Which Chainsaw for Forestry

[peatff]

6 hours ago, Gaz-exRM said:

Know way four is the way forward !! ???

 

You could scratch your @rse and pick your nose at the same time as you eat your dinner, just don't forget which hands your knife and fork are in ?

Edited December 14, 2018 by peatff

[spudulike]

All strato saws should be run on better quality synthetic oils, I have explained why. Red was fine when saws were of standard normal construction but now the strato saws use significantly less oil, you need a better oil. The colour makes sod all difference, it is the specifications of the oil that matters.

The choice is yours, do you feel lucky.....?

[spudulike]

22 hours ago, The Technician said:

 Good bye back yard mechanics! So that's the belief!

This statement is pretty offensive in my opinion. It assumes that only highly experienced Stihl technicians could ever service the new complex machines.

Last week I got a KM130 in that had been bounced to and fro from a "Stihl Agent". It came to me not revving out and having a list of items changed including rings, valves ground in, fuel lines, fuel filter and a "genuine Stihl carb". I don't know what was charged but it wasn't going to be cheap!

Well, this "man in a shed" found that the highly trained Stihl technicians don't understand how to set the valve timing on these machines and was lucky it hadn't crunched the valves. The agent also liked to maximise profits by taking an aftermarket carb, removing the top and bottom covers/primer and putting them on the aftermarket POS making it look like an OEM carb. The only issue was the carb wasn't the issue in the first place and the aftermarket one had some issues making it damn difficult to get a good tune on it...oh, and no accelerator pump giving lag on the pickup off idle.

I have two reports on one local dealer charging for work not done from my customers....not good. I am sure there are some good ones out there but some of the stuff I find is pretty appalling - MS200T, chain brake band almost through on a fully serviced £300 rebuild.....not good on a saw used up trees where injuries are damn difficult to deal with.

Similar happened with cars a few years back and manufacturers were legislated to put OBD2 interface ports in their new cars!

[Rough Hewn]

My local dealers has one of the top stihl registered mechanics in the country.
He'd never seen a 661 or 880 until I bought one.
When I had a collection, and I couldn't figure out how to fix it, I'd phone@wonky.
He has two sheds!
[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[Jwoodgardenmaintenance]

Absolutley agree with @spudulike theres a old man down the road from me old john they call him hes a retired environment agency engineer and anything he puts his hand to is mended and always done properly theres a lot of folk near me who wont even use there dealer as they are overpriced uneducated know it all in my opinion therss 2 or 3 who dont know there arse from there elbow so these "backstreet mechanics" will always be about to do the job when the dealers cant ?

[The Technician]

I couldn't agree with you more!! It's not that I was being offensive,  but this is what the OEM's are trying to do with all this new technology coming out. I don't work in a dealership anymore and yes, I would be considered a back yard mechanic!! Most dealerships now, well, struggling to find people who know what they are doing! !!! And the people who knew the trade keep leaving. So the skills keep disappearing. I for one am looking at changing careers. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. I'm not a monkey!

[spudulike]

It is pretty obvious that OEMs want to just have their dealers doing the work on their machines judging by their reluctance on releasing IPLs, making their autotune devices unavailable to end users or non franchised companies etc etc.

Most of the guys near me can't wait 3 months while the local dealer sits on their machines and then find they haven't been touched. Better to have a bloke in a shed who is focused on getting it back, working correctly and in a timely manner than a dealer prioritising all his better staff on the big stuff and putting the inexperienced on the hand tools!

 

[Sawchip]

Now lets not get all "Shedist " here ! ...and not all sheds may be of the garden sort. ?

Some mighty large and complex things do and still do come out of sheds .....Locomotives as one example. There are plenty of  "independent service and repair services" out there , some good, some bl@@dy awful .

The nature of the big two is to protect there interests so it is no shock to me that the Tech is guarded . As the motor trade went, so this trade seems to be going. If your only work is on the equipment that uses that Tech and your customer base only want that equipment,  then sure, you may have a big problem, but if your doing a wide spread of makes and equipment then...for now , its less of a day to day issue.

 

Edited December 14, 2018 by Sawchip

[spudulike]

Seeing as I started my business to ease me in to an early retirement and since then have had enough work for close on seven days a week I am not approaching your "big problem" but mu success is a direct reflection on how people round here view the local dealer service.

Time will tell and am not that deluded to not realise the impact the battery powered kit and fuel injected atotune kit will have on non franchised outfits that don't sell new kit.

[MattyF]

Aye it seems a shame the big two don’t give a shit really who sells and repairs there saws and offers warranty .
My local husky dealer ... I’ve tried to stop using as it was just a joke really but a few weeks back desperate for 15liters of XP oil we go in , they inform us we don’t want that it’s too expensive to run in saws and they didn’t have it any way ... I’m not putting anything else in my 550’s and 560’s so head for the door and there walking out by the door was a 15litre container of XP oil ... begrudgingly I took it back to the counter to be charged full on whack for it... and that is the last time I set foot in there.
Then there is the stihl / husky dealer not far from you spud who could not even change a topend on a 3120.