Off Brand Chainsaws

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04HemiRam2500

Feeling the Heat
Jul 10, 2013
429
SW PA
I was browsing ebay and wondered if anyone knows or uses the weird name brand chainsaws that look like husqvarnas and stihls. I was wondering because they have 52 cc saws for under 150!! Even if they are knock offs if they run and run well and can be rebuilt good enough for me. I figured I would ask to see if anyone knew about them on this forum.

Here is two pages of the saws I am talking about.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...ource=Gas&_nkw=chainsaw&_pgn=6&_skc=250&rt=nc

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...ource=Gas&_nkw=chainsaw&_pgn=7&_skc=300&rt=nc
 
At less than 1/10 the price for a name brand saw, I wouldn't get my hopes up too high over them. They remind me of the super cheap imported mopeds and ATVs I see advertised on craigslist. I've never heard of ANYONE that's been happy with with their purchase of them, the mopeds/scooters/atvs, that is.

Your luck with the saws might be different, but I'd bet you'd be very disappointed! YMMV and everyone's welcome to their own opinion... Good luck!
 
The ones that look like Stihl or Husqvarna knockoffs have a reputation for dangerous failures, so I'd never buy one.



There are legitimate off brands like Earthquake that are actually not so bad. For a while a bunch of us at AS purchased 38, 41, and 45 cc Earthquake saws from eBay at prices lower that $50. They have genuine Oregon bars and chains and have a decent engine design (a Redmax copy).

I got a little 38cc Earthquakc for $32.77 shipped to my door! If you can look beyond its weak chain adjuster, it's a fun little saw.
 
This is probably a really dumb question but I will ask. Instead of kickback and chain snapping off what can go wrong with these saws from china that can put me in harms way?
 
They are cheep POS made in China.
If you are going to buy a cheep Chinese saw buy an Earthquake and mod the muffler.At least they seem to be half decent.
Thomas
 
My Chusky has been running strong for two years now. And I have no chain marks on my neck.
 
Where I'm from you can buy a off brand but good luck getting parts for it local without having to drive 75 miles to find a store that might have parts for it. Bad enough Husqavarna is hard to get on parts, got a Stihl you in good shape.
 
Personally I have a theory on savings and what I can and "cannot" save $$ on. Tools of any kind fall into the ladder category. If it is just a toy to play around with and see how much abuse they can take or how rad you can mod it but you have your primary saw to actually use when the job needs to get done - pick a couple up and have at it. If this is to be your primary saw used to provide fuel that heats your primary home - no. You will undoubtedly be disappointed at some point - likely sooner rather than later.

example: When I was a child my mother wanted to get me a toy tool chest(5yrs old) Grandfather(thank you gramps) said, "get him real tools to play with and he will have them forever. 40+ yrs later I am still using that set of Craftsman wrenches and socket set with a lot of additions along the way. With tools you never regret quality.

This is JMO - take it as such but my peace of mind comes with a high price tag and having a saw die during a day in the woods would erase a ton of $$ saved for me. For the record I ain't rich by ANY definition - just practical.
 
Hmm........ A mere $70 in shipping.;)
 
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