The Reality Of Trying To Buy A Dolmar...

[hydro2]

Central Power Systems does not even have Dolmar listed as a product they carry (if you click on "product lines") even though they are listed on Dolmar's sight with a link. Maybe they are ashamed to sell the brand HEE HEE HEE What a joke.

 

[Madsaw]

Tonka,
I agree with you, maybe I should start up with them. I just came from my commercial building. Milking cows is a business so there fore the barn should fall under their guide lines. I should throw that idea at them and see what they have to say then. We are just a small dairy but yet sold close to 65,000 in milk last year out of our old hand hewn beamed barn. That should qualify as a commercial building. Just kind of got my goat when I was told I did not have a proper building. But, then again I would still make more money selling my old tractor parts then I would their saws.
Later
Bob
Any Dolmar dealers care to do mail orders?

 

[THALL10326]

Tonka,
I agree with you, maybe I should start up with them. I just came from my commercial building. Milking cows is a business so there fore the barn should fall under their guide lines. I should throw that idea at them and see what they have to say then. We are just a small dairy but yet sold close to 65,000 in milk last year out of our old hand hewn beamed barn. That should qualify as a commercial building. Just kind of got my goat when I was told I did not have a proper building. But, then again I would still make more money selling my old tractor parts then I would their saws.
Later
Bob
Any Dolmar dealers care to do mail orders?

Madsaw you got a farm business going, cool. I've milked many a cow in my younger days. Used them old Surge milkers. Use to hate it when they would smack ya in the face with their tails. My whole family was rasied on a dairy farm. Glad I read your post, brings back alot of good memories. Life on the farm is constant hard work from early morning to late evening but its a great place to live and raise ya kids.

 

[tonka]

I'm going to call car quest auto parts tomorrow and see if THEY even know they are carrying Dolmars.

 

[Lakeside53]

I'm going to call car quest auto parts tomorrow and see if THEY even know they are carrying Dolmars.

That will be interesting out here seeing one of the larger local Car Quest stores is a big Stihl dealer! Want to bet they don't give a hoot about Dolmar?

 

[pbtree]

Why not just buy a Husky or a Stihl and be done with it?

 

[sawn_penn]

As I have said in earier posts, service is what matters. I want to buy from someone I trust.

Around here, I have found three good dealers. In order of preference.

#1. Sells Stihl and Husqvarna.
#2. Sells Stihl only.
#3. Sells Husqvarna and Dolmar.

#1 is great, #2 & #3 are good.

The sad business truth is that I'm never going to make it to the Dolmar dealer. The guy with the great service has enough products and services to meet my needs.

But that's just me.


As for selling through car parts places, why not? There are a lot of tools sold through these places. If the product is good, then there is a lot of product exposure. Hardware stores would have been a better placement, but if Poulan etc own that spot, then why not try another guy-friendly kinda shop?

I'd expect a car parts place to move maybe a saw a week. Multiplied by the number of stores in a chain and that's a lot of saws.

 

[Sethro]

Hey Scott,
Could I get you to see if your dealer could order me some parts for a 112. Just got of the phone with district guy for dolmar and was basically told go fly a kite if I wanted to sell off the farm here. I would need a commercial building to sell out of. He told me this after I was informed I have no close dealers. John Dolmar (Mr. Fry) is about a 1 1/2 hrs from me. So it looks like I am ordering from somewhere else and hope I never have to work on another dolmar.
Later
Bob

The dealers are spoty, but not in SW Wisconsin, there a 2 Dolmar dealers within 15 minutes of me,so I get what I need.
Bob go withwww.solousa.com saws I'll buy from you. Mr Frye

 

[davefr]

I agree that Dolmar marketing is a joke but I bought mine from a AS member in NY and had the saw in about a week. (they were very easy to do business with.)

I have no concerns about parts. If I need to order parts I'd guess it'll take about a week or so.

Parts avail. is no different then my local Stihl dealer. It takes them about a week to get me parts. (unless all I want is something real simple like a spark plug or oil which they do stock).

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

The dealers are spoty, but not in SW Wisconsin, there a 2 Dolmar dealers within 15 minutes of me,so I get what I need.

Who are the two dealers?
There's one out in Sullivan, WI, right? Where's the other?
Then I saw Aerial had some Dolmars out at the WAA show, but their down in Chicago or somewhere.
It's nice to see competition in the 70-80cc range saws. It keeps Stihl and Husky on their toes. Not that Dolmar will take much of the market share anytime soon with their marketing plan.

 

[McC]

My dealer in Baraboo is Phil Harrison 608-356-5154. Knows the older Dolmars inside and out, and still has parts for them. Don't know if he would mail parts. He's in his 80's and has a lot of good stories to tell.
Scott

 

[eyolf]

I'm really enjoying all these Dolmar threads...I think I'll go get another one as my next saw. Lord knows I need more, because there seems to be a hole in my line-up between 51 and 55 cc, just right for the new Dolmar 5100 to fill. Hope my Jonsered 2149 doesn't get jealous!

I guess I've worked for enough companies that were hoping to get a toehold in a market without access to enough financing to enable them to jump in with the big boys all at once. But the real truth is that Dolmar probably doesn't have access to the kind of cash it would take to crush Stihl and Husky. I fully believe in healthy competition; if Dolmar nips at the other's heels, we will all benefit as they all have to keep on their toes.

I hate a monopoly as much as the next guy; why work at improvement if you can get by without it? But, I see some of that in our fat and happy American outlook...don't we all? Right now Dolmar looks like it has a real contender for top dog in the 80cc size, and the 7300 is nearly as good as the 575 Husky and better than 440 and 570 (subjective opinion).

So, then, the story is that Dolmar can "get it up" in some markets so we all should forget 'em. Sour grapes?

I say they gotta start somewhere. I feel bad for Tony, and for a few others who want to sell just a few saws out of a back-street operation. We all know of a few businesses that still operate that way; maybe what the modern distributor is looking for is professionalism and committment. CPS may be a little slack in that dept as well...I see several of the IDN outlets DO NOT list Dolmar prominently or at all on their websites, but the company I currently work for has just recently began updating its website after 4 years of inactivity; slow business means layoffs and downsizing,eagle eyes looking at outsourced contracts

In the end, there isn't a lot you or I can do to make Dolmar a major name this week. It may become that way if those of us that can, do support the dealers that we do have, or if we go to the dealers we like and ask them about Dolmar repeatedly. Some of these guys out there are ticked off at seeing Husky in big box stores, worried about losing Jonsered eventually (Elux is probably looking to find a way to phase them out), etc. and a little nudge may help. Venting on a bulletin board is OK for a while, but soon loses effectiveness even at anger management.

A real good way to think might be to turn this thread ot others around to "what can we do to help Dolmar" or "what can we do to help the little guy on the corner" Positive, constructive coments are guaranteed to get more attention from distributors and importers than sour grapes.

 

[tonka]

Car quest was closed. 2 stores. Must close at 5? Did search on car quest web site, found nothing for dolmar or chainsaw.

 

[cord arrow]

car quest revisited

the car quest in my town is family owned. they have this one and three others in neighboring towns. rural.

these fellows are top notch, no doubt. full service machine shops at two locations, up to and including line boring and honing. they do most everyone's race motors around here.

now, i ?????ed before about their nonchalant attitude about their dolmar line, how all i got from them was "we're sellin' a ton of these blowers and saws", with little or no knowledge of the product. i told them i was real handy around saws and such, and would be willing to help them out. with whatever.

given the fact i spent in excess of 15 grand in their house last year, i expect to be listened to. as would you.

well, evidently they're beginning to come around, sent a guy over to my place who wanted to know how to break in his saw, and what to look for in regards to maintenance and such. now, i don't know jack about dolmars, but i do know chainsaws. seemed like a real nice saw to me. it was a smaller one, not sure of the model. i'll be sure to learn all of models if this keeps up.

but, having said the above, what is dolmar thinking??? here's me, a jack-of-all-trades, having to shore up an auto parts store. it's commendable that they want to get more involved with this line, but really, wouldn't this best fall on the shoulders of a guy who wants to make his mark as a dolmar dealer? someone who lives and breathes chainsaws and two-strokes???

i really don't understand it, but i'm not all that bright.............

 

[sugarbush]

the car quest in my town is family owned. they have this one and three others in neighboring towns. rural.

these fellows are top notch, no doubt. full service machine shops at two locations, up to and including line boring and honing. they do most everyone's race motors around here.

now, i ?????ed before about their nonchalant attitude about their dolmar line, how all i got from them was "we're sellin' a ton of these blowers and saws", with little or no knowledge of the product. i told them i was real handy around saws and such, and would be willing to help them out. with whatever.

given the fact i spent in excess of 15 grand in their house last year, i expect to be listened to. as would you.

well, evidently they're beginning to come around, sent a guy over to my place who wanted to know how to break in his saw, and what to look for in regards to maintenance and such. now, i don't know jack about dolmars, but i do know chainsaws. seemed like a real nice saw to me. it was a smaller one, not sure of the model. i'll be sure to learn all of models if this keeps up.

but, having said the above, what is dolmar thinking??? here's me, a jack-of-all-trades, having to shore up an auto parts store. it's commendable that they want to get more involved with this line, but really, wouldn't this best fall on the shoulders of a guy who wants to make his mark as a dolmar dealer? someone who lives and breathes chainsaws and two-strokes???

i really don't understand it, but i'm not all that bright.............

point well made.

 

[sawn_penn]

...what is dolmar thinking??? here's me, a jack-of-all-trades, having to shore up an auto parts store. it's commendable that they want to get more involved with this line, but really, wouldn't this best fall on the shoulders of a guy who wants to make his mark as a dolmar dealer? someone who lives and breathes chainsaws and two-strokes???

You don't need to shore up an auto parts store. They are selling lots of blowers and saws without your help.

Most people buy a power tool to do ONE job, and then after that the tool sits in the corner of the shed.

Most of these people should have bought a pruning saw, but hey, a chainsaw is so much sexier.

Dolmar is just tapping into this market.

 

[Dolmar_Tech_Mgr]

FYI, the DOLMAR Dealer locator will be up and running on the DOLMAR website within the next two weeks. I am working to get all the dealers listed and posted to the site it will be active very soon.

 

[hornett22]

my local home depot had a dolmar(makita) in the rental center

i was looking at it and the guy said they can get them new but have to beordered.interesting but i'll stick with husky.

 

[pinus]

I'm really enjoying all these Dolmar threads...I think I'll go get another one as my next saw. Lord knows I need more, because there seems to be a hole in my line-up between 51 and 55 cc, just right for the new Dolmar 5100 to fill. Hope my Jonsered 2149 doesn't get jealous!

New rule: Diam of tree in cm should = displacement of saw used for felling of it in cc

 

[sawn_penn]

New rule: Diam of tree in cm should = displacement of saw used for felling of it in cc

So most consumers need 10cc saws?