days for more cheap homeowner stuff on the market the two markets are converging.

5 years ago i couldnt buy a power drill for less then $100. Now i can get one for $15. sure its crap, but the higher end stuff has fallen dramatically in price.

having said that your import tax may be different to ours (australia).

 

[Jacob J.]

Supply and demand, basic law. Brand new Husky 372s were around $740.00 ( or more ) just a little more than a year ago, and that was a GOOD price, now Bailey's is selling them for $520.00. I can talk my local dealer down to around $625.00 for a new MS-440. According to the current Stihl rep for our area, that 440 cost Stihl $238.00 when it rolled off the assembly line.

 

[123Michael]

yep competition is great...for a while, then corners are cut to beat other producers. Then you get something like McCullough or Ryobi.

 

[Tony Snyder]

I would think tooling investment on a chainsaw would be tremendous, and, of course, that cost has to be recovered (amortized)into the factory level pricing structure.

What I would like to know is, what is the typical markup at the distribution level?

 

[JohnL]

This interests me also, how much is the profit margin on a $600 dollar saw? I wonder this because to me 600 is a lot of money. How much is the manufacter cost and how much is overhead, tooling.

More of an observation, when did the pro tools and homeowner tools take such a split in price/quality? The good power woodworking tools are some of the old Deltas, Rockwells, and old sears brands 30+ years old, I don't think they used to make a poorly built model just to sell to homeowners. I would rather find an old shop/voc ed drill press than buy a badly made new one. I guess my point is you didn't use to need to pay a premium to get a good tool.

 

[glens]

The thing I find interesting is the particular case for the Stihl MS290 being around $300 retail and then for $40 more, you can get a 1mm bigger piston in the MS310, and for nearly $500 you can get the same saw with a 3mm bigger piston in the MS390.  I realize there might be other parts different beside the cylinder, piston, (carburetor?) and drive sprocket, but nearly $200 worth?  And the smaller parts can be deducted before the larger are added, so the larger piston/cylinder must really be expensive!  Do you buy the smallest one to get the most value or the largest one to get the most power for the same weight?

As Brian pointed out, the same dollar amount will buy a better saw now, and a point he didn't state is that the dollar is worth less now than then so that means they're even cheaper yet.

Glen

 

[SilverBlue]

If you compare price to warrantee, cost of replacement parts and dealer service, yes they are too expensive. Like the auto industry we need the likes of Honda to come into the market and rattle some nerves.

 

[John in MA]

Look at the prices of other stuff that requires lots of precise machining and man-hours. Outboard motors, guns, some medical equipment. Even power tools, to a lesser degree. Supply and demand also plays a big role. Not as many 088s get made as 025s.

Cameras used to be that way, but prices havn't been rising very fast because they've gone from mechanical to electronic systems.

 

[jokers]

Dealer mark up on saws is typically in the teens, percentage wise. It does vary somewhat by model. The manufacturers are getting the lions share of the gravy between what it costs to develop, produce, market, and warranty the saws, as well as the burden of corporate liabilty, but why shouldn`t they? The manufacturers have the greatest outlay so they should have the greatest return.

Most modern saws are a bargain for what you get in my opinion.

Russ

 

[geofore]

price/quality

JohnL, were you buying industrial grade equipment 30 years ago? I was. There has always been a price difference and a difference in quality between the two. Take todays saw and have it modded to preform out on the job, there is a difference, just as there was a difference 30 years ago when I had my saws modded to preform. It comes down to what you are asking your tools to do and for how long. Industrial grade tools were more expensive then and still are now. Will the Wilton 6" vice on my workbench ($1200) hold a ton (2000#) yes it will. You can't say that about the made in china 6" homeowner vice on someone elses work bench, it will break from the weight, not designed to do the job. There are premium tools out there, few homeowners ever see them let alone buy them because they can't justify the cost for the use they will put them to. Which would work better the Skill 7 1/4" power saw $59 or the $159 Porter Cable magnesium base, power saw that draws 5Amps more to make the cut and it weighs less than the Skill. I've burned out two Skills and the Porter Cable is still running. There is a big difference. Homeowners don't have use for heavy duty tools unless they are in buisness then they buy better tools for premium cost. What do you want your tools to do?

 

[TREETX]

The variable costs for a little metal and plastic are low. The fixed costs are high. Big overhead. Engineers, etc. Lawyers......

As a general rule in price mark up, I would say 3 x Cost is normal. Anything less is hard to stay in business.

How much do you think it costs to make a BMW?? Really that much more than a Honda??

My 020T cost $450 new 3.5 yrs ago. Using just that saw since then, I have cut over $150K in wood and until late never did more than gas, chains, and plugs. Not a bad return.

I have heard dealers really don't make jack off of selling saws. Is this true??

 

[John in MA]

Don't knock Skils, the $189 Mag77 has it all over the PC stuff. I have a couple of plain aluminum HD77's. Heavy hardware.

 

[geofore]

Not knocking

Just a comparing home owner product to professional, the cost goes up, not knocking Skil. The tools are out there. A home owner is more apt to buy a Wild Thing at a big box store than a pro model at the dealers. He is then that much less likely to have it modded for preformance to cut firewood once a year than the guys who use them every day to earn a living. A better question would be what can this saw earn in a day compared to the saw I bought 20+ years ago earn in a day? Saws are not that expensive for what they can do today. I don't think $600 is a lot of money for a saw that can do the job every day. It is too much money for the occasionally used home owner saw that gets little or no maintanence and sits on a shelf in the garage most of the year.

 

[tony marks]

while i havnt bought many new saws.
im still amazed at the performance,and endurance , of some saws. if i had to buy new to get a stayer like the 028 or an performer like the 036 ,i would do it an be glad to get it. not to mention the partner 500 . it takes running it a few minutes to get it to settle in ,,after that
its the fastest saw i got in the 50cc class.again an amazin piece of equipment considering ,i got it cause it was pronounced dead . i didnt tell,, the lady that was selling this stuff,, to make an house payment.. but her husband was an absolute dummy when it came to maintenance.to my gain i mite add.
if these saws can be made as cheaply as mentioned on these post. it would amaze me a bit.

 

[Stumper]

No doubt about it-Pro saws are really cheaper than they were 20 years ago, but Glens brought up an interesting point-the price differencial between saws of differing sizes is really a "what the market will bear" thing. How much more does it really cost to produce a 460 compared to a 260 or a 372 compared to a 141?

 

[kenabcd]

I am an Engineer at a magnesium die casting company and we cast the type of parts that are used in chainsaws.

An engine block may cost 2.00 or 3.00 and that seems pretty cheap but the mold and tooling to make the first part is more like 100,000 to 200,000. We ( or some one like us ) usually makes proto type parts before money is committed to the mold, those parts may be 1000 to 5000 each. We can usually machine the castings for about 1 or 2 dollars, but the special machines to do the machining may cost 20,000 to 30,000.

I say that the first part costs 250,000 and each additional one is 2.50

It is best to order more that one!!!

 

[Bill G]

That is the reason why manufactures do not change model design for many years. General motors can produce about 1100 Blazers, Jimmys, and Suburbans per day 5 days a week. Even though they produce over 250,00 per year you do not see them changing major model design very often.