I checked and both look to be at least 50% more than the Dolmar 421.
Yeah, but you'll totally lose the respect of the logs you're cutting, they'll think you're some sort of cheapskate dutchman.
Only problem I noticed with the dolmar 421 was, on a cold and rainy day, it's kind of hard to start until you get the hang of it.
Similar story with the 6100, but it's far easier to get your foot through the handle for leverage.
On a Husky, you've at least got a pressure release.
After that though, you'd be looking more at durable build, and the power band for sustained cutting on the Dolmar.
The Husky, I'm not really so hot on their chainbrake system. When cutting through lots of nasty and rotten trees, you'll get gunked up to the point that the chainbrake is just a decoration. Pop it off, whomp it clean, and back in action, but, still a safety issue.
As far as Stihl goes, I think someone is whispering in the ears of the board members and telling em they have a devoted following, and a reputation they can take advantage of. Expand their base rapidly, along with production rate, and if there's a few stumbling blocks, oh well! Which is usually a danger sign in terms of repair issues.
Have a local hardware store, and they're nice enough people and all, but they've got NO CLUE on chainsaws. Fertilizer, lawn and garden care, no problem. Finding a 20mm fine thread to hose thread adapter, nope! They do have free popcorn in the store though. lol! BUT, they have a pretty wide assortment of Stihl products, just a shitload of different gizmos, of which, they probably don't know anything about. I'm guessing they've got online dealer training or some BS like that in the event they get jammed up on questions or the like.
Interestingly enough, on chains, they have just an endless assortment of full chisel chain. Looking around for semi-chisel, etc. Nope! Gotta go around the corner to the ghetto brand aisle and dig through the Oregon selection for that!
So, guessing Stihl has kinda stuck their **** in the hornets nest of rapid market expansion, which is probably going to cause havok for their repair centers, parts suppliers, and criteria for warranty service. On the later, it'll probably have the fallout of turning friendly mom and pop hardware stores into a bunch of crazed people, who on the sight of a Stihl being returned will scream out "You straight gassed another one didn't you *******!"
Dolmar/Makita, it's hard to find any of it. Home Despot and a smattering of dealers have em here and there. The mower place down the road had all of 1 5100 on the shelves. Way easier to find Echo. Probably they're still going on mostly reputation, and long haul strategy, which will mean the prices will stay fairly low, and it'll be a pain in the ass if you can't find a local repair center.
So, sort of good news/bad news. Husky, I can find them anywhere. Northern Tool, Fleet Farm, and half a dozen other places I'm forgetting. Very good news if you need a few simple parts(air filters, bars, spark plugs, fuel filters). But kind of a bad joke if you do need an oddball part like a muffler, or a handle component, throttle linkage, carb, etc. A service center might be willing to sell you some used parts if you're in a hurry, others wise, you wait 3 days to 2 weeks.
On that front, you're just as out of luck as anyone no matter what brand. Unless....
You've got a poulan, and need junk saws to steal parts off of! Check on craigslist, and yep, LOTS of poulans for sale, cheap!
