here we go again

[ehp]

We get locked down again at midnight Thursday for 28 days , if north of Sudbury its 14 days . I was just at my Stihl/Husky dealer and he says things ain't good , saw stuff is pretty hard to get as neither of the companies have much in stock, I think he is down to 7 stihl saws and 6 husky saws and not much showing up to replace that has been on order for quite a while

[Tacotodd]

YAAYY! I'm so tickled with all of this. 

[sawguy21]

We are waiting for the shoe to drop. That is really hard going into what should be the busiest time of year for retailers, Christmas is going to be very bleak for many.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, it was hard to get a clearing saw all summer. In July I was told, no more Stihl 560's available in 2020. Ordered a Husqvarna 555 clearing saw and it was a 2 week wait, but later in the season you couldn't get one at all.

[outinthewood]

We are classified as essential workers so we can travel no problem regardless of lockdown conditions however stuff is hard to get in some cases and with the lockdown in UK yesterday and now a ban on travel from UK to pretty much all of Europe we are affected as our spares Stihl and Husqvarna come from UK to us here in Ireland. I ordered a AV spring for my 572 and after 4 months it hasn't arrived .... I've been ordering directly from a dealer in UK but now that's a no go due to Brexit ! soon as they, the UK, leave European Union on 1 jan 21 we will be charged tax on goods coming in ! I'm just glad I can work.

[SwampDonkey]

Irving has an add for 70 clearing saw workers for 2021. I wonder where them saws are coming from? They buy Stihl 560's and they buy them for this crew they are hiring. I bet they get those 70 saws to.

[ehp]

so today now its the Dec 26th we get locked down, yes we can work just like in the spring but parts will be even harder to get 

[ehp]

So it looks like I bought the last 5 good stihl 20 inch bars and the last 25 inch good bars stihl canada had in stock , got another 20 chains so I should be good for quite a while cause I feel this shut down is going to last alot longer than what they are telling us 

[Guydreads]

Yeah. We've been in lockdown more or less for the past 6 months here in Spain. It's been super frustrating as for all. I live right on the border of one of the provinces of Spain, and my province itself has been locked down. So..... Where we shop normally is across the border. That's a pain. Thankfully both the Husky and Stihl dealer are in my province. I guess that's all that matters lol

[Spike60]

I shouldn't complain here, based on what you're seeing Ed. But I'll share this anyway. My 372's have been on backorder for a while as you know. Ship dates have been forecast for the first or second week in Jan. Figure we'd see them after we return from our Holiday break. (we close the week between Christmas and New Year). So, on Wed the 23rd they decide to ship the saws. Kind of nice, other than there will not be anyone here to receive them next week. Land Air Express will have a whole week to beat them up until we return. The re-introduction, make that the 5th re-introduction of the 372, may begin with a scratch and dent sale!

[ehp]

Ya Spike the dealer was very surprised when 2 of the 372's showed up from out of no where , I just hope a huge shipment for  both companies show up for the dealers more than us working , we are now in lock down and the smart people say 1/3 of all business will not come out of this lock down , they will close their doors for good which is not good and honestly not fair . We will see how things turn out but I hope everyone is still able to keep their doors open once this is over 

[ehp]

We are held down quite abit more than you guys in the USA up here and have been sense the start of covid , I watch videos of things you guys get to do which we cannot like shows, going out to eat, going to see your buddies or even family but do not live in your house , it makes the days go alot longer for most people up here and now we have winter

[Glenn]

Everyone has come to my area....every cottage is full and the stores are doing a booming business.  I dont agree with it but here we are !

[realzed]

We are held down quite abit more than you guys in the USA up here and have been sense the start of covid , I watch videos of things you guys get to do which we cannot like shows, going out to eat, going to see your buddies or even family but do not live in your house , it makes the days go alot longer for most people up here and now we have winter

Yea - yet the Canadian border remains basically open to just about anyone who can afford to fly in here - and the only restriction for such travelers is to wishfully hope they read the placards at Pearson and other airports (Pearson probably the busiest of all and interestingly enough, smack in the middle of the worst area of infections in our fair land - the GTA) and take advice to heart and 'self quarantine' for 14 days after arrival..  Yup - that'll happen I'm sure!   You got to love and admire the hypocrisy of it all..

[Spike60]

And if it wasn't for that hyprocisy, I could have a little respect for it. We're told we can't go to bars and eateries and gyms. Shouldn't spend Holidays with families. But every weekend this area is flooded with out of state plates, mostly NJ, but also CT, MA and PA. If it's all about "stop the spread", all of this interstate travel is far more dangerous than hanging out in a bar with the locals or getting together with the family.

We're dipping out toes into politics here which is a no-no. (thankfully) But from what I've been told, product shortages on some things are going to be with us for a while. There's no way to predict what and where. Factories are set up for distancing, which can hamper normal production rates. But it only takes one idiot to show up to work not feeling good to cause a production line shut down.

We never do a "hard sell" on our customers, but if you are really going to need something you should buy it. The guys who dilly-dally and wait for deals can end up missing out.

[Real1shepherd]

We're relatively rural here and forgotten except for the prison. COVID came here from a chicken processing plant about 35 minutes away. 80 workers tested positive in the beginning. They speak four languages there at the plant.....'nough said.

In reality though, somebody would have flown in with it or brought it in by car from a city. It's just that the plant had taken absolutely no precautions whatsoever.

So yeah, absolutely no talk of the vaccine here even in nursing homes. It's the delay effect of big city first and then trickle down.

Totally agree with Bob;if you see something you really need saw-wise, buy it now because this will get worse before it gets better.

Kevin

[Tacotodd]

Wellll, if the gasoline would keep, then I'd get it now (but, no matter what we do it's not going to be any good THAT long). 😷🤬💩🤯

[Real1shepherd]

When I had my big farm in MO, I had an above ground gas tank and a diesel tank. The bulk plant told me as long as I had an automatic atmospheric vent on my gas tank that opened and closed related to pressure inside the tank, the gas would keep indefinitely. That was premium unleaded. It seemed to work.

I notice now when I store non-ethanol gas in sealed cans, it lasts six months....maybe longer but I'll pour it out just in case at that point. If I had my M43 runnin', I'd pour any junk gas into it....it will run on just about anything.

Kevin

[ehp]

so it really is looking like parts are going to be hard to get for the next while , most companies are clean out of stuff and none coming back into the parts supply for 4 to 6 months 

[ehp]

So I got a friend that has a 371 and it needs a ring , single ring piston in those saws so I ordered the ring and it came in today so I went and got it from the husky dealer , they have a total of 2 saws in the whole place and they are the 2 smallest husky saws you can buy , Husky themselves have no saws to ship to the dealers here , Zero saws in stock and are saying zero coming in March and maybe zero coming in April , this is not good 

[barbender]

No that is not good👎👎 Last time I was in the local Farm and Fleet which is a full line Husky and Stihl dealer, they were pretty well stocked with each brand in both pro and consumer saws. They didn't have any Stihl 500i's, but they did have a ms462.

[ehp]

my stihl dealer has a 462 on the shelf and a few smaller saws but stihl told him as well , no new saws 

[caveman]

I haven't priced saws lately until yesterday.  After our 365 got smooshed I started looking.  The prices seemed quite a bit more than just a couple of years ago.  

[Spike60]

Sure isn't getting better down here either. I've been hoarding saws myself, and I actually have more saws than Husky does in their Troy warehouse. I guess a LOT more as they essentially have nothing. They have no 572's and I have about 30 including the G's. 15 each on the 562 and 550. I saw this coming and did what I could to prepare for it. Only stuff I'm wiped on are 390, 395 and 372. Have 365's though. And the "sleeper" 565's as well. I'll be OK for a while. Getting more calls from further away so who know if that will run things down quicker.

Haven't seen any problems with parts and accessories so far. No issues at all getting repair parts from Husky, and no bar or chain backorders from anyone. But with all that's going on, I'm beefing up a little on everything. The steel shortage will eventually affect everything, but in addition to Husky bars and chain, I can order Oregon product from a few suppliers. Other brands? Oddball bars really aren't that bad, and guys can run them if needed. I'm thinking all of those Oregon knock offs like Rotary, Stens, Archer and what not. Chain is another matter, cause guys absolutely don't want any of that Chinese chain. Oil is coming in better than it was last summer. A saw shop cannot run out of mix and bar oil, or bars and chain. Like a diner running out of coffee.

[ehp]

Ya Spike , I got more saws than my dealers have lol , guys have been asking if I got any to sell but Im sticking with what I have here just incase this goes on longer than I hope , I just bought another 35 chains and 10 more bars and all the files the dealer had so I should be ok for a day or to