What's Husqvarna doing?

[onegunsmith]

I was searching for a milling saw and trying to be color blind while looking. I was raised on stihl but had heard that there were other saws out there that are just as good so i was willing to give them a look. My search led me to this site where i learned i really new nothing about chainsaws. Well it looked like Husky was a good saw and so i tried to find a husky dealer where i could go see some saws and compare prices. All the shops that were listed as husky dealers are no longer stocking dealers. They all said "we cant compete with the box stores". They said they could order me something but none had saws i could pick up and hold. I decided husky was a bad option. Funny though i ended up with a 3120 off of CL. The saw was good and clean but looked like it could use an air filter so i went looking for an air filter, with no luck. They could order one of course but heck i can do that and dont have to drive back to the store. So now that husky has ran all the dealers off what are they planning to do when the box stores start stocking Efco's or some other brand? Sure they are gonna make some quick money but now it looks like they are planning to go the way of the yellow and red saws.

 

[mdavlee]

Not sure what part of the country you're in but there's a few stocking dealers within an hour drive for me that carry all the way up to a 90 cc saw all the time.

 

[machinisttx]

The husky dealer here had a bunch of 455's and other homeowner saws the last time I was in...no pro saws.

 

[onegunsmith]

I'm in Alaska so we may not be the norm but if you mention XP they don't have parts.


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[GrassGuerilla]

St. Louis Mo ain't exactly log country, but its not exactly a small town either. Almost no Husky stocking dealers. Couple shops that can order em.

Can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Stihl dealer or two.

 

[onegunsmith]

The only J Red dealer stopped selling saws also.


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[shanedut]

I'm in Alaska so we may not be the norm but if you mention XP they don't have parts.


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In Alberta CA try getting a loop of chain over 24". Oh and forget about skip chain they have no idea what that stuff is here. It doesn't matter whether its a Stihl shop or Husky they will not stock any chain or bar over 24" has to be ordered, most will make chains but they will be full comp. It is true there are no big trees here but you would still think you could get some skip or semi skip chain here.

 

[Big_Wood]

around here almost every husky dealer i know of has every model ready to go. there are a few models missing from the local one though. when i go to the local shop for parts they rarely have what i need unless it's regular wear items. if i go to walkers it is rare that they don't have what i need but i think they are the biggest husky dealer in north america.

 

[Locust Cutter]

The husky dealer here had a bunch of 455's and other homeowner saws the last time I was in...no pro saws.

Based off of that avatar, I presume that you are a Wayfaring Man? If so, greetings!

 

[Locust Cutter]

There is better Stihl support around here than any other, but the are 2 fantastic Husky Dealers and one very good Dolmar dealer... 90cc and less is usually on the shelf, but you normally have to order the Beasts...

 

[TreeTangler]

My local Husky dealer has everything from a 435 to a brand new 3120 powerhead on the shelf ready to go. He is also a dealer for many other things: trailers, tractors, atvs, sleds, etc but only carries Husqvarna saws and hand held equipment. It always surprises me what he has out back when I go looking for parts.

 

[AKDoug]

Road system Alaska (that part of the state you can drive to from Anchorage or Fairbanks) is Stihl country. Stihl Northwest has done a good job taking care of it's dealers and I am very happy dealing with them. I retain a parts supply with Husky that carried over from the tool rental portion of my business. They've really dropped the ball in the fact they haven't once contacted me to see if I wanted to be a dealer. I fix all brands of saws on top of my Stihl service, and I get quite a few Husky homeowner saws from Alaska Industrial Hardware and Lowes. I've sold many Stihl saws to those same folks because they want a real dealer after their less than pleasant experience buying a saw from a box store. I see a few Husky pro saws, but mostly 365's and older 266's.

There is a very limited market for professional saws in Alaska. I sell quite a few smaller pro saws to serious homeowner wood cutters.. 261's and 362's top the list. I've only sold a couple 441's and 461's because there really is no need for a saw that size up here. Saws sold for milling are even more rare. I might sell one 660 in the next two years, and I'm never going to stock one. The most popular saw I sell is an MS250, with MS290's being very close. That doesn't make sense to all of us here at AS, but that's the reality of selling saws in Alaska. I sell way more 170's and 180's than I do pro saws, too. There is no way I could stay in the saw business if I didn't maintain the exclusivity of Stihl homeowner saws. My customers come to me for service and we try to provide a level of service you will never see at a box store or regional chain store. I also try to better the service of other Stihl dealers. There is still a huge segment of the homeowner market that prefers an independent dealer with good customer service.

When you remove the homeowner saws from the dealership, there simply not enough business in this part of Alaska to maintain a saw dealership.

 

[z71mike]

NJ is full of Stihl dealers that know very little about what they sell. I have to cross the border into PA for a full Husky shop, but the guy is great and is the first shop guy I've met that I can't out-speak with my own saw knowledge.

 

[rmh3481]

>"There is a very limited market for professional saws in Alaska."<
Im surprised to hear you say this? I was thinking that Alaska would be where everyone would own a saw, if nothing else for heat.

 

[bootboy]

>"There is a very limited market for professional saws in Alaska."<
Im surprised to hear you say this? I was thinking that Alaska would be where everyone would own a saw, if nothing else for heat.

My guess is that there is a limited market in Alaska for a lot of things for the same reason. There's only about a half million people there. I'm sure the per capita chainsaw ownership is number 1 in the US but there just aren't a lot of capitas... Plus they are pretty spread out.

 

[fuzz1500]

Shoot..up here in Northeast Ohio.....I literally have 3 Husky dealers , 3 Stihl dealers , 2 Dolmar dealers , 2 Echo dealers , 1 Efco dealer , and one Redmax dealer all within 10 or 15 minutes from my house . All are "full Stocking" dealers . All have parts and everything . Guess Im lucky that logging and firewood cutting is very very popular up here !!

 

[zogger]

The husky dealer here had a bunch of 455's and other homeowner saws the last time I was in...no pro saws.

And here it is the opposite, the local husky guy has pro saws, the local stihl guy had I think just a 362 for a pro saw on his rack last I went in there. And that was the largest saw there as well.

 

[Franny K]

I don't think Husqvarna is going any place. I did notice that the Husky racing bikes are now made in Austria by KTM. That is an improvement but not for purists.

Racing bikes yes it seems the ktm or corporation owned by the ktm ceo that bought the husqvarna motorcycle brand from bmw isn't offering anything that can get a license plate for the USA market. I do believe the cagiva group, the bmw group and the ktm/austrian/(not sure if or how much Indian)/ group do have to enter into licensing agreements to use the husqvarna name. Perhaps someone could confirm this. The husky bike discussion groups kind of try and dance around it but when the issue of a husky quad comes up this line of thinking seems to shoot it down.

As for what is husqvarna doing, well the demo saw division is going great guns moving into diesel jack hammer compressors, road cutting saws with diamond blades. I thought they wouldn't sell pro saws mail order but it seems that the rule is no point and click sales. The parts sheets integrated into point and click ordering are just about impossible to avoid if you put some terms into a search engine like google.

 

[Ndigity26]

I was searching for a milling saw and trying to be color blind while looking. I was raised on stihl but had heard that there were other saws out there that are just as good so i was willing to give them a look. My search led me to this site where i learned i really new nothing about chainsaws. Well it looked like Husky was a good saw and so i tried to find a husky dealer where i could go see some saws and compare prices. All the shops that were listed as husky dealers are no longer stocking dealers. They all said "we cant compete with the box stores". They said they could order me something but none had saws i could pick up and hold. I decided husky was a bad option. Funny though i ended up with a 3120 off of CL. The saw was good and clean but looked like it could use an air filter so i went looking for an air filter, with no luck. They could order one of course but heck i can do that and dont have to drive back to the store. So now that husky has ran all the dealers off what are they planning to do when the box stores start stocking Efco's or some other brand? Sure they are gonna make some quick money but now it looks like they are planning to go the way of the yellow and red saws.

I must have a good thing here, I have a gold husky dealer. They stock every saw made and can get every single part. Same with our stihl dealer. I wont take it for granted.

 

[Ndigity26]

My guess is that there is a limited market in Alaska for a lot of things for the same reason. There's only about a half million people there. I'm sure the per capita chainsaw ownership is number 1 in the US but there just aren't a lot of capitas... Plus they are pretty spread out.

Not much income up there either.