Anyone Dolmar Owners Here?

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

I've been a die hard Stihl chainsaw guy for many years, and currently own an 029 Super and an 025. Over the past 6 or 7 years I have become very curious about Dolmar chainsaws. In the past 6 months it has become necessary for me to purchase a big bore chainsaw, so yesterday I went to my local Dealer and ordered a Dolmar PS7910 with a 24" bar and chain. My Dealer has been a dear family friend for as far back as I can remember, and a Dolmar Dealer since 1987.  

Along with the Stihls I also own a couple of 80's vintage Homelite metal case chainsaws, and a 1996 McCulloch Timber Bear chainsaw. This collection (including the Stihls) has me in good shape for the small to mid size saw range. BTW, I heat my home primarily with wood, but may sell some firewood next year if there is a good market for it.

So anyway, I am curious to see if any of you guys have experience with the big bore line of Dolmar. These saws are the 6400, 7310, and 7910. The older ones like this have similar numbers. The 7900 series was replaced by the 7910, and so forth with the lesser numbers.

Today is the 30th day of December, so let me wish you all in advance a very Happy New Year !!!

The 2015 Big show is just around the corner,

Van

 

[formariz 11,849]

Casually just browsing through Home Depot Rental Center a couple of years back, I noticed that they had for sale a couple of the 6400 used saws for sale. They were $250.00 each. Bought one since I was looking for a large chainsaw not knowing much about them, but being extremely fond of anything made by Makita.. On top of it it came with all the maintenance and rental records. This thing was barely used. They stated that they have to replace them every couple of years regardless how much they are used. On top of that deal guy tells me to hang on and he comes back with a 5 gallon bucket full of chains. Tells me they are not allowed to get them sharpened and have to put a new one in every time saw comes back.

 

After that doing some research learned that saw is a Dolmar who was bought by Makita. This thing is absolutely unstopable. Incredible power and balance. Easy starts. A little on the heavy side but i guess for something this size it would be heavy. Since then I also bought a small Makita arborists saw also made by Dolmar which is also a really good performer.

[decksetter 50]

I haven't had the chance to handle a Dolmar/Makita, but they look to be very well built and durable.

I have a half dozen or so saws, and I really like my Echos for the money. I have a cs-4600, cs-590, and cs-8000. The 8000 is an absolute tank of an 80cc and I haven't had the chance to use it much yet, but the 590 is the best $315 I've spent in the last year (basically new out of the box on eBay). The 4600 is nice and nimble, close to 20 years old now and a fun little limber.

[brandonozz 168]

About 20+ years ago I made extra money in the winter cutting firewood and owned a Sachs Dolmar.  Back then they were very good saws and I cut hundreds of ricks with that saw.  Had a new set of rings installed and kept cutting.  Finally sold the saw when I quit cutting wood.  Most important thing to maintain is to clean the air filter daily.

[Steve NW WI 39]

Yup. 3 of em. 420 5100 and a 7300. I've used a 34" bar on the 73 a couple times, not ideal but it does the job with a light touch.

They're all excellent saws, but the little 420 is the one you'll have to pry from my cold dead fingers. It thinks it's about 2 sizes bigger than it really is.

I got an old magnesium habit, too. McCulloch, Homelite, Pioneer, Poulan and some of the old Olympics I grew up on.

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

Thank you for the replies everyone. My Dealer called me yesterday (yes, New Years Day!) to inform me the Dolmar had been delivered, and also my old McCulloch is back in service after an oil pump replacement. I can't pick them up today due to my work schedule so my plan is to go get both of them tomorrow morning. I'll post back on this thread this weekend to let you know what my first impression (from inside the shop) is of the Dolmar. The Dolmar will probably not see any action this weekend as Its suppose to rain here both Saturday and Sunday, so a report of how well its cuts will have to be at a later date.

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

Well I picked upi the saw this morning as planned. Boy oh Boy was I ever impressed with the way this saw is built! Thank goodness it has a decompression lever on it as the engine has some serious compression. I was not able to put it to work today due to the rainy weather, but certainly will the first chance I get. I did let it run under roof in the carport for about 20 minutes. I could feel the engine begin to break in. Its revs clean and crisp. Very smooth and powerful. The chain oiler is adjustable, and in the factory setting the chain gets plenty of oil on the 24" bar.

Here is a pic of it on the workbench at my Dealers shop.

[shallowwatersailor 3,213]

You'll be impressed. I also have bought only Stihl products (my first saw was a McCulloch back in 1978) for the last five years but I bought a PS-5105 last year. Once it is out of warranty I have a non-cat muffler to put on it which should make it even better.

 

Van, you need to get the West Coast handle, heavy-duty air filter, and some serious Bucking Spikes too! That is a beauty.

Edited January 4, 2015 by shallowwatersailor

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

Thank you John. I have heard good things about the PS-5105. You will have to let me know how the non-cat muffler works on that saw. I believe the PS-7910 does not have a cat on it, just a muffler with a spark arrester. Somehow the engineers at Dolmar were able to redesign the muffler to meet EPA standards without adding a catalytic converter. The limit speed on the 7910 has been reduced from 13,500rpm ( earlier model PS-7900) to 12,800rpm (PS-7910). This may also have been done to meet some EPA requirement.

The engine is 78.5cc and it produces 5.7hp at 10,000rpm. I can't see where I will need the extra rpms of 13,500 with the engine producing its maximum horsepower at 10,000rpm, so

12,800 should be just fine.  

John are the three items you are speaking of Dolmar products, or aftermarket?

Here is another pic of the saw on my dealers workbench.

[Steve NW WI 39]

The full wrap handle and HD air filter are Dolmar items.  Those are the only spikes Dolmar makes, there may be aftermarket though.  I have the HD AF on my 7300, but it's an early model and the air filters have gone through 2 upgrades since then.  If you're just an occasional user, the HD isn't really necessary, just clean your filter as needed and you'll be OK.

 

Full wraps are nice for felling.  I don't have one on my 73, but do have one on my McCulloch PM850 for when I do need one.  If you want one, my dealer had some new take offs from when he bought out a bunch of the 7900 stock when they were switching to the 10 series.  I could check if he's still got any, might be cheaper than ordering new.

[Steve NW WI 39]

Here's a pic of my 7300 and 420 from a while back.  That's a 20" bar on there at the time.

 

[Digger 66 3,476]

 Sachs

 

Wow , that  ^ name brings back memories of my first minibike .

Arctic Cat used their engines in the "Prowler" .

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

Thank you Steve for offering to locate a wrap around handle to me. Fortunatly all the trees the 7910 will be sawing on for several years have already been cut down.  I will be in the middle of 40 acres sawing whats left of a clear cutting operation into firewood length stock to burn in my woodstove, and my daughters woodstove. I'll sell some firewood if the market is good for next Winter. Mostly what I am doing now is stacking up all the long tree trunks, tree tops, and big limbs left behind by the loggers. I'm using a skid steer with a 4in1 bucket for that task. I have a big area set aside for staging, so once the pile of logs is big enough the next thing is to just stand there, saw everything up into firewood length (with the 7910), and then split it all with the splitter. After that its loaded into a dumptruck and taken to a barn where it will be stacked to dry for next Winter. Its alot of work for sure, but its alot of warmth for me and my daughter, son-in-law and 2 grandkids.

BTW, here is a pic of my Dolmar Dealer. His name is Mr. Charlie Brooks. He is one the finest men I have ever met!

Charlie is also in the process of bringing back to life my Grandfathers 1960 Clinton D50 chanisaw. That one was built back when men were men and Clinton chainsaws weighed 40 pounds dry! I'll post some pics of the D50 after its running and painted.

Edited January 5, 2015 by Wheel-N-It

[Steve NW WI 39]

Had that 79 in the woods yet? I'll have some 73 & B80 pics sometime soon. A bit muddy for firewoodin yet here, but I'm itchin.

[mels 174]

Check out http://www.arboristsite.com/community/

Scroll down to the equipment forums, then into the trading post and chainsaw sub-forums.  

If you don't have CAD (chainsaw acquisition disorder) already you will after hanging out there for only a day or two...

All the info you've ever wanted and more.

If you join, look me up.  I use the same handle there as here.

That "Dolkita" is a fine saw.  You'll quickly find all the others being slowly pushed to the back as you grab it first from now on! 

Edited March 15, 2015 by mels

[mels 174]

Hey Van, you had a chance to lean on this 7910 yet?

 

Wondering what you think of it as I just swung a deal on three 6400's gonna put 7910 top ends on two of 'em and woods port them both.  Third one we'll leave stock and probably sell off.

 

Looking forward to hearing about that old Clinton too! 

[Steve NW WI 39]

Hey Van, you had a chance to lean on this 7910 yet?

Wondering what you think of it as I just swung a deal on three 6400's gonna put 7910 top ends on two of 'em and woods port them both. Third one we'll leave stock and probably sell off.

Looking forward to hearing about that old Clinton too!

Go with stock 7900 top ends, a bit stronger than the -10s.

Porting a 79 is tricky, just as easy to go backward as to get gains. I'd stay stock, but if you really gotta have ported, I know a guy or two that know their way around em.

I used to be a moderator on AS, don't spend much time there any more.

[mels 174]

Right on.  AS is the joint.  Randy there has done a couple saws for me, we've been talking -10 but will see what he says about the -00 instead.

Wondering how Van is doing with his new one?! 

[Steve NW WI 39]

Randy Evans (Mastermind) is one I'd trust, along with Scott Kunz (treemonkey).

I spend my time with the "riff-raff" over on sawhawgz these days.

[mels 174]

Right on. I'm there too, same handle as here and AS

[CRE1992 135]

Randy Evans (Mastermind) is one I'd trust, along with Scott Kunz (treemonkey).

I spend my time with the "riff-raff" over on sawhawgz these days.

Funny you mention that I am over on AS as well, I just sold a ton of my saws in January but I kept my Stihl 261 and 460. Id have no doubt in trusting Randy's (mastermind) port jobs. Hes good and meticulous. And good luck with the Dolmar they are great saws. Ill always be a stihl buff myself though. 

[Ken B 3,116]

Funny you mention that I am over on AS as well, I just sold a ton of my saws in January but I kept my Stihl 261 and 460. Id have no doubt in trusting Randy's (mastermind) port jobs. Hes good and meticulous. And good luck with the Dolmar they are great saws. Ill always be a stihl buff myself though. 

Leave it to a chain saw to pull the LOCATOR out of the wood work!

[Steve NW WI 39]

Funny you mention that I am over on AS as well, I just sold a ton of my saws in January but I kept my Stihl 261 and 460. Id have no doubt in trusting Randy's (mastermind) port jobs. Hes good and meticulous. And good luck with the Dolmar they are great saws. Ill always be a stihl buff myself though.

Stihl is the saw version of Harley Davidson or John Deere. If you buy the marketing hype, there is no alternative.

I spent last weekend at a chainsaw GTG down in Iowa, the saw that brought the biggest grin to my face was a Treemonkey modded 064. The other cool stuff was all 20+ years old in many colors. Some were as fast, a few faster, than the new stuff. Some were old and slow, but made you appreciate what men years ago thought was the best it would ever be. Heck, the 125cc McCullochs still might be.

Edit: Guessing you go by CRE888 over there?

Edited April 28, 2015 by Steve NW WI

[mels 174]

I missed the Upstate NY GTG this weekend because of my surgery.  Sold a friend of mine one of my 6400 Dolmars on his way up to that GTG.  He was blown away by the modded saws, made the 6400 seem like a toy, but says the 6400 is already his favorite.  He noodled three different woods with it, oak, ash and pine I think, and said the clutch cover never got clogged it just spit it all out and as I already knew, that 6400 just had balls to keep it's revs up in his cuts. 

 

I'm a Stihl guy too at heart, have a bunch of 'em, older generation saws though except for my Brad Snelling '201T along with older saws of other makes.  Magnesium Poulans & Homelites etc...  The 6400's are my newest saws and I gotta tell you, they flat out blow away my Stihls.  They have a superior AV system and I think are underrated in power.

 

I now have two saws warmed over by Randy, a 750 Homelite (biggest saw I own at 112cc) and an old family friend, a McCulloch 10-10.  He currently has my 024Super, going to put an 026 top end on it and port it.  Looking forward to getting that little Frankenstein Saw back and getting it in some wood!  Sending him down the two remaining 6400's I have, he'll be keeping one for himself and putting a 7910 top end (ported, of course... LOL) on the other one for me.  THAT should be a sick saw.

 

Terry Landrum has had my 038 Magnum II since the beginning of the year for some Wicked Work Saws magic, but that poor guy has got the Lymes bad.  Hope he'll be able to get to it and done before he gets busy with his shop. 

 

My handle is mels over there too, have some pretty good pics up of some of my old stuff.

Edited April 28, 2015 by mels

[Steve NW WI 39]

I picked up my first bow saw this weekend, just an old XL Homelite with a brush bow on it. Now to make it run.

I've been waiting for my laptop to get back from the shop to check out the NY GTG pics, sounds like it was a blast. IA was awesome despite the weather. I hope to make a WH gathering this summer, if they're half as much fun, it'll be worth it.

I'd like a 750 someday.