Dolmar/Makita?

[Tony Snyder]

Can anyone explain why one can get a catalog thru the mail showing blue Makita chainsaws(apparantly current production), but yet a nearby dealer (Zigs in Altamont Illinois)has all orange Dolmar units.

This question came up as I was trying to find an on-line dealer locator to get some parts for a 116 I have in the shop.

 

[Mack]

Is he a Dolmar dealer or a Makita dealer?

 

[eyolf]

There is a dealer near me (a small country hardware/general store/farm store) that has been a Makita service center for years, but will not stock Makita chain saws. He does stock a few Dolmars...actually sells quite a few of the 3 cube class saws at about $320...similar perf to Husky 351 at $40 savings.

He sells the Dolmars for about his cost on the Makita similar model. Isn't this more or less the same silly game that Homelite and McC played...dealers seeing chain stores selling super EZ's for about dealer cost?

 

[Mack]

The Dolmar 540 (54cc) is on a promo now for $299 with 16/18 inch semi pro bar.
I have a Makita dealer in the next town, and I tend to under sell him by a few bucks on most units. Dealer costs can often depend on what "program" the dealer has qualified for, and/or his volume.

 

[Tony Snyder]

Thanks for the comments guys, but still does not answer the blue vs orange question.

 

[Mack]

Is the dealer a Dolmar dealer, or a Makita Dealer, or maybe both?
The Dolmars are orange, with "Dolmar" decals. The Makitas can be either blue or orange, but will have a "Makita" decal. Most Makitas have been blue. A Dolmar dealer will have orange saws, a Makita blue or in some cases orange. A Makita dealer should not be selling Dolmar marked units unles he has a Dolmar dealer contract.

 

[Dagger]

Tony, the Dolmar dist for the midwest is ..Mo-Kita..(stands for missouri kentuckyillianina or sumpthin)..and they are in southwest missouri. Owners name is T.J. Miller..they have been the Dolmar distributor for...hmm better than 20 years and thats where Zigs gets his saws. You might call Lakeside cycle in shelbyville if TJ wont sell ya. Hes been a dealer for along time too....his number is 217-774-7411. Cant Zigs get ya the parts?


Makita saws and Dolmar saws..although the same units , are distributed thru different networks...just like Poulan and Husky , Sears and so on. Gotta get signed with each label to buy.

 

[Dagger]

Explain...well... remember the thread some time ago about a company being owned by a large conglomerate with a board of directors VS a Individual owner?.....no one can explain the reason a board of directors does something unless they are at the meeting where they make the decision....but the actions of these different types of ownerships usually are easily predictable.
Any company owned by a large conglomerate with a board of directors is responsible to the stockholders only. They will do whatever they think will help increase the stock prices.
Where a company who is owned by a "person"..or a "family" Usually feels some loyalty to the Distrubution network who have made them , and generally does not do things to upset this relationship.

 

[Tony Snyder]

Zig will sell me the parts. I was just wondering about the orange vs blue thing.

Got enough brands for now, my little room is about geting wall to wall.

I'll be over at Altamont in the morning about 9:30.

 

[Steve]

The saws are built by DOLMAR in GERMANY. The orange & blue saws are the same thing. But they go through different distribution.

 

[eyolf]

My local Minnesota guy says he gets his saws and trimmers from Texas...apparently <a href="http://www.dolmar.com/uk/kontakt/suche_haendler.asp?var_land=USA"> this place </a>, which I found through Dolmar's main site. He also orders repair parts for the occasional Makita tool he services from there.

I don't fully understand why Makita would be offering both lines with different pricing strategies to the same dealer, from the same sales office. It could be that Makita has made a commitment to marketing the Dolmar line as "Dolmar", ( to serve existing Dolmar strongholds that wouldn't sign up for Makita?) but there isn't an existing Dolmar agent in this region, so Makita USA serves a few holdouts.

I must also report that this local guy seems to be redoubling his efforts at marketing the Dolmar saws, as another, bigger store, also hooked up with Tilton has been stealing his EFCO and Jonsey business. I say shame on Tilton for not honoring some sort of service territory arangement.

I want one of those PS 7900's bad, but the local guy wants to sell me a last-years saw from his inventory, and we just got Momma a new minivan, so money is an issue again at our household...


There is also a distributor in Maine, <a href="http://www.rdfaulkner.com/index.html"> R.D. Faulkner</a>

 

[Robert]

I can't find a dealer for either label anywhere near me (Atlanta). Is there a mail order or online source for parts? Right now I just need an air filter. Does anyone know the Dolmar equivilant to a Makita DCS520i?

 

[johncinco]

I just got one!

I just got a 52 myself and havent even fired it up yet. I wanted something light to work on smaller stuff and these are suppose to be one of the best for weight to power ratio. If I like ot I ma going to get a bigger one for larger stuff, but dont know if it will be makita or dolmar.

 

[eyolf]

Here's a start for the Atlanta area:

http://mapsonus.switchboard.com/bin...38.8/c=1/refsrc=Maps.com.MakitaUSA/isredir=1/

 

[Robert]

You know, I did that same search on Makita's web site using my home address and the first three didn't even show up. I was just at the first place to get a part for my Panasonic drill, didn't even think to ask about Makita parts.

Thanks

 

[johncinco]

heres the number(s)

you can go to
http://www.louiswilliams.com/cgi-bin/html_web_store.cgi?page=search.html&cart_id=

and the part numbers are 2017330 for the top and 20173202 for the bottom. The two pieces snap together. $12.80 and $13.30 respectively. I went to my local makita dealer and they no lnger carry them because makita no longer markets the chainsaws. It will be the same numbers as the dolmar saws, and parts are available though a dolmar dealer. I chose to order mine and saved about $7. There is supposed to be another filter below both of those closer to the handle but I have not checked on that one yet. The whole manual can be printed off from the makita site still, it is 33 pages long. The only thing I have found I dont like so far from the hour I ran it is the low amount of bar oil coming out. I have cranked it up all the way, but there are only 2 settings. It is Very quiet and fuel efficient. I am sure that won't last as I tinker with opening up the muffler a bit. There is also no manual oiler. I hope the bigger ones have one as I am using this one just to see how I like the brand. Enjoy, JB

 

[AJLOGGER]

I might get slammed on this one but the problem he described is one reason why I will not put a husky first on the list. I get fed up with these companies merging with others and then having two brands but the same product, and then mass marketing it to the chain stores: I.E. Poulan, Husqvarna, jonesered, and so on. I hope elux the company that owns huskie, and the others and dolmar all learn from homelite, and mac, that if you start doing this practice your product goes to crap and you screw your dealers. I hope Stihl doesn't do this but I think they already have, someone told me they are selling them in Home Depot now. Well I guess in the future we will have to wade in the junk pile and and piece together a good saw

 

[Tony Snyder]

The Mo-Kita people called me yesterday, apparently as a result of this thread. They distribute the orange Dolmars.

I got the impression that the blue Makitas are gone and that was only a marketing agreement that may be ended.

 

[eyolf]

The Mo-Kita people called me yesterday, apparently as a result of this thread.

Is this an example of excellent customer service, or of a company trolling for any business it can get in a brutal economy?

 

[johncinco]

hey feel free to call on me. I wouldnt have spent time searching on the internet, driving to 2 different makita dealers, 2 different saw and mower shops, and finally being refered to the one that could actually get them for me. It is a lose -lose situation as far as I can tell for the consumer no matter what brand you buy. The big stores will sell a ton of saws and carry several brands, but ask how to change a sprocket and the latest aisle manager wont know what you are talking about. Joes hardware store that has sold saws for 20 years suddenly finds he cant get saws anymore because he cant move inventory in bulk. If he does keep his supplier, the company changes names or gets bought out and he has to figure out what the heck it is first before working on it, or says he cant get parts from there any more. We have all been waltonized.