Brazilian made Oregon chain...

[MCW]

Hi guys.
Just thought I'd running something past you that I was completely unaware of.
It's something to take note of next time you buy any Oregon chain.
I did a deal with a local State Emergency Services crew who had a heap of Oregon 73DP chain that they wanted to swap over to Stihl 36RS so that all of their larger saws (both Stihl and Husky) were running the same .063" chains on their 20" bars.
Anyway I did a 2 for 1 swap and ended up with around 150' of 73DP. Personally I rarely run .058" chain and stick with either .050" and .063".
Because 75DP is bumper link chain I decided to grind the bumpers off with a 1mm cut off disc turning it into some decent semi chisel to use myself. Anyway I did all of this and found that the chain was absolute garbage and wouldn't hold an edge. It didn't seem to be anywhere near as good as the last lot of Oregon I'd used.
I decided to read the box earlier tonight and to my surprise it is "Made In Brazil" and is clearly stated on the boxes. I realise Blount is playing silly buggars with their manufacturing but had never heard of Oregon chain coming out of Brazil.

Has anybody else seen this or does anybody have more information?

Honestly the chain is garbage and Chinese chain I've imported myself performs far better. Something to be aware of for those guys purchasing Oregon chain as some threads on AS recently have stated that all Oregon chain is coming out of the US. This is clearly not the case.

Just thought I'd pass that on.

Matt

 

[Little Al]

Hi guys.
Just thought I'd running something past you that I was completely unaware of.
It's something to take note of next time you buy any Oregon chain.
I did a deal with a local State Emergency Services crew who had a heap of Oregon 73DP chain that they wanted to swap over to Stihl 36RS so that all of their larger saws (both Stihl and Husky) were running the same .063" chains on their 20" bars.
Anyway I did a 2 for 1 swap and ended up with around 150' of 73DP. Personally I rarely run .058" chain and stick with either .050" and .063".
Because 75DP is bumper link chain I decided to grind the bumpers off with a 1mm cut off disc turning it into some decent semi chisel to use myself. Anyway I did all of this and found that the chain was absolute garbage and wouldn't hold an edge. It didn't seem to be anywhere near as good as the last lot of Oregon I'd used.
I decided to read the box earlier tonight and to my surprise it is "Made In Brazil" and is clearly stated on the boxes. I realise Blount is playing silly buggars with their manufacturing but had never heard of Oregon chain coming out of Brazil.

Has anybody else seen this or does anybody have more information?

Honestly the chain is garbage and Chinese chain I've imported myself performs far better. Something to be aware of for those guys purchasing Oregon chain as some threads on AS recently have stated that all Oregon chain is coming out of the US. This is clearly not the case.

Just thought I'd pass that on.

Matt

Matt, have no knowledge of the Brazilian chain but some months back we obtained ( don"t know from where or why ) some 6 loops of Oregon 72LPX, printed on the boxes was, translated Product of Belgium, the chain seemed to be more or less on par with the (normal) Oregon chain so they didn"t raise any eyebrows, so it seems that as Blount are global, the production of their products seem to be following suit

 

[MCW]

Matt, have no knowledge of the Brazilian chain but some months back we obtained ( don"t know from where or why ) some 6 loops of Oregon 72LPX, printed on the boxes was, translated Product of Belgium, the chain seemed to be more or less on par with the (normal) Oregon chain so they didn"t raise any eyebrows, so it seems that as Blount are global, the production of their products seem to be following suit

Yeah it's interesting. This was distributed in Australia by the actual Oregon distributor so they are obviously getting sent stuff from all over the place. As mentioned this stuff was absolutely garbage and for a few hours while using it I was struggling to work out what was going on as I've always liked Oregon chain. My time proven semi chisel sharpening regime was shot to pieces until I found out it was made in Brazil - this explained a lot.

 

[Matt81]

Hi guys.
Just thought I'd running something past you that I was completely unaware of.
It's something to take note of next time you buy any Oregon chain.
I did a deal with a local State Emergency Services crew who had a heap of Oregon 73DP chain that they wanted to swap over to Stihl 36RS so that all of their larger saws (both Stihl and Husky) were running the same .063" chains on their 20" bars.
Anyway I did a 2 for 1 swap and ended up with around 150' of 73DP. Personally I rarely run .058" chain and stick with either .050" and .063".
Because 75DP is bumper link chain I decided to grind the bumpers off with a 1mm cut off disc turning it into some decent semi chisel to use myself. Anyway I did all of this and found that the chain was absolute garbage and wouldn't hold an edge. It didn't seem to be anywhere near as good as the last lot of Oregon I'd used.
I decided to read the box earlier tonight and to my surprise it is "Made In Brazil" and is clearly stated on the boxes. I realise Blount is playing silly buggars with their manufacturing but had never heard of Oregon chain coming out of Brazil.

Has anybody else seen this or does anybody have more information?

Honestly the chain is garbage and Chinese chain I've imported myself performs far better. Something to be aware of for those guys purchasing Oregon chain as some threads on AS recently have stated that all Oregon chain is coming out of the US. This is clearly not the case.

Just thought I'd pass that on.

Matt

Well going by the Stihl saws that are coming out of Brazil i am not surprised. My uncle has an old Stihl 038 AV. Great saw. Unfortunately he had to replace it as the actual body of the saw was cracking from being used so much and seeing that it was 20 years old he wanted a flash new saw. Stihl dealer sold him a newer 038 Magnum. My uncle specifically asked if it was made in Germany like his old saw. Dealer says yes it definitely is. When my uncle gets home and takes it out of the box, made in Brazil are clearly on the saw and in the manual. Saw is a piece of junk. For the ridiculous price he paid the quality isn't even a fraction of his old german saw. In the 4 years he has had it he would not have used it all that much, maybe 70 hours max. I usually help him out by doing some climbing for him, so i usually know when he has big tree jobs on his property. Coil went after 45 hours. Stihl dealers replacement price was over $250 for the part and $125 labour. For some reason he wouldn't do it himself or let me do it for him. Oil pump also has died and been replaced. All fuel and oil lines have been replaced from them basically disintegrating. The carb is junky and temperamental compared to his old saw.

I have (thankfully by the sounds) never come across any Brazil made Stihl chain myself. If you didn't mention that it was through an Oregon distributor i was going to say maybe it is a Chinese knockoff chain, and they put "Made in Brazil" to make it look legit because of the saws being made there. Who knows with their copies of stuff getting better and better all the time. I have heard stories of Stihl dealers getting fooled by Chinese Stihl knockoffs. They don't realise it's a fake Stihl until they go to put Stihl parts on and they don't fit! Almost 100% of the time though the similarities are only skin deep. It might look the same on the outside, but the internals are rubbish quality. Same goes for Chinese and Brazilian steel!

 

[MCW]

Well going by the Stihl saws that are coming out of Brazil i am not surprised. My uncle has an old Stihl 038 AV. Great saw. Unfortunately he had to replace it as the actual body of the saw was cracking from being used so much and seeing that it was 20 years old he wanted a flash new saw. Stihl dealer sold him a newer 038 Magnum. My uncle specifically asked if it was made in Germany like his old saw. Dealer says yes it definitely is. When my uncle gets home and takes it out of the box, made in Brazil are clearly on the saw and in the manual. Saw is a piece of junk. For the ridiculous price he paid the quality isn't even a fraction of his old german saw. In the 4 years he has had it he would not have used it all that much, maybe 70 hours max. I usually help him out by doing some climbing for him, so i usually know when he has big tree jobs on his property. Coil went after 45 hours. Stihl dealers replacement price was over $250 for the part and $125 labour. For some reason he wouldn't do it himself or let me do it for him. Oil pump also has died and been replaced. All fuel and oil lines have been replaced from them basically disintegrating. The carb is junky and temperamental compared to his old saw.

I have (thankfully by the sounds) never come across any Brazil made Stihl chain myself. If you didn't mention that it was through an Oregon distributor i was going to say maybe it is a Chinese knockoff chain, and they put "Made in Brazil" to make it look legit because of the saws being made there. Who knows with their copies of stuff getting better and better all the time. I have heard stories of Stihl dealers getting fooled by Chinese Stihl knockoffs. They don't realise it's a fake Stihl until they go to put Stihl parts on and they don't fit! Almost 100% of the time though the similarities are only skin deep. It might look the same on the outside, but the internals are rubbish quality. Same goes for Chinese and Brazilian steel!

As far as I am aware Stihl chain only comes from Switzerland regardless of where the saw comes from. I have seen Chinese knock off Stihl chain and even used some, but this Oregon stuff even had the Brazilian website listed on the 100' box...

http://www.oregonbrasil.com.br/

As far as knock off Chinese Stihls go dealers are actually meant to crossmatch serial numbers before they even work on any saws. If the serial number does not come up on the system then it is not an Australian delivered Stihl. If you talk to the right guys in Stihl Australia head office they can track down within minutes which country it came from, which dealer it came from, and who bought the saw. They use this to work out which foreign dealers may be breaching dealer rules and how guys in Australia are accessing foreign saws.
If it doesn't come up then it's a knock off.

 

[hamish]

Was the box made in Brazil or the chain? I have Oregon boxes stating they were made in Canada, US, UK and Belgium, the chain who knows. Blounts manufacturing is completely different than its processing and packaging side of things. Made in the US on the packaging, yet stamped Made in Canada once you open up a lot of bars.

Likewise with Stihl, I am sure your Sthil chain boxes are not bilingual in Australia.

 

[MCW]

It pretty well states that the whole lot is Brazilian. The chain is way too bad to have come out of the states, that's for sure.

 

[Pud]

All the 3/8 I've seen for the past 6 months or more is made in Brazil and your right it's not the same quality u can tell as soon as your file hits it it just doesn't feel the same , the husqvarna rebranded stuff I'm sure is even worse and doesn't have that blue finish

 

[MCW]

All the 3/8 I've seen for the past 6 months or more is made in Brazil and your right it's not the same quality u can tell as soon as your file hits it it just doesn't feel the same , the husqvarna rebranded stuff I'm sure is even worse and doesn't have that blue finish

Yeah it's crap for sure. Apparently Husqvarna are going to make their own chain soon and it won't be rebranded Oregon. Haven't heard much for a while but it may even be on the market already - not sure. It was being field tested a couple of years ago.

 

[Little Al]

For your info Matt; for the past couple or so years all our Oregon chain if you believe the packaging has been manufactured in Belgium . nothing sinister no problems; on par with US/ Canada chain. I needed a 56DL loop for my little Oleo Mac yard saw 3/8x 1.3 Lo Pro VXL. Because we buy rolls & don"t use lo pro much I compared prices on Evil Bay & the local guy. A seller on the bay could do it cheaper inc. post from Latvia to France, than our local guy ( drive & collect) when chain arrived it was marked on the box Made in the USA. Now I don"t cut a lot with Lo Pro & usually use Stihl PS or PM, but I have to admit this chain cut like a good "un I was well impressed. Have no idea if it is Blount pulling their finger out, or because it was produced in the US but this one cuts real well, keeps it"s edge & sharpens nicely

 

[Philbert]

I was told that Oregon manufactures chain in the US and Brazil, and assembles chain in China (with components made in the US or Brazil). That's how our packaged loops are labeled, and have been for some time. Had not heard of Oregon chain made in Belgium. Can't comment on how quality may vary between locations.

Of course, Blount manufactures lots of different products (farm, logging, construction, etc.) in different places around the world, so things may change. http://www.blount.com/blount_global_network.asp?p=gn
http://www.oregonproducts.com/homeowner/company/locations.htm

If you have some un-used chain still around, maybe send them in a sample and ask them 'what's up'?

Any chance it is counterfeit chain?

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

Back to Belgium

Found this on the Blount site: http://www.kox.eu/

None of it is in English: maybe one of our multi-lingual members can help us out. The photos of the Kox branded chain and Oregon branded chain look very similar. Maybe this is where the Belgian chain is coming from? Or is Kox made in Germany?

Also, their European Headquarters is located in Belgium:
BLOUNT EUROPE, S.A.
European Headquarters:
Rue Emile Francqui, 5
B 1435 Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium
www.oregonchain.eu

Philbert

 

[SawTroll]

....

As far as knock off Chinese Stihls go dealers are actually meant to crossmatch serial numbers before they even work on any saws. If the serial number does not come up on the system then it is not an Australian delivered Stihl. If you talk to the right guys in Stihl Australia head office they can track down within minutes which country it came from, which dealer it came from, and who bought the saw. They use this to work out which foreign dealers may be breaching dealer rules and how guys in Australia are accessing foreign saws.
If it doesn't come up then it's a knock off.

Or maybe the dealer just "forgot" to register the sale in the system - or will the system know which dealer (or maybe distributer) the saw went to anyway?

 

[SawTroll]

Back to Belgium

Found this on the Blount site: http://www.kox.eu/

None of it is in English: maybe one of our multi-lingual members can help us out. The photos of the Kox branded chain and Oregon branded chain look very similar. Maybe this is where the Belgian chain is coming from? Or is Kox made in Germany?

Also, their European Headquarters is located in Belgium:
BLOUNT EUROPE, S.A.
European Headquarters:
Rue Emile Francqui, 5
B 1435 Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium
www.oregonchain.eu

Philbert

The chain surely looks very close to Oregon, but not 100% the same. I don't know where it is made, but I suspect that at least it isn't made at the same production line.

If my memory works (from the days I used to post in German chainsaw forums), KOX is (was) supposed to be a "budget" brand, so I guess their stuff can be made anywhere?

Of course things may have changed since 2006 or so.....

 

[sawfun]

I have spoken with several Oregon employees in Milwaukie Oregon and they said most of the chain made at that location is Carlton. They had the fear that the Oregon location was focused on becoming a corporate headquarters and moving the manufacturing overseas.

Interestingly enough I heard a recent story by a guy that was restoring an old saw. He went to order three bearings and was offered Japenese Suburu made or Domestic, meaning US, made. The Japenese were good quality and around $6 each. The domestic were supposed to be US and $22. Since it was an old American saw he decided on domestic even though the Japenese bearings would have been fine. When the domestics came in they were from Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. The box was from China. He declined to purchase these and the parts folks answer was that the bearing company was a US company. Clueless, freaking clueless parts folks there.

 

[MCW]

Or maybe the dealer just "forgot" to register the sale in the system - or will the system know which dealer (or maybe distributer) the saw went to anyway?

The system definitely knows which dealer got a particular saw.

 

[Pud]

Yeah it's crap for sure. Apparently Husqvarna are going to make their own chain soon and it won't be rebranded Oregon. Haven't heard much for a while but it may even be on the market already - not sure. It was being field tested a couple of years ago.

The west Australia rep reckons it will be available mid next year and they are gonna be making there own bars in Sweden in the same factory

 

[SawTroll]

The west Australia rep reckons it will be available mid next year and they are gonna be making there own bars in Sweden in the same factory

Well, they already have a bar factory that make a lot of the bars, in Norway.

 

[Pud]

The bar on my 540 was made in Norway , I dunno if I got a dud one but it split the whole length of the bar were it's laminated together , it was a whisker my fault probably but I've never had it happen before loved the silver paint but!!

 

[Little Al]

• The rolls of Oregon chain that we have used over the last 8 or so years have the the packaging marked "translated " fabricated in Belgium. Kox as far as I understand is a company marketing garden & other related equipment under their own label so they possibly source their products from different companys under their own label . The Kox chain is stamped with different #"s & the quality is not as good as Oregon ( not the ones I"ve used)which bears out Sawtolls take on it. Don"t know where it is manufactured