DOLMAR!!!!!

[carbon neutral]

The dealer I bought from does sell via phone/internet. I asked him if it would be alright with him if I said so on this web site and he said "sure I would appreciate the business". His prices are currently better than what Amicks is showing. You do have to understand that any warranty work has to go through him. He will either ship you parts or you can ship him the power head should warranty work be required.

 

[Gooserider]

Glad to hear it... I think Dolmar was making a big mistake when they shut off their Internet sales, sounds like they may have loosened back up again, which would be a good thing...

I do know that Amicks treated me very well - my saw arrived with shipping damage - the brake lever was broken... I called Tony, got him 15 minutes before closing. He offered to have the saw picked up and to send me a new one, but when I offered to try and fix it, that was fine with him as well... He said they didn't have the part in stock, but he pulled one off a new saw, sent it to me via express mail, and even threw a 10 spot in the package to compensate me for my trouble... THAT is what I call great customer service! :coolsmile: :exclaim:

Gooserider

 

[carbon neutral]

Gooserider,
You definitely have a lot of good info on the Dolmar. I think you are right the power head for the 6400-7900 are the same, the difference is the bore size. From a manufacturing stand point this certainly makes sense since you would greatly reduce the number of parts necessary which in turn makes the saw cheaper to produce. The down side is the smaller saw in the line up would be relatively heavy and bulky for the power available. The 6400 is in line with other manufacturers offerings so not a major draw back. One thing I do find frustrating is right now I found a guy selling brand new 6400's in blue (Makita) for $420 which is real cheap for the size and power of the saw. The cheapest 7900 I could find was $640. These are essentially the same saw so why such a big difference in price? The only thing I can figure is they, Makita/Dolmar, figured few people would buy the 6400 & 7300 if they could have the 7900 for the same price with no weight/size penalty. I know outboard motors are the same way, they use the same power head for a wide range of horsepower and charge more for the higher horsepower models.

Do you know what the deal between Makita and Dolmar is? It seems Makita didn't want the bigger saws in their line up, also Makita is allowed to sell online?

Reading the owners manual I see the saw has a plate on the carb that can be flipped around to increase the intake air temperature to prevent carb ice from forming. Have you ever used this? I will call the dealer and ask him what his advice is on using this.

 

[Gooserider]

Gooserider,
You definitely have a lot of good info on the Dolmar. I think you are right the power head for the 6400-7900 are the same, the difference is the bore size. From a manufacturing stand point this certainly makes sense since you would greatly reduce the number of parts necessary which in turn makes the saw cheaper to produce. The down side is the smaller saw in the line up would be relatively heavy and bulky for the power available. The 6400 is in line with other manufacturers offerings so not a major draw back. One thing I do find frustrating is right now I found a guy selling brand new 6400's in blue (Makita) for $420 which is real cheap for the size and power of the saw. The cheapest 7900 I could find was $640. These are essentially the same saw so why such a big difference in price? The only thing I can figure is they, Makita/Dolmar, figured few people would buy the 6400 & 7300 if they could have the 7900 for the same price with no weight/size penalty. I know outboard motors are the same way, they use the same power head for a wide range of horsepower and charge more for the higher horsepower models.

Do you know what the deal between Makita and Dolmar is? It seems Makita didn't want the bigger saws in their line up, also Makita is allowed to sell online?

Reading the owners manual I see the saw has a plate on the carb that can be flipped around to increase the intake air temperature to prevent carb ice from forming. Have you ever used this? I will call the dealer and ask him what his advice is on using this.

As I said, there is no question about the powerheads being the same, the parts list makes that quite clear, and there are guys both here and on Arboristsite that have done the top-end swap. (Home Despot used to be a big source for used 6400 rentals, which often had bad top ends...)

I would also tend to assume you are right on the price / size issue. I paid more for my 7900 than the 6400 was listed for, but less than the cost of doing the 6400 + upgrade parts.

I don't know the exact details on the Makita / Dolmar relationship, but the saws are definitely made by Dolmar and re-branded to Makita, and there is complete parts interchangeability. According to the folks on Arboristsite, the big Makita's are in the lineup in other countries, just not in the US - The feeling there is that Dolmar views the 6400 as a "loss leader" sort of item, and doesn't mind getting them into the hands of customers by whatever means needed, but doesn't want to sell their "signature" model at a big discount - the theory I guess is that people will be attracted by a low price on the Makita, learn it's a Dolmar, and jump up to the 7900 and the right color paint job... Apparently they DO allow Makita to do "distance sales" (mail order / phone / internet) - as I've heard that Bailey's sells them out of their catalog, among others.

As to the cold weather plate - yes I'm aware of it, and have even played with it a little bit, but haven't had a reason to use it - I mostly try to avoid processing wood in the winter, as I figure the whole point is to make it warm inside so you don't have to BE outside in the cold... :cheese: It's a clever idea, and isn't actually ON the carb, rather it's on the wall of the chamber that the carb sits in, formed by the covers. They have a hole in this wall, with slots to hold a plate twice as big as the hole which has a solid end and an open end. In the warm weather position the solid end covers the hole, and the saw pulls it's combustion air through screened slots in the outer cover. In cold weather you flip the plate around so the open end is over the hole, and the saw pulls part of it's air from the stream of hot air coming from the cylinder cooling airflow - the pre-heated air keeps the carb from wanting to ice up. Takes about 10 seconds to make the switch, under the same covers you use to check the air-filter (two spring latches) However the manual also contains lots of warnings about not using the plate unless the temperature is below freezing, or there is a risk of overheating. I suspect that most of the time it isn't needed, unless you are cutting in really cold wet weather.

Gooserider

 

[Outdoorsman]

Do you know what the deal between Makita and Dolmar is? It seems Makita didn't want the bigger saws in their line up, also Makita is allowed to sell online?

It's my understanding that Makita now owns a large share of Dolmar. So no surprise that Makita is helping get them more market exposure, even if they paint them blue......