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Junk Chinese Chainsaws

Started by martyinmi, January 13, 2013, 05:41:13 PM

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martyinmi

I was watching you tube videos today and came across one titled "Non-compliant chain saws dangerous". I don't know how to link those vids, but it's easy enough to search for it.

A friend of mine just bought a new ms 380 that is a clone for 500. He bought it from Craigslist as a NOS Stihl for $500.00. :o

My friend is not happy. He could have had the same piece of Chinese junk delivered to his door for $359.00. Makes him mad 1) that he's stuck with it 2) he was told it was NOS and 3) he paid $141.00 more than he would have had to had he wanted Chinese junk. :snowball:

Buyers Beware!
No God, No Peace
Know God, Know Peace!

Ianab

Stihl woud probably be interested in hearing about who is flogging this dodgy gear. They don't like it either and have a legal dept that can probably make the scammers life more difficult. Won't get your friends $$ back, but it's some sort   of payback and might stop someone else getting ripped of. It's probably not illegal to sell cheap Chinese saws, but it is illegal to say they are Stihl
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

AdkStihl

A good clue would've been that STIHL never distributed the MS380 in the states (only Brazil to the best of my knowledge) and the 038 has been out of production for decades.

If you do a search for MS380, all you see are Chinese knock-offs.

There is absolutely nothing STIHL can do about it. The sweatshops that are manufacturing these POS's are underground and move like moles. This was a hot topic on another forum not long ago when someone got blind sided with a NOS Husqvarna 365 Special.

I'm sorry, but the differences in appearance are so blatantly obvious I dont see how anyone could make the mistake of buying one so long as pictures of the product are supplied.
J.Miller Photography

joe_indi

Well, well,
It looks like we in India are years ahead because the knockoff variety of the MS380 was available here years ago.
We are moving with the times so we now we get the knock off variety of the MS381.
They seem to have improved the quality quite a lot. The carburetor though still carries some fancy Chinese name similar to the German Bing (Jing or Jingo or something similar).
Coincidentally the latest original Stihl  MS381 now has a Chinese Zama carb in place of the original Bing.

Price? About 60% less than the original.

Joe

Al_Smith

FWIW that original Bing was nearly impossible to find rebuild kits for until a few years back .Now they are readily available .Good carb by the way .For that matter in my opinion the 038 Mag was one of Stihls finest saws too .

jocco

How did he pay for it paypal/credit card if so they may intervine. ;D Most even ebay has a counterfit policy. As far as any law enforcement they would be more interested in nabbing the importer or mother ship seller than a single sale. teeter_totter
You may check out but you will never leave

Al_Smith

Someone evidently from Australia was pestering the dickens out of people touting Chinese counterfit Huqvarnas he claimed to be selling .He made the rounds of just about every forum and draw all kinds of back talk .

Now perhaps that might have been the original idea in the first place . ;)

thurlow

This ad is currently on the local craigslist;  he might be a little high on the list price,  but I'll bet  they didn't come from a Stihl factory.

"Stihl chainsaw for sale it's a ms 201 t chainsaw I have several of these brand new in box these babies retail for $659.95 but I'm letting them go for 450 obo. also some echos brand new in box too for 200 obo. Tree work season is almost here so get yours.i also have. Jameson pruner head."
Here's to us and those like us; DanG few of us left!

Al_Smith

The one good thing about Craigs list is you meet up face to face with the seller .With flea bay you never exactly know who you are dealing with or what you might get .

Now flea bay will stand by what the item is if it's a fake but I'm not so certain the rise in blood pressure to most including myself is worth the hassle .Besides that who in their right mind would buy a danged high priced saw from flea bay without even seeing it ?The seems rather foolish to me .

Ianab

Stihl can't stop the Chinese factories making them, their laws are too lax, and it would be like playing "Whack-A-Mole" anyway. But they can go after the local distributors that ARE breaking laws by selling these things.

You can buy them here too, and they used to try and sell them as "Stihl", with reproduction stickers etc. Close enough that it was hard to tell in a picture anyway.

They still sell them, but they can't badge or advertise them as "Stihl" saws, or they are liable to be prosecuted. I think they call them "Oregon" now, as that's what's written on the bar  :D

But at least you know you are buying a knock off.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Al_Smith

Quite frankly there are companies in this country too who peddle look alike products some having been mentioned on this forum .Strangley those same companies might sell good name brand products at the same time they try to peddle that cheap junk .

So it's buyer beware most of the time if going the cheap route especially  sight unseen .You might get a surprise if it doesn't work or a bigger surprise if later it needs repair parts which it will .Unobtainable unless you make them most of the time .

JuniperBoss

Do they sell chinese junk in local Stihl-dealing stores in America???
"The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense." --- Thomas Edison

isawlogs

 See those dang things here for sale also   >:(
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

martyinmi

Quote from: Al_Smith on January 14, 2013, 12:00:07 PM
The one good thing about Craigs list is you meet up face to face with the seller .With flea bay you never exactly know who you are dealing with or what you might get .

And speaking of Craigslist... I just now got back from Flint Mi and 2 Homelite Professional 360's followed me home 8) One's a 16 incher with 2 extra chains, and it runs. The other is a 20 inch with a like new chain. The fella said he can't get it running, although it supposedly ran two years ago. They are both cosmetically in excellent shape and both come with the hard plastic cases.
My pretty bride doesn't understand why I need 3-360's. There does exist, somewhere in my brain, the logic pertaining to owning three of them. I can't seem, however, to verbally express that logic to the little woman without it sounding profoundly dumb :embarassed:
Oh well. 55 bucks (FOR TWO SAWS smiley_blue_bounce smiley_bouncing_pinky smiley_bounce 8)) really isn't that much money. Wouldn't even be enough to buy groceries for a week the way we eat.

Back to the MS 380.
My friend actually bought the saw from one of his not-so-close friends. When he called the Craigslist number, he  knew the area code and after a few minutes of talking, they realized they knew each other. His "friend"  bought a lot of 10 of these saws, so I'll wager he paid less than the $359.00/saw that anyone of us could have bought it for. Today he told him to bring it back if he's not happy with it, as he has a list of other people who will purchase it. I'm not sure he will though. He likes the way it starts, runs, and cuts. It doesn't appear that he's as unhappy as I thought he was. ???
No God, No Peace
Know God, Know Peace!

sawguy21

Quote from: JuniperBoss on January 14, 2013, 05:49:21 PM
Do they sell chinese junk in local Stihl-dealing stores in America???
They don't want Stihl catching them if they are. They would lose the franchise pronto and legal proceedings would get very time consuming and expensive.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

JuniperBoss

I was hoping someone could tell me if that ever happens, or is happening. I don't want to buy junk chinese saws, but I assume actual stihl dealerships don't sell them.
"The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense." --- Thomas Edison

Ianab

Like Sawguy said, if an actual dealer tried it and got caught he's be an ex-dealer by the end of the day....

That's too much risk to make a couple of bucks selling Chinese saws.

These ones are guys selling them online from their basement etc

There are "reputable" shops selling Chinese knockoffs, but they won't be Stihl badged, just look-alikes.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

jocco

Ianab don"t these things have to meet USA emissions and safty standards??? are the illegally imported??? There is a husqvarna knock off too!!!! :o Two more thing regarding this a few years back a bunch of excavators got imported and was kind of a knock off Kobelco. Kobelco dealers would not service them and some parts would not fit!!!!! ::) There was also a cheap backpack mist blower imported too but it made no claim to be a solo and was mediocore at best and spare  parts were made from unobtainium!!! :D Some guy had a shipment and was selling them on every venue possible, he even claimed to be the importer. They had some name like wong foo ;D Take care
You may check out but you will never leave

Ianab

QuoteIanab don"t these things have to meet USA emissions and safty standards??? are the illegally imported???

Technically they would need to meet legal requirements, but how strictly is that enforced, at least at the bottom end of the market? You see all sorts of cheap small engine stuff, kids scooters, lawn mowers, generators, water pumps, heck even sawmills. It probably arrives as a container load of "assorted outdoor power equipment", along with about 5,000 containers worth of "stuff".

I would imagine that it's checked for drugs or illegal weapons, assessed for any duty, and shipped out. "Chainsaw" isn't on the black list, so it gets though.

Other thing is, if it's a 1/2 decent knock-off it will have all the same safety features, copied off the original saw, and probably even meets the emission rules.

Main problem is that it's still cheap junk. Looks exactly the same, but inferior plastics and alloys. 6 months later the plastic parts are cracking, the brass inserts are falling out, and the saw is falling apart....

Now if you knowingly bought a cheap Chinese saw, then it serves you right, and you got what you paid for. It's when one is sold as the real thing that someone is getting ripped off.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

HolmenTree

Things can get a little confusing fellas. :D
Stihl China [yes the real Stihl] has been making saws at their plant in China for years now.
www.stihl-qd.cn
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

Al_Smith

Well now don't that just suck with a half life ,geeze . :(

They probabley sell about as many saws to the Chinese as Ford does Lincolns to the Mexicans .Almost none .

HolmenTree

Quote from: Al_Smith on January 17, 2013, 10:25:25 AM
Well now don't that just suck with a half life ,geeze . :(

They probabley sell about as many saws to the Chinese as Ford does Lincolns to the Mexicans .Almost none .
Actually Al I just got back from Puerrto Vallarta, Mexico and I saw quite a few Lincoln pickup trucks, Hummers etc. driven by Mexicans. I noticed most of the rich people in Mexico are really rich, must be from having the right gig in such a poor country.

Speaking of Mexico, I was reading my owners manual for my 2007 Dodge diesel pickup and it says these trucks sold in Canada are assembled in Mexico, and the US sold units are assembled in Kentucky.
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

Jeff

What makes you think that that website is a real legitimate Stihl site?  If you can fake a chainsaw, you can certainly fake a whole company on a website.

The actual Stihl china site is here:
http://www.stihl.cn/
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

rooster 58

    I don't mess around with my tools. If i'm going to use something with any frequency, I go for good quality and reliable service. To me, it doesn't make senseto do otherwise. The aggravation of having an inferior tool that doesn't perform right and is less user friendly isn't worth it, as well as the impact on craftsmanship it may have. Just my 2 pennies worth

Ianab

Quote from: Jeff on January 17, 2013, 12:51:05 PM
What makes you think that that website is a real legitimate Stihl site?  If you can fake a chainsaw, you can certainly fake a whole company on a website.

The actual Stihl china site is here:
http://www.stihl.cn/

The Stihl.cn page is only a gateway that leads to 2 separate pages for the different Chinese divisions.
There is a link on the Stihl.cn page that leads to the http://www.stihl-qd.cn/

I would suspect that Chinese loggers would have the same opinion of the locally built saws as we do. If they had the chance to buy a real Stihl, even if it was made locally, they would probably jump at it. Importing German tools into China probably prices them off the market. Building them in China can probably be done for a competitive price.

It's not that EVERYTHING made in China is junk, it's that anything made CHEAPLY in China is junk.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

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