EFCO Brand - Please leave me your feedback!

Hello.

I am involved with a sister company to Efco (EMAK). This site has been a great resource for me to get feedback from EFCO's core customers. Our marketing team is meeting with the EMAK group (Italy) and it would be great to get some true feedback directly from the customers so I can share any issues and/or strengths with them.

How many of you have heard of EFCO saws/trimmers? If so, where?
What do you like about the products themselves? (lightweight, noise, power, etc)
What seperates brands like Stihl and Husky from EFCO?
What would EFCO have to do to earn your business?
What other complaints or complements do you have for the brand as a whole?
What would you change?

I appreciate you taking the time to read this (and potentially respond). Thank you to the loyal customers.

The goal is to create the best products with the best service at a great price.

Thank you!

dsavage said:

Hello.

I am involved with a sister company to Efco (EMAK). This site has been a great resource for me to get feedback from EFCO's core customers. Our marketing team is meeting with the EMAK group (Italy) and it would be great to get some true feedback directly from the customers so I can share any issues and/or strengths with them.

!

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How many of you have heard of EFCO saws/trimmers? If so, where? I've had a few midsize chainsaws and put about 10 hours total on them as they were bought for resale.
What do you like about the products themselves? (lightweight, noise, power, etc)All 3 were were close enough to compare in nearly all area's with other major brands.
What seperates brands like Stihl and Husky from EFCO? Dealer network and parts availability.I believe most Stihl models are constructed a bit tougher also (less likely to break in moderate impacts or strains).
What would EFCO have to do to earn your business? Very rarely I buy new but dealer availability with parts and service coupled with a significant savings in $ without dropping quality or exceeding quality of the other brands and still not exceeding their cost.
What other complaints or complements do you have for the brand as a whole? 2 of these were sold locally and have seen a lot of demanding usage. Far as I know the only problem has been a switch on an 152. The 165 is being used by several different operators some of which likely have little experience, yet is going strong. I did need to remove the limiter caps to richen the fuel to air mixture as it was running to lean and hot when I received it. It was a dealer demo I bought off ebay.
What would you change? I believe mostly the need is for parts and good service availability.

ADVERTISE! nobody but a few of us freaks even knows about efco.
i don't have efcos but do have several olympics. bought my first one in the mid-80s and still running strong to this day.
a bonafide dealer network coupled with strong advertising would boost your sales.
overall the product is better than average, just nobody knows about it.
this is one of the wonders of the world. why would a company develop a great product and just piddle around with trying to sell it?

I have only experience with the two 950AFF OLYMPICS that I own, they were used for a few years on a Christmas tree farm for spacing, clearing and harvesting. Then they did firewood duty for several years. Many people asked where they could get one aas 50 cc saws are the most common saws around here for all uses. I had no idea where they could be bought or where to find parts for them when the ignitiuon went on one of mine. It was not until I found the internet that I then found a module for the one 950 that sat for 10 years when I could not find a part for it locally.
It will be a really hard sell for anyone starting up a dealership anywhere where Stihl and Husqvarna have been a long established presence. Customer loyality runs deep and that is only gained over the long run. Echo tried to make inroads around here but fell by the wayside, saws were ok but service sucked. Only buyers that will go out and buy disposable saws will buy an unknown make of equipment, then it would have to be priced to compete with that market segment. Efco is a quality product but it has to be backed up first by the dealer, then the dealer needs to be backed up by a network of suppliers that can deliver saws and parts on a short time basis. The whole network has to be backed up by the Company its self to cover issues of warranty, parts distribution and to make shure the dealer is well stocked and able to carry out sales and repairs in a timely manner.
No one wants to wait weeks for a saw to be ordered and arrive, same with parts and repairs. These machines are tools for most owners, they are expected to do a job when required and if they don`t work then they need to be put back into working shape in a short time. If this cannot be done then the owner will go off and buy another make of equipment and just bad mouth the brand that they could not get service out of it.

Thanks for the quick feedback gentleman.

This is all good info.

I am aware that the brand awareness is extremely lacking in the USA but it is good to hear the great feedback on the units. There are some very loyal customers on here.

I picked up little Deere badged 940 in very used and abused condition. I repaired it and it's now my go-to saw for brush and limbing work. Starts easy, runs strong, smooth, and fast. Prior to this saw, my exposure to the brand was zero. The dealer network in this part of the country is nearly non-existent, making the probability that I would buy a new Efco very low. The closest dealer is about an hour away.

We are considering the brand becuase of your great warranty , 5yrs?? . I think Efco should advertise heavy in the USA and they would see a better sales volume. Start with sponsoring a Nascar , this should get you a Efco product in every 18-50yr olds garage in short order.

I've been cutting firewood now with my 156 Efco for a few years now!! Excellent saw!!! Have not had one issue with it! Great starting saw and runs as well as any saw I have. Bought it after researching it on AS and other Chainsaw Forums for quite awhile! Why they are pretty much non-existent is beyond me! I love this 156!!

I'd be keen to put some time on some demo units. Set me up with something in the 40-50cc class, 13-15" bar, .325" chain. I'll use it for a period - 3-months, 6-months, whatever - clearing invasive species like buckthorn and honeysuckle, and report back, pictures and all. If you can offer a product that runs well in this role, where a light, nimble, but durable saw is required, I'll be impressed. Frankly nobody else does presently - the Stihl MS241CM is probably a contender, but it isn't available in the USA.


How many of you have heard of EFCO saws/trimmers? If so, where?

Heard of 'em. Not seen so many of them in real life. Never seen one being used.


What do you like about the products themselves? (lightweight, noise, power, etc)

Without having any time on them, I cannot say. I'd be keen to try one, though.


What separates brands like Stihl and Husky from EFCO?

Dealer distribution networks. Period. Same reason Dolmar and Solo struggle, despite historically having great product offerings.


What would EFCO have to do to earn your business?

I'd need to see and use the product a bit, compare it to the current crop from the bigger name brands, and compare it to my collection of no-longer-in-production favorites. If it acquits itself well, then it would be a contender. If it seems porky, slow, bloated, too heavy for its power output, finicky to operate, etc., then it wouldn't be worth bothering with.

Also consider judicious, clever sponsorship ideas. NASCAR or other big name things are fine, but don't forget the little guys and the power of word-of-mouth. I do volunteer habitat improvement/restoration work and historic cemetery preservation work, for example. This involves working with volunteers and community groups, as well partnering with municipalities and other non-profits. If your organization furnished some units to groups or individuals involved in the sort of work that I do, and then we talked/blogged/posted online about our impressions of your products, I think that could have some persuasive effect. We'd certainly be able to get your products in front of lots of folks - other volunteers, community groups, municipal public works departments, etc. - in a way that a TV ad or magazine ad never could.


What other complaints or complements do you have for the brand as a whole?

My only concern is that "Efco" is going to struggle to differentiate itself from "Echo" based on the sound of the name.


What would you change?

Get some saws out into the hands of some of us who use them, let us report back online and elsewhere, and while we're doing this work on getting your distribution network up and running.

one other thing.
i have had occasion to search for parts and information for the old olys. have contacted efco main offices in italy. while they were prompt with their response they don't seem to have any old data at hand. archived copies of shop manuals and assistance in finding out what other efco products are compatible with the old products would be very helpful. for instance, i know that efco and its predecessors sold many brands in italy and other parts of europe that would be totally compatible. unfortunately i don't read italian, french, or german so i have no way to research this.
i know you're in business to sell products but one sure way to sell products is to support what you've already sold. for the last 30+ years i've been totally on my own except for the help i've found on this site in the last 3 years. beyond that, NOTHING. it almost seems as if this great product were dropped off on earth by aliens who then left us on our own.
it just boggles my mind how efco has even stayed in business.

I used the oleo-mac version of efco 152 (50cc) and liked it... I was close to buying a 152, but opted for stihl because of better dealer support because i'm more sure parts will be available in the long run, OEM and aftermarket. .

I'm eyeballing a string trimmer after my current one dies tho :]

The Nascar ad is an interesting one, although I am guessing that this is not going to work with the marketing budget..

For those wondering how EFCO is surviving - they are one of largest outdoor power equipment manufacturers in Europe (with all of their brands). They have been very successful over there. They came into the US late in 2006 with the Olympic brand. Than it changed to Olympyk, etc, etc.

I agree with most of you. Brand awareness and more dealers. It seems simple just chatting about it.

Again, thank you all for your feedback and recommendations. Greatly appreciated.

dsavage said:

...They came into the US late in 2006 with the Olympic brand...

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sorry to disagree with you but i bought my new 251B Olympic from a hardware store in Rogers, Arkansas in mid-1980's. Olympic was here then. kind of.

jerrycmorrow said:

sorry to disagree with you but i bought my new 251B Olympic from a hardware store in Rogers, Arkansas in mid-1980's. Olympic was here then. kind of.

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I bought my 152 in march of 2007 when Cub Cadet closed them out.

jerrycmorrow said:

sorry to disagree with you but i bought my new 251B Olympic from a hardware store in Rogers, Arkansas in mid-1980's. Olympic was here then. kind of.

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Efco USA was established in 2006. There were a couple groups importing a few saws before that. The "Oleo-Mac" brand was established in 1972 I believe.

I have done a short review here on a tophandle. I am very happy with my Oleo Mac products. I have two chainsaws. A mt 2600 and gs 3500. Both high quality and totally sufficient for the work that I do with them. My main firewood saws are a little bit larger but still I am happy with these small pair.

All above is very true. Efco and Echo are very close. Olympnik is associated with greek literature, which might not be a good assoociation at the moment.

What I believe is one of the biggest faults Emak(mother comapany) can do is change the brand name every few years! You are wasting millions of dollars! It takes years for a company name to be recognized and you destroy all the previous work just by changing the name.

Be proud of the country of origin! It's not like it's from some middle eastern, south east asian counterfeit nation. Ferrari and Masserati have a strong following. Use these associations.

With todays internet connections it is easy for everyone to access information and products. So you should provide that information and spare parts.

With some time and money you will get a small following that will slowly rise. But the top players will not give away anything! You will have to pry it out of their dead cold hands!

7

edit: the link didn't show. New try http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/204968.htm

dsavage said:

Efco USA was established in 2006. There were a couple groups importing a few saws before that. The "Oleo-Mac" brand was established in 1972 I believe.

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That is another obstacle to over come, my experience with the yellow and green variants has been fantastic, with no issues at all. They just need a name to build recognition with, the product is good, they just keep changing the name they are marketed under.

Two ideas from me:
1. To sell good, they would have to have a MSRP well below that of Stihl/Husqvarna.
2. Having internet sales/parts/tech on a large scale might be a way to carve a niche.

taplinhill said:

Two ideas from me:
1. To sell good, they would have to have a MSRP well below that of Stihl/Husqvarna.
2. Having internet sales/parts/tech on a large scale might be a way to carve a niche.

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they already have one of the best warranties i've seen - 5 years
price is also substantially lower then the big two
got all the pieces; just needing someone to pick it up and develop.
the big two need some stirring up anyway

I agree with Taplinhill and would second that a awesome website would be a great asset. One power equipment companies website that comes to mind is GENERAC. On there site you can research all models new and old for owners manuals , service manuals and parts manuals. Along with warranty , dealer locator , and all pertinent info that has to do with generators. Along with a lot of other info there website seems to be excellent and above many others.
Since splitting from B&S GENERAC has been on a mission . They have recently bought GenTran and Honeywell portables. I also see they have won some awards for manufacturing and there CEO has won some recognition. I am not a pushing GENERAC , I just see them growing in huge strides the last few years in the OPE business and suggest there growing methods are working. I wish EFCO luck and would love to see more saw companies at the top of the recognition list.