Hitachi Chainsaws

shinnlinger · August 01, 2011, 09:04:27 AM

Hi,
A neighbor of mine just bought a 40cc example for $250 from Sears. It is made in China and looks like to be all plastic. He bought it though because it has a 7 year consumer warranty, 2 year professional warranty and a 1 year rental warranty. I wished him luck on actually using that warranty and am curious about the fine print (do you have to ship it back to China?), but it is impressive on paper.

Dave

Al_Smith · August 01, 2011, 11:36:57 AM

Obviously thine neighbor doth profess to be a bargain hunter but obviously is not well versed in chainsawdom . :D

Ianab · August 01, 2011, 05:12:31 PM

While Hitachi aren't well known for making chainsaws, and it probably is built in a Chinese factory, they have a pretty good name in the power tool field. Most of their stuff is professional grade, not cheap junk.

They can probably engineer a 1/2 decent chainsaw. :D

http://www.hitachipowertools.co.nz/outdoor-power-equipment/chainsaws.cfm

Ian

JohnG28 · August 01, 2011, 10:17:50 PM

I was looking at a Hitachi chainsaw on ebay other day. It was a little top handle saw and appeared to be a rebranded Echo cs341. Not sure though, just looked very similar. I noticed that 7 year warranty deal too.

clww · August 01, 2011, 10:37:08 PM

I'm curious how much he purchased it for?

shinnlinger · August 01, 2011, 11:02:40 PM

One of the reasons the neighbor bought it was because of his good experiences with Hitachi power tools, but gas is a different deal IMO. I looked it over wondering if it was made by someone else, like Dolmar makes Makita saws(actually I think Makita bough Dolmar) but it says it was made in China by HItachi.

As I said in the first post, he paid $250 for it, but how much more is a 40cc "name brand" saw??? My logic is pay a little more for a quality unit you can get parts for at the local shop (Or buy used for similar $$$)

THen again, it aint no $120 "Wild THing" that is engineered to last only 20 hours if it has such a good warranty, but time will tell if that piece of paper is worth anything.

Ianab · August 01, 2011, 11:53:58 PM

Looking at Baileys web page, they will sell you a 41cc Husky for the same $250. But of course that's not one of their "Pro" grade saws, and quite possibly is made in China as well?

I'm not going to rush out and buy one myself, but if someone wanted to send me one for some "independent testing" I'd sure give it a workout.

I suspect most of them will be sold to builders as worksite saws though their normal tool sales, and probably do a great job.

Ian

ladylake · August 02, 2011, 06:14:28 AM

They had some Hitachi saws for sale at Menards for $99, might have been 34cc. Looked real cheap and made in China it stayed there. Steve

thecfarm · August 02, 2011, 06:17:12 AM

The only thing I buy from Sears now are thier hand tools. Anything with a motor,be it a fridge,washer,power washer,mower and so on I buy else where's. Yes,the warranty may be good,but it make take them 2 weeks to get parts in and than a week to fix it. :

ladylake · August 02, 2011, 08:30:14 AM

Quote from: JohnG28 on August 01, 2011, 10:17:50 PM
I was looking at a Hitachi chainsaw on ebay other day. It was a little top handle saw and appeared to be a rebranded Echo cs341. Not sure though, just looked very similar. I noticed that 7 year warranty deal too.

I don't think it has anything to do with Echo, you can get the real Echo for about the same price and they are good quality either made in Japan ot USA. Steve

JohnG28 · August 02, 2011, 12:44:40 PM

I didn't really think that was the case, but it definitely looked like a green Echo is all. That and the long warranty similar to Echos 5 yr deal made me wonder though.

saw_nut · August 02, 2011, 07:01:30 PM

Hitachi chainsaws should be Tanaka.

nmurph · August 03, 2011, 02:27:59 PM

Yep, and probably comparable the equivalent Echo...sorry Steve.

Al_Smith · August 03, 2011, 02:39:52 PM

Well it's a free country and the guy can buy what wants .

There's a guy from Australia that evidently imports Husqvarna look alikes from China then touts how good they are .I think we annoyed him on another web forum because noone bought into it .While this is free country we also have freedom of speech and can pretty much call things as we see them . 8)

ladylake · August 04, 2011, 07:41:52 AM

Quote from: nmurph on August 03, 2011, 02:27:59 PM
Yep, and probably comparable the equivalent Echo...sorry Steve.

You really need to run and take apart some newer Echo saws, have you been watching some vids of Echo saws cutting over on the other furum, they hold thier own against some good Husky and Stihl saws. Hitachi saws are most likely comparable to the lower grade Stihl and Husky saws, or maybe better than them. Steve