Dolmar 5100 Cylinder Problem

[windthrown]

Maybe...probably..but that last line defines the "toe hold" of a new market.

And...

What percentage of potential dealers pass thru here and what percentage of prospective buyers do research online and will find this? What percentage of those potential "advocates" who hawk these type of boards pass thru here?

If I'm Dolmar, I certainly hope your premis is right..this is of little impact. Note that I have seen similar threads at the other big Forestry oriented site as well.

Probably still less than 1/2 of one percent. I had saws, trimmers and most of my tree falling stuff before I came here. I was already a StihlHead. I developed a real bad case of 361 feaver since joining AS though. Real bad CAD too. Also, even knowing about Dolmar from this site has not helped me find any locally. I have very actively looked for the 350, 420, 5100s, and 7900 saws in the PNW. Impossible to find one on any shelf from the Vancouver, WA to Grants Pass, OR.

Makita does indeed give Dolmar a hold on the market. But I bet that 99% of Makita chainsaw renters at Home Depot do not know what DCS stands for on a Makita saw. Nor do they care. I find it funny that HD will rent Makita DCS saws and sell them used, but not new. So they are also an edge away from being big box store sold. They sell Poulan too, and that is Husky's low end. Or is Husky the high end of Poulan? I am not sure. Husky seems to have found a big box store and dedicated store sales ballance. Service availability for them is light compared to Stihl though. But there are several Husky stores to be found here. Gobs of Stihl stores. Again, narray a Dolmar shingle to be seen.

 

[windthrown]

Ewwwwwwwwww that was low so I'll have to raise you one. If Dolmar could have got in JD's doors they may have sold enuff to pay Stihl's electric bill,LOL

( i couldn't resist,haha)

A Borat HIGH FIVE for you Tommy!

 

[Termite]

I have three good, stocking Dolmar dealers within 50miles of me. One good Husky dealer. Around here all of the Stihl dealers would rather sell tractors.

 

[weimedog]

Probably still less than 1/2 of one percent. I had saws, trimmers and most of my tree falling stuff before I came here. I was already a StihlHead. I developed a real bad case of 361 feaver since joining AS though. Real bad CAD too. Also, even knowing about Dolmar from this site has not helped me find any locally. I have very actively looked for the 350, 420, 5100s, and 7900 saws in the PNW. Impossible to find one on any shelf from the Vancouver, WA to Grants Pass, OR.

Makita does indeed give Dolmar a hold on the market. But I bet that 99% of Makita chainsaw renters at Home Depot do not know what DCS stands for on a Makita saw. Nor do they care. I find it funny that HD will rent Makita DCS saws and sell them used, but not new. So they are also an edge away from being big box store sold. They sell Poulan too, and that is Husky's low end. Or is Husky the high end of Poulan? I am not sure. Husky seems to have found a big box store and dedicated store sales ballance. Service availability for them is light compared to Stihl though. But there are several Husky stores to be found here. Gobs of Stihl stores. Again, narray a Dolmar shingle to be seen.

I guess if the PNW or at least the area you are working represent the entire saw world..then I guess you would be a good reference point.

I happen to have three Dolmar dealers within 50 miles, two within 20. So I guess the PNW doesn't represent the entire world! Maybe your sample is..local..not global. Not saying Dolmar is a power player..just saying you can speak for your area of the country, not the entire saw world.

So....how many "Pro Saws" do you think are sold per year..in the Western world?

How many members are there on this site alone? I also wonder how many guests breeze through without signing up.,,my bet is many time more than the actual signed members.

I think you underestimate the impact of a place such as this and those like them. These place have emense exposure.

 

[windthrown]

Well, from the feedback that I have gotten (and I have gotten a lot), the PNW is not the only region severly lacking when it comes to Dolmar dealers. I think that your having several Dolmar dealers that choose to you is a rarity. Do you think that your situation represents the entire world? New York and Indiana and Wisconsin seem to be exceptions to this. Also from the amout of Dolmars that people have gotten through the mail here on AS, one would conclude that there is a gap in availability. Also, there is the Dolmar distributor for the entire PNW region and Alaska not more than 20 miles from me here. You would think with that being the case, one could get a larger or newer model Dolmar saw in this metro area bigger than a PS 341. But it just ain't so.

 

[04ultra]

Windthorp ..


I have a Solo dealer really close to me ...

Besides the Solos dealer cost is more than a 7900 sells for ......I guess Im not ordering them ....



.

 

[weimedog]

My point is the all sections of the world have access to this forum (Global Impact)..not just the PNW or CNY (regional). I also understand a dealers world is...local unless he does what? Uses the internet. My old world (Motorcycle) had another forum..magazines...that reached both endusers and industry types. There really isn't one for this world..Just a few industry specific publications.

Since Dolmar is a small company relative to the rest of the world...this type of forum can make an impact.

Thats my point. Simple as that. No more. No less. I completely reject the notion that what happened on these forums makes no difference.

 

[04ultra]

Solo? :monkey:

I heard that Jabba the Hut was looking for him. :spam:

Ya ......Out of the 10 ...681 sold in the USA Ive read about 2 with bad cranks .......Thats another reason Im not ordering any ...

 

[windthrown]

Windthorp ..


I have a Solo dealer really close to me ...

Besides the Solos dealer cost is more than a 7900 sells for ......I guess Im not ordering them ....

.

Solo? :monkey:

I heard that Jabba the Hut was looking for him. :spam:

Maybe do a Geico type ad at the Dolmar shop?

That's the money you could be saving with Dolmar!

 

[THALL10326]

I guess if the PNW or at least the area you are working represent the entire saw world..then I guess you would be a good reference point.

I happen to have three Dolmar dealers within 50 miles, two within 20. So I guess the PNW doesn't represent the entire world! Maybe your sample is..local..not global. Not saying Dolmar is a power player..just saying you can speak for your area of the country, not the entire saw world.

So....how many "Pro Saws" do you think are sold per year..in the Western world?

How many members are there on this site alone? I also wonder how many guests breeze through without signing up.,,my bet is many time more than the actual signed members.

I think you underestimate the impact of a place such as this and those like them. These place have emense exposure.

You are dead wrong. Do you really think the average buyer that just wants a saw is going to come here and read all this BS, no way. The hardcore saw junkies on this site is so small compared to the full buying public its a joke. Pro saws aren't the big sellers in the USA, the homeowner saws are by a huge margin. If saw companies had to rely on pro saw sales alone they would all be out of business. The true pros that use saws for a living in the USA market have cut the market to two brands, Stihl and Husky. Dolmar isn't even considered a player by the two big boys, thats a fact.

You say you know marketing. You have to know to the average buyer of chainsaws, the biggest market in the USA, could care less about chainsaws or this site. They want a saw, not a bunch hardcore saw junkies telling them what to buy. The biggest part of the buying saw market in the USA , the homeowner market, consider saw junkies ignorant for thier love of chainsaws, they don't understand it and think its stupid for a man to own 20 saws. The manufactures know this as well. This is the last place a average saw buyer is going to come for saw info.

To prove my point do you see anyone from Dolmar coming in here to chim in on this thread, no. I've never seen anyone from Husky come in when a bad thread is about their saws and I have never seen anyone from Stihl come in when a bad thread is going on about their saws. They could all care less about the junkie saw crowd. In fact these companies despise the kinda non-sense that takes place on these sites. Who's lying, who's telling the truth, who's bias, who's not, nothing more than a AOL chatroom where you can say anything. People aren't stupid, they know what takes place on these forums are 90% bias BS. The saw manufactures know it too.

You are correct however that this site is seen around the world but not by the majority of the buying public but mostly by saw junkies, the tiny small crowd in the big world of chainsaw buyers..

 

[THALL10326]

Ya ......Out of the 10 ...681 sold in the USA Ive read about 2 with bad cranks .......Thats another reason Im not ordering any ...

What are you doing on the site, your suppose to be "upstairs busy",LOL

 

[mrpotatohead]

If I wanted a Dolmar, and in some ways I do, I personally wouldn't let the input I found here influence my decision. Cause 50 saws, not 51, 2, 3, or 40-something, an even 50 saws have scored cylinders. Also what has caused this? If there were 50 out of 50 bad saws from a dealer, even a lousy distributor would be all over the situation trying to find an answer as to why this many saws are failing. If they are ignoring the problem, then I could only expect they'd be going out of business soon.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling anyone a liar, but for a global company to go on ignoring a problem of this caliber can be a bit risky. I personally would start asking the dealer what type of oil they are selling their customers, and get some some for myself for testing.

 

[THALL10326]

If I wanted a Dolmar, and in some ways I do, I personally wouldn't let the input I found here influence my decision. Cause 50 saws, not 51, 2, 3, or 40-something, an even 50 saws have scored cylinders. Also what has caused this? If there were 50 out of 50 bad saws from a dealer, even a lousy distributor would be all over the situation trying to find an answer as to why this many saws are failing. If they are ignoring the problem, then I could only expect they'd be going out of business soon.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling anyone a liar, but for a global company to go on ignoring a problem of this caliber can be a bit risky. I personally would start asking the dealer what type of oil they are selling their customers, and get some some for myself for testing.

Whats really odd is Dolmar sold over 550,000 units last year. 50 of them burnt up at one dealer. If I called Stihl and said I got 50 fried saws here they would do two things. They would compare my failure rate with all their other dealers who aren't reporting the same failures. They would then pay me a visit, mostly likely to load up their product for lying my azz off to them....

 

[funky sawman]

Like you said Im up here in sawpoint IDAHO "the burmudia triangle for saws"
The oil we use is dolmar syn and husky semi syn.

 

[funky sawman]

Whats really odd is Dolmar sold over 550,000 units last year. 50 of them burnt up at one dealer. If I called Stihl and said I got 50 fried saws here they would do two things. They would compare my failure rate with all their other dealers who aren't reporting the same failures. They would then pay me a visit, mostly likely to load up their product for lying my azz off to them....

Paint coming off crankcases of never ran saws is NOT my fault. I can go into a new dolmar and chip the paint away with my fingernail NO kidding.

 

[Freudor]

I guess if the PNW or at least the area you are working represent the entire saw world..then I guess you would be a good reference point.

I happen to have three Dolmar dealers within 50 miles, two within 20. So I guess the PNW doesn't represent the entire world! Maybe your sample is..local..not global. Not saying Dolmar is a power player..just saying you can speak for your area of the country, not the entire saw world.

So....how many "Pro Saws" do you think are sold per year..in the Western world?

How many members are there on this site alone? I also wonder how many guests breeze through without signing up.,,my bet is many time more than the actual signed members.

I think you underestimate the impact of a place such as this and those like them. These place have emense exposure.

It's kind of ironic that I would have bought a Dolmar 5100, over my Husky 353, had I found this site a few months ago. I am glad now that I got that little 353. The thing is great, by far the best saw for the size I have ever seen and best combination of features at it's weight, price and performance.

Had a little buyers remorse before reading this thread. Not any more.

 

[THALL10326]

Paint coming off crankcases of never ran saws is NOT my fault. I can go into a new dolmar and chip the paint away with my fingernail NO kidding.

Yes I recall you saying that. I gotta ask you right out. When you had these 50 failures did Dolmar send anyone to your shop to see these failures??

 

[funky sawman]

Yes I recall you saying that. I gotta ask you right out. When you had these 50 failures did Dolmar send anyone to your shop to see these failures??

I asked them to come to my shop and all the distributer said is "We can't afford that" Then I begged them for help but mag power just kept saying "nobody else is having these problems"
Then mag power said we would be the offical test site in the PNW for testing new product, so I was all excited but that never went through. I asked for some special crank tools but never got them. Mag power kept saying, fix the customers saw or give them a new one. BUT the warranty claims still havent been paid for 6 months later after being approved by mag power. The saws that had paint coming off the crankcase got sent back to dolmar (terry green) but they swear it's the ethonal causing the paint to chip!!! I constantly test our and our customers gas for ethonal but never found more than 10%. I would love to get closure with the problems that dolmar has , I already know it's not my improper diagnoses as their is more than I in our shop that has many years of 2 stroke mechanics under the belt. Willy the senior mechanic, cut timber for 40 years and been working on saws for 50 years.

 

[THALL10326]

I asked them to come to my shop and all the distributer said is "We can't afford that" Then I begged them for help but mag power just kept saying "nobody else is having these problems"
Then mag power said we would be the offical test site in the PNW for testing new product, so I was all excited but that never went through. I asked for some special crank tools but never got them. Mag power kept saying, fix the customers saw or give them a new one. BUT the warranty claims still havent been paid for 6 months later after being approved by mag power. The saws that had paint coming off the crankcase got sent back to dolmar (terry green) but they swear it's the ethonal causing the paint to chip!!! I constantly test our and our customers gas for ethonal but never found more than 10%. I would love to get closure with the problems that dolmar has , I already know it's not my improper diagnoses as their is more than I in our shop that has many years of 2 stroke mechanics under the belt. Willy the senior mechanic, cut timber for 40 years and been working on saws for 50 years.

Well I gotta tell ya Funky thats not the industry standard by a long shot. At Stihl they have a simple system. If I ordered 20 361's and reported 5 failures on them Stihl would be at my door to see those saws. Why, I've reported more than a 10% failure rate. Any rate over 10% will have the boys coming to visit because thats 9.3% more than the average across the board. When one dealer is reporting alot of failures and others aren't on the same product Stihl wants to know what the hell is going on. As for Dolmar I don't know what system they use but from what your saying they have no system at all and thats very very odd.

When the new BR backpack blowers first came out from Stihl dealers started reporting valve problems. They were calling in way above 10% failures on the units they had bought. The thing was it wasn't just one dealer, it was many many dealers all over the country. Stihl sent their own tech staff to go see these blowers and replace valves themselves on site. The dealers that didn't sell many were notified of the problem and to be aware of whats going on. Thats how issues are supposed to be handled by the distributors..

 

[Metals406]

I asked them to come to my shop and all the distributer said is "We can't afford that" Then I begged them for help but mag power just kept saying "nobody else is having these problems"
Then mag power said we would be the offical test site in the PNW for testing new product, so I was all excited but that never went through. I asked for some special crank tools but never got them. Mag power kept saying, fix the customers saw or give them a new one. BUT the warranty claims still havent been paid for 6 months later after being approved by mag power. The saws that had paint coming off the crankcase got sent back to dolmar (terry green) but they swear it's the ethonal causing the paint to chip!!! I constantly test our and our customers gas for ethonal but never found more than 10%. I would love to get closure with the problems that dolmar has , I already know it's not my improper diagnoses as their is more than I in our shop that has many years of 2 stroke mechanics under the belt. Willy the senior mechanic, cut timber for 40 years and been working on saws for 50 years.

That sounds about par... I get the impression that both Mag Power and the distributer here, don't make a lot of money dealing with Dolmar. So what does that do? They don't support the dealers the way they should, they don't focus on problems the way they should... I even have doubts they report back problems to Dolmar Corp the way they should. The answer you were given to your problem was "stop selling the 5100's", instead of "We'll get Dolmar Corp on this right away, testing new batches for the paint problem, using Ethanol fuel." A local repair shop here is having Ethanol fuel issues with the black tanks on Honda equipment... The fuel is eating the inside of the tanks, and it's plugging the fuel system up.

Well I gotta tell ya Funky thats not the industry standard by a long shot. At Stihl they have a simple system. If I ordered 20 361's and reported 5 failures on them Stihl would be at my door to see those saws. Why, I've reported more than a 10% failure rate. Any rate over 10% will have the boys coming to visit because thats 9.3% more than the average across the board. When one dealer is reporting alot of failures and others aren't on the same product Stihl wants to know what the hell is going on. As for Dolmar I don't know what system they use but from what your saying they have no system at all and thats very very odd.

When the new BR backpack blowers first came out from Stihl dealers started reporting valve problems. They were calling in way above 10% failures on the units they had bought. The thing was it wasn't just one dealer, it was many many dealers all over the country. Stihl sent their own tech staff to go see these blowers and replace valves themselves on site. The dealers that didn't sell many were notified of the problem and to be aware of whats going on. Thats how issues are supposed to be handled by the distributors..

Stihl is definitely working hard to treat their dealers better than Dolmar... But Stihl makes more money in the US than Dolmar... A little catch 22.

I think if Dolmar spent the kind of money on advertising that Stihl does, dealer support improvements would follow.

Dolmar Timbersports competitions, magazine advertisements, more print as a whole... If they got the word out better, they would get more market share.