Do the Loggers and other pros use Stihl or Husky in your area?

[indiansprings]

15 to 20 logging operations in our area, five or six tree services, the United States largest buyer and mill yard of walnut is located about 15 miles away. All but one small one man operation run Stihl, mainly 044.460's and 660's, the majority of the tree trimmers are running 200T's a couple are running 192's to save money. It's interesting that the big chinese owned walnut operation started out with Husky 390's, they switched to 100% Stihl, they said the bottom ends wouldn't hold together in the 390's. They are running all 441's today, they must run 12-15 of them, claim no issues since they switched.
The only Huskies you see around here are the ones sold at Lowe's. The local Husky dealer is a joke, want a discontinued husky , they got it, still have original 372xp's, in the 70cc class they have the 372xp.372xt, all versions of he 576,570,365 I don't know how a customer makes up their mind on which one to choose they have some long haired kid who wouldn't know a 455 from a 372, price is always msrp, service area just plain sucks, they sell both Husky and Stihl, they push Stihl they say it's about 11-1 Stihl. I think a well run, competitive Husky shop could make it in the area if they focused on service and the customers like Spike and TK, the quality in there product is there, just no decent dealer support in our area. You can't go 15 mile in any direction and not find a Stihl dealer and most of them here are good with all the logging activity. Most give the commercial guys healthy discounts. A newer Dolmar is rarer than hen's teeth , you have to drive up to Republic fifty miles away to start finding a little niche of them.
Stihl just rules our area, most think Husky is that stuff they sell at Lowes.

 

[komatsuvarna]

Probably about 60/40 here. I know of people that run both, like logging said, what ever will run and make a dollar. Probably a few more stihls out there than huskys. Not long ago it was about 90% stihl.

 

[Cliff R]

Mostly Stihl here. There never has been a dedicated Husqvarna dealer in town, at least one that lasted much longer than it took me to type this. Over the years just a few "mom and pop" operations out of an attached garage or walk out basement.

Just North of Fredericktown there is an Amish owned Husqvarna dealer. They don't have electricity, and actually work in the back with candle power or a small flashlight. About 2 years ago they opened up a "modern" shop, new construction, really nice building, but still no electrical power.

The only other Husqvarna "dealer" that I know of is a converted Amish guy working out of an attached garage on the side of his house. He's so far out in the "sticks", you can't get there from here!

Stihl dealers are a common as house flies these days, two of them are side by side in Mount Vernon out on Harcourt Road, one at John Deere, and two doors down at Kabota. There's another Stihl shop on State Route 13 just North of town, one on State Route 13 about 10 miles South of town, and an Amish owned set-up about 7 miles East of town. PLENTY of places to buy a Stihl saw or get it worked on, so they have most of the market around here these days.....Cliff

 

[w8ye]

Mostly Stihl here. There never has been a dedicated Husqvarna dealer in town, at least one that lasted much longer than it took me to type this. Over the years just a few "mom and pop" operations out of an attached garage or walk out basement.

Just North of Fredericktown there is an Amish owned Husqvarna dealer. They don't have electricity, and actually work in the back with candle power or a small flashlight. About 2 years ago they opened up a "modern" shop, new construction, really nice building, but still no electrical power.

The only other Husqvarna "dealer" that I know of is a converted Amish guy working out of an attached garage on the side of his house. He's so far out in the "sticks", you can't get there from here!

Stihl dealers are a common as house flies these days, two of them are side by side in Mount Vernon out on Harcourt Road, one at John Deere, and two doors down at Kabota. There's another Stihl shop on State Route 13 just North of town, one on State Route 13 about 10 miles South of town, and an Amish owned set-up about 7 miles East of town. PLENTY of places to buy a Stihl saw or get it worked on, so they have most of the market around here these days.....Cliff

I live just north of Cliff and it is the same around here with a Stihl dealer on every corner. There's a nice Husky dealer in Lexington with a outlet in Mansfield. When you see some commercial entity using a chainsaw, you see Stihl. The biggest most dedicated and authoritative Stihl dealer in this area is in Ashland, OH. There's a nice Dolmar/Echo dealer near Bucyrus.

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

In our area there are very few production cutting outfits

There are two different types of cutters guys cutting for firewood sales, and cutting for
cabinet/ furniture making.

Most of the Amish and Mennonites which are a majority of the loggers are running Stihl's
460's with 20" bars, and 660's with 24" bars is the usual setup.

A few guys run 372's and 390's most they're in a minority.

And from what I've talked to guys many don't like Huskies because the AV gets torn out
too easy when they horse on them.

This is mainly due to the local dealer network that Stihl has, and the lack that Husqvarna
has.

 

[mt.stalker]

I'm guessing it's close to 50/50 here . The local Stihl dealer gave them the boot when Ace Hardware started selling Stihl , 300ft down the street from his shop !!! Now he sells Dolmar . There is a good Husky dealer in town , business passed from dad/son , open for over 30 yrs. I'm seeing more Husky's on pickups all the time .

 

[spike60]

Around here the pro saw market is just about all Husky. There's maybe a handful of loggers running Stihl. The tree service guys are all Husky as well, but you'll sometimes find a 200T in their arsonal. The few Stihls that wander into my shop are usually the lower priced homeowner models.

My shop is part of the reason in the immediate area, and even though we're good at what we do, it's not too hard to look good vs the local competition. Lot's of clowns; both Husky and Stihl.

But Husky's dominance in this region goes way beyond my reach. Drive a couple hours away and it's the same story. They have become the stronger brand up this way. There are exceptions, as an hour southeast of me is a good Stihl shop that caters to the pro market and he does very well. And there's the key: making the extra effort necessary to serve the pro customer. It's really not that hard to do. Stock the right parts and move pro guys up to the front of the service line. Pretty simple right? On the bench though, you really gotta know the nuances of each model. You have to read the service bulletins and be aware of all the changes and updates. A simple example: Guy asks for a 346 air filter. You have to then ask whether he has the early twist on or the new style with the clip. Guys don't like being sent out the door with the wrong parts.

One thing I do when a guy brings in a saw is ask him, "when ya need it?" In a way, it's almost BS because we always get guys going in a pinch. But if he says he's gotta have it quick and I respond with come back in the afternoon or the next morning, he feels that we've made an extra effort to take care of him. It's usually not as urgent with most of the tree service companies, since they usually have a lot of saws. And the ones that are a little farther away might bring me a bunch of banged up saws and "gravity challenged" 346's and 334T's that mostly need body work. Get them all back together in a week and the guys are happy.

Another thing I do is tell guys that they can bring their saw back at any time to be tached/adjusted and it's always free. I pretty much insist that they do this with new saws so I can reset them after break in. 99% of the time, they'll spend more $ in the store than whatever nominal fee you might charge them for an adjustment.

On the homeowner side, if you get everything done "by the weekend" so they can work on their firewood, you've pretty much got it all covered. There are times though when I'll notice on a thursday afternoon or friday morning that I have a pile of weekend promises that I have to jump on. :biggrin:

Stihl's problem, (actually a strength), is that they are a stronger "full line" handheld brand than Husky. IE, Stihl is stronger in the non-saw handheld categories than Husky is. This translates into the fact that Stihl is more likely to be found in the full line lawn and garden shops with a weak saw focus, where Husky is more likely to be found in a shop with a very strong saw focus, hence Husky's preference to the pro user.

 

[o8f150]

98% around here is poulan wild things,,, sorry i couldn't resist:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[WidowMaker1]

I've herd its 100% Baurm-Ag pro saws in china ...there getting right into the Bamboo logging :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[miking]

Mostly stihl but also a handful of echos on tree service and lawn care rigs. Haven't seen a husky or a dolmar yet.

 

[CJ1]

To be 100% honest most of the cutting is done by machine around here. When the saws do come out it is about 70% husky and 30% Stihl. I only know of 3 crews that still cut by hand and it is about the ratio that I mentioned. I have a good friend that can't even tell me the saw size he is useing, all that he knows is it is orange!!! I actually know a few guys like that, a saw is just another tool. CJ

 

[huskydude]

I've only met one logger. He ran Jonsereds.

 

[lone wolf]

All the tree services aroud here use Stihl MS200T climbing saws Husky top handle cant compare.

 

[CJ1]

Indian and others made a very good point, CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! We are lucky, we have 2 good Husky/Stihl dealers within 30 miles of us. When I was cutting full time I never even changed a sparkplug in ANY of my saws, thats what the dealer is for. CJ

 

[North Star]

Around here the power company (Hydro One) runs only Stihl. The mining exploration industry is different. You'd have a hard time finding a line cutter or driller that doesn't have Husqvarnas. Just about all the line cutters that I know run 346's. We have 3 Husqvarna dealers & 1 Stihl dealer within a 50km radius. The Stihl dealer has the best service though.

 

[holeycow]

the pros here use Husky, with a very light smattering of Jonsered and a few Stihl.

 

[sunfish]

50/50 here. I use both. 460 and 372. All the mills bout the same. Still some 066/394/5's around. Whatever starts and makes me money.

About the same around here man.

We are lucky to have good Husky and Stihl dealers!

 

[bdaley]

Pretty lucky in my area, I have seen both used predominantly. There's one "pro" Stihl shop about 20 minutes from me and service is very, very good. In another direction about 25 minutes away is another "pro" shop, who does Husky, J-Red, and Dolmar. Both run by current or former loggers. Stihl guy carries entire line, Husky guy carries only 'metal' saws. His service is excellent as well. Depends on preference, reading what some of you guys have to deal with, my area is pretty fortunate to have both.

 

[epicklein22]

Strong presence for stihl around here, but if the pros are close to competent husky dealers, they seem to have a 50/50 split, maybe a lean towards husky.

For tree companies, stihl dominates. I only know of a few companies that run husky.

As for logging, Amish guys mostly run husky/jred. Other loggers tend to grab stihls. Dolmar 7900's are ran by a few crews.

I do tree work and firewood, run just about any brand!

 

[Isna]

70-80% Stihl around here. Husky customer service is so bad in my area. 15 years ago, it was 50/50. At work, we had 1 third huskys 2 years ago. Most died and we have only 4 left (out of a total of 26 saws). With their poor customer service, our huskies spend at least 2-3 months a year at the repair shop. Pretty soon, we will have 100% Stihls. All of our 357 died quickly, many problems on the 372s. Only the 346 seems to last as long as the Stihls. I love running those huskies but they are best for businesses that can afford to get new saws every year.