Whats your thoughts on these little buggers?

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The Canadian site says there's no weight difference, the USA site says there is a 0.9 lb. difference. Somebody goofed.
 
Dang--That must be the rare limited edition I keep hearing about. Send me 2--1 for shelf and the other to cut with and impress friends and family!!!--David--I will just keep running my classics.View attachment 611798 View attachment 611798 View attachment 611801 View attachment 611801 View attachment 611801 View attachment 611798 View attachment 611801 View attachment 611801

The only place I’ve ever seen those bow saws was in some of southern states , what is the purpose ? Are they still made ?
 
The only place I’ve ever seen those bow saws was in some of southern states , what is the purpose ? Are they still made ?

They are basically made for bucking firewood. You could get bows (but not bow/saw combinations like they had in the 60's and 70's) until a decade ago from well stocked forestry supply dealerships. No idea about present availability apart from used units.
Bear in mind they require the operator to be not merely alert at all times but to know exactly what he's doing and that was more or less their death knell. It's not something I'd recommend but to experienced operators and even then only after making them sign a pile waivers.
Personally I wouldn't use one even if you paid me. I prefer dealing with my back afterwards, thank you.
 
Had one. It was a nice saw but was only slightly lighter than my 550 but significantly less powerful so it didn't get used much.
One nice thing is they use a lot less fuel. Being that I don't have to stop to fuel I save a lot of time per cut, this is the reason I don't mind running them even though I don't like the handling as much as a 550. I still keep the 550 and the 346's around though as I like to run them more.
 
One nice thing is they use a lot less fuel. Being that I don't have to stop to fuel I save a lot of time per cut, this is the reason I don't mind running them even though I don't like the handling as much as a 550. I still keep the 550 and the 346's around though as I like to run them more.
You know about CAD.
How about COD? Sounds like You caught 'COD' like me.
 
Lmao
Good evening Mr B.
Chainsaw Operators Disorder:reading:
Oh snap.
I'm sure you like to run the Stihls better :innocent:.
You'd laugh at the jobs I've done/the money I've made with a single tank of fuel just puttzing around for hours with a 241, just like hooked on phonics, it workeded fore Mee :laugh:.
 
The only place I’ve ever seen those bow saws was in some of southern states , what is the purpose ? Are they still made ?
I grew up in the deep south, north Fl / south Ga. There were more bow saws than standard bar saws down there back in the 70s'. Used in pulp wood, logging and fire wood. You stand over the log and cut straight down, easier on the back and easier to keep the chain out of the dirt. I used one a little, but preferred a standard bar from early on.
 
I used bow bars for forest thinning in Arizona. They had guards on the top and bottom runs, which were pieces of aluminum bar stock bent to clear the chain. You couldn't cut with the top or bottom run, you'd have to stick your finger in there to get cut. You cut trees with the end. There was a 'stinger' bolted to the end of the bottom run, which you placed against the tree. We used large all-metal Homelites. You could place the stinger and run the saw with one hand, using the other to push the tree over.

These bars with the guards were safer than regular bars. Much easier on your back too. I wish I could get a bar like that now. I'd set up one saw with it for brush cutting.
 
It's a good example of the cost difference, but another thing to consider is the market size, dealer network, and taxing.
What some Americans forget, and even some Europeans, is the taxes are far higher in virtually every other part of the 1st world on consumer goods, let alone income. In much of Europe, you will see a sales tax of well over 20%, and unlike the US, this tax is usually included in the price - not added later. Thus many Europeans have no idea what they actually pay in taxes. I am a dealer in Ireland for some chainsaw parts. If I do not put in a large enough order, the shipping and the taxes will eat up a lot of it. So I have to price accordingly. You want 20 bars from me? The per item price is going to be MUCH less than if you want 2 bars. And I mean something like 15-20% less because my taxes are 23% on each item - and I have the pay the tax, not the consumer. So, their actual tax costs can be nebulous depending on pricing. If I have to ship 20 bars to the UK, the cost is rather low as that's where my warehouse is, and you will get them tomorrow. You want it in France, just across the channel - my shipping costs are much higher, and my last shipment took a week(albeit it was a bit ersatz as logging operations tend to be). The US has a much larger market than any other single country for chainsaws.

The exchange rate can vary greatly over the span of a year. I recently bought a used Harley Davidson. In Ireland, this particular model was going for over 9K euro. In the UK at the time, it was 6200 sterling. The exchange rate was 1.10 sterling to the euro. In other words, I saved about 2,000 euro purchasing the bike in the UK and riding it back over(add in the fact motorcycles must be inspected yearly in the UK, and it was a no brainer). Taxes and registration here on my purchase was 180 euro.

Exchange rates and foreign pricing can get complicated quickly. Add in commodities and markets(many STIHL saws are made in Brasil and the USA - I have yet to see a non Brasil or German Stihl here, and all my Huskies are Swedish) and it isn't as easy to decode. Having said that, because of the exchange rate and my proximity to the UK, I do most of my chainsaw and bike dealings in the UK.



From a basic understanding on my part
I can tell you that's not how economics work.

The AUD to other currencies Is not relevant.
In this case pricing is relevant to their wage
At 1,349 someone with a minimum wage job 17.70 would have to work 76.2 h
At $530 with a National US minimum wage of $7.25, worked out to 73.1 h
Difference of 3.1h
For that example and those figures, it works out on a world scale.

You want to travel? I just checked AUD to USD and it's 30 points on the dollar. $100 USD = $130 AUD

You should be a prince down there right? Guess again. Their price is set to their wage. on the figures I set fourth you would be working more hours to purchase the same product despite the 30℅ exchange in your favor.
How about the other way around?
.70 to USD.
Based on $530 vs $1349, it looks like 2.6 times less in the states OK we will call things half price on an average with a .7 exchange with a much higher wage base. That's looking pretty attractive.
Now who is getting screwed?...haha.
Besides Canada...
 
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