Tilton not distributing Jonsered anymore in USA

jocco · January 11, 2013, 06:13:05 PM

The rumor is true,

was wondering if any one had herd anything on it. Lots of specultion as to what will happen. Big write up on another forum about this.

shelbycharger400 · January 11, 2013, 10:08:50 PM

Watching this one
I dont think Jonsered is going to be gone.

What I am happy about is my local dealer. (they run 3 shops in a 20 minute drive) one is stihl, one is Husky/stihl, one is Jonsered. (m+m express)
Im working on building my big slabber, they said tilton is their supplier, and dosnt offer anything for harvestor parts. The biggest bar I was able to order is a 5 footer.

It will be interesting to see where parts will come from now, I have used several brands of saws, I have come attached to the Jonsered line they feel balanced, Huskys, not thrilled with, boxy, seems and feels top heavy. . Stihl.. forget it, seems they are trying to mimic the jonsered saw too much.

deerslayer · January 11, 2013, 10:30:26 PM

This may be advantageous for Jonsered. I don't think the Tilton connection was connecting very effectively. I only have one Jonsered and don't expect to acquire any more of them unless things drastically improve regarding parts distribution. I was told of a multi month backorder for an important part for a current production saw. I was finally able to acquire what I needed on the west coast and had the item shipped. It can only get better in my opinion.

Okrafarmer · January 12, 2013, 12:04:54 AM

I can't find a Jonsered dealer in my area. Consequently, Profdan and I don't have any Jonsered saws.

sawguy21 · January 12, 2013, 12:15:51 AM

Jonsereds is virtually unknown here in western Canada. The former distributor did a great job in the east but only maintained a sales office in Vancouver and made little effort to set up and support dealers. Husqvarna Canada took it over but it is still Jonsereds, what is that?

jocco · January 12, 2013, 08:23:15 AM

Some rumors I have herd

Jonsered is going to be the store brand for box stores instead of Husky.

2. Husky is going to take over distribution and ramp things up!!!!! ;D 3.Husky is on its way to phasing out Jonsered!! like it did partner jobu etc.>:( In Canada Husky got rid if Bucaneer (the Canadian version of Tilton) and went somewhat direct. :P

hamish · January 12, 2013, 11:25:10 PM

Jocco,

You may wish to re-read what you have read and come up with a better conclusion.

jocco · January 13, 2013, 09:03:48 AM

As i said these were rumors floating around. Also there is rumor that tilton will be distributing another brand, possibly SOLO??? :

They used to be the efco distributor as well 8)

Quote from: hamish on January 12, 2013, 11:25:10 PM
Jocco,

You may wish to re-read what you have read and come up with a better conclusion.

Okrafarmer · January 13, 2013, 05:35:10 PM

I would seriously like to have a Jonsered, but there seems to be no dealer around here, and I would be on my own for parts support. Or have to depend on a dealer a long ways away.

Corley5 · January 13, 2013, 08:54:27 PM

They're the same as a Husky

bill m · January 13, 2013, 09:05:16 PM

Well, they are similar but they are not the same and while some parts interchange others are vastly different.

Corley5 · January 13, 2013, 09:25:05 PM

I've seen 372 Huskys turned into 2171 Jonsereds.

shinnlinger · January 18, 2013, 04:40:35 PM

Does anyone know the official story of Johhny Red? I just heard my local dealer has been shut off and can no longer get parts. Glad I didn't by a new one this summer! But is this just a temporary thing or what?

Dave

DigDug · January 19, 2013, 12:33:51 PM

Supposedly a anouncement from Husky on Feb 15th as to where the Jreds will be distributed from.

sawguy21 · January 19, 2013, 12:43:04 PM

Here Josa distributed them for years but only in the east, did a good job. They had a western office with a receptionist and two sales people so the brand is virtually unknown. Husky took over distribution but seems to have done little with it.
There is a big shaking out going on in the OPE industry with buyouts and mergers at the distribution level. Pretty soon all the money will be going into one pot regardless who the dealer buys from.

HolmenTree · January 19, 2013, 02:43:57 PM

The only place to buy a Jonsered here in northern Manitoba Canada is at the local Tru Value hardware store.
In 1989 when I worked for Stihl as a tech manager I applied at Josa in New Brunswick, to the owner himself ,he asked me if I would work Newfoundland, he then said he'd talk to my boss at Stihl [ my boss was Fred Whyte who is now President of Stihl USA] , but soon later before I got a answer I quit Stihl and went back logging.

The last "good" Jonsered I owned was a 630 in the early 80's, same as the 162 Husqvarna but had a 1 piece choke/ fast idle control which was way better then Husky's 2 piece design.

When I think of a pure classic Jonsered then my 1 st ones were the 621, 80, 801, 90, 910, 920.
But today I'd pick a Husky over a Jonsered rebadged model. Way better ergonomics.

beenthere · January 19, 2013, 03:03:24 PM

Quotebut soon later before I got a answer I quit Stihl

:

They wouldn't reply to you? or what?

HolmenTree · January 19, 2013, 07:02:02 PM

Quote from: beenthere on January 19, 2013, 03:03:24 PM
Quotebut soon later before I got a answer I quit Stihl
:
They wouldn't reply to you? or what?

They didn't have to , they saw I already made my mind up when I went back to my old logging company.

macpower · January 19, 2013, 08:11:32 PM

Jonsered/Husqvarna really left us hanging on this one. I've gotten a letter from Tilton and from JRed so far. All they tell me if that if Tilton doesn't have it in the warehouse, I'm SOL until who knows when! ( I'll hear from them later??) As a dealer I'm not very happy about the way they are treating us. It looks like I will be putting my money totally with Stihl in the future. I have dumped most of my Jonsereds over the last few weeks, afraid I'll end up dealing against a box store, or maybe not being a dealer anymore. They never did give us much of a margin to work with, and are becoming a smaller and smaller item in the store.
These mfg's expect a lot of loyalty from us dealers and a substantial investment, but they sure as h*** don't show us much consideration, or their customers for that matter. Husqvarna doesn't have the best reputation with dealers around here, personally I think it is headed to being the next Chinese import crap.
I'm sorry to vent here, but when a company pulls this crap, the guys like me tend to loose money and customers we can't afford to, and I'm the person who has to face the customers and try to explain things to then( and come across as an idiot most some of the time). I got burned by Dolmar when they did this a few years back and I'm not going to let it happen again.

jocco · January 19, 2013, 09:08:50 PM

What happened to Dolmar my understanding is they went with different distributor a few years ago. :P Did not matter because they could not maintain a presence in my area. This whole Jred mess could not have been well thought out or exspected, :( its like it happened out of the blue. One situation that will be bad is if they get a ding bat distributor or a big bunch of small ones

I would not be totally suprised if they did away with it and put all efforts into Husqvarna :

Quote from: macpower on January 19, 2013, 08:11:32 PM
Jonsered/Husqvarna really left us hanging on this one. I've gotten a letter from Tilton and from JRed so far. All they tell me if that if Tilton doesn't have it in the warehouse, I'm SOL until who knows when! ( I'll hear from them later??) As a dealer I'm not very happy about the way they are treating us. It looks like I will be putting my money totally with Stihl in the future. I have dumped most of my Jonsereds over the last few weeks, afraid I'll end up dealing against a box store, or maybe not being a dealer anymore. They never did give us much of a margin to work with, and are becoming a smaller and smaller item in the store.
These mfg's expect a lot of loyalty from us dealers and a substantial investment, but they sure as h*** don't show us much consideration, or their customers for that matter. Husqvarna doesn't have the best reputation with dealers around here, personally I think it is headed to being the next Chinese import crap.
I'm sorry to vent here, but when a company pulls this crap, the guys like me tend to loose money and customers we can't afford to, and I'm the person who has to face the customers and try to explain things to then( and come across as an idiot most some of the time). I got burned by Dolmar when they did this a few years back and I'm not going to let it happen again.

Okrafarmer · January 19, 2013, 09:38:25 PM

I kept thinking about getting a Jonsered, but as I said, there's no dealer around here. I am and will probably remain a Stihl man. It would be a great time for a new American chainsaw company to start up. . . . I'm not holding my breath. . . . .

macpower · January 19, 2013, 10:11:00 PM

Dolmar changed distribution on short notice, came to work one morning and found out our dealer contract wasn't worth s*#!! No parts, no product, no warranty. Tried to contact Dolmar and they wouldn't talk to me, service dept. wouldn't talk. Months went by, then new distributor shows up and says I have to sign a new dealer contract if I want to sell them, (I had about $2500 of stock on the floor at this point that they would not take back), I ended up dumping the saws at cost or below to cut my losses.
These companies do this quite often it seems, contracts only seem binding on the dealers, mfg's attitude seems to be "so sue us" if you don't like it. Ask any Husky dealer that put in a full line only to find a box store or two selling their saws within 3 miles of them, or six dealers within ten miles in a city of 15k people.

Okrafarmer · January 19, 2013, 10:20:14 PM

If I had five lives to live right now, in one of them I would garner support to start a new tractor and chainsaw company that did things right. The portable sawmill companies are doing a fine job, and Logrite is doing a fine job, so why can't we have good chainsaw or tractor companies?

beenthere · January 19, 2013, 10:39:53 PM

I'm very happy with my Stihl saw and my several John Deere tractors. What is there not to like?

Okrafarmer · January 19, 2013, 10:51:08 PM

Quote from: beenthere on January 19, 2013, 10:39:53 PM
I'm very happy with my Stihl saw and my several John Deere tractors. What is there not to like?

Stihl is the best chainsaw I can find, John Deere is the best tractor I can find. I've lost track of where the Stihl's are made. Does anyone know? Most of the smaller JD tractors seem to be made overseas these days (that started in the '60's and expanded to today). Most other mfg's build either their smaller tractors (<100hp) or all their tractors overseas. They don't seem to build them to last anymore, though I agree JD leads the pack. Another problem I have is them changing their design all the time. Find something that works, and keep making it exactly the same forever. Don't change it every two years.

One good thing about Stihl, they are still making my MS290. Not the biggest saw in the world, nor does it have a high hp:weight ratio, but its dependability I can't find a match for. I've never seen even another Stihl model that was so dependable. But-- why don't they make all their saws that way?

Just my opinion. Chainsaws in general seem to be one of the pickiest, finickiest, most incorrigible inventions on the planet. Them and stump grinders. If I could have a chainsaw or tractor as reliable and functional as my Remington 870 shotgun, I'd be a happy camper.