Best Chinese chainsaw, Farmertec Vs Neotec Vs ?

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Because "Chinese" and "crap" don't always go together, just like "insert OEM brand here" and "quality" don't always go together

The Chinese can build quality on par with what any other industrial nation can, BUT they tend to produce goods that match what the customer wants to pay for. If a company wants goods produced at a low price point, they get cheap crap. If they are willing to pay higher production costs, and oversee production themselves, they can get quality goods.
Just take a look at goods produced for the chicom goverment or military if you ever get a chance, they are well made. The same items produced for export or for their own citizens usually aren't as well made. The Chinese SKS is a prime example- look at one that was a true surplus rifle and they are very well made. Look at a commercial specimen made for export and they exhibit nowhere near the level of workmanship.
And yet I've still met shooters who were less accurate than the Chinese export version of the rifle, so the $75 rifle was all they really needed :)
 
A while back I succumbed to the siren call of a cheap Chinese saw and Amazon and bought a Neo-Tech top handle which I gave away after using it a couple times. I was not impressed with the build quality or the ergonomics. Cheap is cheap and you get what you pay for just like everything in life. Sure are cheesy compared to the Stihl's and the Echo and Huskies.
 
At one time I owned 4 of them 3 stamped and one milled receiver Dragnov as well as 5 ham cans of Wolf Military ammunition, all sealed and then Obama came along and I sold all of them at a Toledo Rec Center gun show for 3 times what I paid for them in cash and I never even got in the door, parking lot sale. Amazing how a anti gun ***** like Obama can cause me to make big jack. Only thing he did that was any good IMO.

Don't own any now, no need because I hunt only long distance and the only firearm I'd even consider to use (and at less that 150 yards is my 460 Performance Center built XVR long barrel revolver with the muzzle brake. Problem is, it's heavy and must be carried in a chest cross draw holster. That is a Burris Japanese LER scope on it with LOE glass. Burris hasn't built that scope in decades. All cheap Chinese now and the Japanese scope will stand up to severe recoil as well. It was removed from my Model 29 S&W long barrel 44 'dirty Harry' magnum that has wicked recoil with full house handloads. I shoot handloads in the 460 as well as all my long guns including the 338 Lapua custom built on a savage full floating chassis. The 44 is a 2 hander but then so is the 460 but the 460 won't sucker punch you in the head, the 44 will. I prefer open sights on the 44 actually and I refitted the front sight with a taller Partridge that has a white top.
 

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My favorite and most expensive full custom build 308 sort of savage.. Jewel Trigger, full floated custom built, one of a kind Manners carbon fiber stock, hydro coated (Pacific Hydrocoat) in Kuiu camo, Bartlien custom timed barrel and a high end Vortex second plane scope with a custom machined level on it, I tend to lean to the right when shooting. Even the Savage receiver is lightened as well as the Mauser double claw bolt. She pulls at 1.5 pounds, no creep, no let off, just bang and you better keep your finger off the trigger unless you want to kill something. She' shoots MOA at 250 yards. Shot Mulies, antelope and one elk with it., but my 338 Lapua build is my go to stick over 300 yards. I have very close to 6 in it and waited over a year for it to be completely finished and one of my shooting partners wants it and is willing to pay me what I have in it plus 2 50 round boxes of my handloaded ammo and the custom made die set which was machined just for the chamber and is a bushing die set (Whidden). Weighs 7.5 pounds with 4 in the box mag and one in the chamber
 

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I handload for all my hunting party and have for years now. Everything from 6.5 Creedmore to 300 Win Mag to 44 mag to 357 to 45acp. All with bushing dies except the straightwall stuff and all with a Rockchucker single stage press and I weigh every load on a Ohaus Triple beam mechanical scale equipped with an electronic powder trickler and electric eye that gives me very consistent charges, within 1/4 grain all the time All the brass (new or fired gets wet tumbled in STS media, oven dried (after the primers are removed) checked for OA case length and trimmed in one of my lathes with a custom made trimmer using a 2 flute end mill and then the case mouths are chamfered and then everything is annealed and loaded.
 
That's a very good point. To be "Made in America" by law means only 50% has to be made in the USA the rest can be Chinese.
Or Indian (India) or Taiwanese or German or Japanese or any other industrialized country. My preference is of course domestic made or German or Japanese and Japanese is where 95% of the Echo (especially the Pro series are made). States that right on the label next to the (EPA uch) compliance sticker.

I remember decades ago when Artic Cat coined that phrase 'World Class Manufacturing'. World Class my ***.. More like sourced world wide from the cheapest bidder and China with their forced labor, communist governance and strict price controls as well as low wages can underbid and sell to anyone (us as in United States particularly).

We suck up more in imported goods (and now services as well) than any other free world country. Takata air bags are the prime example but people have short memories when it comes to cheap and almost everyone in this country wants it cheap and quick and China excels at just that and is laughing all the way to the bank, their bank. I see the credit rating for the United States just got downgraded. Ni surprise to me, should have tanked a long time ago.

Like I said previously, I tried one of their top handle arborist saws (Neo-Tek) and wasn't impressed with anything but the price which was under half (way under half actually of the Stihl top handle arborist saw and 1/2 of the Echo CS top handle saw (suggested retail price). I tried the Neo-Tek twice and gave it away (free to one of my friends), Not impressed at all. Went out to my Echo dealer and bought a CS top handle Arborist saw and it runs like a top, starts second pull all the time and is an overall workhorse. Far as I'm concerned Stihl saws are over priced today and there are very viable alternatives at a much better price point, but the there are others that are really cheap (as in Chinese knock off's), but again, you always get what you pay (or don't pay) for in the end. I don't see them lasting as long as my 40+ year old 028 Stihl. Not gonna happen and one of those people who like longevity along with reliability and ease of use.
 
I'm glad to see some people being satisfied with the smaller Farmertec saws. It's easy to find great reviews of the 70cc, 90cc, and 120cc stuff being used and abused in milling applications but there hasn't been much info available on how the 60cc under are holding up. I've also kicked around the idea of getting a top handle for limbing, but I'm not really sure I'll like it any more than a decent 50cc saw like the 026/260.

As far as firearms go, I actually use the same mental process that I do with chainsaws. What am I getting for what I'm spending? I currently run a lot of Athlon optics on my more accurate (1/2 moa or better) rifles, and I'm very satisfied with them for the money that I spent. That said, if I were going to spend big money on a guided hunt, I'd first put a Nightforce optic on that rifle, and I'd probably spend a few hundred on a new base and rings as well. Not worth it for plinking at the range, hunting whitetail locally, or shooting prairie dogs out west, but if I'm going to plan on spending $10K or more on a guided hunt, I'm going to also spend the money to upgrade the necessary equipment so that I have the confidence that it will perform when I need it to. I appreciate the fact that companies like Athlon and Vortex offer such great warranties, but when I've invested that much into a trip, the last thing I want to have to do is use somebodies warrantee. I use this approach for most things in life. I have hand tools and power tools that are cheap and disposable because there's a good chance they will get lost, or I'm going to abuse them in a way that even a top quality tool won't last. I have other tools that I spent good money on because I absolutely NEED them to work when I grab them. When the Chinese ZAMA carbs in my Stihl saws started giving me problems, I realized that I have enough saws on hand that I really don't NEED every one of the to work like it was brand new every time I reach for it which makes it worth the effort for me to research and try blue saws as the need arises.
 
As an aside, I usually spend more on my optics than a stock rifle but then I prefer custom builds and I can well afford that. Always high buck scopes and First or Second Focal plane with extended adjustments because I use a drop chart at distance so I'm always dialing in the drops and windage. Far as guided hunts go, 10 grand is cheap even if you play the points game (I do). I prefer Swarvoski scopes, with Smit and Bender second and top line Vortex third. All my scope mounts are Bruce Talley and I have Bruce machine the mounts with the correct angle in them for long range shooting with minimal adjustments to the optics and when I mount the rings I lap them in with a stainless steel lapping bar and fine grit lapping compound to insure 100% contact with the aluminum scope tube. I have a 350 yard private range in the back field where I 'dial in' all my weapons including the 10 point cross bow, I use that up north for bambi's. I have way too many firearms, but most are bolt action long guns except for my Smith's and my derringer which is what I carry. Goes in my pocket and it's a 2 hand cannon.
 
I weigh every load on a Ohaus Triple beam mechanical scale
FWIW, I reload almost all of my ammo as well (too many calibers to think through). I've actually found that the 50 gram drug dealer scales on Amazon are EXTREMELY accurate (.04 grains) and cost less than $20. I've had more consistent results powering them with batteries instead of USB. I suspect the quality of the USB power supplies that I have are not very good and cause problems with the scales. I have an older Lyman combination trickler/electronic scale, and I used a Dillon electronic scale for a LONG time. I've also used RCBS, Redding, and Lee beam scales in the past. The Dillon scale died on me a couple of years ago and I was loading 2000 rnds of ammo for an upcoming PD hunt. Since I was in a hurry, and Dillon was still suffering from pandemic shortages, I purchased a cheap scale from Amazon to get me through. So far (3 years), it's been the best scale I've ever used. It holds its zero far better than my Dillon ever did, and also better than my Lyman, it settles noticeably faster than both, and has been far faster, more accurate, and easy to use than any beam scale I've worked with.
 
As an aside, I usually spend more on my optics than a stock rifle but then I prefer custom builds and I can well afford that. Always high buck scopes and First or Second Focal plane with extended adjustments because I use a drop chart at distance so I'm always dialing in the drops and windage. Far as guided hunts go, 10 grand is cheap even if you play the points game (I do). I prefer Swarvoski scopes, with Smit and Bender second and top line Vortex third. All my scope mounts are Bruce Talley and I have Bruce machine the mounts with the correct angle in them for long range shooting with minimal adjustments to the optics and when I mount the rings I lap them in with a stainless steel lapping bar and fine grit lapping compound to insure 100% contact with the aluminum scope tube. I have a 350 yard private range in the back field where I 'dial in' all my weapons including the 10 point cross bow, I use that up north for bambi's. I have way too many firearms, but most are bolt action long guns except for my Smith's and my derringer which is what I carry. Goes in my pocket and it's a 2 hand cannon.
I'm on the board of directors for our local range. It's had a 300 yd range since we built the first berms for our personal use back in the mid 90's. We finally closed down that 300 yd berm (limited that range to 200 yds), and put in a 500 yd range for our "platinum membership". I've always enjoyed showing up to a match and using inexpensive, but good equipment to beat people who have thousands of dollars invested in their gun :) Last time I went with some friends to shoot my first bowling pin match. I took first place running my 45 shield :) Among other things, I used to shoot NRA Highpower (service rifle, high master) and had about a grand wrapped up in the gun. I didn't win every match, but the guys who beat me were legit good on a national level, were able to actually make use of the money they spent on their gear, and didn't beat me by much. I have nothing against nice equipment. I'm just naturally hard on things so I have to be careful what I spend money on and why. I think my next rifle will be built on a chassis with a 700 action and use a Remage barrel. I'll probably go with a .223 Wylde chamber to start off with so that I can use AICS mags for hunting prairie dogs with the goal of also adding a 260 AI barrel later for playing around past 500 yds.
 
I use the Ohaus triple beam and have since the beginning and they aren't cheap either but I use an electronic powder tricker with an electric eye on it that actuates when the scale reaches it's set point which I always set about a grain light and the electronic trickler brings the charge to EXACTLY what I have it set at 100% of the time with no exceptions. I'll load a full tray of brass and then go back and check with a LED flashlight to make doubly sure the charges are all equal. Most of the big rifle cases I have to over fill so I use a drop tube to settle the charges in. How coarse the propellant is the longer the drop tube is and I use a Harrell culver measure charge drop before dumping it into the pan on the Ohaus as well as their funnel and drop tubes. If it's Harrell, it's not cheap either but Harrell machines all their own stuff and the Harrell powder drop is all ball bearing and effortless plus, unlike unlike the average powder drops, it won't cut the grains on long extruded powders like H1000. I don't spare any expense ever for USA made precision machined loading accessories. Just like I have and use LS Starret precision measuring tools in my machine shop. Quality never comes cheap and that applies to chainsaws as well and again. I allow my 2 employees to use them but respect them as well. I have zero tolerance for idiots.
 
I'm on the board of directors for our local range. It's had a 300 yd range since we built the first berms for our personal use back in the mid 90's. We finally closed down that 300 yd berm (limited that range to 200 yds), and put in a 500 yd range for our "platinum membership". I've always enjoyed showing up to a match and using inexpensive, but good equipment to beat people who have thousands of dollars invested in their gun :) Last time I went with some friends to shoot my first bowling pin match. I took first place running my 45 shield :) Among other things, I used to shoot NRA Highpower (service rifle, high master) and had about a grand wrapped up in the gun. I didn't win every match, but the guys who beat me were legit good on a national level, were able to actually make use of the money they spent on their gear, and didn't beat me by much. I have nothing against nice equipment. I'm just naturally hard on things so I have to be careful what I spend money on and why. I think my next rifle will be built on a chassis with a 700 action and use a Remage barrel. I'll probably go with a .223 Wylde chamber to start off with so that I can use AICS mags for hunting prairie dogs with the goal of also adding a 260 AI barrel later for playing around past 500 yds.
I don't have that issue here and I used to belong to the local sportsmans club but dropped out because it was mostly politics and a select few got what they wanted, it was the biggest mouth and whine deal.

I actually allow people to shoot on my private range but only with my express permission and only on nice days even though my shooting bench is covered. I have a double alloy steel backstop with 10 feet of sand in front of it retained with railroad ties and support posts in concrete.
 
This range used to be private. As the property owner approached retirement age, things unfolded naturally in a way that allowed him to convert it into a business that provides he and his family a pretty reasonable income. Prior to that, there were 4 ranges on the property. One was used by local law enforcement for training, and another was used by a shooting club to host some monthly events that generated a small amount of income. Now there are 9 ranges with 3 membership levels. It has worked out very well for both him and the local shooting community. It's also done a lot to advance the training classes that he offers, which are exceptionally good.
 
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