efco or dolmar ?

[crd1957]

i own a small engine repair shop . i need to put a line of saws in stock. stihl ,echo,husqvarna already have dealers in my area.dolmar and efco are available.of the two who has the better saw and support network?

[ladylake]

 i'd give Dolmar the upper hand, Efco saws are good also.   Steve

[John Mc]

Both make decent saws. I can't comment on how either company supports its dealers, since I'm not in the business.

I will say that Dolmar dealerships are few and far between in my area. I'd consider them for my next saw, but thwre is no one near by who sells and services them (the one dealer we did have got out of chainsaws altogether, and they were never that good anyway). A good dealer is as important as a good saw, IMO.

John Mc

[ahlkey]

In my view the Dolmar saws and specifically the 7900 are far better than the equivalent efco saws.  One big problem though might be price as Domar saws have gone up a lot over the past few years.  Efco saws are also sold by the big box stores but I have never seen Dolmar chainsaws sold in those stores.  Often having a unique line that is of high quality can a good thing.  The dealer network is limited to a degree but that might be an opportunity if you are in the repair business already. Good luck

[crd1957]

ive looked in the box stores in my area .i dont see efco or dolmar .i see echo and smaller husqvarna .i try not to sell anything homedepot ,lowes ect sells.most of my repair work comes from brands they sell.

[ahlkey]

Menards sells efco chainsaws.   They have 260 stores in 13 states but are really a large midwestern chain store.  Only reason I mentioned it is that once a manufacture has a policy to allow large retail distribution they rarely just do one.

[Cut4fun]

Sale both  Dolmar and Efco

My local dolmar dealer is also a echo dealer and the poulan warranty repair place.

Stihl dealer here sales echo and another brand I cant recall along with stihl.

Husky dealer sales poulans,

I think you get the idea.

[Buck]

I like Dolmar. But like already stated, why not both? Might work out well.

[crd1957]

well i went with efco.price and distributor location . distributor is about a three hour drive from here.slightly better profit margin on efco.professional dolmar saws are priced power head only. bar and chain extra.that makes efco more profitable.distributor assured me they keep a good supply of parts.also distributor handles warranty claims.ill know in the next year if i made the right decision.thanks for all your opinions.

[w8ye]

I think you made a wise choice.

Efco has been around a while. They are usually conservative and well proven in their designs.

You have a reason for your choice of Efco over Dolmar. Stay with your choice and work it to your advantage. The saw you sell is the best saw made and you know why that is - even though it may be for warranty support reasons? Some John Deere saws are made by Efco. They chose Efco for a reason?

I happen to favor Dolmar. I've dealt with the local Dolmar dealer for some 30 years. The regional Dolmar distributor is only some 50 miles from his location. I've also bought other brands from him. He works on most brands. He works on more lawn mowers than chainsaws. He has a couple mechanics. This is grain country.

A big box store can be an opportunity for you from a service point of view. The big stores do not have a service department. The big store can bring a lot of service business your way?

I live near Cut4fun and share his views on chainsaws.