Chinese chainsaw "wemars"

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JA600L

JA600L

Minister of Fire
Nov 30, 2013
1,292
Lancaster Pennsylvania
Hi guys,
I used to have a Poulan Pro 5020av and it bit the dust. I planned on buying a better saw but ended up on Amazon. Temptation won and I got a $120 Wemars 62cc with a 20" .
I had very low expectations for this saw but boy was I wrong. It is an incredibly powerful and reliable saw. It sliced up a 35" red oak trunk without bogging. I've had it now since February and got a lot of cutting in. I absolutely love how it feels and cuts.
A few months ago I got a good deal on a Stihl MS250. The Stihl is a fantastic saw for lighter cutting. However, the Wemars eats it for breakfast when it comes to power and performance.
So I considered the idea of getting a Stihl Pro saw but the Wemars sort of fits the bill. Has anybody else had similar experiences?
I wish I could find out more information as far as replacement parts and service. It appears like some Chinese company is making these saws and they are being sold in different variations and brands. Had anybody dug deeper?

[Hearth.com] Chinese chainsaw "wemars"
 
Lots of threads on chinese saws. Some are good most are bad. Good luck on parts and durability.
 
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JA600L said:
Hi guys,
I used to have a Poulan Pro 5020av and it bit the dust. I planned on buying a better saw but ended up on Amazon. Temptation won and I got a $120 Wemars 62cc with a 20" .
I had very low expectations for this saw but boy was I wrong. It is an incredibly powerful and reliable saw. It sliced up a 35" red oak trunk without bogging. I've had it now since February and got a lot of cutting in. I absolutely love how it feels and cuts.
A few months ago I got a good deal on a Stihl MS250. The Stihl is a fantastic saw for lighter cutting. However, the Wemars eats it for breakfast when it comes to power and performance.
So I considered the idea of getting a Stihl Pro saw but the Wemars sort of fits the bill. Has anybody else had similar experiences?
I wish I could find out more information as far as replacement parts and service. It appears like some Chinese company is making these saws and they are being sold in different variations and brands. Had anybody dug deeper?

View attachment 286302
Click to expand...
It's a husky clone...
Most Husky parts will fit it
 
They will work. You'll have to tinker with it more often, and you will see some durability issues as it ages. Keep ethanol free fuel in it and check all the fasteners from time to time, as they have a tendency to back themselves out.
 
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peakbagger said:
Lots of threads on chinese saws. Some are good most are bad. Good luck on parts and durability.
Click to expand...
The issue with the Chinese saws is that machine operators, for whatever reason, try to get more life out of a tool than it really should be providing. Die grinder bits get worn out, drills get dull, so on and so forth and some of the parts, or maybe the whole saw, are out of spec and things don't work. Going by reviews of Chinese products about 15% of customers end up unsatisfied, and usually the manufacturer/Amazon/the vendor will make it right.
 
SpaceBus said:
The issue with the Chinese saws is that machine operators, for whatever reason, try to get more life out of a tool than it really should be providing. Die grinder bits get worn out, drills get dull, so on and so forth and some of the parts, or maybe the whole saw, are out of spec and things don't work. Going by reviews of Chinese products about 15% of customers end up unsatisfied, and usually the manufacturer/Amazon/the vendor will make it right.
Click to expand...
That's the thing though... The saw I got is definitely not a throw away saw. I have had zero problems with it. My question about support is valid for the quality of the product. Chinese or not it is a quality product.
 
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JA600L said:
That's the thing though... The saw I got is definitely not a throw away saw. I have had zero problems with it. My question about support is valid for the quality of the product. Chinese or not it is a quality product.
Click to expand...
I have plenty of Chinese stuff, very few appliances, tools, etc. are made outside of China these days. Even American brands have a lot of stuff made in China, but they have tighter QC than an all Chinese outfit. Sounds like you are one of the 85% that got a solid product. Most of the stuff I get from China works pretty well, but isn't durable. In that case I replace the worn out stuff with higher quality parts. A lot of guys like to buy the chainsaw castings from China and put OEM Stihl or Husky parts in them.
 
It's all about quality control and tolerances. Quality control has to start at the material supplier. If the raw material is crap then the parts made from it will have defects. If the tooling and operators are not good the tolerances will be wide. A good assembler can pick through a pile of parts and find the good ones and build a good unit. Unfortunately, those out of tolerance and defective parts need to be used as the margins are slim. Maybe during the initial delivery of the product to the wholesaler the factory will send only the good ones so they get future orders but at some point the ones made out of the crap parts have to go somewhere. They may get mixed into the next shipment or they may get repainted and sold to a secondary market.

I bought a cheap Chinese vise years ago. It was rough casting in spots but in other spots it did not look bad. Over the years I would occasionally hit the vise and frequently a piece of filler would pop out. It finally failed and while I was scrapping it I took a chisel to the casting. It turned out the rough castings were mostly cast iron but someone had taken even worst castings and filled it with something that looked like Bondo and filled all the holes and porosities then sanded it down before painting. It lasted but when I did the autopsy, it was bad threaded shaft inside the vise that failed. I got 20 years off of it before it broke. No doubt if I had bought a Wilton 20 years ago, it would still be ready to go.
 
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JA600L said:
That's the thing though... The saw I got is definitely not a throw away saw. I have had zero problems with it. My question about support is valid for the quality of the product. Chinese or not it is a quality product.
Click to expand...
You got lucky with yours...chinese saws are well known for very spotty quality...some years back I built a farmertec Stihl 660 clone kit, its been fine for how I use it, but I don't use it that much (main reason I was willing to take the gamble) and when I built it I inspected and culled out any parts that seemed questionable...replaced with OEM. The only failure I've had was the chain adjuster, but then even the OEM one didn't fit that well due to a poorly made housing...some shimming fixed that.
If I had to buy one now I'd very likely not do a clone again...I guess my feelings on "copycat thieves" has evolved since then...really trying to "buy USA" now, but that is obviously not always possible...
 
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brenndatomu said:
You got lucky with yours...chinese saws are well known for very spotty quality...some years back I built a farmertec Stihl 660 clone, its been fine for how I use it, but I don't use it that much (main reason I was willing to take the gamble) and when I built it I inspected and culled out any parts that seemed questionable...replaced with OEM. The only failure I've had was the chain adjuster, but then even the OEM one didn't fit that well due to a poorly made housing...some shimming fixed that.
If I had to buy one now I'd very likely not do a clone again...I guess my feelings on "copycat thieves" has evolved since then...really trying to "buy USA" now, but that is obviously not always possible...
Click to expand...
Are there any USA made chainsaws? Even my 395xp mill saw was made in Brazil, not even a real Swedish Husky. I bet most of the electric saws are made in China, especially the Dewalt models.
 
SpaceBus said:
Are there any USA made chainsaws?
Click to expand...
I know some of the Stihls are "built here", probably a few others too...no American owned/built stuff that I know of though...
 
I consider my Stihl MS250 to be my main saw. There is definitely a difference in quality between the Stihl and the Wemars. The Wemars clearly has more power and is reliable enough that no breakdowns have occurred under heavy use. That tells me that with basic maintenance and care the Wemars saw could last a long time.
 
I think my Husky was made in Canada.
 
We get a few Husky 2 legged girls around here...
 
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