Dolmar gone and Makita stopping saw production?

[Karrl]

Gabriel look up a Dolmar 166, that’s probably exactly what you’re looking for. Legendary and rare so if you really want the holy grail large displacement Dolmar here she is.

https://www.thisoldchainsaw.com/166
Or a Dolmar 9010 would be easier to find but it’s only 90cc.

 

[Old Chainsaw Seller]

I sell Makita and Echo chainsaws and import two brands of Chinese chainsaws and only cater to tree professionals. In order to answer someone far above in this conversation Makita always sold more than three chainsaws each year. However, Makita like Echo and Milwaukee went the cheap route in the 1990s thinking that they would save money linking themselves to large box stores and not supporting their small dealer networks like Stihl and Husqvarna do. Milwaukee dropped their independent dealers for Home Depot and Lowes. They have now changed their ways and have redeveloped small hardware store networks for their power tools. Echo and Makita (Dolmar) signed their lives away with long term contracts with Home Depot. Home Depot does not cater to the commercial property maintenance or the professional logging industries and so only sold the smaller saws that were made by either company. These chainsaws were placed next to cheap Chinese chainsaws and were outsold in the stores. It took me driving to three Home Depots to locate an Echo CS590 chainsaw. No one knew anything about it and it was locked up in a cage.

Makita dropped out of the gas outdoor power equipment market due to mismanagement of the Dolmar brand and also why Echo does not sell anything larger than the CS7310. Both companies had models in the 80, 90 and 116-118 classes of chainsaws. These classes of chainsaws would have allowed small dealers to compete fairly with the Husqvarna and Stihl outdoor power equipment dealers. Both Makita and Echo let their small outdoor power dealer networks deteriorate. Now Echo wants a $100,000.00 in upfront investment in Echo products to become a new dealer. For small startup companies this is impossible. Therefore I had to become what is called a fleet dealer in order to sell Echo products. Echo has forgotten how their small dealer network net work began years ago. Makita on the other hand still works with small stores selling their electric and battery power tool products so I was able to become a outdoor power equipment dealer and service center for them. Box stores cannot properly support their Echo and Makita outdoor power equipment therefore commercial users go to where they can keep their products running. A broken chainsaw or hedge trimmer is lost revenue. Any product that I sell is supported by me for up to ten years or more if possible with parts and maintenance support. No box store can do this.

Most of the Makita chainsaws that I have sold have been to people that had respect for the Dolmar chainsaw brand. The Makita chainsaw brand does not seem to have the same loyalty. It also appears that Makita made a mistake by changing the Dolmar brand to Makita. They could have still sold their Dolmar products to small dealers and put Makita products in Home Depot. I hope someone purchases the German Makita (Dolmar) outdoor power equipment factory. My Echo customers have remembered this brand as a quality brand so are often repeat customers. Unfortunately I cannot compete with Stihl and Husqvarna dealers with any chainsaw larger than 80cc which has forced me to sell a limited variety of Chinese chainsaws. Again I only deal with Chinese factories that have good products and support me with quality repair parts as I support these products for up to ten years or more as well.

As for quality of the Makita and Echo chainsaws, I welcome any customer to compare my Echo CS7310 and CS2511 and Makita EA7300 and EA7900 chainsaws against anything that Stihl and Husqvarna sell in the same classes. I will win more than I lose.

 

[JPCalifornia]

I can’t see the logic of investing in any tool company’s product that’s not committed to continue manufacturing and developing those types of products. I think there is a cool nostalgia aspect to Dolmar, but saws are money making tools for most of us, not something to curate like a museum would curate a rare artifact. I personally am committed to buying from the companies that are committed to supply and innovate for our industry or trade. I’m all in with Stihl and Husqvarna, as they exhibit the strongest commitment in the manner described above.

Now regarding the Chinese, Their rip-off business model only weakens the winning formula as they’re not innovators, they’re nothing more than common thieves who couldn’t care less about you or the long-term solvency of our trade or industry. The Chinese can go to hell as far as I’m concerned.

 

[Old Chainsaw Seller]

I agree with you to some degree but am stocking up on parts for any Makita and Echo chainsaw that I carry so that I can support it and its customer for 10 years after purchase. I am already purchasing filters, ropes, pistons etc so that I can do this. Therefore I do not consider my Makita EA7900 or EA7300 series of chainsaws museum pieces. However, I see the tea leaves for the future and have been coordinating to become a Husqvarna dealer sometime this fall.

 

[Fatherwheels]

I can’t see the logic of investing in any tool company’s product that’s not committed to continue manufacturing and developing those types of products. I think there is a cool nostalgia aspect to Dolmar, but saws are money making tools for most of us, not something to curate like a museum would curate a rare artifact. I personally am committed to buying from the companies that are committed to supply and innovate for our industry or trade. I’m all in with Stihl and Husqvarna, as they exhibit the strongest commitment in the manner described above.

Now regarding the Chinese, Their rip-off business model only weakens the winning formula as they’re not innovators, they’re nothing more than common thieves who couldn’t care less about you or the long-term solvency of our trade or industry. The Chinese can go to hell as far as I’m concerned.

I agree, Stihl and Husqvarna are the main players, well until they are regulated out
of it by the environmentalists.
The silver lining with the Chinese Chainsaws is, they will torture those who purchase
them and send them straight to Stihl or Husqvaran or Echo, they won't last in the hands
of non pros, who tend to not know how to look after a saw nor determine a problem is
taking place in time, and a pro will take all it has to offer in short time, same result, next
purchase after a year of torture or premature failure will send most people to where they
should have went the first time around.

 

[bwalker]

It would be a no brainer for some hungry manufacturer to pick up the design and patents for those saws. They‘d sell gobs and wouldn’t compete directly with Makita.

Dolmar/Makita never sold many saws so why would someone want to bother with them?

 

[Old Chainsaw Seller]

I am a new Makita Outdoor Power Equipment Dealer and a Makita Outdoor Power Equipment service center and an Echo chainsaw dealer in Washington State and see that there seems to be some misinformation in some of the above comments. I will start with both Makita and Echo signed their lives away in the 1990s by signing large contracts with Home Depot and let their dealer networks weaken. Dolmar never had a very large dealer network in the US and it was ignored by Makita once they purchased Dolmar in 1992. Because Home Depot does not sell professional outdoor power equipment to professional users only home owners purchase chainsaws and nothing larger than 60cc. What got me into this business is that it took me driving to three stores before I was able to find an Echo CS590 Timberwolf. It was locked in a cage and no one knew anything about it. There were no Makita chainsaws to be seen. Therefore Makita's and Echo's sales were skewed by not showing large numbers of their 80, 90 and 116cc chainsaw selling in the US. So Echo shrank their offering and is now in the second teer of the chainsaw business and Makita did not listen to what dealers that they had to say either. So they also removed their models were above 79cc. This put Makita/Dolmar also in the second teer of chainsaw manufactures.

Once California outlawed gas chainsaws a few years ago Makita figured that the rest of the US would follow suite and made a horrible mistake two years ago. I have gotten involved with my local Democratic politicians in my county and state and have been explaining the problems with the California law and how it has hurt the outdoor power equipment industry. They now support for my view that battery technology is six to ten years away from even having a chance of replacing the larger chainsaws. I also explained that gas chainsaws are now extremely low emissions compared to their 1980s ancestors. I know this because I also repair older chainsaws.

Makita actually stopped production of their gas power equipment on March 31, 2022. I periodically look at the national inventory of chainsaws and it has never been a very large number. I expect that the supply will run out sometime this year. I am purchasing any Makita gas chainsaw that I can get my hands on and am stocking additional parts on top of what I can get as a service center. That way I can support my customers for at least ten years of operation. Once the gas products are gone I will have nothing to sell to my Makita professional customers. The battery technology is not available. Also I have been told by my Makita rep that 60 and 80 volt battery chainsaws should be available by March 2022. That was seven months ago. I am planning on picking up Husqvarna as a line of chainsaw products as Echo just does not have anything larger than 73cc.

 

[KASH]

Thanks for the inside scoop.
Kash

 

[link]

Aggressiveness, throttle response and torque...

 

[Fatherwheels]

I agree with you to some degree but am stocking up on parts for any Makita and Echo chainsaw that I carry so that I can support it and its customer for 10 years after purchase. I am already purchasing filters, ropes, pistons etc so that I can do this. Therefore I do not consider my Makita EA7900 or EA7300 series of chainsaws museum pieces. However, I see the tea leaves for the future and have been coordinating to become a Husqvarna dealer sometime this fall.

Yes, sad how Makita / Dolmar let a lot of us down.
Briggs and Stratton are apparantly gone too, less know,
and Tanak who produced very long lasting saws and such
are also dumping their loyal customers and stopping the gas equipment.

Stihl Husqvaran Echo, and the Chinese are the main players now.

 

[Fatherwheels]

Dolmar/Makita never sold many saws so why would someone want to bother with them?

They made good saws, they priced them ok too.
A lot of people liked them because they could repair
them themselves, not like AT or MT in a lot of situations.

At least they did not need a computer on their saw to
get past the EPA.

 

[ValleyForge]

Yes, sad how Makita / Dolmar let a lot of us down.
Briggs and Stratton are apparantly gone too, less know,
and Tanak who produced very long lasting saws and such
are also dumping their loyal customers and stopping the gas equipment.

Stihl Husqvaran Echo, and the Chinese are the main players now.

You will see them come under increasing attack too…they are targets to be acquired, electrified, and discontinuing their gas equipment…

 

[Fatherwheels]

You will see them come under increasing attack too…they are targets to be acquired, electrified, and discontinuing their gas equipment…

I think your right, best enjoy what we have while we are allowed to run it.
At least we can make axes.

 

[bwalker]

They made good saws, they priced them ok too.
A lot of people liked them because they could repair
them themselves, not like AT or MT in a lot of situations.

At least they did not need a computer on their saw to
get past the EPA.

AT and MT are not that hard to figure out...
And the did need a computer to satisfy the EPA, that's why they no longer exist.

 

[JPCalifornia]

I am a new Makita Outdoor Power Equipment Dealer and a Makita Outdoor Power Equipment service center and an Echo chainsaw dealer in Washington State and see that there seems to be some misinformation in some of the above comments. I will start with both Makita and Echo signed their lives away in the 1990s by signing large contracts with Home Depot and let their dealer networks weaken. Dolmar never had a very large dealer network in the US and it was ignored by Makita once they purchased Dolmar in 1992. Because Home Depot does not sell professional outdoor power equipment to professional users only home owners purchase chainsaws and nothing larger than 60cc. What got me into this business is that it took me driving to three stores before I was able to find an Echo CS590 Timberwolf. It was locked in a cage and no one knew anything about it. There were no Makita chainsaws to be seen. Therefore Makita's and Echo's sales were skewed by not showing large numbers of their 80, 90 and 116cc chainsaw selling in the US. So Echo shrank their offering and is now in the second teer of the chainsaw business and Makita did not listen to what dealers that they had to say either. So they also removed their models were above 79cc. This put Makita/Dolmar also in the second teer of chainsaw manufactures.

Once California outlawed gas chainsaws a few years ago Makita figured that the rest of the US would follow suite and made a horrible mistake two years ago. I have gotten involved with my local Democratic politicians in my county and state and have been explaining the problems with the California law and how it has hurt the outdoor power equipment industry. They now support for my view that battery technology is six to ten years away from even having a chance of replacing the larger chainsaws. I also explained that gas chainsaws are now extremely low emissions compared to their 1980s ancestors. I know this because I also repair older chainsaws.

Makita actually stopped production of their gas power equipment on March 31, 2022. I periodically look at the national inventory of chainsaws and it has never been a very large number. I expect that the supply will run out sometime this year. I am purchasing any Makita gas chainsaw that I can get my hands on and am stocking additional parts on top of what I can get as a service center. That way I can support my customers for at least ten years of operation. Once the gas products are gone I will have nothing to sell to my Makita professional customers. The battery technology is not available. Also I have been told by my Makita rep that 60 and 80 volt battery chainsaws should be available by March 2022. That was seven months ago. I am planning on picking up Husqvarna as a line of chainsaw products as Echo just does not have anything larger than 73cc.

It’s awesome you’re committed to taking care of you existing customer base who purchased Makita equipment from you. You’re definitely the kind of dealer I like working with.

 

[blackoak]

HA! You are correct. I will be leaving soon to pick up 30,000 LMB.

What are you doing here? LOL

Are you a member of Woody's site? Your name seems like one I see often there.

 

[joe25DA]

I have enough saws to keep my kids, children busy. As far as Dolmar go, my first saw that I bought new in ‘04 was a PS540. I have gone through 3 bars and lots of chains. Not one problem. Still has original NGK plug, I have done a couple filters but they can be cleaned. I also have a 111i and 116i. Dolmar made excellent equipment especially from the 80s-to mid 2000s. Issue for me was dealer support. I have a makita table saw made in Japan 1987, about as fine a tool as you can buy. My jigsaw is a little newer made in USA mid 90s. The age of a tool doesn’t concern me, the condition, where it was made are what I look for.

 

[Wojciech]

The Mercedes company has produced many car models. However, for her loss, she produced the 190 and 124 models. They were car models that did not break down, and if that happened, you could repair them yourself, with one screwdriver and pliers, maybe sometimes with a hammer. They could run a million kilometers, they were just too good. This was the case with the Dolmar saws, the saws were too good, they worked too long without needing to be serviced, which is not paying off for the company. It was close and Mercedes would have serious financial problems, he made cars for good, just like Dolmar made good saws. But now it won't happen again, everything has to live as much as the producer needs ...

 

[bwalker]

The Mercedes company has produced many car models. However, for her loss, she produced the 190 and 124 models. They were car models that did not break down, and if that happened, you could repair them yourself, with one screwdriver and pliers, maybe sometimes with a hammer. They could run a million kilometers, they were just too good. This was the case with the Dolmar saws, the saws were too good, they worked too long without needing to be serviced, which is not paying off for the company. It was close and Mercedes would have serious financial problems, he made cars for good, just like Dolmar made good saws. But now it won't happen again, everything has to live as much as the producer needs ...

IME expiereance with the 7900 it wasn't as durable as a Husky 372 or Stihl 440 I had around the same time.

 

[joe25DA]

Planned obsolescence or value engineering. You have to shop smart or buy used to avoid that now.