Explain the price of this saw to me

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newforest

newforest

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Slow, rest day here. Cleaning up the e-devices.

EC082D2C-40F5-43F4-9DED-DE230D0CB8D1.jpeg
Took a screenshot of this one awhile back. The .com in the photo leads to an online store for fire-fighting gear, which explains that it is specially engineered for “Structural Venting and Rescue Operations.”

Fire fighters need serious gear, to be sure. Just kinda wondering what special engineering turns an 80cc saw into a $2800 saw?
 
Any sticker that says "Fire" or "Rescue" automatically doubles the price of the product. Put both stickers on and, well, the sky's the limit. Ever notice how many commercials for household products feature firefighters? "This must be good, firefighters use it."

Ok, all sarcasm aside, the Stihl rescue saw, based on the MS461, is only CDN$100 more than the regular version, and less than half (probably closer to 1/3, considering the currency conversion) than that no-name clone. Your $100 gets you .404 carbide chain, the guard/adjustable depth gauge and a cute little rubber scrench holder on the funky shaped handle (shaped for better balance in awkward positions).

I will say that I have cut many a roof with the Stihl version, and they do go through a lot of things that a chainsaw was never meant to handle. Everything from stone-impregnated flat roofs on steel pans to armoured glass. You might need a new chain after every hole (the carbide teeth tend to chip off), but it will make the hole.

I can't see any possible justification for the clone's exorbitant price compared to the real deal.
 
torch said:
Ok, all sarcasm aside, the Stihl rescue saw, based on the MS461, is only CDN$100 more than the regular version, and less than half (probably closer to 1/3, considering the currency conversion) than that no-name clone. Your $100 gets you .404 carbide chain, the guard/adjustable depth gauge and a cute little rubber scrench holder on the funky shaped handle (shaped for better balance in awkward positions).
Click to expand...
i think its about $700. cdn difference for the ms461rs, not $100. the chain alone is $355.
 
torch said:
Any sticker that says "Fire" or "Rescue" automatically doubles the price of the product. Put both stickers on and, well, the sky's the limit. Ever notice how many commercials for household products feature firefighters? "This must be good, firefighters use it."

Ok, all sarcasm aside, the Stihl rescue saw, based on the MS461, is only CDN$100 more than the regular version, and less than half (probably closer to 1/3, considering the currency conversion) than that no-name clone. Your $100 gets you .404 carbide chain, the guard/adjustable depth gauge and a cute little rubber scrench holder on the funky shaped handle (shaped for better balance in awkward positions).

I will say that I have cut many a roof with the Stihl version, and they do go through a lot of things that a chainsaw was never meant to handle. Everything from stone-impregnated flat roofs on steel pans to armoured glass. You might need a new chain after every hole (the carbide teeth tend to chip off), but it will make the hole.

I can't see any possible justification for the clone's exorbitant price compared to the real deal.
Click to expand...
That’s not a no-name clone, that looks like a Dolmar 7900 chassis to me.
 
Woodslasher said:
That’s not a no-name clone, that looks like a Dolmar 7900 chassis to me.
Click to expand...
Not sure what it's a clone of. Maybe it's house-branded for SuperVac by Dolmar. Or maybe by some Chinese factory. But SuperVac doesn't make engines even for the fans they are known for -- they source them from Honda and Briggs. (battery versions are sourced from DeWalt and Milwalkee, mains powered from Bluffton) I doubt very much that they have started to make chainsaw engines.
 
torch said:
Not sure what it's a clone of. Maybe it's house-branded for SuperVac by Dolmar. Or maybe by some Chinese factory. But SuperVac doesn't make engines even for the fans they are known for -- they source them from Honda and Briggs. (battery versions are sourced from DeWalt and Milwalkee, mains powered from Bluffton) I doubt very much that they have started to make chainsaw engines.
Click to expand...
Dolmar 7900 (without the HD filter, unfortunately):

010-3.jpg


SuperVac:

EC082D2C-40F5-43F4-9DED-DE230D0CB8D1.jpeg
 
MS461 =flush cut handle (reg handle) regular chain saw
MS461"R" =wrap or western handle regular chain saw
MS461"RS" =rescue version for fire use chain saw
kooy has wrong saw listed- the ms461rs is $2000.
it is not $1309. im pretty sure they will change it once someone tries to order it and they realize it.
 

ICS 531741 20in ProFORCE Premium-S Diamond Chain for Cutting Concrete​

That's the $2,000 chain meant to run on a hydraulic concrete chainsaw. What makes that Dolmar worth 2 large is not obvious.
 
I bought several of the carbide chains from the forum when one of the members bought a bunch of fire fighter saws at a local state auction. they make fine stump and root cutting chains let me tell you. I have removed about 4 stumps and all I did was swap the bar and chain, put thinner oil in and opened the oiler all the way and sunk that bar and chain right into the volcanic sand and took out the roots like a champ. They don't have stump grinders over here, you either leave them in or rent a backhoe to dig them out.

not sure how much it will cost to replace them, but I am always on the lookout for more of them as they are handy.
 

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