real world experience, how do the Chinese knockoff saws compare performance wise to the real deal? has anyone run them side by side?

[vtfireman85]

I do not want one, but I see so many people talking about them. My experience with quality tools VS the cheap knock off copies is that that the copies are always dismally disappointing, particularly power tools, having run Milwaukee tools against HF copies there is absolutely no comparison. I hear a lot of "for the price of it" comments, and all the mods that were done and Chinese parts replaced with the real thing because they are known issues. but no actual comparison.
personally i have never regretted paying the price, getting a quality tool that serves me well, but to each their own.

 

[KostasVolos]

Here in this part of the world ,
we have a saying that goes like this :
" I'm not so rich to buy cheap stuff ."

99% of the times myself went the
cheap way ,proved a very expensive
choice in the aftermath or in the longrun.

Copycats also is a great way to kill
evolution ,as no funds were given to
research and development .
It's just a copy-paste thing.
And most of times,a really bad one.

" Chinese " is relative.
All i-phones and playstations among
other high-quality stuff ,
are made in China.
Furthermore ,copycats of various stuff are
produced in many other places like India,Pakistan,
Taiwan,Vietnam,Turkey,Bulgaria,etc .

As a real life example I can tell you ,that my Made in China MS180s ,are somewhat more carefully build ,than a Made in USA MS211 I also own.No offense.
Maybe it's a particular model thing ,
or someone at Stihl USA who assembled this particular saw had a really bad day back then.
But none of the chinese made MS180 ( original Stihl though ) ever hesitated to start ,had a touchy choke lever ,top cover that pops off or any other issues.

 

[NSEric]

The knock offs have their place.
You can get a 90cc knock off for less than a named brand 50cc saw new.
If you're cutting up a large tree or milling logs the 90cc clone is a better saw for the job at hand than a 300 dollar named brand saw. It may not be as fast or good as a pro 90cc saw but for what they cost they're pretty good.

 

[Bubster]

There are many YT videos of the clone cutting as fast as the real deal, but for how long is anyones guess. If I was to ever break down and finally buy a clone, it would be the biggest saw made just to have for the rare huge butt logs I occasionally run into. I actually ordered a G 372 last fall, but the shipping/ availability fell through and I was refunded my money. I breathed a sigh of relief to be honest.

 

[serdie]

There are many YT videos of the clone cutting as fast as the real deal, but for how long is anyones guess. If I was to ever break down and finally buy a clone, it would be the biggest saw made just to have for the rare huge butt logs I occasionally run into. I actually ordered a G 372 last fall, but the shipping/ availability fell through and I was refunded my money. I breathed a sigh of relief to be honest.

I have a g372, a g288 and a new g395 clones. They all ran good enough out of the box. Not as good as my originals but close. Ha a few minor problems like one bad carb, and a bad recoil on the 288 and the oil pump which I replaced with oem. I think they’re worth it for the money. I’ve owned the 372 and the 288 for over 2 years and they’ve been troopers so far.

 

[thompsoncustom]

I've had both but never the same models to run side by side but with that being said I'd say there 90% of the saw the OEM is for 25% of the cost and no real warranty tho I've never tired to test it.

All my power tools are also Milwaukee but if I found something that was 90% of the tool at 25% of the cost I'd give her a shot.

 

[serdie]

I've had both but never the same models to run side by side but with that being said I'd say there 90% of the saw the OEM is for 25% of the cost and no real warranty tho I've never tired to test it.

All my power tools are also Milwaukee but if I found something that was 90% of the tool at 25% of the cost I'd give her a shot.

On a side note, my 288 is one of the blue ones. I put Husky stickers on it to piss off the purists. It backfired, one of my younger men said “I didn’t know they came in blue!” I left it at that.

 

[benelli7d]

I've had both but never the same models to run side by side but with that being said I'd say there 90% of the saw the OEM is for 25% of the cost and no real warranty tho I've never tired to test it.

All my power tools are also Milwaukee but if I found something that was 90% of the tool at 25% of the cost I'd give her a shot.

My Milwaukee's say Made in China.

 

[serdie]

My Milwaukee's say Made in China.

My battle hardened Dewalts were assembled here but made in Bideneese.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

G395 and OEM 395 are close in the cuts.

I got one. It is just like a 395 in the cuts for 350 shipped to me PHO. Can buy 4 of them for cost of 1 OEM.

Longevity who know.

But I have yet to see a piston installed backwards like OEM has done in 395 and 390.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

G372xp pro is real close to a OEM 372 OE with both only 2 tanks. The Mahle topend on the OE gets the mad as a hornet edge for sure.

 

[fields_mj]

I have an OEM 064, and a G660. Obviously not the same saws, but the G660 does cut faster than the 064 with the same bar and chain. If there's a performance difference between a G660 and an 066, it would be difficult to measure. If you measured cut times on 10 different saws from each, at the very least, their would be a lot of overlap in the performance.

Longevity is the big question. My G660 had a few issues out of the box that were pretty straight forward and cheap to fix. My G660 is a perfect solution for the limited amount of time I need more than 60cc. The guys who are milling with them seem to be getting good life out of them. If I were going to try to make a living with one, I'd probably spend a little more and get one that has been bulletproofed (and ported) by a shop that will stand behind its work. That would give me the best of both worlds. A strong saw with a proven serviceable (pre-EPA) design that's half the cost of the current OEM model and will likely outlast any new OEM saw to boot.

Just my 2 bits,
Mark

 

[Paul Fithian]

A new assembled G660 I recently purchased had excellent build quality. All fasteners had blue thread locker on them.



Fired right up. I then pulled the cylinder and ported it. Used a 0.010" gasket, Stihl piston pin bearing, and muffler mod.




Ended up with the following numbers:
- Squish: 0.021"
- Exhaust: 97
- Transfer: 117
- Intake: 82

Runs perfect and is very strong, intended use is for milling. If it fails, I'll fix and post findings. Warranty is not an issue for me, parts are readily available.


Video of it in a large red oak:

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

I forgot about the G660. Ran it and a OEM 660 back to back. Couldnt tell the difference if you closed your eyes and just picked one up.

Mine was the older blue tanks that was pulling over 200psi. The clear tanks around 160psi new.

 

[.358 win]

I've been driving a Neotec 892. With a 36". Plain n simple I needed a bigger saw.. Not the price or intended use of a pro saw.. It's a beast... Still breaking it in and am really liking it.. I was turning down jobs cause I needed a bigger saw,, till now.. I did have the recoil off on the third tank of fuel... It needed a couple more turns on the spring, that's all.. Now pulls all the rope back in as intended.. Still playing with tuning the carb, ( large weather temp swings recently ). My spin is it's an animal.. Can try to post more info after a dozen gals of gas..

 

[alabama xl]

I've been curious about the weight of the clones vs the OEM saws. Anyone have any numbers to share? Are the clone cases made from magnesium like OEM, or are they aluminum? And does that matter aside from weight?
I've got a $12 huztl cylinder on an MS440. I cleaned it up a bit, and it seems to run fine. I got a couple of big bore options to try on it, but its happy as is and meets my needs. Originally I had intended to use to mill cedar and other stuff into beams, but I liked it enough to keep for regular cutting. Looking into one of the bigger clone kits to assemble for milling.

 

[alabama xl]

The thing that surprises me with these is that for the 070 copy, they didn't bother to copy the AV version, and haven't bothered to copy the optional chain brake. It's kind of crazy seeing them selling the saws without any EPA certs or safety add ons that are ordinarily required.

 

[.358 win]

I've been curious about the weight of the clones vs the OEM saws. Anyone have any numbers to share? Are the clone cases made from magnesium like OEM, or are they aluminum? And does that matter aside from weight?
I've got a $12 huztl cylinder on an MS440. I cleaned it up a bit, and it seems to run fine. I got a couple of big bore options to try on it, but its happy as is and meets my needs. Originally I had intended to use to mill cedar and other stuff into beams, but I liked it enough to keep for regular cutting. Looking into one of the bigger clone kits to assemble for milling.

Next time I'm out to the garage I will step on the scale with the saw.. I have no other weight to compare it to.. I have yet to spend the $$$ for a lightweight bar.

 

[NSEric]

The thing that surprises me with these is that for the 070 copy, they didn't bother to copy the AV version, and haven't bothered to copy the optional chain brake. It's kind of crazy seeing them selling the saws without any EPA certs or safety add ons that are ordinarily required.

I've never seen anyone buck up wood with the 070, it's super heavy and slow, the 066 clones are way faster for that, it's a milling saw and you dont need that stuff milling.

I picked up a cheap neo tec 892 about a month ago. It's a beast, starts very easy, runs great and is very powerful. Had the typical chinese saw issues, the decomp sucked, I replaced it with a used oem one, the bar oil cap broke, I had an old husky cap that fit and my oiler was weak, a new one was 20 bucks and works good. Other than those few tiny issues which are totally sorted now the saws great and it was cheaper than a 50cc saw lol.

 

[.358 win]

Next time I'm out to the garage I will step on the scale with the saw.. I have no other weight to compare it to.. I have yet to spend the $$$ for a lightweight bar.

26 lbs.. full of fuel, bar oil, 36 bar, chain, bar cover, and skid plate. oh, don't forget the grease in the nose, yuk yuk