I love my chinese saw

[Burning man]

The Chinese copy of the 880 is what, $550? Buying a used 880 is $1200-1500 around here. Ebay? $1600.

Saw resale prices are very very high. To the extent that Chinese copies don't just undercut them, often they're less than half.

Are Chinese copies as good as a stihl or husq? Doesn't seem like it.

Are the Chinese capable of making a saw that good? Oh absolutely. But why would they? The guys who won't buy it for being Chinese still won't buy it; they can't offer the service/support structure that would be needed to take real commercial user market share from the established brands here. Chinese industry can and do make incredible products... when there's the financial incentive to do so. They figure it's more profitable to make the $60-600 copies they're making now than to try to compete with the quality brands on saws that would sell for 2-3x what their current products do. Are they right? Who knows. But if they decide that making a $1200 881 copy that's just as good as a Stihl is a good idea... we're going to see a saw just as good as a 881 for $1200. Now will that involve them hiring ex Stihl designers/engineers to consult on building the necessary factory/process? Oh yeah it will. That's not a bad thing for customers, in my book.

Not wanting to buy Chinese products b/c of human rights concerns, political concerns, etc... is fine.

Writing off Chinese products b/c they're all garbage is misinformed and nonproductive. Stuff like the images of the poor casting on a Chinese-built saw is productive. Engineering to meet a demand is a big part of the job. If the demand is for a fairly disposable saw that costs <$100 to manufacture... then stuff like that MAY be ideal. Is a new Porsche a better vehicle than a beat up old Camry that barely passes inspection? What if you have $500 to spend and just need to get back and forth a few miles to work? What good is better if you can't buy it?

One of the recurring problems of clone saws is when the end user has one fail after a month or six and doesn't have the ability to perform their own repairs they are stuck trying to find someone to fix it because their shops usually won't touch them then have to hunt Facebook or places like here to find someone to fix it. With shipping and all of that stuff plus the potential of someone saying this is my saw now they are better off buying that beat up 660 at the swap or local guy that has one he doesn't need anymore. Of course that can be a challenge depending on where you live, for me finding a 660/661/462 or a even an 034 locally is like finding hens teeth and if I did they're probably hotter than a 2 dollar pistol. Ebay has been good for me finding deals like a new in box redmax g5000 for 200.

How many of these people are buying these big clone saws 070 660 880 and actually using them? I see a lot videos of people using them to cut wood a 50-70cc could handle with ease. Some people just buy them to say hay look at what I have.

 

[sliceoflife]

I don't know where you buy your used saws but I think I can beat it on price. Sometimes I have to do a little makeover however..

If you're selling anything that's 92cc+ and modern (aka light) for a reasonable price; definitely let me know. I'm running a chinese 070 now and wouldn't mind a higher RPM lower weight alternative with similar or better power. Not worthwhile to buy an 880 or 660 clone for me, but if I can snag a deal on a used, better saw; I may be interested. Best deal I could find locally was significantly more than I paid for the 070 for a pretty heavily used 2100... no decent deals on anything remotely modern.

Burning Man:

How many of these people are buying these big clone saws 070 660 880 and actually using them? I see a lot videos of people using them to cut wood a 50-70cc could handle with ease. Some people just buy them to say hay look at what I have.

Heck I doubt there's any wood I couldn't buck (slowly) with the cheap electric saw I've got... I've taken down limbs as big as I could get the bar around with it... just takes time. I'd certainly never feel the need for the 105cc saw I bought for any bucking... Heck, I don't even bother changing the chain (I've got a ripping on it for the mill) off to do it... easier for me to use a (much) smaller saw and work a little slower. But then again, I don't do much bucking... just breaking down the occasional limb that's starting to rot. I think the main market for the big (92cc+) Chinese saws are for milling... and most people milling want to buy a 36" mill and run a 36" bar (which would take, bare minimum, a powerful 72cc, right?) or 48" mill + 48" bar... which would be a meaty 92cc at least I'd assume? That puts you into the $1200-2500 range? Cheapest (new) option I'm seeing is a Husq 72cc (572) at almost $1200... Which would buy you two 880 copies (or four 372 copies).

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I haven't been to the "local" flea market lately; it doesn't open until April, and I definitely don't own any saws at the present time that are over 70cc. The ones I buy aren't in good enough condition to re-sell without a bunch of work and cleaning. I'll try to find a few big ones this summer if any are available but mostly I see saws in the 50-60cc range.

 

[NSEric]

I have a hell of a time finding good used saws. Anything worth getting is gone before I can get to it or really expensive.
I've fixed a couple but they were beat and cost a bit to fix them up even with cheap china parts. They werent worth putting oem parts on, that would cost more than a better newer saw lol.

 

[sliceoflife]

Yeah, smaller saws come up (like you've noticed... seems to stop in the 50-60cc range). Larger saws people run into the ground or try to get almost what they paid for them back if/when they resell. This dynamic creates the market for cheap clones... because there isn't a reliable or reasonable aftermarket for the "pro" saws. I'd rather pay $2200 for a new husq with a warranty than $1500-1800 for a used one... But I'd rather pay $500 for a clone if it works for me; even if it's not as well built. $500 off 2200 isn't worth the potential problems of used & no warranty. $1500 off 2200 is worth dealing with some problems and no warranty. It's that simple.

And that's the kind of pricing you see on the larger saws around here. Heck, it's not uncommon to see used saws asking over MSRP, and justify it because they throw a couple spare chains in with it.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

After seeing/hearing how some dealers operate I'm less likely to buy a chainsaw with a warranty..

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I have a hell of a time finding good used saws. Anything worth getting is gone before I can get to it or really expensive.
I've fixed a couple but they were beat and cost a bit to fix them up even with cheap china parts. They werent worth putting oem parts on, that would cost more than a better newer saw lol.

Yeah, I don't find saws worth taking home every time I go to the sales. For a while I did but recently it's only about one time in 3 or 4 visits.

 

[fields_mj]

But more specifically . Does Rigid, Craftsman, or Taurus make a tool/gun that is such a direct copy it will interchange part for part with another brand?

Yes, actually they do.

 

[sean donato]

That’s too bad bro. Imho the models I have have been tops. Just goes to show the pig behind the lipstick could be a feral hog or an Ibérico.

Haven’t seen these Zenoahs for sale so maybe not made anymore?

They are still for sale under both the zenoah and redmax brands, but not very popular in the states, due to the husqy brand (all the same saws) being dominant here.

So the old zenoah designed cylinder had alignment tabs, round exhaust port, and a larger intake port. When they went to the design for the 543xp/gz4350 they did away with the intake offset, went to smaller ports, offset exhaust port, and did away the alignment tabs. I had a 543xp and have a couple of redmax gz400s that I pulled the cylinders on to check out what the differences are.

That's a gz4000 zenoah cylinder pictured. The 4350 is its direct replacement. So the most comparable that I have on hand. I've compared with pictures if the oe 543xp and the gz4000 is much closer to the 543xp then the clone is. Although I'm not spending another $50+ dollars for an oem 543/4350 cylinder to compare though. Add in its a "newer generation" there are bound to be a few port size differences, but there is no offset in either the 543xp or 4350 oe cylinders. The neotec is just a typical representation of the clone saws getting it almost right.