Gooserider
ArboristSite Operative
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2008
- Messages
- 101
- Reaction score
- 16
A little while back, I was asking advice on picking a saw, and thanks to everyone here, ended up getting a Dolmar 7900, w/ the 20" bar, plus a spare 28" bar for the occasional bigger wood, a bunch of chains and some other stuff.
I found that the local dealers were not even close to competive, and ended up getting my saw from Amick's Superstore, talking with Tony. Amick's gave WONDERFUL service, according to the Fedex tracker, my stuff shipped w/in two hours after I ordered it, and it got to my house about 2 days sooner than I was really expecting it... The only bummer is that Dolmar doesn't do as good a job of boxing their saws as they could, and the saw got bounced around a bit in the box, and the plastic chain brake lever was broken... (The second box with the rest of my stuff in it was nicely packed and arrived in perfect shape.)
I called Tony when I discovered this, and caught him just before closing. No arguements, just "What can we do to make it right?" - I agreed that it would probably be easiest if he could send me a replacement brake lever, as he said it was an easy part to change. He said they didn't have a new lever in stock, but that he would pull one off a new saw and ship it to me in the morning. I got the new part, again in excellent time, and Tony had even thrown in a $10 bill for my troubles. I didn't take him up on his offer to give him a call to walk me through changing it, (and should have - as I ended up doing it the hard way) but I appreciated it. Definitely I want to give Amick's and Tony a big hand for going "above and beyond" in the name of customer satisfaction!
On to the saw itself... Easy to work on, for the little bit of work I've had to do (mostly mounting and adjusting the bar) and the little bit of taking things apart to see how they went together that I've done. The side access chain adjuster is quick and easy to use.
It was a :censored: to start the first time - probably a combo of my not knowing the best starting drill and needing to pull gas out of the tank and fill the empty fuel system, etc... Once I got it started the first time, it hasn't been a problem since. The decompression button makes a BIG difference! Mash the button and it's an easy pull, forget it and the saw really fights back.
I made an early report on my first time out and another poster gave me some advice on the best starting drill, and it's been a 1-2 pull start ever since, maybe 3 pulls on a stone cold engine.
I'm currently running on a Stihl orange "one-shot" bottle of oil mixed a bit rich - 0.9 gallons of gas instead of 1.0, and using Exxon Premium gas.
The saw is incredibly smooth running - at idle it's got a tiny bit of shake to it, but less than my Poulan has at any speed. When I give it the gas, it smooths out to the point where except for the noise it feels like it's not running...
It cuts incredibly well, no effort needed other than pick it up, put it on the log, pull the trigger and catch it when the saw falls out the other side... A few times it has seemed less prone to getting stuck than my little saw if the cut started to close up on me, as the big engine kept the chain spinning so I could cut out. (I'm using the Oregon full chipper chain that Amick's sells with that saw)
I have had a couple times where cutting up from the underside of a log with the top of the bar it would finish the cut and the log ends coming down would knock the chain off the bar - When this happens it seriously buggers up the tangs on the drive links. I've been cleaning up the burrs with a stone in a Dremel tool, which works, but is awfully slow - is there a better / faster way to do this?
Overall I'm delighted with the saw - I haven't had to adjust anything on it, as it came out of the box everything JUST WORKS! and it works well.
Can't comment on longevity, as I'm only on my second or third tank of gas, but so far it's been great.
Gooserider
I found that the local dealers were not even close to competive, and ended up getting my saw from Amick's Superstore, talking with Tony. Amick's gave WONDERFUL service, according to the Fedex tracker, my stuff shipped w/in two hours after I ordered it, and it got to my house about 2 days sooner than I was really expecting it... The only bummer is that Dolmar doesn't do as good a job of boxing their saws as they could, and the saw got bounced around a bit in the box, and the plastic chain brake lever was broken... (The second box with the rest of my stuff in it was nicely packed and arrived in perfect shape.)
I called Tony when I discovered this, and caught him just before closing. No arguements, just "What can we do to make it right?" - I agreed that it would probably be easiest if he could send me a replacement brake lever, as he said it was an easy part to change. He said they didn't have a new lever in stock, but that he would pull one off a new saw and ship it to me in the morning. I got the new part, again in excellent time, and Tony had even thrown in a $10 bill for my troubles. I didn't take him up on his offer to give him a call to walk me through changing it, (and should have - as I ended up doing it the hard way) but I appreciated it. Definitely I want to give Amick's and Tony a big hand for going "above and beyond" in the name of customer satisfaction!
On to the saw itself... Easy to work on, for the little bit of work I've had to do (mostly mounting and adjusting the bar) and the little bit of taking things apart to see how they went together that I've done. The side access chain adjuster is quick and easy to use.
It was a :censored: to start the first time - probably a combo of my not knowing the best starting drill and needing to pull gas out of the tank and fill the empty fuel system, etc... Once I got it started the first time, it hasn't been a problem since. The decompression button makes a BIG difference! Mash the button and it's an easy pull, forget it and the saw really fights back.
I made an early report on my first time out and another poster gave me some advice on the best starting drill, and it's been a 1-2 pull start ever since, maybe 3 pulls on a stone cold engine.
I'm currently running on a Stihl orange "one-shot" bottle of oil mixed a bit rich - 0.9 gallons of gas instead of 1.0, and using Exxon Premium gas.
The saw is incredibly smooth running - at idle it's got a tiny bit of shake to it, but less than my Poulan has at any speed. When I give it the gas, it smooths out to the point where except for the noise it feels like it's not running...
It cuts incredibly well, no effort needed other than pick it up, put it on the log, pull the trigger and catch it when the saw falls out the other side... A few times it has seemed less prone to getting stuck than my little saw if the cut started to close up on me, as the big engine kept the chain spinning so I could cut out. (I'm using the Oregon full chipper chain that Amick's sells with that saw)
I have had a couple times where cutting up from the underside of a log with the top of the bar it would finish the cut and the log ends coming down would knock the chain off the bar - When this happens it seriously buggers up the tangs on the drive links. I've been cleaning up the burrs with a stone in a Dremel tool, which works, but is awfully slow - is there a better / faster way to do this?
Overall I'm delighted with the saw - I haven't had to adjust anything on it, as it came out of the box everything JUST WORKS! and it works well.
Can't comment on longevity, as I'm only on my second or third tank of gas, but so far it's been great.
Gooserider
