Anyone heard of Blue Max chainsaws ?

[MowerMike]

I got a flyer for a Home Depot black Friday sale, and they list chainsaws with the Blue Max brand name. They are sold by a company called North American Tool Industries located in Huntington Indiana, but not doubt the tools are all imported from China. They have decent reviews, better than Poulan and Homelite, and the engines have full crankshafts with the pull cord on the end. The only thing that I don't like is that they require a 25:1 fuel ratio, which means they will smoke a lot and foul plugs more easily, plus I'd have to make up a special premix for it that I couldn't use in all my other tools that run 50:1. Also, I'm not sure how easy it would be to find parts or service for them. So, even though they are very cheap, I probably won't get one.

Blue Max package deal 14" + 20" bar with hard case for $159

 

[ILENGINE]

I have several go threw the shop every year due to being sold at Menard's. The biggest issue I have seen is the chain brake mechanism likes to break, and will not lock back in the off position. Haven't found a good source for parts yet either.

 

[MowerMike]

I found this promo video. They seem to be knocking the competitors for being Chinese, but these are probably as well. The whole vibration at idle thing is stupid. What matters is how much they vibrate at speed.

 

[pugaltitude]

I sell a brand which is chinese and looks very close to the bluemax. Mitox

An English distributer brings them in from China but has strict control on quality like only fitting Walbro carbs instead of chinese copys and using oregan bar and chain and auto matic oil pump.

I would sell the mitox chainsaw before the Stihl homeowner MS range and the Husky poulan range.
Stihl just pretend that their product is not made in china.

 

[MowerMike]

I sell a brand which is chinese and looks very close to the bluemax. Mitox

An English distributer brings them in from China but has strict control on quality like only fitting Walbro carbs instead of chinese copys and using oregan bar and chain and auto matic oil pump.

I agree that the Blue Max looks virtually identical to the Mitox, and the specs are the same for the model with the 18" bar. Mitox claims 1800W power for the 45cc engine, whereas Blue Max claims 2000W. I suspect the Blue Max uses the cheaper Chinese carb and chain, due to its low price in the USA. Does the Mitox also require 25:1 fuel / oil ratio ?

 

[pugaltitude]

I agree that the Blue Max looks virtually identical to the Mitox, and the specs are the same for the model with the 18" bar. Mitox claims 1800W power for the 45cc engine, whereas Blue Max claims 2000W. I suspect the Blue Max uses the cheaper Chinese carb and chain, due to its low price in the USA. Does the Mitox also require 25:1 fuel / oil ratio ?

The chainsaws are 32:1 ratio and strimmers are 40:1 ratio.

I was always against Chinese product but some of it is quite good as long as parts are available.

 

[MowerMike]

The chainsaws are 32:1 ratio and strimmers are 40:1 ratio.

I was always against Chinese product but some of it is quite good as long as parts are available.

For sure there is a wide variety of quality in Chinese products, and often it comes down to the OEM imposing high QA/QC standards on them. For example, I own a Generac pressure washer with a 4-stroke engine and pump made in China, and the quality is on a par with Honda IMO. The castings are excellent, there are no oil leaks at gaskets and seams, and carburetor is high quality comparable to Mikuni or Keihin. OTOH, Poulan and Homelite are total junk.