Sawdustmaker
Addicted to ArboristSite
What do you think? Is it accurate? Short of my use of "stihl" in place of "high quality brands"
Lowes Is Not the Place to Buy a Chainsaw
Farmer Brown needs a chainsaw because he knows they are “indispensable pieces of kit when it comes to clearing pheasant pens, fencing jobs and maintaining farm woodland” (Stihl Saw). He goes to Lowe’s to satisfy this need and he finds what looks like a good deal: a 16”chain saw for $150. As far as he cares a chainsaw is a chainsaw. Without talking to any service representative, he picks up a mid-sized consumer saw and buys it as if it was anything else in the store. He is pleased with his purchase. He takes it straight home and goes to work. He takes the little bottle of oil, mixes it with a gallon of gas, and is ready to rock. He has a small tree to cut down. The saw works great and cuts the whole tree up. He then goes on to the next tree, but the saw will not start. Having noticed that the package clearly says not to take the saw back to Lowe’s, Farmer Brown calls the phone number given to find out where to take it. He soon drives back to town to find a little lawn shop that has a much nicer set of saws on the shelf than Lowes did. The guy behind the counter gives him a quick smirk and puts the saw on the bench. Suddenly he realizes that he had been sucked into a marketing gimmick pointed at the cheap, impulsive culture. This is the McDonald’s of equipment. Even though it seems good as you buy it leaves you with a crappy feeling. You get what you pay for.
Many people have had this experience. After cheaping out and blowing their money on the bottom of the line, their new saw will not work or only work on occasion. This spells frustration. While chainsaws can be compared to other equipment in many ways, chainsaws are the extreme when it comes to requiring care in order to run properly. From the oil that must be mixed into the gasoline to making sure that the filter is clean and the chain is sharp. These things will not be heard from the cashier at a home improvement warehouse. If a chainsaw buyer desires good service, a high quality product, and an enjoyable sawing experience, he or she should not shop at a mass merchandise store but rather a small saw shop.
The first problem encountered is the distinct lack of customer service. A customer would have a hard time finding an associate that knew enough to help with a chainsaw purchase. These stores exchange front end customer service for back end service. Both Lowe’s and Home Depot will give you your money back if you ask, but that really helps nothing. Sure the customer is no longer mad, but Lowes then has a useless piece of junk. At a dedicated saw shop, the customer is taken care of up front. The customer can ask questions and get helpful answers from a knowledgeable associate. According to Buisiness Economics, Stihl products are sold exclusively by independent dealers. Stihl even advertizes that they do not sell their saws in Lowes or Home Depot. This is like a promise of customer service. It upholds the Stihl brand image by limiting bad experiences (Deneen and Gross).
Despite a very similar engine layout, the high-quality Stihl 025 and a similar sized mass marketed Poulan are night and day. The Poulan has a very cheap crankshaft; it is clearly just stamped metal plating. The seals around the bearings are insufficient. The cylinder even has a couple of huge seams in the wall that can only damage the piston. The Stihl has a very high quality engine. The crank and bearings are well made, and the cylinder and the piston are made by a respected company that has made pistons and cylinders for Stihl for more than thirty years. Made primarily in the US and Germany, Stihl has forty-million saws to its credit and a brand image that every saw it sells must match up to. Professional arborists pay top dollar for saws such as Stihls; even the small saws that professionals use for climbing cost $650. They pay because the “safety, weight, ease of handling, and vibration suppression” are worth the price (McCafferty). Compare that to Poulans which are made in China, no name to back them and with an income in small consumer saws that you can even buy at Wal-Mart. In a personal interview, Dr. Ross Wagenseil said that it would be worth doubling the price of a chainsaw for reliability and product support that Lowes and Home Depot saws do not offer.
Whether professional or light duty and cheap, chainsaws require constant care. The chain must stay sharp and the filters must be kept clean. A chainsaw should be serviced every couple of months, but neither Lowes nor Home Depot offer this service. If you ask them where you should take it for service they will send you to a small shop nearby that you should have gone to in the first place.
Quite simply, a good saw is fun to use, while a cheap saw is a great frustration. Once someone uses a real saw, they will not use cheap saw again. There was once a story of a man who had a $200 saw that he had been happy with. Then a friend let him use a professional model and he was ready to spend $700 on a nice saw the next day. This is commonly known in some circles as Chainsaw Addition Disorder (C.A.D.). It is highly contagious and someone who has run frustrating saws and is introduced to a real saw is instantly infected. Once a nice saw is invested in sawing up blow-downs or firewood is made enjoyable.
What if someone can’t afford $400 for a saw? That is perfectly understandable. Fortunately it is not necessary to spend that much. Stihl’s chainsaw product line starts around $200. Used saws are also an option. Good condition Stihl professional saws can be found for Two- to Three-hundred dollars.
This is valid for more than just chainsaws. Whether it is a cordless drill or a lawn mower, a motorcycle or a sewing machine, remember that when a cheap item is purchased, it may not only lack features but also come with a headache. Someone in Farmer Brown’s place should take the saw back to Lowes and take the $200 to buy a smaller but more reliable Stihl.
Deneen, Michael A., and Andrew C. Gross. "The global market for power tools." Business Economics 41.3 (July 2006): 66(8). Academic OneFile. Gale. Tri-County Technical College Library. 7 Apr. 2009 <http://liboc.tctc.edu:2052/itx/start.do?prodId=AONE>.
McCafferty, Phil. "Do you need a professional-grade machine?." Horticulture, The Magazine of American Gardening 74.n8 (Oct 1996): 62(2). Academic OneFile. Gale. Tri-County Technical College Library. 7 Apr. 2009 <http://liboc.tctc.edu:2052/itx/start.do?prodId=AONE>.
"Stihl saw. (Machinery)." Farmers Weekly (July 30, 2004): 2. Academic OneFile. Gale. Tri-County Technical College Library. 7 Apr. 2009 <http://liboc.tctc.edu:2052/itx/start.do?prodId=AONE>.
Wagenseil, Ross, professor of engineering. Personal interview. 7 Apr. 2009
Lowes Is Not the Place to Buy a Chainsaw
Farmer Brown needs a chainsaw because he knows they are “indispensable pieces of kit when it comes to clearing pheasant pens, fencing jobs and maintaining farm woodland” (Stihl Saw). He goes to Lowe’s to satisfy this need and he finds what looks like a good deal: a 16”chain saw for $150. As far as he cares a chainsaw is a chainsaw. Without talking to any service representative, he picks up a mid-sized consumer saw and buys it as if it was anything else in the store. He is pleased with his purchase. He takes it straight home and goes to work. He takes the little bottle of oil, mixes it with a gallon of gas, and is ready to rock. He has a small tree to cut down. The saw works great and cuts the whole tree up. He then goes on to the next tree, but the saw will not start. Having noticed that the package clearly says not to take the saw back to Lowe’s, Farmer Brown calls the phone number given to find out where to take it. He soon drives back to town to find a little lawn shop that has a much nicer set of saws on the shelf than Lowes did. The guy behind the counter gives him a quick smirk and puts the saw on the bench. Suddenly he realizes that he had been sucked into a marketing gimmick pointed at the cheap, impulsive culture. This is the McDonald’s of equipment. Even though it seems good as you buy it leaves you with a crappy feeling. You get what you pay for.
Many people have had this experience. After cheaping out and blowing their money on the bottom of the line, their new saw will not work or only work on occasion. This spells frustration. While chainsaws can be compared to other equipment in many ways, chainsaws are the extreme when it comes to requiring care in order to run properly. From the oil that must be mixed into the gasoline to making sure that the filter is clean and the chain is sharp. These things will not be heard from the cashier at a home improvement warehouse. If a chainsaw buyer desires good service, a high quality product, and an enjoyable sawing experience, he or she should not shop at a mass merchandise store but rather a small saw shop.
The first problem encountered is the distinct lack of customer service. A customer would have a hard time finding an associate that knew enough to help with a chainsaw purchase. These stores exchange front end customer service for back end service. Both Lowe’s and Home Depot will give you your money back if you ask, but that really helps nothing. Sure the customer is no longer mad, but Lowes then has a useless piece of junk. At a dedicated saw shop, the customer is taken care of up front. The customer can ask questions and get helpful answers from a knowledgeable associate. According to Buisiness Economics, Stihl products are sold exclusively by independent dealers. Stihl even advertizes that they do not sell their saws in Lowes or Home Depot. This is like a promise of customer service. It upholds the Stihl brand image by limiting bad experiences (Deneen and Gross).
Despite a very similar engine layout, the high-quality Stihl 025 and a similar sized mass marketed Poulan are night and day. The Poulan has a very cheap crankshaft; it is clearly just stamped metal plating. The seals around the bearings are insufficient. The cylinder even has a couple of huge seams in the wall that can only damage the piston. The Stihl has a very high quality engine. The crank and bearings are well made, and the cylinder and the piston are made by a respected company that has made pistons and cylinders for Stihl for more than thirty years. Made primarily in the US and Germany, Stihl has forty-million saws to its credit and a brand image that every saw it sells must match up to. Professional arborists pay top dollar for saws such as Stihls; even the small saws that professionals use for climbing cost $650. They pay because the “safety, weight, ease of handling, and vibration suppression” are worth the price (McCafferty). Compare that to Poulans which are made in China, no name to back them and with an income in small consumer saws that you can even buy at Wal-Mart. In a personal interview, Dr. Ross Wagenseil said that it would be worth doubling the price of a chainsaw for reliability and product support that Lowes and Home Depot saws do not offer.
Whether professional or light duty and cheap, chainsaws require constant care. The chain must stay sharp and the filters must be kept clean. A chainsaw should be serviced every couple of months, but neither Lowes nor Home Depot offer this service. If you ask them where you should take it for service they will send you to a small shop nearby that you should have gone to in the first place.
Quite simply, a good saw is fun to use, while a cheap saw is a great frustration. Once someone uses a real saw, they will not use cheap saw again. There was once a story of a man who had a $200 saw that he had been happy with. Then a friend let him use a professional model and he was ready to spend $700 on a nice saw the next day. This is commonly known in some circles as Chainsaw Addition Disorder (C.A.D.). It is highly contagious and someone who has run frustrating saws and is introduced to a real saw is instantly infected. Once a nice saw is invested in sawing up blow-downs or firewood is made enjoyable.
What if someone can’t afford $400 for a saw? That is perfectly understandable. Fortunately it is not necessary to spend that much. Stihl’s chainsaw product line starts around $200. Used saws are also an option. Good condition Stihl professional saws can be found for Two- to Three-hundred dollars.
This is valid for more than just chainsaws. Whether it is a cordless drill or a lawn mower, a motorcycle or a sewing machine, remember that when a cheap item is purchased, it may not only lack features but also come with a headache. Someone in Farmer Brown’s place should take the saw back to Lowes and take the $200 to buy a smaller but more reliable Stihl.
Deneen, Michael A., and Andrew C. Gross. "The global market for power tools." Business Economics 41.3 (July 2006): 66(8). Academic OneFile. Gale. Tri-County Technical College Library. 7 Apr. 2009 <http://liboc.tctc.edu:2052/itx/start.do?prodId=AONE>.
McCafferty, Phil. "Do you need a professional-grade machine?." Horticulture, The Magazine of American Gardening 74.n8 (Oct 1996): 62(2). Academic OneFile. Gale. Tri-County Technical College Library. 7 Apr. 2009 <http://liboc.tctc.edu:2052/itx/start.do?prodId=AONE>.
"Stihl saw. (Machinery)." Farmers Weekly (July 30, 2004): 2. Academic OneFile. Gale. Tri-County Technical College Library. 7 Apr. 2009 <http://liboc.tctc.edu:2052/itx/start.do?prodId=AONE>.
Wagenseil, Ross, professor of engineering. Personal interview. 7 Apr. 2009
