what do you think of dolmar the company and there products

[des170stihl]

First,, The dealer that told you Pros are switching to dolmar is full of B.S. Thats not going to happen in this decade. But I guess what else would you expect him to say. When it was Sachs Dolmar it was a excellent company with excellent products. Dolmar dealers are far and few between so parts and service might be hard to get. And you never know what Makita will do. They are a major electric power tool co. They could dump the Dolmar line to save their power tool Co. The Dolmars I,ve run seem to be pretty good saws but far from being the best there is out in the logging world.

[sawguy21]

Dolmar is distributed in NA by the same companies that handle Briggs but the dealers are not necessarily the same. Each has to be signed up by Dolmar to receive product.
Makita killed the brand, they only wanted it to supplement their core business and give the dealers a broader product range. They have recently spun it off into it's own entity, as E-lux did with Husky, and the name is slowly being re built. With the global down turn and soft lumber markets they could not have picked a worse time.

[RSteiner]

I have a couple of years on my 5100S and like the saw, it even survived a fall into a pond in about 3 feet of water (not running).  I had two Sachs Dolmars back in the 1980s that performed well. 

I have a couple of Husky's that are going on 12 years old and decided to give the newer Dolmar's a try I'm not dissapointed.

Randy

[567paloggger]

i personally love this little dolmar i dont think ill get another one until the company is more established i also use stihl and husky i cut for a living

[logloper]

I have one 7900,about 3 yrs old; Ran it in the woods for awhile, nice balance but had trouble . When falling large timber,clutch cover can not keep up with chip output and clogs.
Also, use decompression button or pull rope pulley breaks. About a month ago,crank broke in half. Waiting to hear back from saw shop. Also have a 5100. Ran good till 2 weeks ago.Scored piston. Dealer says "What oil are you running?" I run synthetic Woodsman Pro from Baileys in all my saws (11 crew saws) no trouble except with the Dolmars.IMO Husky and Stihl are still the saw of choice for the professional logger

[peppone]

from my point of view Dolmar is much more for professionals than Husky and at the same level with Stihl.
I've never never never had the problems you describe in the many dolmar saws I use.
just a question: "how per cent oil you put in the fuel?"

[logloper]

50 to 1 ,mabe a bit heavy on the oil

[Bret4207]

I used to be a Husky/Jonsered dealer-mechanic. When my 266 bit the dust I traded into a Sachs Dolmar 116si. Today I run Husky, Stihl and Sachs Dolmar. The newer Huskys are not as good as the older Sachs and the Stihls are better than Husky today. I'd take my Sachs over both if the parts supply was better. What the new Dolmar/Makitas are like I don;t know, but the older ones were fantastic saws.

[rickywashere]

my  dcs520 is great but parts have to be ordered from the net lots here would buy makita/dolmar if parts where available.

[nc/sc]

Just got my Makita DCS 510 20" in from Bailey's today.
Wow, I'm impressed.
I was a little surprised there was no hole to grease the bar tip.
I was also surprised there was no compression release although the manual shows one.
It was a real bugger to start the first time...no primer bulb, but maybe thats the norm on better saws.
All I've ever had as a hobby "logger" is McCullough or Homelite.
It puts my 20" Homelite 46 cc to shame.  The Chinese Homelite has actually been a pretty trouble free saw except for the blade brake mechanism screwing up.  I took it all off and kept on going...
Oh yeah the Makita manual says 2 year warranty, their website says 1 year and the box says 3 year
I'm hanging on to the box for, oh, at least 3 years 

[567paloggger]

yea i dont know about them besides i like my 5100s i think they need to get there stuff together and get more shops selling there product and have parts out there seems to me the saw to go with is stihl or husky

[tdi-rick]

[snip]
They have recently spun it off into it's own entity, as E-lux did with Husky, and the name is slowly being re built. With the global down turn and soft lumber markets they could not have picked a worse time.

Where did you get that info ?

There is nothing I can find anywhere about Makita divesting Dolmar and it doesn't make sense, particularly when they are phasing the Dolmar name out in so many international markets and renaming it Makita OPE, buying Fuji-Robin in '07 to expand the OPE line to include their trimmers, etc and assembling the PS/DCS460 and PS/DCS510 saws in the Makita factory in China.

All current info on Makita's corporate website still includes Dolmar as a fully owned subsidiary

[John Mc]

lots here would buy makita/dolmar if parts were available.

Dolmar has replaced Husqvarna as the sponsor for the "Game of Logging", at least here in the USA. It will be interesting to see how that pans out. I know a bunch of landowners ended up buying Husky saws after they took the GOL level 1 class (and the ones I saw were buying towards the pro end of the scale, rather than the entry-level models). Dolmar might pick up some sales that way, but they do need a better dealer presence, at least in my area. Not everyone is comfortable working on their own saws. For many, tightening or changing a chain is about as far as they go.

John Mc

[windthrown]

Well, Dolmar could be the best saw ever made, but becasue of their distribution system here in the PNW, we cannot get them anywhere around here. None of their better saws are on the shelves here anyway. I can rent a Makita DCS saw at Home Depot, but that's about it. No local Dolly dealers and no parts available locally means that they may as well not even exist. Meanwile there are Stihl dealers every 10-30 miles or so from here in any direction for a few hundred miles. I can buy just about any Stihl model product off the shelf in about 20 minutes, tops. I can also get parts, and if need be get the saws and blowers serviced. Cannot do that with Dolmar. I have tried to find the better Dolmar saws here. None of their so-called "dealers" have a PS350, PS420, 5100s, or 7900 in stock. Most could not even order them. I can get Husky stuff as well here, but they are more limited.

So for me its Stihl.

[jumpinmp]

I'm a Husky/Jonsered and Echo dealer in the inland northwest.  We used to be a Sachs and Makita dealer back in the day.  We are still able to get parts for dolmars/makita using our Briggs & Stratton distributor, but since we're not setup as a dealer with them, we dont' get a discount on parts anymore.  Anyhow, we have an Ace Hardware store just down the road from us and they're stocking the new Dolmars (they also have a service shop with 1 mechanic)... the other 2 Ace Hardwares in town have Stihl.  Might try an Ace Hardware in your area and see if they are stocking any Dolmars if that's what you're after.

Edit: To answer the original question... Sachs are pretty good/dependable saws, but I don't have much experience working on the newer ones.  The older ones tend to leak bar oil no matter what you do.  You can go through and replace every single oiler part from the lines to the pump and it won't matter, there's a good chance it's just going to keep on dripping.
(note: I'm not the main mechanic, more of a salesman/minor repair guy, but I pickup a lot of stuff from my techs)

[windthrown]

Well, there is a Stihl saw and rental shop that has started selling Dolmar saws not too far from here now. Its across the river and a ways on the lower east side of town out in the burbs, but lo, they actually have the 5100s and the 7900 in stock. First pro Dolmar saws I have seen on the shelves around here.

[logloper]

I finally heard back from the saw shop on my 7900 today. I had so much trouble with it, ( lots of little stuff and then the crank broke off) the company is sending me a brand new one free of charge. I coudnt expect more. I hope this one holds together better, and mabe the broken one was just a lemon. We are going back to work logging in the next few weeks, so I will put it to the test. Wish me luck

[rbtree]

Musta been a lemon...or something happened like a lean seizure....

I have 3 7900's (two are Makita blue 6401's conveted to 7901) The 7900 is probably the second or third to ever be woods ported, and is still as strong as when it was worked over. Some minor issues have been improved..such as the porrly designed starter pulley...and the mesh lined air filter cover than adequately solves the filtration issue, to the point that I haven't bothered getting the new larger filter and cover..which I'm sure are good....

And I have two 5100's, one was ported by Ed Heard, the other muffler modded. They're nice and fast, but the ported one is difficult to start when hot...haven't determined the problem.....don't like the saw as much as my ported 346's, both old and NE......

[Corley5]

My Jonsered dealer has just brought in Dolmar saws.  We test drove a 7900 last winter when he was working on getting the line in and liked the saw a lot.  I liked it so much there's new one in the shed right now    The 2186 will be going down the road very shortly 

[madhatte]

I really like my Dolmar, and happily recommend them to whoever will listen.  Right now I have a 6400 with the Bailey's BB kit on it, and it seems to about pull with a MS660 at significantly less weight.  It easily out-pulls my MS460. 

Parts/service availability is certainly an issue, and Makita had best get that one figured out.  The product is a winner, and they'd be fools to lose out on that market.