Picked up a Holtzfforma G395XP = Awsome

F

Fordiesel69

Joined
Sep 10, 2005
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Location
Erie, PA
Over on another website there was talk of how the new 2025 / 2026 clone saws are signficantly improved over years prior. Between reading about them, and your phone spying on you, an ad popped up for the G395xp for only $299 from wagners chainsaws. Picked it up and am very impressed. Make no mistake its not a real husky relabled, it is a clone, but of impressive quality. The fit and finish of the plastics are on point, and the metal finish is very clean. It cuts about 1-2 seconds behind a real husky per the youtube videos, and mine runs perfect out of box. They stepped it up for sure, which includes a good quality pull rope, whatever chinese cylinder and piston they use is finished off really well and the ports are quite acceptable. Carb is chinese but seems to run well.

In one hand im overly impressed, but on the other im sad I am supporting an adversary.
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People on YouTube seem to love tinkering with these saws. I imagine anyone that knows how to use and take care of a chainsaw could get a lot of work done with one of these. Are any parts interchangeable with the equivalent Husky saw?
 
I used to do tree work. Talking to friends in the business today, I hear some of these saws are incredible at a fraction of the price. To add insult to injury, some say the Stihls and Huskaderos are not what they used to be.

I love running chain saws!
 
To answer some questions:
-When buying holtzfforma "parts kits" these parts are supposed to interchange. So they will mostly swap over to husky, and husky over to holtzfforma. I plan to upgrade the decomp valve, and oil pump drive gear to oem when they fail.
-Husky is not real good around 2021 and 2022 with quality control. I got a 365 xt recently NOS, and it was not properly cleaned after machining. (I will do seperate thread when im done with it).
-These do not have an EPA rating as they are imported. Based on the lower quality cylinder plating, the rumor is porting is not an option as the plating will peel, and if you get a lean seize / scoring, they will not be able to be cleaned up. Other than that if left stock, and proper oil mix / tune is on point, they will way surpass 50 hrs. There is indeed a hard chrome plating, its just not as good like oem.
 
My brother does a lot of tinkering with chainsaws and has a couple Holtzies. I believe one of them he built from a kit. He loves them.
 
I've been eyeballing one of these! Well, the Stihl "Knockoff". It's the Pro 660 version with aparently better piston rings, carburetor, etc. I seen it for $360 with the 28" bar. It's the black & white colored one on Amazon.

Thanks for your review!

I'll end up getting one of these Holzfforma's too! Like you said the parts are swappable.
 
And when you do buy, from what i have read about is that they can be hit or miss. Some get good ones and maybe never need to replace a part, some had to swap just a few small things, and others get basket cases that never run good.

I do not like neotec even though some say their service is better. They build them very poor. My clonefforma has excellent rock hard poweder coating I forgot to mention. It seems very durable.
 
Fordiesel69 said:
And when you do buy, from what i have read about is that they can be hit or miss. Some get good ones and maybe never need to replace a part, some had to swap just a few small things, and others get basket cases that never run good.

I do not like neotec even though some say their service is better. They build them very poor. My clonefforma has excellent rock hard poweder coating I forgot to mention. It seems very durable.
Click to expand...
This is what's in my shopping cart right now. I'd planned on buying the 3 year warranty for whatever it was worth.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0G658CZWT/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=A1T1KRC7V9F18E&th=1
 
my vote Farmertec 372 and an 066 Stihl clone. Yes, parts interchange from OEM. Anybody can build these saws, if the Chinese are the only ones smart enough to build the saws no longer copyrighted so be it.
 
Fordiesel69 said:
Over on another website there was talk of how the new 2025 / 2026 clone saws are signficantly improved over years prior. Between reading about them, and your phone spying on you, an ad popped up for the G395xp for only $299 from wagners chainsaws. Picked it up and am very impressed. Make no mistake its not a real husky relabled, it is a clone, but of impressive quality. The fit and finish of the plastics are on point, and the metal finish is very clean. It cuts about 1-2 seconds behind a real husky per the youtube videos, and mine runs perfect out of box. They stepped it up for sure, which includes a good quality pull rope, whatever chinese cylinder and piston they use is finished off really well and the ports are quite acceptable. Carb is chinese but seems to run well.

In one hand im overly impressed, but on the other im sad I am supporting an adversary.View attachment 329179
View attachment 329180
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Click to expand...

Question for both the a current manufactured Husky and the Husky GP395xp clone you recently purchased (Holtzfforma).

Are the case materials (including the oil case and pump housing) for both the Husky and the clone made of magnesium or are they a plastic/nylon/polymer now?

I was unhappy many years ago when the mid-level Stihl saws transitioned from magnesium to plastic/nylon/polymer. I used the Stihl Farm Boss saws for many years and then they went to a plastic case while still maintaining a premium MSRP price.

It does not bother me as much when buying a $100 Black Friday Special Poulan saw as it does with $600 to $1000 mid-level saw. The "Black Friday" Poulans are my "throw away" saws for pruning and dirty work.

Sadly to get a magnesium case on a Stihl saw today you are likely above $1000 MRRP saw. I know inflation and cost cutting play here but my mind still recalls the days in the past.

Thanks
 
Slick said:
Question for both the a current manufactured Husky and the Husky GP395xp clone you recently purchased (Holtzfforma).

Are the case materials (including the oil case and pump housing) for both the Husky and the clone made of magnesium or are they a plastic/nylon/polymer now?

I was unhappy many years ago when the mid-level Stihl saws transitioned from magnesium to plastic/nylon/polymer. I used the Stihl Farm Boss saws for many years and then they went to a plastic case while still maintaining a premium MSRP price.

It does not bother me as much when buying a $100 Black Friday Special Poulan saw as it does with $600 to $1000 mid-level saw. The "Black Friday" Poulans are my "throw away" saws for pruning and dirty work.

Sadly to get a magnesium case on a Stihl saw today you are likely above $1000 MRRP saw. I know inflation and cost cutting play here but my mind still recalls the days in the past.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I just bought a new 395XP and it's Magnesium. So is my 572XP. Stihl and Husky mid-grade saws (455/460 Rancher, Stihl 271/291/311/391) are clamshell design. I have a Stihl MS311 my wife picked up as a back-up saw during Covid and although it's a bit heavy, it runs great and.....it cut's wood. So does my Husky 450 and 455 Rancher. They've also been pretty solid powersaws.

Power to weight however, the pro saws are superior and offer a more robust construction. Stihl has raised their prices almost every year. I bought my 572XP a few years ago on sale for $980 shipped with a 28" light bar (made by Sugi). The MS462 is about $500+ more with no seasonal sales in sight. With the quality improvement of the Clone saws over the last couple of years, I see them knocking a dent in the big two's sales. If you only need a 90 class saw a few times a year, the $300 Clone may be a viable choice compared to $1K-$1.5K OEM's

IMG_E3067.webp
 
I can report that the holtsfforma G395xp is all mag /alum crankcases just like the oem. The quality is scary good. The weak parts are a failure prone brass oiler drive gear which can be swapped with oem, and also a low quality cylinder plating process that is very robust if left alone but will flake and chip if you try to port it by grinding. I heard the crank case halves on the neotec have gotten so poor that they have to epoxy the bearings in place whereas the holzfforma is very much on point with oem level of clearance most of the time. Of course quality control will still drift.

Now...... Becuase I have a genuine new old stock 2021 husky 390xp, I certainly was not going to spend the green on a genuine 395xp hence my trigger purchase on the clone.

Time is the only unknown. This saw may be the best or worst saw being a clone. I mix 40 to 1 with echo red armor and everything is wet and we'll lubed upon inspection. Could probably run a bare aluminum bore and still have it last.

One little secret to the clones is tune a a bit on the rich side, and keep the chain sharp. The engine will last longer.
 
And I forgot to mention..... I don't know if they used a cheap enamel paint on the cases or if it is powder coating but whatever it is, it's very durable just like the oem powder coating. Also the 2025 date code orange plastics are nice quality, and the color is spot on.

I will most likely remove that dogs / bucking spikes and use this as a milling or noodling only saw.
 
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