Stihl 290 or Dolmar 5100

[THALL10326]

Of the 75-100 029/290's that come in a year I might get 5 that are set up. And usually 3-4 of those have been straight gassed, and only 1-2 are seized from from running lean due to an air leak. I've only had one setup due to a factory issue, and it was 100% covered under the warranty. In general the 290 is no more, or no less reliable than any other saw out there.

Good point and the 290 gets treated just like the pro saws, they get the same service and backing as a 1100.00 pro Stihl.

I replaced a cylinder, piston and seals on a MS290 this past week. It didn't cost the customer a penny and his wait was a whole one day. Odd thing about this saw was he bought it in Feb 07. Here it is Oct 09, some 20 months out of warranty. One simple phone call was all it took for Stihl to tell me fix it. None of this well we need to send out a rep to have a look, or how much ethanol was in the fuel and countless other excuses, they took what I told them and said fix it, I did. I love working on the 290 series saws. I used to consider them tuff, now years later and a few under my belt they aren't even a decent challenge anymore.

 

[TraditionalTool]

You would probably win that bet. Based on % sold verses % fried though the 290 would have a much lower % burnt up.

Yep, exactly...only because of pure numbers sold...

However, the question the OP is asking is similar to saying he has a 290 and was thinking to get a 260 Pro. Somehow you could convince yourself to do either, and make a good case for either side...but at the end of the day the 260 Pro is a better saw.

Yes its good to be the King,:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

Reminds me, I recently saw some of those vids you put on photobucket, I saw that 'thang you were doin' with your hair...be careful, first the hair, then the lip, and before you know it you'll be sawin' up the hotel rooms...

You don't drive a Caddilac, do you? :hmm3grin2orange:

I used to have a vintage guitar store in Hollywood, and there was an old guy named Nudie, in North Hollywood, he always thought his crap'd up Martins were worth a ton, most of them were Martins but not very good ones...Anyway, Nudie sold sparlin' country & western outfits, most all of those obnoxious things came from that little Russian...lol he had a Caddilac and it had horns on it with silver dollars inlaid in it...we always called that all "Nudie'd up"...are you drivin' one of those Nudie'd Up Caddilacs? The king would have...dayummmmm straight...

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

Good point and the 290 gets treated just like the pro saws, they get the same service and backing as a 1100.00 pro Stihl.

I replaced a cylinder, piston and seals on a MS290 this past week. It didn't cost the customer a penny and his wait was a whole one day. Odd thing about this saw was he bought it in Feb 07. Here it is Oct 09, some 20 months out of warranty. One simple phone call was all it took for Stihl to tell me fix it. None of this well we need to send out a rep to have a look, or how much ethanol was in the fuel and countless other excuses, they took what I told them and said fix it, I did. I love working on the 290 series saws. I used to consider them tuff, now years later and a few under my belt they aren't even a decent challenge anymore.

I had a similar situation with a 290 back in the spring, customer purchased the saw 11/2007 and it had seal fail and trashed the piston and cylinder. So here it is April 2009, saw is 5 months out of warranty and all it took was a phone call to NE Stihl and 4 days later, the customers gets his saw back with a brand new piston and cylinder.

 

[TraditionalTool]

I love working on the 290 series saws. I used to consider them tuff, now years later and a few under my belt they aren't even a decent challenge anymore.

Are you saying you would pick the 290 over the 5100 given the choice? That was the original question...:monkey:

 

[THALL10326]

Yep, exactly...only because of pure numbers sold...

However, the question the OP is asking is similar to saying he has a 290 and was thinking to get a 260 Pro. Somehow you could convince yourself to do either, and make a good case for either side...but at the end of the day the 260 Pro is a better saw.

Reminds me, I recently saw some of those vids you put on photobucket, I saw that 'thang you were doin' with your hair...be careful, first the hair, then the lip, and before you know it you'll be sawin' up the hotel rooms...

You don't drive a Caddilac, do you? :hmm3grin2orange:

I used to have a vintage guitar store in Hollywood, and there was an old guy named Nudie, in North Hollywood, he always thought his crap'd up Martins were worth a ton, most of them were Martins but not very good ones...Anyway, Nudie sold sparlin' country & western outfits, most all of those obnoxious things came from that little Russian...lol he had a Caddilac and it had horns on it with silver dollars inlaid in it...we always called that all "Nudie'd up"...are you drivin' one of those Nudie'd Up Caddilacs? The king would have...dayummmmm straight...

LOL, hey Caddy's are nice. Been figuring for years how to steal that pink Caddy Elvis has parked over in that showplace. I hear the fuel tank is empty and thats no problem, got gas, but I bet after sitting there 40-50 years the battery is dead, they would notice the hood up,:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Trigger Man]

Sorry if I'm hijacking thread but every stihl dealership that I've been to in my province always trys to push a 290 on me even when I'm looking at pro grade saws like the 361 or the likes, is there a better mark up on these saws? I don't understand why a salesman would try to sway a guy from spending more money on a pro saw. One dealership in particular always says the same things to me "there great for firewood cutting and we sell lots of them" who cares, I want a pro saw. I'm sure Ford sold lots of tempo's in the 80's but if I wanted a lincoln they would'nt have told me to get the tempo.

 

[THALL10326]

Are you saying you would pick the 290 over the 5100 given the choice? That was the original question...:monkey:

I like the 5100 alot, no question on that. However for the average user the 290 will fit the bill, proven fact by the amount of 290's sold. Picky users would like the 5100 better....

 

[grandpatractor]

What part of mn are you in? You can come to the GTG in a couple weeks and run them side by side.
You should be able to get a 5100 around here for pretty close to 400 bucks

 

[TraditionalTool]

LOL, hey Caddy's are nice. Been figuring for years how to steal that pink Caddy Elvis has parked over in that showplace. I hear the fuel tank is empty and thats no problem, got gas, but I bet after sitting there 40-50 years the battery is dead, they would notice the hood up,:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

T-Man,

Don't forget you need to straight gas those Caddilacs! :monkey:

 

[stihlboy]

Gotta say the "boy" has had quit a bit of experiance with about everything concerning saws...with the "many" he has seen that have sucked in dirt/dust and sieze and split intake boots,and JUST on dolmars that he must have seen/sold/repaired/cut with, probly thousands would be needed to reach that conclusion.. let alone ALL the other brands he has extensive experiance with to be able to make concrete based opinions on,,all the while being a student and living part of each year away from the saw enviroment and being a ripe old age of 22yrs..
my dolmar dealer also sell Jred but is much more comfortable ( not a slam guys ) selling the dolmars because of the dependability..

Cmon kid !!! what DID you DO on study break ??
nobody else has even HEARD of these problems with Dolmars to the extent you have SEEN them..
keep up the good work kid,your post's are always entertaining

when ya sell dolmars ya see alot....heck i took atleast 10 fried 5100's to the storage facility a few days back, it seems they had a bad batch or something. as for having experience with all brands i have to disagree i dont do much with husky/jred. oh and most of the time we wont tell them exactly what happened thats why most dont know. im just willing to put it all out there

 

[MCW]

heck i took atleast 10 fried 5100's to the storage facility a few days back, it seems they had a bad batch or something.

If you "sold" Dolmars and had as many burnt out ones as you do I'd take the distributorship away from you and tell you how to tune a saw properly. Exactly what batch were these saws and what was the date of manufacter? Surely you can find the date. Its right on that sticker thingy...
What storage facility did you take the 5100's to? The Fried Dolmar facility? Right next to the Pink Elephant Facility?
Personally if it was a warranty issue I'd probably contact Dolmar, get the parts, and rebuild them...
Well thats what most dealers would do anyway...
I mean real dealers...

 

[stihlboy]

If you "sold" Dolmars and had as many burnt out ones as you do I'd take the distributorship away from you and tell you how to tune a saw properly. Exactly what batch were these saws and what was the date of manufacter? Surely you can find the date. Its right on that sticker thingy...
What storage facility did you take the 5100's to? The Fried Dolmar facility? Right next to the Pink Elephant Facility?
Personally if it was a warranty issue I'd probably contact Dolmar, get the parts, and rebuild them...
Well thats what most dealers would do anyway...I mean real dealers...

well dolmar says its the customers fault

 

[MCW]

well dolmar says its the customers fault

What was the date of manufacture and were the saws still within the warranty period? I gather they were seized?

 

[roncoinc]

well dolmar says its the customers fault
Today 07:15 AM

Well is it the saws fault or the customers fault ??

What storage facility did you take the 5100's to? The Fried Dolmar facility? Right next to the Pink Elephant Facility?

and thats right next to the " wake and bake " facility !! LOL !!

 

[mountainlake]

Did they seize from torn boots, leaky air cleaners, bad seals or just being sent out to lean? Steve

 

[stihlboy]

2 were sent out too lean, 3 had intake boot failures, 3 were cold seized, and the other two straight gassed... these are not common the last two were homeowners the others were brought in pairs by our local tree service company's and they were by no means new they were used and abused wearing a 24'' bar. i believe they were 2007 model year. our facility is a storage unit down the road from the shop where we keep parts saws.......saws were out of warranty...... i have yet to see this under normal circumstances

 

[gink595]

Ya know I'm going to call you out on this one BS. Where is your dealership man, I want to come and visit, I'm serious I will drive there and buy something from you if you have a dealership. For being a Dolmar dealer you haven't got one Dolmar in your lineup...whats up with that...I'll tell ya you don't have Dolmar dealerhip, you might know someone that has one or had one but I think you've been reading to much on AS. Your giving a good saw a bad name by your BS and it peeves me off, because someone that doesn't know better might believe this crock of ****. Hang it up or start providing actually facts to back your "stories" up. Lets see some pics and some documentation of such "finds":notrolls2:

 

[jack-the-ripper]

Ya know I'm going to call you out on this one BS. Where is your dealership man, I want to come and visit, I'm serious I will drive there and buy something from you if you have a dealership. For being a Dolmar dealer you haven't got one Dolmar in your lineup...whats up with that...I'll tell ya you don't have Dolmar dealerhip, you might know someone that has one or had one but I think you've been reading to much on AS. Your giving a good saw a bad name by your BS and it peeves me off, because someone that doesn't know better might believe this crock of ****. Hang it up or start providing actually facts to back your "stories" up. Lets see some pics and some documentation of such "finds":notrolls2:

I think Stihlboy just got on your last nerve Gink. Good post! Now we wait in anticipation for his reply. opcorn: opcorn:

 

[gink595]

I think Stihlboy just got on your last nerve Gink. Good post! Now we wait in anticipation for his reply. opcorn: opcorn:

Yeah he has, there is actual Dolmar dealers out there trying to sell this things for real....And some nonsense like this is posted claiming to be a dealer and it basically :censored:s them. Which :censored:s me if all the small time Dolmar dealer go under and I can't get parts or saws "if" I ever need to. People should stop and think before they start off on some BS tangent

 

[stihlboy]

Yeah he has, there is actual Dolmar dealers out there trying to sell this things for real....And some nonsense like this is posted claiming to be a dealer and it basically :censored:s them. Which :censored:s me if all the small time Dolmar dealer go under and I can't get parts or saws "if" I ever need to. People should stop and think before they start off on some BS tangent

grr i work for a dealership subsidized by central power based in columbus. how do you think i got those dolmar boxes??? how about all my dolmar bars i brought, supercabs got one that i modded to fit a stihl. call bs if you want to because frank i could care less what you are saying..