Japan now makes the best saws

[ken morgan]

That is not true.
http://engines.honda.com/oem-resources/manufacturing-locations

I don't care what they claim....the engines they sell here in japan are made in china, it even says so on the tags.....so maybe the ones they sell in the US have a different sticker, or maybe a higher content of Japanese or Thai or Philippine parts, but they say made in china here in japan.

 

[Conquistador3]

I could never understand why supersplit were charging a premium (over the subaru/robin) for a honda engine on their splitters. Apart from the hondas costing them more to purchase, which in itself is crazy.

At least here the difference is due to spare parts availability. With Honda spares aren't an issue, albeit their dealership network is shrinking, and you can get spares even for eighteen years old engines no problem.
Subaru/Robin... well, that's another matter completely. These days with the Internet it's far easier to get parts, and in other countries it's probably different, but I've never seen a workshop manual for their engines and their only dealership remotely "local" is over sixty miles from here.

I don't question for a minute Robin makes excellent engines but it seems their business model is the same as many Japanese brands in the 70's: sell the finished product but then forget about parts and assistance.
Now that Toyota has bought a large stake in FHI I hope this will change...

 

[ken morgan]

At least here the difference is due to spare parts availability. With Honda spares aren't an issue, albeit their dealership network is shrinking, and you can get spares even for eighteen years old engines no problem.
Subaru/Robin... well, that's another matter completely. These days with the Internet it's far easier to get parts, and in other countries it's probably different, but I've never seen a workshop manual for their engines and their only dealership remotely "local" is over sixty miles from here.

I don't question for a minute Robin makes excellent engines but it seems their business model is the same as many Japanese brands in the 70's: sell the finished product but then forget about parts and assistance.
Now that Toyota has bought a large stake in FHI I hope this will change...

subaru robin parts are easy to get here....that would be their worldwide Vp's screwing up...

 

[stckciv]

I don't care what they claim....the engines they sell here in japan are made in china, it even says so on the tags.....so maybe the ones they sell in the US have a different sticker, or maybe a higher content of Japanese or Thai or Philippine parts, but they say made in china here in japan.

hahahaha Glad you don't care that different engines are made in different locations. Won't be able to argue with someone who doesn't want to learn.

 

[DougMN]

I have a pressure washer that is about 10 or 15 years old. It has a honda gc160 engine that is locked up, so no hondas don't run forever.

 

[Conquistador3]

subaru robin parts are easy to get here....that would be their worldwide Vp's screwing up...

I have no doubt about it. I remember in the days oil workers coming back from North Africa complaining Toyota sold their pickup trucks there while at home they had to do with crappy Volkswagen's and even crappier Citroen's. Or Honda stopping selling hybrids (which accounted for 60% of their sales) in Europe. Japanese companies seem to have some schizophrenia issues when dealing with export markets.

 

[Ck0461]

I figure that I'll throw my two cents in on the conversation. First I own or have worked on just about every brand in some form or another. I am not loyal to any brand and very rarely have I purchased anything new. Chinese manufacturing has worked out well for me in the past. Anything from parts for saws, trimmers, mowers to cheap tools from harbor freight. I purchased a $35 electric 1/2" impact driver form Harbor Freight to drive the screws for my log home. 5000 20" screws and several drops off scaffolding and it still operates like new. Every product manufacturer can and will have issues at some point. Husqvarna 359 comes to mind. My father in law believes he got screwed by the fine Swedish product. He gave it to me after the intake boot leaked at about tank 10. I put on a Zama carb, metal intake clamp and a new piston 6 years ago and it's always with me when I cut. Got a friend that feels that echos are paperweights every time he takes his 680 out. Theres good and bad in all of them.

So much has changed with new equipment per our great EPA that I don't think anything manufactured today will last like it did 20 years ago. Anyone can point there finger at China for the blame, but it is unfair to point out failures without mentioning successes. If your looking for parts it's because OEM has failed, no matter where it was originally manufactured. Chinese manufacturing will continue until somewhere else does it cheaper. Its all about the money.

 

[SEAM]

The quality of Chinese products certainly has improved. I own only 2 Chinese-made products with an engine but they both outperform their price by far.
My log splitter has done 4 seasons without any problems so far, and my little Suzuki bike built under license holds up pretty well also.
The retailer is important - choosing a retailer that can be trusted usually gets you at least the quality you pay for.

 

[Little Al]

Yeah my Shindaiwas are crazy reliable. Makes you think that maybe that last little bit of performance a European saw offers is at the expense of long term life

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

I think you 'll find that all saws as purchased still can be persuaded to produce extra/more power I think the emission regs are the death rattle for 2 smoke motors the minute oil quantities & lean running accounting for many failures.

 

[belgian]

The quality of Chinese products certainly has improved. I own only 2 Chinese-made products with an engine but they both outperform their price by far.
My log splitter has done 4 seasons without any problems so far, and my little Suzuki bike built under license holds up pretty well also.
The retailer is important - choosing a retailer that can be trusted usually gets you at least the quality you pay for.

That may be true for some consumer goods, but not for industrial products. I have been to Japan several times now for my company, and have been successful selling some german made machines there this year. And the message from my japanese customers was very clear 'no parts from China" allowed !!!!. They know because they have plants themselves in China ! and I have yet to meet a single Japanese engineer who liked being in China (pure from professional point of view). China has no quality mentality yet, only a short term "profit" mentality.

I am doing business for 10 years now in China, and I prefer the japanese mentality ten times over the chinese one. The japanese understand what quality means, the chinese don't.

 

[romad10]

Quality control is still done by the OEMs regardless where the parts are made. if the parts do not meet spec, they get sent back to MFG and MFG does not get paid. If the OEM is reputable, they are not going to let substandard parts destroy their company.

I ordering an OEM piston for a CS590 from an Echo dealer a year ago. It took 7 weeks to get it. So apparently they turn pistons out when you place the order. I order a Stihl or Husky part and i have it in a day or two..

 

[mountainlake]

I order Echo oe parts online. most time it takes a week. If it took 7 weeks put that on the dealer, most likely waiting for a bigger order to save on shipping. Steve