Dolmar chainsaws

[Greenwedge]

Guys......please don't boot me out of here and make me go to the saw forum with this....!!! I really want to hear from folks in the logging industry side of things on this for the simple reason that our requirements for saws and the paces we put them through are completely different. I have never been around any other chainsaws that Stihl and Husky. That may seem like a strecth to you, but its the truth. Heck, I do not even know anyone that owns anything other that Stihl or Husky.(that they use perfessionally that is, I actually own a Mac 125 that was King from back in the day when I was blowing up frogs, burning ant's, and pretending to hate girls.) I got to looking at these Dolmar chainsaws on the Net, and they actually look like a pretty darn good saw. Anyone own one and what do ya think?

 

[T_F_E]

Stock air filter setup isnt to good, the hd set up works pretty good. Fuel tanks always seems a little smaller i gotta fill up more than the guys runnin 660's. It cuts pretty much right with them though. Im not a big fan of the dogs either, fine for buckin but dont bite quite enough into red fir for fallin. Im just workin landin with it though so it takes some abuse. One of the biggest problems I have with mine is the oiler, wish i could get a little more oil down the bar. The av is a little soft and spongy for my taste but the saw is lasting good and i havent had any major problems. The torque is good I run a 32" skip tooth with a 7 pin and she pulls good.

 

[redoakneck]

I have a 7900 w/ hd filter and a 420. Only 1 year old. Both work fine. I mill with the 7900 and a 36" bar, have buried it 30" in hard wood and it is slow but gets it done.

I feel they are a very good value, but if you can not work on your own saws and you rely on a dealer, then you may want to stick with a stihl or husky.

I get parts on-line and fix the stuff I break. I guess the single ring design does hold up, I was skeptical at first. The local dolmar dealer did not know these have single rings, so I was not so sure how many he had serviced or if he knew what he was doing-- I think that would stand out to most mechanics???

 

[madhatte]

Great saws, lousy dealer network. I've run mine on fires and it held up well. If only parts weren't a pain to find. It's like Makita doesn't want to sell them, somehow. I just don't get why they'd market so good a product so lackadaisically.

 

[Jacob J.]

As mentioned above, the stock air filter set-up is about the worst. I ran a new, mostly stock 7901 for several months in a predominantly straight-falling/"butts up" setting long before the HD filter system came out. I was having to change the stock filter up to three/four times a day. The motor ran great- I had to iron out an issue with the leaking oil pump. Initially those saws had big problems with the oilers leaking where the body of the oil pump met the intake hose from the tank. The fix was a different hose with a thicker flange. The hillbilly fix was a fiber washer between the oil pump body and intake hose. There was no hillbilly fix for the crappy air filter though.

It was better in a commercial thin scenario in nice timber where I wasn't just slashing stems all day long.

 

[stihl 440]

Lets see....the dolmar 7900...i have one and my boss has four of them and yes stock airfilter system is junk...we dont clean them 3 or 4 times a day but we had to maybe twice a day. But we are cutting hardwood....and the occasional pine stands here and there. But the HD system is better...but it isnt nowhere near as good as husqvarna's air filtration...but it is better than stihl..we clean them maybe once a day now. Anti-vibe isnt as good as husky either but is better than stihl. And power wise...they are a 79cc motor and thats exactly what they are and the power is like....they arent going to run with a 385xp or a 660...i dont care what anybody says on that one...that is my expirence with them and we run them everyday. The 7900's have really good chain speed but as soon as you dig the dawgs in it is fairly easy to stop them...unlike the 385xp's where you can pull on them and they just keep cuttin. Basically IMO the 7900 is a 20" bar saw for hardwood timber...and the 385 is the 24" bar saw for hardwood timber. The 7900 will run with a 385 with a 20" bar with less weight=less tiring. But when it comes to 24" bars the 7900 you cant really pull on them too hard but if you just let them scream at their own pace they will be ok with it...but the 385xp with a 24" bar you can pull on it and they still scream in the cut. Basically the 385 will beat the 7900 in a torque test but the 7900 might have a slight edge with a 20" bar on both. But i log hardwood so...take my advice how you want. And oh BTW the 660 and 395 outcut them both...they are not even in the debate here.

 

[redprospector]

I have 5 of the 7900's, I'm in the process of phasing them out (except for my race saw). They are fine saws with exception of the filter, and dealer support. Before they came out with the HD filter I carried 2 extra filters to make the day (3 filters total). Each one was oiled to keep the fine crap out. I've got HD filters on 3 of my saws, and I honestly believe the origional filter oiled is better than the HD filters.
I've been using 7900's for several years. I started using them in search of a replacement for Husqvarna. We had lost our local Husqvarna dealer, and I never really cared much for Stihl's. Now we have 2 seperate dealers that both carry Dolmar, and Husqvarna. Unfortunately, they both suck. So last week to start the phasing out of the Dolmar's, I went to my old dealer and bought a Stihl 460.
A good servicing dealer is worth more than any name on the side of a saw.

Andy

 

[Greenwedge]

Thanks guys, I was just curious. I had no idea that the were making a pro saw. The price looked cheap and from what I can see on the net, the saws looked good. It would have to be pretty darn good to get me away from my 66's and 88's though.

 

[Samlock]

Huskies, Stihls, Jonsereds, that's what the pros known to me have. The lack of the servicing dealers makes it impossible to even think about any other brands. Echo and Shindaiwa had a dealer here few years ago, but the shop closed down quite fast...

 

[Metals406]

Thanks guys, I was just curious. I had no idea that the were making a pro saw. The price looked cheap and from what I can see on the net, the saws looked good. It would have to be pretty darn good to get me away from my 66's and 88's though.

The 7900 is very popular, and known for its stock power, of course, they're even better modded.

As stated though, the dealer support blows. I was a Dolmar dealer for a while, and asking the distributer for anything was like trying to get a penny from Scrooge McDuck.

 

[madhatte]

asking the distributer for anything was like trying to get a penny from Scrooge McDuck.

See, that's just crazy -- why would they do that to themselves?

I guess in a Free Market, a business has the freedom to fail?

 

[Metals406]

See, that's just crazy -- why would they do that to themselves?

I guess in a Free Market, a business has the freedom to fail?

Because my distributer was a distributer for Briggs & Stratton, and a couple other things first and foremost. It was like they didn't want to be bothered with Dolmar stuff.

Granted, I didn't carry any inventory, I ordered as I went. That probably made them not like me more. I technically could still sell the saws, but when I asked for an updated price list (the beginning of this year) -- they shined me on. No call backs, no nothing.

They also didn't want to give me Dolmar fliers, or anything for me to hand out. They actually wanted me to print my own stuff from Dolmars website.

Maybe it would have been different if I ordered 25k of stuff every few months, but I doubt it.

There's a little saw shop in Sandpoint ID that was a husky dealer, and picked up Dolmar too. Their support was as bad as mine, and they carried inventory. They eventually dropped Dolmar because of the bull crap.

 

[OregonSawyer]

Completely off topic but I broke-in a sawyer from Sandpoint a couple of years ago at the mill I used to work at! He didn't end up working out but from my understanding Sandpoint isn't that big...?

 

[Metals406]

Completely off topic but I broke-in a sawyer from Sandpoint a couple of years ago at the mill I used to work at! He didn't end up working out but from my understanding Sandpoint isn't that big...?

Sandpoint is a small town for sure.