opinion on lesser known brands

[philip comtois]

does anyone have any experience or thoughts on the lesser known chainsaw brands. shindaiwa, redmax, makita (which i think is the same as dolmar) or even echo's. and if there are any others that i haven't heard. just wondering if there's anything other than husky, stihl, dolmar, and jonsered worth a look at or to stay away from. thanks

 

[huskydave]

Jonsered are pretty much Husqvarna's with red plastic and a stright handle makia (Dolmar) are good from what I hear. Shindaiwa are decent from what I have seen but looked more like a semipro saw to me. Echo good saws but some models are a little low on power. I don't like the plactic crankcases.

 

[bookerdog]

I've had a couple of tanaka's before and they seem to be very good saws.

 

[Edge & Engine]

Shindaiwa's are good. They're a tad heavier than some other brands, and some people say they don't have as much HP as advertised, but their build quality is top notch and they're extremely reliable. First to start, Last to quit is the motto, and they mean it

 

[SteveH]

Can't speak for the newer Echos, but I had one back in the seventies that lasted almost 20 yr. and was a great little saw. I run Stihls now, but the all-metal older Echos were great and I was turned onto them by a couple fellows who were pro firewood cutters/sellers. I hope the newer, more plastic ones are as good, but I cannot testify to that one way or the other. In other words, in my experience, if the company has kept up its quality, they are good saws.

 

[Woodie]

In terms of the lesser brands, I think Stihl is probably okay...

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Echos are ok when you consider their price.

Efco/Oleo-Mac/Olympyk are very good pro quality saws you dont hear much about. They will run with any similar sized Husky or Stihl.

Dolmars are fine saws too.

 

[SawTroll]

...... just wondering if there's anything other than husky, stihl, dolmar, and jonsered worth a look at or to stay away from. thanks

Just stay with those, and be happy + Makita that is Dolmar in disguise!

But at least Redmax have a couple of good models as well, and Partner was among the best in the past......

Emak (Efco, Oleomac, recent JD) has a good 62cc saw, but the rest of the program is not as good.

 

[Toyjunkie]

The Redmax isn't real big out there but they do make a top notch product, trimmers, chainsaws, gas drills, backpack blowers. I have one with the Strato-Charged engine in it. They are supposed to be great on fuel and their engines have a 300+ hour rating. They also sold that technology to Stihl and they are using it in the 441.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Emak (Efco, Oleomac, recent JD) has a good 62cc saw, but the rest of the program is not as good.

I am interested in why the rest of the program is not as good...

Just because the saws are a half pound heavier does not mean they are not good saws. The 971 and 981 are pro level saws

 

[mountainlake]

Jonsered are pretty much Husqvarna's with red plastic and a stright handle makia (Dolmar) are good from what I hear. Shindaiwa are decent from what I have seen but looked more like a semipro saw to me. Echo good saws but some models are a little low on power. I don't like the plactic crankcases.

Homeowner Huskys have plastic crankcases, evey Echo I own has a metal crankcase and quite a bit more metal, smallest I own is a CS440 so I don't know about the smaller ones. Steve

 

[mountainlake]

Just stay with those, and be happy + Makita that is Dolmar in disguise!

But at least Redmax have a couple of good models as well, and Partner was among the best in the past......

Emak (Efco, Oleomac, recent JD) has a good 62cc saw, but the rest of the program is not as good.

I'd have to agree with Troll ( 2nd time this year already) I have a 56cc Cub Cadet (Efco) it's made fairly well but is heavy and doesn't have a lot of power. My 49 cc Echo outcuts it by quite a bit and is almost 3# lighter on a good scale. Steve

 

[2000ssm6]

In terms of the lesser brands, I think Stihl is probably okay...

I was waiting for one of you mushkie girls to post that.

Stihl#1

 

[SawTroll]

I am interested in why the rest of the program is not as good...

Just because the saws are a half pound heavier does not mean they are not good saws. The 971 and 981 are pro level saws

Too heavy for the power is the issue, and specs that don't ad up when tested ( 56cc version only is tested) - but the 62cc one is the only with impressive specs - basically the.same saw as the 56cc one......

 

[Vibes]

I bought a Redmax back pac blower. I test ran a similar sized Stihl and Husky. Excuse the pun, but it blew them away.

My freind runs Shindiawa trimmers and blowers for his landscaping business that are 15 years old. That should tell you something.

 

[yungman]

We should include the discussion on other stuff also. Guys there are more to life than chain saw!!!!.....Should I duck under??!!!!!:hmm3grin2orange:

Who has the best mid reach hedge clipper? Who has the best hedge trimmer.

 

[7sleeper]

I can only comment on my..

McCULLOCH MINI MAC 833 AV

It works great (starts with correct procedure on the 1st pull). Very underpowered. I can`t put the bar full length into wood without being in a timewarp were slowmotion is present, but I`ve used it to cut maple up to approx. 15 inch. I have to cut from both sides .

My girlfriends father has a Stihl 07, 08 and a husqvarna electric 1600, and a few other electric resqued from the scrap.

The old Stihl is great and heavy. We used them to cut through railroad ties in no time.
The electric works very good on weekends when we try to respekt the neighbors .

I am new here and an amature, but some day I will upgrade ... but at the moment the little mac works just o good.

greetings to all from a newbie

7sleeper from Austria

he who finds spellingmistakes may keep them

 

[Ford's Lawncare]

My thought on any "knockoff brand" is go down to home depot and pick the "wild thing". Is there any cheaper, more plasticy brand? There's a reason why its always on sale at $69.99. The only brand like that I've ever owned that was actually worth keep was a ryobi leaft blower I got for my birthday 5 years ago, which is the only reason why I have a brand like that, is because it was given to me. I put new gas in that each summer and let her go. Throttle cable broke last summer, but I juryrigged that back and good so far. I personally think this particular machiene is a fluke.

 

[yungman]

My thought on any "knockoff brand" is go down to home depot and pick the "wild thing". Is there any cheaper, more plasticy brand? There's a reason why its always on sale at $69.99. The only brand like that I've ever owned that was actually worth keep was a ryobi leaft blower I got for my birthday 5 years ago, which is the only reason why I have a brand like that, is because it was given to me. I put new gas in that each summer and let her go. Throttle cable broke last summer, but I juryrigged that back and good so far. I personally think this particular machiene is a fluke.

Ryobi stuff is better than you think!!!! Someone use their trimmer commercially and consistantly get 550 to 600 hours out of each. For the money they are not too bad. He opened them up and found a lot of carbon. If he would have maintain them, might last longer.

 

[Lakeside53]

They also sold that technology to Stihl and they are using it in the 441.

No they didn't...