Best Chinese chainsaw, Farmertec Vs Neotec Vs ?

[JYC]

I have Stihl, and Husqvarna, and even a little Mac, and I have had a few Pioneers in the past, even a big old Remington years ago, but when I needed a truly big saw, I could not justify the price, so I took a leap, (giant one for me) and bought a Farmertec G660.

I remember when Japenese product was junk, and called Japcrap and for good reason. That changed, and today, their products are excellent. I wondered if that transformation is also taking place in China.

That saw has been used for a bit of firewood for break in, then it's been on the chainsaw mill for over a year. It's given me no issues what so ever. It's never been modded, and is still as I bought it, even has the original Chinese sparkplug. I do use a bar oiler on the mill though. 36" is a bit much for the saws oiler. The plastics seem to be of lesser quality, but they work, and they gave me a metal guard for the bottom of the saw.

That experience has me wondering about other Chinese saws.

I have since found Neotec don't know if there are others. What has been your experience?

 

[ElevatorGuy]

I try not to support China as much as possible, Many thing you get no choice on. With the saw, I have that choice. A whole lotta nope.

 

[JYC]

I try not to support China as much as possible, Many thing you get no choice on. With the saw, I have that choice. A whole lotta nope.

It's like this, either not buy a saw at all, which gives nothing to the local dealer, or by a compatible saw, and buy parts from him. God knows he has enough of my money already!

 

[NSEric]

All my saws are chinese. If I only bought name brand saws I'd only have one not 4.
I have a joncutter 5800, it's kinda like a husky 55 but is a clone of a zenoaha saw I've never heard of. It runs very well.
A supmix 6200, just like the joncutter but with crappy plastic, I swapped the plastic from another clone onto it so it's a nice saw now. I runs good too, both are 54cc. I screwed around porting them but you dont need to do that.
A chainsaw chainsaw 25cc top handle, it has a leaky tank vent but otherwise works great.
A neotech 892, a 066 clone. It needed an oem decomp, cleaning/porting the oiler, a bar oil cap and a little gasket on the air filter cover to seal it up. After those mods it runs great. I did a muffler mod to it but no porting, I may port it some day but it's quite fast as is, so Im in no rush to do so.

 

[JYC]

Right now, I'm thinking of giving my Husky 272XP a rest, and getting a Chinese saw in the 70cc range to run the edging mill. The 272xp has become a nickle and dime me to death saw. It's ported and muffler modded. I have used my ported and muffler modded Husky 359XP in it's place, when the 272xp is down, but that's hard work for a little saw. Maybe the G444 clone of the ms440.

 

[Beezvet]

I try not to support China as much as possible, Many thing you get no choice on. With the saw, I have that choice. A whole lotta nope.

I would join ElevatorGuy in keeping my dollars out of funding Chinese military as much as possible. However, I still buy Chinese parts, if no alternatives, for my German, Swedish and Japanese saws.

 

[NSEric]

Right now, I'm thinking of giving my Husky 272XP a rest, and getting a Chinese saw in the 70cc range to run the edging mill. The 272xp has become a nickle and dime me to death saw. It's ported and muffler modded. I have used my ported and muffler modded Husky 359XP in it's place, when the 272xp is down, but that's hard work for a little saw. Maybe the G444 clone of the ms440.

The g444 or g372 would work ok. I'd be tempted to get another g660 for that too, the bigger saws do better on mills, you can set them fat to keep them cool and they still have lots of power
I wouldnt port a saw much if I was using it on a mill, more power makes more heat and saws get too hot on mills as it is. I would do muffler mods tho, those help get the heat out.

 

[IntegrityCarpentry]

Right now, I'm thinking of giving my Husky 272XP a rest, and getting a Chinese saw in the 70cc range to run the edging mill. The 272xp has become a nickle and dime me to death saw. It's ported and muffler modded. I have used my ported and muffler modded Husky 359XP in it's place, when the 272xp is down, but that's hard work for a little saw. Maybe the G444 clone of the ms440.

I know that feeling. But eventually all the parts get replaced and it’s a great saw! That happened to me and it was be very frustrating for some years. Now it’s one of my favorite saws!

 

[singinwoodwackr]

I say the Earthquake is far superior.

 

[JYC]

Turns out I have a local Farmertec dealer. 20 minutes from me. (Where I live, that's close)
I will have to check this out.

 

[ATpro]

You got to remember many of the parts in the non-china saws have some or many china made parts.

 

[thompsoncustom]

That's a very good point. To be "Made in America" by law means only 50% has to be made in the USA the rest can be Chinese.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

Turns out I have a local Farmertec dealer. 20 minutes from me. (Where I live, that's close)
I will have to check this out.

Here is the whole list of dealers as of July. Canada toward bottom.

Farmertec has best selection of saws and dealers.

Other one still playing catch up and many years behind.

 

[fields_mj]

Once I figured out that the OEM carbs in my 30 yo saws were Chinese, all of my brand loyalty went out the window. The way I see it is that if companies want to have their components built in China (or India, or Malaysia, or Mexico, ect), then they had better be selling us a product that's cost competitive with products from those countries. To make it even better, I have at least 7 Stihl dealerships within an hour of me. 1 is 2 miles from my house, another is a mile from my work. I wouldn't trust any of them to change a spark plug, let alone work on one of my saws. Heck, as far as chainsaws go, I have always preferred imports (ie German). It doesn't make sense to me that we (chainsaw community) place a high value on the old German built chainsaws and then turn around and bash on cheap Chinese clones because they aren't "Made in America".

The only clone I have at this point is a G660. FWIW, Smelter Saws currently has them on sale for $280 which is $40 less than I paid for mine early last year. They also have the Pro version on sale for $400 which includes a Walbro carb, Meteor piston, and Caber rings.

On my G660, the e-clip on the drive shaft didn't have a good temper. When I changed the drive rim (needed to run 404 chain), it came off afterwards and I lost the bearing, clutch, and oil pump. I swapped the clutch and bearing from my 064 (still waiting on me to put a new top end on it), and ordered a high output oil pump from Hyway (wanted it because I'm also running a 42" bar at times). I also ordered a dual port muffler from Hyway and opened the cage up on it. I also replaced the mounting screws for the felling spikes and handle with OEM parts from my local dealer. I've run about 10 gallons of mix through the saw now. I'd say half of that was pulling a 42" bar with a 3/8 x .063 full skip chain buried in a large (6') pin oak in temperatures north of 95 deg F. It normally pulls a 28" full comp, full chisel .404 chain. I use it for breaking down larger logs and noodling them into pieces I can lift onto a splitter. In the spring, I'll also use it solely for the purpose of making noodles out of older firewood. I use the noodles as mulch on part of the garden in the early spring. The saw runs great. It starts relatively easy. At this point, I wouldn't trade it for a Stihl 066 that was in reasonable to good condition.

I do most of my bucking and felling with my 036 saws. I hope to buy a G366 within the next couple of years just to see how it compares. If something were to happen to my 026, I'd also replace it with its blue counterpart.

 

[wildwes]

The way I see it is that if companies want to have their components built in China (or India, or Malaysia, or Mexico, ect), then they had better be selling us a product that's cost competitive with products from those countries.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. If I am paying double or triple the price for OEM, I expect OEM quality, not the same chinese crap with an enormous markup. China CAN build quality goods, but it drives the price up, like anywhere else, and again I don't mind so much paying for that, but when it is bottom of the barrel quality wise and has an OEM price I will just go to the aftermarket option.
As others have mentioned, Stihl sources a decent amount of stuff from China...

 

[JYC]

It seems a lot of people were in my boat. The dealer says he sells more G660's than anything else. His business is mostly internet, and he operates from his house, but, he does repairs, and a limited parts inventory, and a pretty good stock as well. The kicker is, the guy sounds like he's Russian. LOL!
I got a G466. Already has a low restriction muffler (loud!). A bit smaller at 76cc than the 660's 92cc. It should run the edging mill fine, and do some of the larger firewood for me. I will get the 272XP fixed up over the winter. Some guys would sell it. I never sell stuff. It just accumulates

 

[mattr66]

I have found some pretty good weaknesses with the neotec/farmertec/farmac 660 clones. I replace a bunch of stuff before I call them dependable. I have happy customers running them and no reason they won't be as reliable as the real thing when I'm done with them. Good parts and checking the basics are the key with these things. They have some pretty bad clutch drums on them for example.... I always check them well.

 

[StihlPotlicker]

i bought 2 G666's during SCAMDEMIC, because I couldn't get 661s, But for $750, i aint complaining, as I have one dedicated for my Logosol mill, and one for my Lewis winch. I did buy them from a dealer that goes over them and starts them before shipping them out.

 

[James G]

Chinese crap? Why?

 

[wildwes]

Chinese crap? Why?

Because "Chinese" and "crap" don't always go together, just like "insert OEM brand here" and "quality" don't always go together

The Chinese can build quality on par with what any other industrial nation can, BUT they tend to produce goods that match what the customer wants to pay for. If a company wants goods produced at a low price point, they get cheap crap. If they are willing to pay higher production costs, and oversee production themselves, they can get quality goods.
Just take a look at goods produced for the chicom goverment or military if you ever get a chance, they are well made. The same items produced for export or for their own citizens usually aren't as well made. The Chinese SKS is a prime example- look at one that was a true surplus rifle and they are very well made. Look at a commercial specimen made for export and they exhibit nowhere near the level of workmanship.