Trading in a Stihl saw to a Stihl dealer?

[gus1957]

 
 Any body have any experience trading saws that are still running?

[beenthere]

Not any experience, as my old saw is an 041 that still runs, and is a good back-up saw to my MS361. But I don't figure the dealer wants such an antique to try to resell...he'd likely tell me that it isn't worth anything (and I'd think that to be true, especially to him).

So, is this the same saw you mentioned in your beam cutting thread?
You said

My chain saw is a 30 year old Stihl 041 still going strong with a carb. rebuild and all new gaskets 3 years ago.

[rebocardo]

Mine will take the higher in stuff in on trade, just suggests selling the cheaper and older stuff myself. Which I did.

[gus1957]

  Most Stihl dealers I talked with won't take trades. Then I noticed our local Agway / Gardening store had a used saw on the shelf. And I asked about trades. I had mentioned the Jonsered ads that trades.

 They knew my old 041 that I buy parts for and said they would only take  current models in on trade. My father left me his 026 that I've been using for bucking up the smaller trees. I think he bought it in about 1990. I've been through 2 bars and a sprocket on it.
I do all the big felling with the 041. I felled enough for 25 full cords for family members and bucked up 18 of them mostly with the 026 the past year.

I cleaned up the 026 and it had a bad chain and oregon bar on it. They gave me $135. for it against a new MS290 Farm Boss with a 16" bar that cost $339. So for a $205., I got the new saw. I used it today for 3 hours for the 1st time just felling trees. It had no problem right up to the full bar length and bigger cutting Ash that isn't frozen. It uses a lot less gas and seems to be a good intermediate saw. It was a comfortable weight  for trimming at shoulder height when your over 50. Time will tell how it holds up.

[sawguy21]

Mine will take the higher in stuff in on trade, just suggests selling the cheaper and older stuff myself. Which I did.

We will do that. By the time we clean up and service a used entry level model, we are too close to the price of a new one to make it worthwhile. The other thing is, most people looking for used want cheap, it's hard to get over $200 even for a saw that was $1000 new.

[RSteiner]

There is a Stihl dealer in southeastern Vermont that sells used / reconditioned saws that have been taken in trade.  They appear to be mostly commerically used saws or at least they are the professional models a couple of years old.  The prices seem to be fair especially if someone is looking for a bigger saw for weekend use.  However, that makes the trade-in value not so high for the person looking to trade.

Randy

[sawguy21]

Years ago, I could sell a reconditioned trade in for a decent price to the loggers wanting a backup saw. That market is gone now, DanG few loggers, so now it is the customer that, in his view, won't use it enough to justify the cost of even a cheap new one. Then there is the guy who never spent more than a hundred bucks on anything , including his car, in his life.

[gus1957]

 Randy,

  Where is that dealer in Vermont and do you have a phone number for him?

    Thanks

[jacob j.]

It's tough for a dealer to take trade-ins. In our shop, we don't. If we give credit on a new unit for a trade-in, then we have to recoup that lost revenue by fixing up the trade-in and selling it. However, we would have stand behind the used sale on a sale, even if it is only for a few days. So in most cases, it's not cost effective since it takes much labor and new parts to make a used saw into something worthy of standing behind. Stihl's servicing guidelines also prohibit the repairing of customer's Stihl brand machines with used parts. Parts replaced during service have to be brand new parts off the shelf.

[RSteiner]

 Randy,

  Where is that dealer in Vermont and do you have a phone number for him?

    Thanks

The dealer is in Brattleboro, VT.  Brown & Roberts Hardware store  (802-257-4566)  They have quite a store and service department and a good selection of product.  I was looking at a used saw and the service man came over and started the saw right inside the store, I was impressed.

Randy

[rebocardo]

> Parts replaced during service have to be brand new parts off the shelf.

Well, I can see that being a good thing in the long run and why they do it. You are assured of the quality of the part and repair.

[sawguy21]

That is certainly true for warranty purposes and Sthil encourages it for all repairs, they want to sell parts. We will use recycled handles, tanks, and such where the cost of new would turn away the customer, especially on older products.