Did you know that Stihl products aren't expensive??

[Solo]

I wouldn't trade my Stihl's for anything. Both are over 10 years old fire right up and I have a great dealer.

Solo

 

[montanaman]

I went to Lowes and I tried to purchase just the trigger from husky, nope, have to buy the whole handle assembly for $60 to replace a $2 plastic trigger. .

Well, not $2, but less than $7 and just the trigger IS available from Stihl.

I could not sell a product that I had to tell a customer that I couldn't repair for them or get parts, but when it comes from a box store, people will accept that for an answer??

Ken

 

[NuBota]

I agree with the original poster. I went to Lowes and checked out the husky saws. I almost bought one just based on the ASSUMPTION that a similar Stihl would be more expensive. Luckily I decided to check out my local Stihl dealer and the Farm bosses were the same price, so I left with a 310.

Would the husky from lowes be as good a saw? Maybe. But here's something to chew on...I bought a husky weed trimmer from Lowes. The cheesey throttle trigger snapped off less than a year later. I had to call Husky directly to try to get it fixed, they said I'd have to bring my receipt to a husky repair shop and they could replace the trigger under warranty. Of course I didn't have the receipt and the closest husky repair shop was like 40 miles away anyway. Had I purchased a trimmer from a local shop, they could've looked my info up and just taken care of it. I tried to purchase just the trigger from husky, nope, have to buy the whole handle assembly for $60 to replace a $2 plastic trigger. I won't buy husky again, and I probably will buy all of my equipment from local dealers from now on. You may save a little up front when buying from a box store but I think you're better off in the long run if you deal with an actual dealership.

Welcome! Looks like we're neighbors too!

I agree - lumber, hardware, etc - even occasional use tools -from big box is one thing - serious tools are another. Wanted a smaller bar for my saw - nothing like walking in, telling a guy I need 20" bar and chain for MS460 and walk out 3 minutes later. No researching, waiting, going 3 places, standing in long lines, etc.

Maybe I've become a snob, but Big box is always last place I go. I go to local shops - hardware stores, lumber, auto parts, etc. Usually a little more expensive but actually get help from someone that wants my business. I hit them first in the hopes (probably in vain) that they will stay around and not get squeezed out by the big chains. And with no lines and less traffic, I can usually hit the lumber yard AND hw store and be out faster than one stop shopping at the big box

 

[Birdmayon]

Hey NuBota, thanks for the welcome. Yup, I'm not far from you, live in Mechanicsville. For my chainsaw needs I head over to Milt's, nice saw shop just a few minutes south of me, and they have good weekend hours, fair prices, etc.

I too try to support the "smaller guys", you really are buying service AND supporting local people when you go to a shop vs. box store. That said I cannot knock the big stores either for other stuff, they are great to have around.

Kinda funny that my first post wasn't tractor related, been lurking on the board researching tractors for awhile and finally ordered a JD 2520, so I finally feel like I can post up here!

 

[montanaman]

You know, it's taken me a while to learn this, but a lot of things do cost more at the box stores!

Was building a deck a few years back and Lowes lured me to buy there with the gift card when you buy $1000 worth of lumber. Spend half the day there looking through the stacks for usable lumber and wait 2 months for my gift card. Actually had to shop in two trips so I could get a card shipped to my dad for the second load of wood!! Well, when I needed some longer boards for the beam, I discovered they don't sell anything over 16' so I head to the local lumber yard and discover the wood is so much nicer quality and the 20' boards I bought there were only a few bucks more than the 16 footers at Lowes! I could have just called them and had them load the entire order on my trailer and I bet I would have saved more than I got with the gift cards AND had better lumber too!

Did the same thing years back with a hot water heater. Go to the box store after work on the day I discovered my tank was leaking and I pick through all the parts I need to install it right. New gas flex line, unions, shut off valves, copper pipe, and elbows.....Then I find out they don't have the right height tank so I have to drive 35 miles to their other location to get the water heater. Well I think the water heater was $10 more at the hardware about a mile from my house but all of the fittings, valves, and unions at the box store were way more expensive than my local hardware that I would have spent less money on the whole project shopping there AND I would have had the job done by the time it took me just to get home with the parts!! I happened to see their ad that day when I was packing a shipment at work, so I fell for it!!

It seems they will have the "sale" on the whole goods and more than make up the difference on everything you need to actually complete the job!

Ken

 

[bontai_Joe]

My saw is an ancient Homelite that for the last 16 years has been used exactly twice. (got used quite a bit before that when I heated with wood) If it were to crap out on me, I'll be right at my local dealer's shop for a new saw, probably a Stihl. I always try to get my stuff local from a dealer or hardware store, it's easier, quicker, and better 98% of the time. We were just talking this morning of one of my coworkers sepnding over 1 1/2 hours at a box store trying to get help to order a bathroom vanity top. He finally left in disgust. The only advantage the box store offers in my opinion is late night/weekend hours that the local guys are sometimes closed and you absolutely need the "whatever" right away.

 

[J.Walker]

I run Stihl chain on all of my Huskys. Best chain going!

 

[dirt clod]

The pro line of stihl is cheaper than the box store brands. Epa rates these machines on life spans of motors. Consumer grade is 50hrs. Pro grade is 300hrs. My sthil cost about twice what a consumer grade cost, but is rated for six times the life. The fact it has more power than the sometimes works box stores is nice also.

 

[montanaman]

Epa rates these machines on life spans of motors. Consumer grade is 50hrs. Pro grade is 300hrs.

EPA could care less how long the saw lasts. I think you are confusing this with the EDR, which is an emission duration rating. I do know that a product rep was convinced that EDR stood for engine durability rating and he was VERY proud of the long rating on his brand...........The fine print did mention that you had to replace the carb at X number of hours in order to meet the EDR rating though.

As far as hours, I've only seen hour ratings on a very small number of products. I do have a cheap pressure washer that has a tag stating what level of quality will last how long but I have never seen in print from any saw MFG, an hour rating on the tool life.

I would say that 300 isn't even close to how long a pro saw would last if taken care of properly. There are guys cutting timber that will run a saw 30+ hours a week and they don't buy a saw every 10 weeks!

Ken

Ken

 

[dirt clod]

Some have a letter rating system rather than stateing the hours. Sthil may use this.

A = 300hr pro grade
B = 150hr some of the sthil home owner grade falls under this label
C = 50hr consumer grade rating

I may have got the goverment agency wrong. Seems like it was done to cut down on the junk going to the land fills.