Stihl or husqvarna dealership

[efcodealer]

Are there any dealers here that have experience dealing with both stihl and husqvarna? I will be probably taking one of them on next year, what do you like/dislike about each?

 

[Matt Hogden]

Are there any dealers here that have experience dealing with both stihl and husqvarna? I will be probably taking one of them on next year, what do you like/dislike about each?

This would make an interesting topic

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Rockjock]

Are there any dealers here that have experience dealing with both stihl and husqvarna? I will be probably taking one of them on next year, what do you like/dislike about each?

I think the choice will be a complex one. Which one has the best dealer presence, best dealer support and best market share. Also product lines as well. You can not make a living just selling saws. Then there is location. Product demand... Where I am the choice would be easy Stihl, but you wold have to have secondary lines. Toro, Honda, xmark, walker, blizzard, western etc.. Takes a while to build that up so you need to find an area or product that can establish you quickly. Then there is staff/service.. its a long road.

 

[efcodealer]

I think the choice will be a complex one. Which one has the best dealer presence, best dealer support and best market share. Also product lines as well. You can not make a living just selling saws. Then there is location. Product demand... Where I am the choice would be easy Stihl, but you wold have to have secondary lines. Toro, Honda, xmark, walker, blizzard, western etc.. Takes a while to build that up so you need to find an area or product that can establish you quickly. Then there is staff/service.. its a long road.

We have owned and operated a saw/garden shop for 26+ years. I was asking for hands on dealer experience with stihl/husqvarna..

 

[user 122190]

We have Stihl Dealers and combo Stihl/Husky saw shops. There are only two that I go to and the experience is positive for both. Of all the shops that I have gone to, the smaller the better. You often get closer to the mechanically inclined folks who really have the knowledge and you can then learn quite a bit.

 

[pioneerguy600]

I believe the OP is looking more for dealer experiences with dealing with Stihl and Husqvarna corporate and their supply chain.

 

[CoreyB]

Husqvarna has a few perks. One is min, order is $100 (you have to have like a $7,000 sprung parts order) also is all the ayp parts so a crap ton of spindles belts blades you can stock and sell because they move pretty good to help suplament your saw and hand held parts. You have to order 13 hand held units at a time for free fraight or it is like $12 extra a unit. As with every one it is a tiered program so the more you buy from husqvarna the better % you get but be careful if stock doesn't move well you don't save anything. Husqvarna has a lot of programs to try and work but takes a bit of leg work to stay on top of them all. There are a few hoops on The warranty but can be profitable if you jump through them.

 

[Rockjock]

I believe the OP is looking more for dealer experiences with dealing with Stihl and Husqvarna corporate and their supply chain.

In my case Husqvarna dealer experience is pretty much dismal. As I have said in the past many dealers have thrown in the towel with Husqvarna because of the lack of dealer commitment. I can go into a home depot and buy a homeowner saw for less than I can at the dealer. Ordering parts thats several weeks from Husqvarna. To alleviate that in the past we would make a deal with a local dealer to get is Husky parts and we would get him Stihl parts but that too dried up because the lawn and garden line also went to the big box stores so he could simply not stay open. I order parts daily from Stihl and they are in the very next day. This is how it is in this part of Ontario and also how it was in Germany. For me it is dealer support. Service is where you make your money.

 

[pioneerguy600]

In my case Husqvarna dealer experience is pretty much dismal. As I have said in the past many dealers have thrown in the towel with Husqvarna because of the lack of dealer commitment. I can go into a home depot and buy a homeowner saw for less than I can at the dealer. Ordering parts thats several weeks from Husqvarna. To alleviate that in the past we would make a deal with a local dealer to get is Husky parts and we would get him Stihl parts but that too dried up because the lawn and garden line also went to the big box stores so he could simply not stay open. I order parts daily from Stihl and they are in the very next day. This is how it is in this part of Ontario and also how it was in Germany. For me it is dealer support. Service is where you make your money.

I am not a dealer but the time wait is about the same here for me, can get Stihl parts under two days but Husqvarna parts are a week or more from our local dealer. I mostly dropped working on Husqvarna for that reason, only occasionally if a client is in no big rush for their gear I will still do some work for them.

 

[CoreyB]

Most all my parts from Husqvarna is 2 days. Some times 3. Except for the occasional back order. That is here in the Mid West so others may vary. I agree big box store has hurt our consumer level line to the point we only carry 3-4 units and seem to sit on them awhile. Our best selling saws are the 576 and 395. Almost 2 :1 over the $180 240. Weed eaters and leaf BLOWERS sell good at the consumer level though. Some times figuring out what your consumers want is the biggest hurdle. I have not felt with Stihl much that is another guys responsibility. I know the min order for us is $500 so that makes a challenge to order parts fast for people unless they want to pay shipping.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I don't see Husqy working well if there are big box stores nearby.

Stihl at least has better dealer protection, though they are going that route to with having Ace hardware stores be "dealers". I stopped at the one in Anchorage a while back and they were completely confused when I asked for an 84 driver loop of semi chisel. All they had was a couple dozen premade loops in packs, 72 driver being the longest.

"Ok, just make me a loop, no big deal"

"Uh... sir... we can't just "make" blades."