You can find these being used on You Tube if you're interested. I wasn't too impressed after watching.
Chinese clone. You roll the dice with parts/saws/anything from there. I personally do not support China with saw parts. It’s oem or good used.
These are Chinese made Stihl knockoffs...I think this one would be an "070"? I think the blue ones are the ones you buy already assembled...not sure on the quality...probably spotty. The big thing a couple years ago was to buy these things as parts kits and build them yourself...they got pretty popular and people figured out what to watch out for, and what part to use OEM Stihl on...actually made for a decent saw, especially for the money...I built a "660" from one of those kits and its been fine, with no Stihl parts used in it...I did have to massage a few things though. And the chain tensioner needs some attention now...won't properly tension my 32" bar...it was a known problem, but I wanted to see how it held up "out of the box" before changing things. I just wanted a big bore saw for very occasional use on big trees...maybe once or twice a year for me, so no way I could justify tying much money up in it...looked for something used for a couple years...even with old stuff that needed work I couldn't find anything around here worth the money IMO...so this knockoff 660 was a good solution. You can't tell the difference from a real one...my brother ran it for a bit and said if it had the Stihl decals on it he would never be able to tell it apart from his real 660. Unfortunately some not so honest types were building the knockoffs and selling them as real ones on CL and such...probably why they changed the color on these.
Glad this kit worked for you, even if modified some. I am not knocking this idea fully, because I grew up poor running a 40 year old McCulloch and a craftsman electric. This saw likely worked as good as that mcculloch. Having said that, I run the Stihl saws very hard and cut a lot and have had next to zero issues. If I had to, I would run a blue beast
I wouldn't be as interested in one of these as I was the DIY kit...no way to know if things were checked as it was built, or just slammed together...my guess would be just slammed together...might not even test run them. Whereas with mine I was able to evaluate and fit everything. The main thing I had to change on mine that was "wrong", was to clean some chrome "overspray" out of the cylinder ports...and clearance the piston skirt to the crank just a bit. I deleted the cylinder base gasket, just to bump compression up too...but it depends on the clearance once you have it assembled if you can pull this off or not without having to run high octane fuel...I was able to. Plus the price on this is almost double what I have in mine...of course that was a couple years ago, and I hear prices are up on them now. Shipping is pricey on 'em too
A good friend bought the "blue thunder" 660 clone. He has cut about 4 cords with it, with no real issues. I believe he paid 349$ plus shipping. If it's still running after 20+ cords, then I guess I'll be a believer.
I had the Richmond version, ran great, plenty of power. Chain was the weak point put a Stihl chain on it and it cut fine.
I have the hutzl g372. Has about 10 tanks through it. Runs pretty good for the 189 i paid shipped. My real 372 runs stronger and smoother ofcourse. I put husky decals on it and let people borrow it. Then ask how they like it. You should see their face when i tell them its a knock off china saw!
I’ve come to learn that you get what you pay for. Spend the money for quality the first time and you only squeal once!
Cloning/counterfeiting someone else's product is pretty sleazy. Along with theft of intellectual property can lead to trade wars where nobody wins.
I bought a ms440 parts kit saw from huztl and assembled it this past spring. I used a couple parts ftom stihl, like the piston pin clips and the choke control lever. I have cut over 8 face cord with it and am pretty happy with it. I follow hutzl's group on facebook, and they have been trying to make some upgrades and improvements on some of the common complaint areas such as higher output oilers. The pre assembled saws are becoming pretty popular and seem to be holding up pretty well. Free shipping on the pre assembled saws too! Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk
Agree. My wife recently told me of a place close by that was raided by authorities. A vendor was selling knock off Loius Vuitton. Even though these machines don't have Stihl/Husqvarna labels, being exact clones should be treated the same way IMO. It's making china great (and hurting the real manufacturers) in my eye's.
I have a G660. Thought I only have a tank or so through it, it's strong and runs great. It's a lot of saw for the money. You an put most Stihl parts on them too if you want. We shall see how it holds up.
I remember seeing those a few years ago, mostly at the same time I started seeing brand new main body castings available on ebay. At first, thought somebody ran into a stash of NOS parts but then saw the clone saws going way too cheap to be OEM Stihl. Hard to imagine there is realistic quality in those parts. Heard some stories about horrible machining and poor quality metals, ridiculous machining tolerances etc. I don't know if these can be considered counterfeits as they are clones of the old magnesium cased Stihl 090/070 that have been out of production for a long time. Like if some chinese company started producing a 1970 Korvete. Would love to run into an original for a reasonable price but they are all going for stupid money on the collectors market, like they are gold plated or something. Most destined to spend their remaining lives on shelves.
