Makita has nearly zero brand recognition as it pertains to OPE.Absolutely NOT! Why should they pay for a multimillion dollar brand recognition sheme when they can get the same for free!
Sorry a little late for your question, but to make it quick, NO Stihl and Husqvarna are the same dominent players here(1.Stihl and 2. Husqvarna), as far as I oversee it, in the german speaking Europe.
Since Solo was sold to Alko no one that I am aware of has seen new developments, although there are numerous rumors out there.
Dolmar is over here THE brand with by far the highest price/value. In the german forums I frequent Dolmar is about always one of the number one recomended brand for the average firewood guy. So slowly but surely I believe that something is going to change. As far as the distrubution network, it is the same as in the US. Everything is slowly but consistently being changed over to Makita. For me, I couldn't care less. Actually I prefer having Makita headquaters Austria in my town. Make's getting spare parts much easier...
Echo, Efco or Hitachi are almost non existent for the average user, pretty much the same as in the US. Echo doesn't have the 490 or 590 models here available for a similar price point as in the US so no chance in making a dent in the market. For Efco / Oleo Mac I can get everything I need across the boarder or from dealers I know from a german forum without any problem. Hitachi / Tanaka also has their headquaters in my hometown, so again not anything to worry about...
What has showing of problems to do with being a fan boy? With this argumentation it should be clear that your constant critisicm, after your negativ experience of not being able to aquire the correct spare part, obviously shows you are a fan boy of some other brand...
Not sure but do you believe that the cat might have something to do with it? Saws running under high load should heat up the cat pretty much. No idea if that heat has any impact on the rest of the saw.
7
What makes it a fan boy post is we are talking about Dolmar and the person in question brings up Stihl to deflect criticism.