Saw fixing

[pioneerguy600]

Can you fix my saw? The question we all have heard before and over again. It don`t need much and won`t take long,I need it for Monday so I can go to work bucking hardwood.
I should say no but find it hard to, its 2 o`clock on a Saturday.He brings the saw in and I start to look it over,he knows I have a part saw that he has tried to buy from me for some time now. At first glance it needs the top handle AV mount and rubber buffer and the handle is bent quite a bit,rubber covering shredded. He says the clutch is not working so I figure a weak spring. The saw wants to fold up like a pizza box and I discover that the front two AV mounts are completely broken out ,the cases are busted and the felling dog has a broken bottom spike.
This thing is trashed and I have 4 cord of wood to split before dark, I will work on it Sunday. Well today I start in on it at 10 am and strip it,can`t believe the damaged parts. Luckily the donor saw is a NOS unit missing only the carb and p&c. These are the new parts necessary to get it up and running to my standards.Starter side cover with recoil,top handle with AV mount and rubber buffer, clutch cover ,brake handle and band cw chain adjuster,rear tank handle and gas tank,all new AV mounts and springs,both case halves with crankshaft, clutch girdle spring and debur the bar and a new 3/8 pitch chain.
I now have more new parts on his saw than what he could sell the saw for but he needs it to make a living.
I also have 8 hours labor in it so what should I charge for a job like this.The saw is a 6 month old Echo model CS 670. Should I offer to buy it from him and let him buy another saw? Pioneerguy600

 

[computeruser]

Sounds like you should have told him to buy a new saw in the first place. Between your parts and your labor, you've probably got 1.5x the retail price of that saw, at least.

 

[mattinky]

Man.... No possible way to come out to the good on that one - he could go buy a new saw for what you should charge him. I think this is one of those times that you'll just have to decide what makes you both happy. How in the hell did a 6 month old saw get so trashed? I probably would have called him when I saw the extent of the damage and told him it's not worth fixing.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Man.... No possible way to come out to the good on that one - he could go buy a new saw for what you should charge him. I think this is one of those times that you'll just have to decide what makes you both happy. How in the hell did a 6 month old saw get so trashed? I probably would have called him when I saw the extent of the damage and told him it's not worth fixing.

I know I could never get the worth of parts and labor out of it but it is up and running as new and looks like a new saw,well it is sort of as the donor saw was never started in the first place. I am going to show him all the busted parts in the morning and give him the two options in the first post. Let him make the decision. Pioneerguy600

 

[Bruce Hopf]

Can you fix my saw? The question we all have heard before and over again. It don`t need much and won`t take long,I need it for Monday so I can go to work bucking hardwood.
I should say no but find it hard to, its 2 o`clock on a Saturday.He brings the saw in and I start to look it over,he knows I have a part saw that he has tried to buy from me for some time now. At first glance it needs the top handle AV mount and rubber buffer and the handle is bent quite a bit,rubber covering shredded. He says the clutch is not working so I figure a weak spring. The saw wants to fold up like a pizza box and I discover that the front two AV mounts are completely broken out ,the cases are busted and the felling dog has a broken bottom spike.
This thing is trashed and I have 4 cord of wood to split before dark, I will work on it Sunday. Well today I start in on it at 10 am and strip it,can`t believe the damaged parts. Luckily the donor saw is a NOS unit missing only the carb and p&c. These are the new parts necessary to get it up and running to my standards.Starter side cover with recoil,top handle with AV mount and rubber buffer, clutch cover ,brake handle and band cw chain adjuster,rear tank handle and gas tank,all new AV mounts and springs,both case halves with crankshaft, clutch girdle spring and debur the bar and a new 3/8 pitch chain.
I now have more new parts on his saw than what he could sell the saw for but he needs it to make a living.
I also have 8 hours labor in it so what should I charge for a job like this.The saw is a 6 month old Echo model CS 670. Should I offer to buy it from him and let him buy another saw? Pioneerguy600

This is a hard call for anyone to make. What you need to do is find out how much each part is worth new. Then you need to charge him half, or 2/3s of what the new part costs. Now since you were asked to fix the saw, you charge him 8 hours for the labour. Keep the old parts, and show him exactly what had to be changed, and give them back to him. Take as many pictures of the old parts as posible, to cover your arse, for proof, that you replaced the parts.
Tell him in the morning, that you have to phone the dealer, and get the prices of the parts. Make out your bill, for the Parts, and Labour, and make sure he pays you in full, prior to the saw being picked up. If he gives you a hazrd time, give him $20.00 cash and keep the saw. Parts Saws I pick up for around $20.00 all the time, and thats complete.
Hope this helps. Bruce.

 

[Wirenut2266]

Yup:Tough call.....Did you warn the guy in advance about possible $$$. If so, give him the bill and move on, you have a business to run. If your conscience kicks in, well you may have to buy it for a parts saw, or just take a hit....Live and learn I guess. We've all been there, and will be there again!

 

[pioneerguy600]

Man.... No possible way to come out to the good on that one - he could go buy a new saw for what you should charge him. I think this is one of those times that you'll just have to decide what makes you both happy. How in the hell did a 6 month old saw get so trashed? I probably would have called him when I saw the extent of the damage and told him it's not worth fixing.

Never seen a 6 month old saw that trashed before,looks like it was wrestling with a grizzly bear and lost the bout. This guy always says that broken part or the other is ok, it still works and never cleans or replaces anything until it stops or is impossible to run,with the busted AV mounts and buffers you could not throttle the carb as the saw wanted to fold up but he still ran it that way half a day Saturday. I could not reach him today and he`s depending on using the saw tomorrow for work. Pioneerguy600

 

[Modifiedmark]

I know I could never get the worth of parts and labor out of it but it is up and running as new and looks like a new saw,well it is sort of as the donor saw was never started in the first place. I am going to show him all the busted parts in the morning and give him the two options in the first post. Let him make the decision. Pioneerguy600

If it was that busted up, why didnt you just put his piston, cyl and carb on the donor and be done with it within the hour?

 

[Bruce Hopf]

I know I could never get the worth of parts and labor out of it but it is up and running as new and looks like a new saw,well it is sort of as the donor saw was never started in the first place. I am going to show him all the busted parts in the morning and give him the two options in the first post. Let him make the decision. Pioneerguy600

I forgot to ask, but What In The Wide World Of Sports (off of Blazing Saddles) did he do with this chainsaw to have it in such a Mess in the First Place? You missed telling about that part of the story! Please fill in the rest of the blanks, and please don't keep use in the dark.

 

[pioneerguy600]

I forgot to ask, but What In The Wide World Of Sports (off of Blazing Saddles) did he do with this chainsaw to have it in such a Mess in the First Place? You missed telling about that part of the story! Please fill in the rest of the blanks, and please don't keep use in the dark.

I will have to wait until tomorrow morning to listen to his story but as I mentioned back a post he never fixes anything until forced to and every thing is thats ok as long as it can possibly run.He bucks hardwood for a living and uses his saws real rough. Basically I did use his p&c on my donor saw after I dismantled and cleaned his parts up in the washer only to find most parts worn out or broken but couldn`t make a good call until a ton of oil and sawdust was cleaned off. Also was trying to make this less expensive as possible for him. Pioneerguy600

 

[madrone]

Jerry,
From this and other posts of yours I can tell you are a decent and honest guy. If the owner of the saw makes his living cuttin wood then he's gotta learn to take better care of the thing that makes him his bread and butter. You should get a decent wage for your work and he should pay you fairly. Unless you've got money to burn, taking on a charity case only means he'll be asking for a loan before long.
just my humble opinion.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Jerry,
From this and other posts of yours I can tell you are a decent and honest guy. If the owner of the saw makes his living cuttin wood then he's gotta learn to take better care of the thing that makes him his bread and butter. You should get a decent wage for your work and he should pay you fairly. Unless you've got money to burn, taking on a charity case only means he'll be asking for a loan before long.
just my humble opinion.

I know I am going to charge him a reasonable amount just to head off a continuing problem and it should teach him something about being responsible. I bought the donor saw a couple months back and only paid$60. for it so if I ask for a couple hundred for the job and he`s ok with that we`ll go that route, if not I will offer to buy the saw from him and offer a hundred for it as there was not much useable from it and he can go and buy another saw.
I won`t sell him one of my saws as I could not stand to see them trashed. Pioneerguy600

 

[Pebbles]

I just wanted to chime in (my first post). From what I hear it seems like that the customer won't think twice about paying for what it took to bring his saw back up into running order. He is a working man and as such knows that you got the saw working again in time to get him going again come Monday. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to any work at all and as such wouldn't have been able to make the scratch to pay for the saw repairs.

Honestly, just give him the bill. Even if it is for $250 or more, that is what it is. Six months from now repeat.

 

[pioneerguy600]

I just wanted to chime in (my first post). From what I hear it seems like that the customer won't think twice about paying for what it took to bring his saw back up into running order. He is a working man and as such knows that you got the saw working again in time to get him going again come Monday. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to any work at all and as such wouldn't have been able to make the scratch to pay for the saw repairs.

Honestly, just give him the bill. Even if it is for $250 or more, that is what it is. Six months from now repeat.

His saws are lucky to make it a year in the best of times,he used to run Stihl`s but changed over a year ago to Echo and thinks he can run them the same but he will learn different. The saw I just fixed will probably not make it another six months of torture, they get jammed a lot cutting off the logpile and he must just wrench and pull them out of the cut as the AV mounts received the most damage. I have never seen a set of cases broken out around the AV mounts before but the Echo`s don`t seem as strongly built in this area. Pioneerguy600

 

[pioneerguy600]

I just wanted to chime in (my first post). From what I hear it seems like that the customer won't think twice about paying for what it took to bring his saw back up into running order. He is a working man and as such knows that you got the saw working again in time to get him going again come Monday. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to any work at all and as such wouldn't have been able to make the scratch to pay for the saw repairs.

Honestly, just give him the bill. Even if it is for $250 or more, that is what it is. Six months from now repeat.

Missed seeing this is your first post. Welcome to the AS site, there is a lot of good info on here but you have to watch out,you may come down with CAD. LOL.
Pioneerguy600

 

[Pebbles]

Missed seeing this is your first post. Welcome to the AS site, there is a lot of good info on here but you have to watch out,you may come down with CAD. LOL.
Pioneerguy600

Thanks! My first new saw (a Makita 6401-20) should be here tomorrow and I am pretty excited about that. The info here is terrific and I already have the chaps and helmet/face visor stuff for personal protection. I am ok with CAD, I think a 7900 with a 24" bar would be a good second saw and then something with a 16" bar

 

[pioneerguy600]

Thanks! My first new saw (a Makita 6401-20) should be here tomorrow and I am pretty excited about that. The info here is terrific and I already have the chaps and helmet/face visor stuff for personal protection. I am ok with CAD, I think a 7900 with a 24" bar would be a good second saw and then something with a 16" bar

Darn,another one bites the dust,sounds like CAD is well advanced and probably uncureable at this point. Only bigger and more powerful feed the habit.LOL Pioneerguy600

 

[mattinky]

Hey Pioneer Guy, How did you make out on your repair - LOL, hate to be nosey but inquiring minds want to know...

 

[pioneerguy600]

Hey Pioneer Guy, How did you make out on your repair - LOL, hate to be nosey but inquiring minds want to know...

Ok the guy came in this morning to pick up the saw and I knew immediately that he had been partying all weekend as he looked haggered and hung over as usual. He`s jovial and has a coffee for me. Looks the saw over and says it looks like new,does it run and cut good. I answer yes its fine and he says that all he expected was to have it patched up good enough to run for the week and he would bring it back next weekend and have some more done to it. Didn`t expect me to work on it all weekend etc.
So he gets around to whats the"damages" and when I tell him how much work I did on it and the parts I used then tell him how much he don`t seem too stressed. He`s quiet for couple secs. and then says that he is short on cash and I expect the inevitable song and dance but he then says to me you like Stihl saws don`t you? I say yes of course and he replies ,would you take a nearly new MS260 in trade for the job. My mind envisons a beat to death POS but he goes out to his truck and fetches back a brand new looking saw ,no dirt or scratches,nothing. He states it is on its third tank of gas and is no use to him as it is too small.
From his pocket he produces the bill of sale and warranty card just to prove he owns it as it was purchased over a year ago at a local dealer who has since moved across town to a new location.He says if you are happy I am happy and with that he is off to work and I am the owner of a nearly new MS260 that I just had to take out and try out. Well I ran three tanks of gas through it today and it is a new saw allright , smooth,powerful for a small saw and could ask for nothing more.
Now I have someone in mind who could really use this saw and will be taking it over to him this weekend,I think he will be a really happy camper. So it turned out a lot better than I expected and my blood pressure is back down and now I feel like I can help a friend out that really needs help . This makes me feel good and my week will be much better after all the turmoil over the weekend. LOL
Pioneerguy600

 

[madrone]

sounds like a great deal all around. Glad it worked out.
I wish I could get paid with new saws. lol