Here in Ireland, the costs of saws are ridiculous. It has a lot to do with being an Island of only 5.5 million or so + silly tariffs and taxes + dealers selling in very low volume. A pro saw here goes for nearly half again what it does stateside at todays exchange rate. When the Euro is strong, it starts to push closer to twice the costs.
However, the largest ports in Europe are in England. The Chinese can land saws there, with full EU certs, for next to nothing. After that, it is a quick jump into Ireland with no further tariffs or taxes.
They go by several brand names like AMA and Zomax. But because they have to pass EU regs, they are actually close copies of their Husky and Echo equivalents. I haven't seen a Stihl copy yet. I was in my local shop today in Tipperary when I saw this sitting on a shelf:
The phone doesn't take great pics, but you get the idea here. It's a copy of an Husqvarna model 61. And it does a fairly good job of it aside from the orange peel paint job. The plastics feel fairly robust, and the chassis is likely aluminum since it felt sort of heavy ish. The controls were plenty chincy, tho. The B&C's are Oregon, and appeared to me to be OEM stuff.
It sells for about half the cost of a Husqvarna 365 X Torq. They have a lot of them out in the field in ranch and farmer's hands, and sold more than two dozen last year during the storms. I am told the controls fail on occasion, but the rest of the saw tends to be sound. I wonder if they had to pay Husqvarna royalties to get the EU certs and imports...
Anywho, ya'll discuss.
However, the largest ports in Europe are in England. The Chinese can land saws there, with full EU certs, for next to nothing. After that, it is a quick jump into Ireland with no further tariffs or taxes.
They go by several brand names like AMA and Zomax. But because they have to pass EU regs, they are actually close copies of their Husky and Echo equivalents. I haven't seen a Stihl copy yet. I was in my local shop today in Tipperary when I saw this sitting on a shelf:
The phone doesn't take great pics, but you get the idea here. It's a copy of an Husqvarna model 61. And it does a fairly good job of it aside from the orange peel paint job. The plastics feel fairly robust, and the chassis is likely aluminum since it felt sort of heavy ish. The controls were plenty chincy, tho. The B&C's are Oregon, and appeared to me to be OEM stuff.
It sells for about half the cost of a Husqvarna 365 X Torq. They have a lot of them out in the field in ranch and farmer's hands, and sold more than two dozen last year during the storms. I am told the controls fail on occasion, but the rest of the saw tends to be sound. I wonder if they had to pay Husqvarna royalties to get the EU certs and imports...
Anywho, ya'll discuss.
