Wishing you could still get your hands on the discontinued Husqvarna 372? If you’re willing to look past certain preconceived notions, the next-best thing might be this saw from China.

WE live in a world of discrimination. Too short, too tall, too fat, too thin, nose too big, nose too small – no doubt most of you have been the recipients of comments such as these over the years. Discrimination can be broken down into so-called banter or a complete lack of brains, but none of it’s nice if you’re on the receiving end.

At times ‘Japanese junk’ and ‘Taiwanese trash’ have been common sayings, or, if you’re of a certain vintage, you might have heard the term ‘Jerry job’, referring to something of poor quality. The irony to all this is that today Japan, Taiwan and Germany are all regarded as the makers of world-class industrial products. The image of poor and cheap quality has long gone. So the current focus of most abuse is China, and no doubt at some future date it will be India, currently snapping at the heels of China in the manufacturing world.

I regularly hear negative comments about Chinese-manufactured goods, with people saying they will never use any. In response I can only say this level of naivety beggars belief, as there can be very few if any manufacturers that don’t use Chinese products. If they don’t use Chinese components of any type, they are at a severe financial disadvantage.

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One of my earliest contacts with Chinese components was some 30 odd years ago in South-East Asia, where you could buy Chinese replacement parts for a Husqvarna or Stihl chainsaw, and a limited quantity of Chinese-made saws, which were mostly copies of the Stihl 070, a model which had been out of use in Europe for quite some time. These copies did not have the quality of build of the original manufacturers. The magnesium castings were of a coarser structure, with a much poorer finish. Yet even so, I couldn’t help but notice that saw chain and guide bars were about a quarter of the price of those in the UK (saw chain at that time was genuine Oregon and Stihl, with the Stihl being slightly more expensive).

Upon my return to the UK, chatting to some dealers, it was plain to see they were paying more for their chains and bars than it would cost me at the local chainsaw dealer in SE Asia. At this time I knew of one UK dealer who took a van to Europe, filled it with saws, returned to the UK and was able to sell them at a profit for considerably less than those supplied direct by the manufacturers.

At another time I needed a new coil for one of my saws. The original was made in Italy by some third party. I was quoted £80 for a so-called original coil, yet a Chinese coil was £18, and the dealer offered a three-month warranty with it. I later sold the saw to a local gardener and it is still going strong with that Chinese-made coil. When the exchange rate was two US dollars to the pound, certain chainsaw brands were half the price of what they were in the UK. The excuse given at the time was the exchange rate, economies of scale, and other random flannel. Perhaps you can see a pattern developing here where it’s not the dealers pushing up the price, rather the manufacturers thinking the market can take it, so let’s push it up – a case of rip-off Britain.
To reduce costs, many of these manufacturers are sourcing components in China and assembling in Europe, yet the finished products seem to continually rise in price, at times at a greater rate than can be earned by those using the product.

But the Chinese business people are not only making parts – they are also making the finished article. Doing a search through Alibaba will open your eyes to what they manufacture. Although it’s a long time since I attend the China trade fair at Canton, it is still the largest in China, with over 25,000 exhibitors, all out for business. The exhibition halls are so big it makes LAMMA at the NEC in Birmingham feel like a Sunday school picnic.

It’s good to remember that quite a few Korean machines now work in the forestry sector.

Recently one of our local agri contractors purchased a Chinese-made 30-tonne excavator. Some 30 years ago, companies were buying up second-hand 20-tonne 360 excavators, using a gas torch to cut off the track frames, packing them into shipping containers and exporting to China.

Upon arrival, those containers would be de-stuffed by an army of workers wearing flip flops, and with the aid of a lump hammer, hand-held grinder and an air-cooled welder (made up of a coil of copper wire wrapped around a wooden frame, which would twitch every time it arked) they would reassemble the components to a very high standard. It’s easy to smile or even be condescending when we see such workers, yet today the Chinese make and export such machines from state-of-the art modern factories which would put many of the few UK manufacturers to shame.

Of particular interest to me are the chainsaws. This interest began some time back, when the main European manufacturers introduced computer chips into their saws. Being a grumpy, cantankerous sort of chap, once a manufacturer brings out a saw that I like, I don’t appreciate them bringing out new models with unnecessary ‘improvements’ making them far more expensive.

This Holzfforma G372XP Pro has clearly been worked hard.This Holzfforma G372XP Pro has clearly been worked hard. (Image: FJ/AM)

Opinions vary about these saws. If you trawl the internet you will hear a whole range of opinions, mostly from people that have only a limited working knowledge of them, yet from time to time you will see a few that have given the saws a proper workout with a professional review. So I contacted Ian Gregory of Logs and Saws who has had quite some experience with Chinese saws.

As well as running a firewood business, Ian sells Eastonmade splitters and a whole range of products to pimp up your saws. He recommended I try the Holzfforma G372XP Pro. This is a clone of the Husky 372XP, but before anybody gets on their high horse, shouting about counterfeiting and patent infringement etc, let me remind you the 372 is a discontinued Husky model, and Holzfforma/Farmertec does not claim this is a Husqvarna. Nevertheless, most parts are interchangeable. It looks like a Husky 372, sounds like one and handles like one. I received the saw through the post, mostly already assembled. I had to fix the handle onto the chassis myself. It’s a standard handle, but if wanted they can provide a full wrap.

I decided beforehand to subject the saw to quite a bit of abuse, so it was stored outside in the weather. I very rarely cleaned it, only cleaning the filter when necessary. Some problems developed because of this, but to find out its true potential it was the way to go.

I’ve had the saw for over two years, but as it worked alongside a Husky 372 and other larger saws, it has done just over eight months of full-time work. To start with I was going to track the saw chains used, but after 10 I stopped counting. During this time it was mostly used to fell diseased ash and clear up large grandis and Sitka windfall.

Holzfforma and Husqvarna side by side. Holzfforma and Husqvarna side by side. (Image: FJ/AM)

Holzfforma/Farmertec offers the 372 in two different models – the 372XP and the G372XP Pro.

The former looks like the standard Husky 372XP, whereas the G372XP Pro (a bit of a mouthful) has a larger air filter with larger filter cover. The Pro’s air filter has probably double the filtration surface of the standard 372 filter. Our saw is listed as having a Walbro carb, Italy Tech treated Nikasil cylinder (whatever that means) Meteor piston, NGK plug and carbon-fibre construction.

Whether these things are true I cannot say for certain. If you drive over the saw with your skidder, carbon fibre or not, the end result will be the same.

Instead of the standard orange, it is a white, grey and black colouration. The dogs supplied with the saw are large, which means you would lose some two inches of usable guide bar, so I stripped the dog off an old Husky 372 parts saw and fitted it to the G372XP Pro and found it works better. Likewise, the chain catcher provided was to be fixed up to the log dogs in a similar fashion as the larger Stihl saws, yet the chassis had the relevant holder for the standard Husky chain catcher. I also had Holzffarma 20” guide bar and chain.

I find guide bars and chains highly subjective. I’ve always gotten on well with Oregon products, yet many don’t. The Holzfforma bar was heavier, more like a standard Sugihara in weight, altering the saw balance, making it more nose heavy. The bar worked well but its life was cut short. I must confess that I’m not a very professional cutter, and when working in windblow sometimes the bar gets pinched. Using my wedging axe to release it, the axe glanced off a hard knot, and made its mark on the guide bar, thus delaminating it and ending its life. I have a 24” Holzfforma bar on one of my other saws, but I need to use it much more before any further comment. I have tried Chinese chain in the past. Some stretched too much, and others had inconsistent heat treatment, resulting in problematic sharpening or depth-gauge lowering, although easy to do with a grinder. I found the Holzfforma chain to be quite hard, similar to Stihl chain rather than softer Oregon chain (which I prefer). It was of very consistent quality, which ensured I could easily hand sharpen, and had limited stretching.

Firing up the saw, it sounded and felt just like a Husky. Put a blindfold on and you wouldn’t know the difference. I was going to break it in on some firewood – oh, how disappointing! Lacklustre, slow, very little kick. I started to wonder what had I done. If you compare a Husky 372 and 365 – both exceptional saws – the 372 has that extra zip, which is especially good when felling. Well, the Holzfforma felt like a 365 on a bad day.

After five tankfuls of fuel to break it in, I re-tuned it. Oh, brother! What a difference! No longer a saw suffering from long COVID, rather a hyperactive juvenile delinquent. I’ve run it alongside a later Husky 372XP and they handle very similarly. If anything, the Holzfforma seems to have a bit more zip and grunt. Now I’m known for my active imagination, but I’m sure the earlier husky 372s had more zip than later 372s – an opinion shared by a few other cutters. The Holzfforma runs like an earlier 372 and when I fitted a lighter 18” Oregon bar it made it a very sweet saw to use, with plenty of power.

Showing the traditional flowing 372 lines. Showing the traditional flowing 372 lines. (Image: FJ/AM)

One of the first things to go on the saw was the plastic on/off switch, but I’ve always found these to be a weakness on Huskys, and have had to replace a few over the years. As all of our old-style dealers have retired and very few of those remaining keep any parts in stock, I would need to wait a week and a half or more for new parts, as well as go into town to fetch them. I was quoted £8.50 for a new switch and bought a new one of similar quality for £1.50 on eBay. From then on, any replacement parts came from eBay.

One thing I should have done was retorque all the bolts etc, but here my lack of maintenance showed and the whole exhaust came loose. Once again, one of our newer dealers quoted £3-odd for a bolt with a wait of a week or two. Instead, I purchased a maintenance kit from Holzfforma, which is in a clear plastic tray with compartments to hold some 30-plus assorted bolts, chain tensioner, starter rope, spark plug and bar nuts, for about £30 delivered within a week.

All the new exhaust bolts were put in place. After some six months of full-time work, the starter spring died – basically, the hook on its end had straightened out. In the past I’ve used a pair of pliers to make a new hook, but such repairs only ever seem temporary, so being the last of the big spenders I bought a new one off eBay for just over £7.

I mentioned earlier my lack of cleaning. Well eventually the saw, when idling, would sometimes die. I kept going until eventually the saw had difficulty running. It turned out the carb was full of crud – not from the air filter, but rather from the fuel tank as the filter was rather a coarse one. A better-quality fuel filter was fitted, the carb cleaned and there hasn’t been any other problem.

One thing that happened was that the exit pipe in the exhaust came loose, so now I have a powerful, sweet-handling saw that’s sounds as if it has a bark box. All new rim sprockets have been via eBay and have proved satisfactory. The saw is still going strong, so perhaps my next buy will be one of the larger ones.

I have heard on the grapevine they will be making a new range of clones based on the Makita/Dolmar range. Some people rate the Makita 7900 as having more grunt than the current darling, the Stihl 500i. Whether this is correct, we wait to see.

One thing is for sure. If non-chipped older technology is your thing, the G372XP Pro, for just over £300, does not disappoint.