Your local Stihl dealer

[earlthegoat2]

I have recently started going to a different Stihl dealer. Nothing to complain about. The reason I changed was because I changed employers. I used to go to the one my work was near since I did business with them with my company I also did business with them personally since there was already rapport built. Now I am at the different one which I also do business with at my new job.

My query though has to do with the type of business that they do. I work on chainsaws. I get old ones running and keep them running. Apparently the Stihl ordering software tracks order history so it can tell if that store has ordered various part numbers in the past. It amazes me when I order something like a carb kit or wrist pin circlips or a piston kits, or crank seals, or intake boots, or impulse lines, or oil pump plungers, or decomp plugs, or a carburetor jet, or a chain catcher, or any number of other seemingly basic things, the sales person often comments that it is the first time they have ever sold that item. It happened quite often at both dealers.

Are there just not that many of us around who like to keep old saws running. It is more economical to have 2 used old pro saws than one new one. These parts I order are almost always for the pro saws too which I would think would have a higher value associated with it to keep it running as opposed to the lower up front costs of the farm and homeowner saws.

 

[LonestarStihl]

I've never had mine say anything about the frequency of the parts they order. I just call in or go by and give them the part number...depending on the employee I may have to help them do the lookup [emoji57].

I may ask them next time about what you are saying and see if they keep track as well. What models are you considering as old? I'm just curious because I know some they don't have parts for anymore. I've got some stuff on backorder right now I'm waiting on.

 

[earlthegoat2]

044 046 026 ms660 stuff like that. Not too many 1 or 2 series stuff. The reason I mention that they are older is because people may be doing more in depth fixes or rebuilds on older saws than ones that were sold last week

 

[brandonstc6]

I’ve had ms440 parts go on backorder. I had Stihl MS261 bearings and gasket set go on back order.


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[quantico]

I have a stihl dealer 5 blocks from my house... an ace hardware store... they know nothing about any of the consumer or pro saws.. they dont stock saws over 500 dollars it seems.. i was there when an older guy came in with a few day old consumer saw that threw a chain... the sales guy said that they would have to send the saw out for service.. at least 2 week wait to get a repair tech to fix the saw.. so just because they sell stihl saws does not mean they are skilled enough to put a chain back on or add oil to a saw or explain what a choke does.. sad.

And yes i put the older guys chain back on his saw and showed him how to see that the tension was correct with a scrench in my car trunk.

 

[DaddyFlip]

Even though I just posted a dealer bash myself, I'm not into bashing dealers. They are primarily in the business of selling new equipment. Many, if not most, Stihl dealers primarily deal in something else primary; hardware or auto parts. I've never seen one of those dealerships like they have in the commercial, with a dozen or more yuppie easter egg husband and wife teams crawling all over the store looking at new equipment. Maybe it is out there; I don't know. I prefer to look at fiche online and order stuff myself.

 

[Kyfan]

I have two dealers one of them keeps a good stock for new stuff but sucks for older items, the other dealer really pushes husqvarna and keeps almost little stihl stock. The best dealer by a mile around here sells only echo and shindaiwa hut they keep everything in stock and carry a full line if Oregon products as well.

 

[Tinman204]

I have probabaly 10 stihl dealers within a 60 mile radius of me..

Out of all of them 2 are good, they stock parts and seem to find them easily. Those 2 dealers only sell small engine type equipment.

The bog box and tractor dealers are the ones i stay away from.

The shop i buy parts from the most isnt a stihl shop but I go there because the guys who work there dont need part numbers, they ask what I need and go get it in the back cause they know their stuff..

As for guys who actually work on saws, it seems we are getying fewer and farther between.

 

[catbuster]

The one I used most frequently changed hands a few years ago. Under original ownership their prices were high but the service was excellent. I don’t mind paying up for better service. New ownership still charges a premium. No parts other than bars, chains, bar nuts, fuel and air filters in stock, which I get, they’re consumables and let’s face it, they’re not about to sell a bunch of 046 coils. They are pretty knowledgable in parts.

Their service department is disgusting after changing ownership. It was pretty good, but just recently the FD sent out an 044 because it wouldn’t idle. I nailed the problem, it needed a carb kit, but they’d rather send it out, and I get it. When we got it back, *six weeks later*, the fuel tank was dry, the metering diaphragm wasn’t set correctly and they hadn’t even tried to tune it. I don’t see how that’s acceptable. They didn’t even check to see if they had fixed the problem. So I then set the carburetor correctly.

I’ve since taken my fleet service somewhere else with better service that’s a littler farther away. There’s a dealer with better prices and great service but a 30 mile drive from the shop isn’t worth it.

 

[DaddyFlip]

There’s a dealer with better prices and great service but a 30 mile drive from the shop isn’t worth it.

Based on your story, it sounds like it is.

 

[catbuster]

Based on your story, it sounds like it is.

It’s the third, dealer one was ~5 miles from the shop, dealer two is ~8 and dealer 3 is ~30. I used dealer 3 when I worked in Simpsonville, and they were awesome. I have a friend who’s a farm manager there, a former coworker who works for KYTC and another friend who does landscaping and they all use them still with nothing but good things to say.

The extra 20 miles isn’t worth it. The dealer I’m using now has a good few wrench turners, and their parts department is really good too. Their parts pricing is kinda high, but there’s value in not paying someone the time and the extra fuel in the truck several times a week to go out somewhere. My mechanics and foremen can handle most basic repairs on the equipment too.

With the FD there’s someone above me that doesn’t have to work on equipment and the M.O is to keep the money in the county.

 

[Bret4207]

We have a good Stihl dealer but the local Husky dealer is...unreliable, to be nice about. I've gone to ordering online for most everything these days.

 

[TheTone]

My dealer here in Jonesboro (Allied Small Engines) has a sparse inventory in stock, but they will order anything for me, no matter how small with no shipping charge. Of course this means I have to wait until they get enough parts ordered to get free (or cheap) shipping. Not to mention that half of the parts I order are on backorder (older Stihl saws), so there is considerable wait time involved. Still, they do the best they can, and get a thumbs up from me.

 

[henry r]

My local stihl dealer is a ma and pa chainsaw and mower centre with 30+ years in business and a decent portion of thier business is repairs/service.

It's a pity my work saws are husqvarnas.

 

[Conquistador3]

The local Stihl dealership is 10 mile roundtrip and worth every penny in fuel.
No Husqvarna nearby: I once stopped by at one on the road I spotted while away for work to see they had a couple parts in stock: they had and were truly nice but they are really too far away.
Echo (20 miles roundtrip) is deteriorating fast and it's a pity because they used to be my go-to place.
Two Shindaiwa in a 10 miles radius: one is mostly a Deere dealership and aren't exactly good nor knowledgeable (try ordering parts), the other is a scam and a cheat to be nice.
Solo lost their sole dealership in a 20 miles radius when they sold most of their product lines to ALKO. Now they sell Maruyama I think: not bad, but the guy running the dealer is a character to say the least.
Honda has two dealerships in a 20 miles radius: both are good but really out of their way. One also sells Zenoah, which is a Godsend these days.

Any questions?

 

[cuinrearview]

The local Stihl dealership is 10 mile roundtrip and worth every penny in fuel.
No Husqvarna nearby: I once stopped by at one on the road I spotted while away for work to see they had a couple parts in stock: they had and were truly nice but they are really too far away.
Echo (20 miles roundtrip) is deteriorating fast and it's a pity because they used to be my go-to place.
Two Shindaiwa in a 10 miles radius: one is mostly a Deere dealership and aren't exactly good nor knowledgeable (try ordering parts), the other is a scam and a cheat to be nice.
Solo lost their sole dealership in a 20 miles radius when they sold most of their product lines to ALKO. Now they sell Maruyama I think: not bad, but the guy running the dealer is a character to say the least.
Honda has two dealerships in a 20 miles radius: both are good but really out of their way. One also sells Zenoah, which is a Godsend these days.

Any questions?

How'd the eyes come out?

 

[Conquistador3]

How'd the eyes come out?

LOL. it was joke for not being able to tell bad lightning from a scored piston but thanks for the concern.

Cataracts are about the only eye issue I haven't had yet, but you never know.

 

[Conquistador3]

You know a dealer is a big deal when they have something like this. All FR460 and all sold already.
There were originally 18 of them but the rest were being assembled and tested in the shop. Which had something like 30/40 iMow robots undergoing maintenance and warranty jobs.

Crazy but well deserved, and this means they'll be in business for a while and that I keep on getting good deals.