New chainsaw brand

[Definitive Dave]

These saws are just a reaction to Stihl cutting off Tillotson from the OEM teat after Stihl bought the corporate Zama factories.
Same deal with the franchise Zama factories being willing to make grey market carbs for independent merchants like us.
The Tilly 660 etc are the same as the farmertec model but because they are "assembled" in a country with a better import relationship with the us, they face less regulatory red tape in some markets.
I want to see if they have a nice Tilly carburetor in them or the Hunai Zama clone from China.
Models are picked based on total parts availability for a model and worldwide sales potential.
By having the plastics manufactured in a different color they are committing a lot of cash to that venture without having to remake the wheel.

 

[weimedog]

tell ya one thing, if that 660 copy made it hear and proved to be reliable like a real 660 then stihl may as well just stop producing the 661 for the canadian market. everyone here hates them. i bought one new when i was on a stihl kick. was cool to have a new saw but i sold it before that shift was over to another guy who has actually had decent luck with it compared to most. i hate the handle bar on them and they suck for everything but bucking when compared to the 660.

That kind of gives me mixed feelings to hear. I really enjoy the blended 660 saw I built, its got the 56mm top end on it. Have almost a solid year on it and it runs fine. Had to do a tweak here and there. Now its both reliable and a beast. My thought was those parts I used that were good could certainly be used to refurbish the older 064/066/MS660's and give them another life cycle. Built one from mostly (but not completely) aftermarket parts to prove the point. Didn't take long to realize the potential and knew at some point in time the concept of a complete saw would emerge. The stuff was simple too good and complete not to have that happen. At least this offering doesn't pretend its a Stihl!

 

[weimedog]

These saws are just a reaction to Stihl cutting off Tillotson from the OEM teat after Stihl bought the corporate Zama factories.
Same deal with the franchise Zama factories being willing to make grey market carbs for independent merchants like us.
The Tilly 660 etc are the same as the farmertec model but because they are "assembled" in a country with a better import relationship with the us, they face less regulatory red tape in some markets.
I want to see if they have a nice Tilly carburetor in them or the Hunai Zama clone from China.
Models are picked based on total parts availability for a model and worldwide sales potential.
By having the plastics manufactured in a different color they are committing a lot of cash to that venture without having to remake the wheel.

Makes total sense now...so are those "Tilly" carbs an upgrade??? If so send me a message at some point on exactly the best option.
( BTW using different color plastic doesn't cost much, same tooling & molds & One thing if Tillotson is serious it they need a better Bar & Chain combo then what is in that picture!! )

 

[Jimbo209]

tell ya one thing, if that 660 copy made it hear and proved to be reliable like a real 660 then stihl may as well just stop producing the 661 for the canadian market. everyone here hates them. i bought one new when i was on a stihl kick. was cool to have a new saw but i sold it before that shift was over to another guy who has actually had decent luck with it compared to most. i hate the handle bar on them and they suck for everything but bucking when compared to the 660.

Find the 660's/381 on alibaba fir 250 usd. Willing to ship out containers to you.

Speaking to the Husky Welshpool shop some of the 372 here run lots better with caber rings

Have heard from (MCW??) some of the copy saws need a few OEM bits, AV buffer, rings and the like but all the big stuff should be fine.

I'm going to eventually cobble one with my scrap OEM 066/044 bits, and a few 200ts to go again

 

[Chris-PA]

I've said for years that the big saw manufacturers have a problem, in that they sell a product that can be made by any competent industrial nation. Chainsaws have been commodity items for decades - sure there is design work going on, and some designs are better than others, but for the most part the big players were happy with a decent chunk of market share for a long time. They're living on brand name with big profit margins, and that in turn means they are vulnerable.

The emissions regulations in western regions and the technology to meet it are biggest protection they have, and this is obviously been driving Husqvarna's strategy in recent years. But it's been a big investment, and the regs are not very hard to meet - at the consumer end they can easily be met by modifying the port timing and stuffing a cat muffler on, which means that any of the older Zenoah designs become perfectly fine homeowner saws (they were good designs after all). At the pro level that approach will likely be too much of a performance hit, and while you might be able to sneak some non-emissions saws in on eBay that won't work professionally.

However, if the majors lose a big chunk of the homeowner saw business, that's going to hurt - not just profits but especially in regard to the averaging of emissions (credit) over the product line. Husky can put AT and strato on everything (well they already did with strato), but they can meet the regs and keep the performance. What if you're selling essentially the same thing the Chinese are? All you have then is brand recognition, and if (when) the economy gets obviously bad again and credit gets tight people won't be willing to pay for that.

Someone could bring in an entire line of older saw designs made in China, including high volume homeowner saws with cats (to get the emissions credits over the range) and slightly older pro saw designs. If they were competently made (which isn't a challenge really), how would that be different from say Echo or Dolmar?

 

[Big_Wood]

Find the 660's/381 on alibaba fir 250 usd. Willing to ship out containers to you.

Speaking to the Husky Welshpool shop some of the 372 here run lots better with caber rings

Have heard from (MCW??) some of the copy saws need a few OEM bits, AV buffer, rings and the like but all the big stuff should be fine.

I'm going to eventually cobble one with my scrap OEM 066/044 bits, and a few 200ts to go again

while i said it would be something if they showed up here i run husky so i don't have any interest. i go through a stihl kick every 5 or so years and it's always short lived.

That kind of gives me mixed feelings to hear. I really enjoy the blended 660 saw I built, its got the 56mm top end on it. Have almost a solid year on it and it runs fine. Had to do a tweak here and there. Now its both reliable and a beast. My thought was those parts I used that were good could certainly be used to refurbish the older 064/066/MS660's and give them another life cycle. Built one from mostly (but not completely) aftermarket parts to prove the point. Didn't take long to realize the potential and knew at some point in time the concept of a complete saw would emerge. The stuff was simple too good and complete not to have that happen. At least this offering doesn't pretend its a Stihl!

mixed feelings? how? the 661 sucks and the 660 is awesome lol. i've had great luck with hutzl parts in the past although i won't use their top ends on a work saw out of fear the chrome lining takes a ****. i haven't actually had the chrome lining flake but know others who have. i currently have a big bore 372 with hutzl top end that really rips but it won't see anything more then firewood.

 

[Definitive Dave]

No idea what carb they are using but I have always held the Tilly carbs in high regard, I hope they use their own on these saws.
Dang near all of the aftermarket cylinders benefit from better rings. A handful of bucks spent of Cabers is a good investment in any case.