Farmertec Holzfforma G660 Improving?

[Dee Will]

In the past I have purchased a total of three different G660 powerhead (blue thunder) Units. Here I'm giving a review and opening a discussion to help people find solutions to issues that the non existent customer service for farmertec cannot provide. First saw I ever bought was a few years ago and it required much tweaking before I could take it into the woods. Fast forward a year I bought an extra powerhead and never needed it until this year. Fired it up and ran it for a few hours and it shut off. Engine blew. Tried and failed miserably to get any assistance from farmertec. Sent an email and got a generic non reply back several days later. Because the Amazon warranty was expired I took a chance and ordered one more. And this one I just got has been amazing. I'm running a 25" Stihl with a half skip chain and running through maples like nothing. I'm clearing 3 acres I recently purchased to develop for my families homestead.

It looks as tho Farmertec quality issues are either hit and miss or they are improving. I'm running 40:1 oil ratio and this saw has ran like a true 660 since I've taken it out of the box. No tuning needed and it fires right up no matter how cold it is. $350 is way better than $1350, but that's my opinion.


And now I have a nice parts saw if anything breaks on it

My opinion is it's a good saw for the price. What about you guys?

 

[Mad Professor]

I bought a 066 in the 1990s for milling. It still runs fine with original internals.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

My choice would be to buy a used Stihl 660 (they're not rare) and fix it up. Prefer to not deal with people who won't help if I have a problem with their product.

 

[cookies]

Sounds like you purchased 3 of them for over 1,000 , for about 1500 you could have purchased the real deal and run it for 10 years without failure. I see no win buying junk over and over thinking you saved a buck. Spending my time constantly in fear its going to fail or spending my precious time tearing things apart waiting a week for parts(more money) when it should be making me money.

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

It's the exact same thing as buying anything at Harbor Freight. Total crapshoot as to whether it runs as good as a top brand for years or dies within a week. The one thing to be said for the clones compared to HF products is HF products generally have no available parts, at least the clones are literal clones and can use OEM parts. I have no argument with going cheap as a consumer if it's not your livelihood. But comparing clones to Husky/Stihl is apples and oranges - one is a pro saw and the other is a consumer saw masquerading as a pro saw. Good value as a pro saw? No. Good value as a consumer saw? Often yes. As an investment that holds value? No.

 

[Mad3400]

I run my higher end saws 90% of the time, but I got one of those G660s that's strictly for Below grade Stumping, Flood damage or any nasty job, that I don't want to unnecessarily risk a $1,500-2,500+ saw, unless I have to.

I've ran some hard hours on few Holzfforma powerheads out of the box and haven't had any issues other than the clutch springs on the G660.

Mad3400

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

Tbh, most saws become hybrids over time - all but the purists end up putting some AM parts in their top brand pro saws, and some top brand OEM parts go into the clones to fix their weak spots. But I like starting from a position of quality and diminishing a bit rather than vice versa. Each to their own. Nothing to say consumer grade saws can't work hard and well for a long time. My twenty year old 455 Rancher's are virtually indestructible. But I think in these endless comparisons/discussions of clones vs expensive OEM saws, the point that is missed is one's a pro saw and one's a consumer saw. It may be a clone of a pro saw, but it was manufactured with consumer grade (or often less) quality control and components.

 

[spuldup]

Curious why you didn't fix the first one?

Also life pro tip: if the return window is still open on the 3rd saw, just return "that saw" with the 2nd in the box.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

It looks as tho Farmertec quality issues are either hit and miss or they are improving.

Part of the issue you've experienced is the mentality in China: chabuduo (it's good enough). What if you went through six saws and they're all junk, but the seventh and eighth are going to be pretty darn good? Is that good enough?

There are standard steel grades, and Chinese steel grades that approximate actual steel grades but are "good enough." STIHL/Husqvarna plastic is very well engineered, Jinhua Farmertec Import & Export Co. Ltd. plastic is flimsy and brittle by comparison. You get what you pay for, which isn't necessarily bad dependent on the use.

STIHL/Husqvarna/ECHO make solid saws that are pretty miserly on fuel, light weight, and reliable. That reliability and brand establishment costs money, and the saws aren't "cheap" but are "reasonable" for the quality.

Jinhua Farmertec apparently gets parts from "whomever" has them cheap at the time, and generally they're mostly reliable. The carb might require frequent tweaking and dropping the saw might break a cover, but replacements are cheap. There are companies that own a fleet of blue saws and have a full-time repair guy to keep them running, they feel it's profitable to run that way.

It really comes down to how valuable your time is and how important the job is. If you're planning on doing a job and your saw goes down 4 times setting you 2 months behind schedule due to parts replacement, does it matter to you? Then again that third saw you bought might run great for years, that's the gamble you take.

I think for the money, you have to realize you're probably going to have to shotgun some parts you may or may not have on hand into Blue Saw #3 to keep it running, costing you at minimum time and possibly more money, which you might be fine with. Given the size of the job you have other people might buy one saw (maybe used) and sell it when they're done with the job, or maybe move on to another job.

I don't know that Chinese saws make sense financially. They mostly work, at least for a reasonable length of time, so for a small job you've a small investment. A name-brand saw has a much higher probability of avoiding issues and can be sold to recoup most of the investment, so does either saw put you further ahead? If your time is worth something, a name-brand saw seems to make more sense than a clone, but if you like spending time fixing saws, then maybe the blew ones are just fine.

 

[singinwoodwackr]

It's the exact same thing as buying anything at Harbor Freight. Total crapshoot as to whether it runs as good as a top brand for years or dies within a week. The one thing to be said for the clones compared to HF products is HF products generally have no available parts, at least the clones are literal clones and can use OEM parts. It mostly comes down to if you're a pro or a consumer - professionals buy professional brands. Consumers buy consumer brands because they don't depend on it making them money every day and can live with them breaking. I have no argument with going cheap as a consumer if it's not your livelihood. But comparing clones to the OEM's is apples and oranges - one is a pro saw and the other is a consumer saw masquerading as a pro saw. Good value as a pro saw? No. Good value as a consumer saw? Often yes. As an investment that holds value? Absolutely not. I know they have an allure as good value to some chainsaw mod/builder guys who know the stock issues and upgrade them with OEM parts, but even those guys will tell you the piston/cylinder quality control is all over the place, and only maybe 1 in 3 is acceptable out of the box.

At least HF has a great return policy.

 

[huskihl]

Not worth it when there are near mint ported 660s available for $1100

 

[thompsoncustom]

The good news is that a long block replacement to get your 660 going again is only about a 120 bucks on amazon. So to fix saws 1 and 2 you will still be under the $1350 total price and have 3 running saws.

 

[JoshNY]

I've toyed with the Farmertec and Holzfforma stuff a bit.
They have definitely made improvements on their products over the years.
I bought a Ms440 parts kit from them in 2019 and built the saw over the winter. I've used it from 2020 to present cutting firewood. It did have a few minor issues. The include carburetor couldn't be tuned to run right but a different Amazon carb worked fine. The recoil failed after a year of use.
All in all I'm happy with it for what I've got invested in it.
I just ordered a Holzfforma 372xp pre built saw, was on sale for $89 plus $60 shipping. I've never had a husky clone so I thought this would be fun to have and try out.
I would definitely say you are not getting Stihl or Husky quality, but I'd take one of these over a plastic Poulan or cheap homeowner grade stuff.
Great for firewood saws or milling, if I was a professional cutter, I'd probably spend the money on the real deal.
They are definitely a better saw than they were 4 or 5 years ago!

 

[GeneralKayoss]

I picked up one of the new G660 Pro saws about a month ago. I've put a couple gallons of gas through it milling and haven't had a single issue, runs like a scolded dog!

 

[singinwoodwackr]

I picked up one of the new G660 Pro saws about a month ago. I've put a couple gallons of gas through it milling and haven't had a single issue, runs like a scolded dog!

Hope you are using 32:1 mix…

 

[GeneralKayoss]

Hope you are using 32:1 mix…

I broke it in for the first few tanks at 25:1. The last gallon or so I ran at 40:1, but I think I'm going to go with a bit more oil from now on just to be safe.

 

[singinwoodwackr]

I broke it in for the first few tanks at 25:1. The last gallon or so I ran at 40:1, but I think I'm going to go with a bit more oil from now on just to be safe.

I’m rebuilding one…guy used 50:1, milling, 36”…It didn’t end well

Thread 'Ah, clone quality control, lol'
https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/ah-clone-quality-control-lol.372421/

 

[thompsoncustom]

ya you should be using 32:1 with a real stihl or a clone saw milling the brand doesn't matter there its the heat, also get that muffler as open as you can take it will really help cut down on holding the heat.

seen once where a milling guy brazed a female pipe fitting in his muffler than when milling he could add a long pipe to get the sound and heat out of his face.

 

[GeneralKayoss]

ya you should be using 32:1 with a real stihl or a clone saw milling the brand doesn't matter there its the heat, also get that muffler as open as you can take it will really help cut down on holding the heat.

seen once where a milling guy brazed a female pipe fitting in his muffler than when milling he could add a long pipe to get the sound and heat out of his face.

Yeah the more I read the more I'm wanting to go 32:1 or even 25:1

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

Yeah the more I read the more I'm wanting to go 32:1 or even 25:1

I did 40 in all of them, but I dont mill. Local that mills with 2 G660 and G888 I think he said he does 32:1.

VPracing oil does a heck of a coating even at 40:1 in all of them.