Cheap Husky and Stihl chainsaw clones/knock offs, should you buy?

Walt Chase wrote:Devin as far as your chainsaw mill.  I completely understand about the expense of the thing.  Have you ever run a chainsaw mill?  It, from what I understand is back breaking work and they are pretty hard on a chainsaw too.  I want to suggest that you go to the  forestry forum ( http://forestryforum.com/ ) and do some reading in the sawmills and sawing section there.  Most of the guys have Woodmizer or one of the other big name brands, but there are some that have some of the lower priced mills and have had good luck with them.  I'll also suggest that you look at the Woodmizer LT15 mills.  While more expensive than your chainsaw mill I think you would be better served by saving your pennies a bit longer and getting  one of them.  I personally have a Woodmizer LT28.  Was planning on a LT15, but when weighing the pros and cons decided to go with the LT 28.  Yes it was expensive, but has not given me a minutes trouble and from what I understand the customer service, which I have yet to use, it second to none.  One other thing I have gleaned from the Forestry forum is that if and when you decide you no longer need a sawmill the Woodmizer has an excellent resale value.

I had a chainsaw mill and was pretty quick to give that nonsense up. I always joked, "you start sawing a board today, and finish it tomorrow"...yeah that slow. And it was very wasteful. Where as a bandsaw mill is about 1/16 of an inch in kerf, a chainsaw mill is 3/8. That is HUGE, especially if you are using smaller logs, and as we all know, even the biggest tree tapers, and so small logs are at the top of the tree. To put that in perspective though, for every 16 boards sawn on a bandsaw mill, one board is lost to sawdust. With a chainsaw mill, for every three boards cut on a chainsaw mill, one is lost to sawdust. That is a LOT of sawdust, and a huge loss in lumber.

On bandsaws, Woodmizer is king, but at all costs stay away from Norwood...they are pure JUNK! There are really two happy days in a man's life: The day they marry their wife, and the day some sucker buys their Norwood Bandsaw Mill and it is being towed off the homestead!

I heard the Chinese Knock Off chainsaws are pretty good. I do not have one, but I might consider buying one. There is no possibly way it could be any worse than my worst purchase I have ever made: A Husqvarna 562 Chainsaw. I call it my Forever-Crank. From rattled off bolts, to never starting, it is $750 of pure JUNK. It is however, out in the woods everyday...ever since it would not start and I finally threw it over the brush pile.

As for Harbor Freight, I actually like their tools and go there often, but this is what I have found. They are the place to go for seldom used tools. For instance, I am not a mechanic, but sometimes I need an impact gun. So I have a cheap Harbor Freight one. If I was a diesel mechanic, yeah I would have a Snap On tool, but for the occasional stuck bolt, my Harbor Freight impact wrench has served me well, and for 20 years. And so because of a lack of daily use, I would never buy an expensive snap on impact wrench, but rather than go without, I buy cheaper since I am using it less frequently.

Harbor Freight has really enabled me to get far more tools due to their price, and lets be honest, we could barely stand up on two feet, much less be on top of the food chain if we were not capable of devising tools and using them.

huztl prices cant be beat, the carburetors i've had good luck with also the honda gx gas tanks are a super bargain
i'm guessing this is where a lot of ebay and amazon sellers get their inventory. some expert saw repair people got together with them and supposedly the stihl parts are pretty good, again price can't be beat. if using piston/cylinder kit i would install caber rings
many of the plastic parts are exact copies of oem, i've read that some of the gas filters for 1/4 line fall apart at the seam
maybe they got this straightened out.

I might hold off...

I have never had a Norwood Chainsaw mill, but I have had a Norwood bigger sawmill and di not like it at all. It is why I no longer have it, and I have had a chainsaw mill too. I would think the Norwood Chainsaw mill would be the worst of both.

You have to be careful of any youtube video praising Norwood's too because that is how they do advertisements. They give Norwood Owner's thousands of dollars worth of upgrades so they say great things about the sawmill.

But I think a better approach to sawmills is to buy a Harbor Freight bandsaw mill. They have great reviews, it is only $2000, and it is a bandsaw mill, so you will save a lot in wood waste. I mean 3/8 of an inch is a lot. That means you lose one board for every three you cut. With a bandsaw mill, you lose one board to sawdust for every sixteen you cut. That is a lot less sawdust, and a pile of more boards. And for what you have in the new chainsaw, and the sawmill, you will be well over the $2000 for the Harbor Freight Sawmill.

I plan to buy one soon myself. I am going to mount the bandsaw on my homemade chainsaw mill giving me the best of both worlds; a bandsaw type of cut, and yet a 24 foot long bed. For $2000 I do not think I can beat the price.

As for chainsaws, I have had both Stihl and Husky, and prefer Stihl. They say the quality is going down, but I just do not see it.

I got a Husqvarna 562 XP now, and it is sideways-junk. I talked to another logger and he did not like it either. I call it my forever crank because it just does not want to run. It is okay on a cold start, but for a warm start...forget it. It lacks power too, and rattles a lot. I really cannot begin to say enough bad about it...

I really miss my Stihl.

I did not trade it in though, nope I ran over it accidentally with a skidder. I go to church, but on that day, I said some bad words. In fact, I might have said several in a row. It was a sad, sad, day.

I bought my holzfforma g372xp last year around Black Friday for $170 the full assembled powerhead without the bar and chain after watching afleetcommand’s videos because I was in the market for a new saw but didn’t have new saw money got it took it out of the box put the bigger dogs and a 24inch forester bar and full chisel chain and I run my saws a lot and I’m not the easiest on them but it’s been running fantastic for a year now with 0 issues besides having to make the Oiler slot slightly bigger saw runs great and pulls the 24 setup beautifully absolutely love it being around my area a new 372 x torque is about $1200 actually just ordered the 65cc regular g372 last week but I don’t recommend buying this saw unless your willing to maybe have to work out a few kinks to save some money. Otherwise a great saw. I’m actually thinking about purchasing the ms660 Holzfforma knockoff next depending on if this new saw runs as good as the first one I ordered. The only reason I ended up buying the g372xp is because I’ve had nothing but Sthils my whole life and I wanted to give a husky a try but a new husky is so expensive and all the used ones I found were beat up bad so I did some research and stumbled upon holzfforma.

Are there knockoffs of the smaller 40-45cc saws?

Joshua Soom wrote:I bought my holzfforma g372xp last year around Black Friday for $170 the full assembled powerhead without the bar and chain after watching afleetcommand’s videos because I was in the market for a new saw but didn’t have new saw money got it took it out of the box put the bigger dogs and a 24inch forester bar and full chisel chain and I run my saws a lot and I’m not the easiest on them but it’s been running fantastic for a year now with 0 issues besides having to make the Oiler slot slightly bigger saw runs great and pulls the 24 setup beautifully absolutely love it being around my area a new 372 x torque is about $1200 actually just ordered the 65cc regular g372 last week but I don’t recommend buying this saw unless your willing to maybe have to work out a few kinks to save some money. Otherwise a great saw. I’m actually thinking about purchasing the ms660 Holzfforma knockoff next depending on if this new saw runs as good as the first one I ordered. The only reason I ended up buying the g372xp is because I’ve had nothing but Sthils my whole life and I wanted to give a husky a try but a new husky is so expensive and all the used ones I found were beat up bad so I did some research and stumbled upon holzfforma.

That is good information to know.

I like my Stihl's, but the 565 XP Husqvarna I got was not worth buying. It is a rattle box, underpowered. hates to start when it is warm, and did I mention it is wayyyyyyyyyy underpowered? I not-so-affectionately call it my Forever-Crank. Other loggers in the area have had them too and they say the same thing; a junk chainsaw.

The dealer told me they were "disposable saws" and he was right. I will never buy another Husqvarna chainsaw for as long as I live!

But if those Holzfforma saws work pretty good, it would be nice to get one or two of them and just use them out on the landing or something. I am slogging through the mud now really, really bad. We had a few inches of rain, then 8 inches of snow, then last night a few more inches of rain...and plenty of melted snow. It is just running in streams down the skidder ruts! I am getting the wood out, but I wait until I am done for the day to saw the logs on the landing because I would be filing my saw every twitch from the mud. It would be nice to have a second saw, but one that was in the 70 cc range, to buck the logs up without me caring too much about the saw.

Ive got this fake Stihl for just 45 dollars brand new.Literally cheaper than an axe and it works great,always starts at first pull and after quite a lot of heavy use it still starts that fast and has good compression.
Everybody thinks its original but i say its is not ( doesnt have the original caps for chain oil and gasoline mix,the handles are not as rugged as an original Stihl( it has stihl and husqwarna features in it actually,like the clutch its husqwarna,otther parrs are stihl and otthers are chinese).
Initially i bought this cheap saw to turn it into a trencher and to mount a motorcycle chain with somme big teeth on it and a gear reductor.
The trencher i needed it to install undergroud irrigation pipes.
If i do make a trencher out of it then it will probably put the expensive chainsaws to shame because i cant think of a harder work for a chainsaw than to dig soil trenches.
They are good,not as high quality as an original stihl but they do the work.
The fact that it has Stihl labels on it its not fair but its not the chinese that put these labels .Polish order the chainsaws and the labels separatedly from China and they put them together in Poland.

Interesting thread. I bought a Remmington earlier this year as a backup to my Farm Boss.  It is much more cheaply made, but, so fd ar, it is easier use.  I really like the fact that it has a choke on it.

Edit 9/24/24:  in one year it was beyond repair.

On the forestry chainsaw course I did, we were told always to fill up the oil first, if you do the petroil first and you get interrupted half way through and forget to fill up the oil, you might wreck the bar and chain.

my update on huztl parts.
I have had great success with their carburetors on a vintage echo pole saw and Honda gx carburetors and gas tanks and that's about the only success ive had. I have yet to get one of my old stihl chainsaws going well with these parts direct from china. I tried a complete overhaul on a 044, it went back together with no real problems but it just does not want to run properly. carb on an old 360 and it still won't start. air filter elements work great on a ms180.  maybe I need new ngk spark plugs. guess I'm not much of a chainsaw mechanic yet. couple years ago I came across an ms261 for $200 and it runs great. needs nothing but gas oil and sharp chain and cuts like a beast.

Kind of an old post, but did you order the saw and do you have any feedback on them?

Last season, in a pinch, I bought a $200 Jonsered 50cc. It really is last year's Husky in red plastic! I really think it's a very good deal for a homeowner saw, cuts great, light as a feather, zero issues. I feel like this was a much better option than a "no-name" brand. Repairable and rebuildable with spare parts from a reputable manufacturer.

Jonsered invented the chainsaw by the way.

I just bought a Pferd all in one file. It does the rakers and cutters at the same time and has guide lines so you almost can't mess it up. Very much recommended.

I just rebuilt my Husky 353. The Husky OEM rebuild kit consisted of a cylinder, piston with ring and 2 gaskets and cost 1/2 the cost of a brand new saw $340 ... I hate to throw things away, but I'm kind of done with the expensive brand name thing. Jus sayin'

Personally I have no problems with the knock off brands, especially if they are actually using the same parts as the name brands.  For me, the decision came down to Husqvarna or Stihl and I spent the extra money and went with Stihl.  Firstly, I had already purchased a trimmer through Stihl and now I own the 16" homeowner chainsaw.  Mostly I went through Stihl for the dealer support.  I bought both the Stihl's from the same dealer that I bought my JD tractor.  I did not long ago have problems with the trimmer and the issue turned out to be a bad carburetor.  I possibly could have fixed the carburetor, but I have very limited knowledge of small engines and a new carburetor purchased and installed through the dealer was only $10.  This was an ease decision for me and is a good example of why I wanted the dealer support in the first place.

The knock-off brands are likely cheaper and if you are skilled enough to keep them working with wear and tear, then they might well be a good deal for you.  But if the repair skill is beyond your ability, a dealer is awfully nice to have.

Just for the record, I have had two issues with the trimmer--one was a problem with the shaft, the other with the carburetor.  I have had no problems at all with the chainsaw and I have used the chainsaw a LOT.

I don't know if this helps, but this has been my experience.

Eric

From my experience, for a chain saw mill you're really going to want to find an 076 or an 090 and rebuild it, if needed. They run a lower rpm for power and that's where they excel with a mill. In Alaska, I had the 076 on a Sperber and was able to mill boards out of 2-3 foot diameter trees. We did have a larger Husky there but it didn't handle the extended load as well. Just my 2 cents.

Hi guys. I live in West Australia and we cut a lot of  local Jarrah hardwood with these saws. I have built from the kits the 070, 660 and the 440 I also purchased a ready built G660 blue thunder. These saws go hard and are awesome quality for the price, the 660 eats hardwood. I also own a genuine Stihl and can honestly say the farmatec saws perform just as well for a fraction of the price. Can send pictures if interested

The clone kits are sold as "repair kits" for the real thing. You are advised not to build a saw from them and that there is no warranty if you do. So yes. Fully interchangeable - at least by their claim. Can't say I've tested it.

The clone kits are good with some OEM parts. I have Stihl chainsaws bought new and have logged with them.  I opt you have someone with a band saw mill come in. It will be way easier for you to get yourself organized and get the job done with the pressure from having a rental mill.  I have built a house right from forested land (ie had to put in driveway to get on land).  I put my logs in piles and a rental Sawyer came in and got the lumber sawn....very much worth the money and I worked on a million other projects while the two guy team of sawyers cut my logs. The guys working on the logs also helped me greatly psychologically and was a big boost at the start of a big major project.  The house and lot turned out better than I imagined.  You have enough to deal with without trying to be your own lumber yard!!!   Too many newbies try to have a farm, a barn, feed, cows...just to get milk!!! I later on had my own band saw mill and cut a lot of boards and that was a separate major project on its own.  Do not spread yourself too thin like too many permies do and that is why so many get discouraged and quit (it is not from lack of intelligence or hard work).  Spend the money on a rental mill and it will lighten your load and you will probably end up making a good friend/s that will know a lott more than you about where to go and who to see and how to build your house.   I grew up on a farm in Maine and know how to weld, log, tree farm, work on all types of machinery, build houses, build solar systems, put together chain saw kits from scratch etc. so I am a real DYI and know exactly what you are talking about when you say you want the freedom to do things on your own schedule because I was not to keen on having someone come in and cut my lumber but it was worth it.   Later on you can always get a band saw mill.  If you do not know how to put a saw kit together do not buy a saw kit!  You are trying to build a house...build the house and do not try to build a saw, build a mill and lumber yard etc etc and spread yourself too thin.  Later on after your house is up you can take your time and do these other projects. Do not get your wagon in front of your horse.  If you get the chainsaw kit and you do not put it together right (ez to do) you will end up having to cut lumber with a kitchen knife which is just about as fast and as much work as a chainsaw mill.  Good luck to you and do not spread yourself too thin.

I'll be changing from Husqvarna to another brand. Husky has sold out cheap...

I have several Honda GX200 clones in various applications.  Had one that broke a crankshaft, but it didn’t grenade and the new shaft was only $28.  Last time I needed a smaller saw I looked at the clones, but I seem to remember the savings were on the larger saws so I went with the name brand.  Makes sense, a big saw doesn’t require 5x the materials of a smaller saw, yet the big brands seem to charge by the cc.  Wonder what it would look like if you priced them by the pound, lol…