Do you fix chainsaws and....

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It’s not just fixing chainsaws? People take advantage of us if we let them.

I get oh you do repair work? I have this the dealer said it’s not worth fixing?
Or can’t be fixed?
 
Two thoughts come to mind here:
I am working at the store as a stihl (silver) tech. Yea, I can fix a few things. Ok, I want to and am kinda obligated to work on Stihl stuff. Considering the store and it's relatively helpful nature I have a steady supply of "can you fix this". Which is a "challenge". We are at the moment drawing the line at "Stihl" only. I have seen the results in years past where it balloons out of proportion, and you have a steady clientele of customers with all kinds of power equipment needing a "tuneup" (read that as cheap....) Lawn mowers, weed eaters, saws, etc stretching all piled up on ya. Most of it is a "challenge" "can you fix it?". Most would be not be worth fixing, if you can find parts!!

The other train of thought was/is to start a parttime small engine repair out at my personal shop. I could then call my own shots, and if I don't want to work on something, that is it.
It would be interesting, but probably more frustration than it would be worth. There really isn't a lot of competition up here for people who know their way around a small engine, and it would be a interesting side line, maybe retirement hobby??
 
I will did just about anything. Usually friends and family only. I don’t fix for strangers and if they cover the cost of parts, we will barter on the labor, usually catering to their skill set. I fixed a chainsaw for my aunt and she mended all my pants and sweatshirts that had holes. I rebuilt a 288 for a buddy and he let me borrow a trailer to move.
 
I'm an HVAC service tech, you would be surprised at the calls you get and the time of day and NIGHT from people that know someone who knows someone who knows you. I literally changed my phone number because of the amount of call's I was getting.

As far as small engine, myself and a very select few.
 
The other train of thought was/is to start a parttime small engine repair out at my personal shop. I could then call my own shots, and if I don't want to work on something, that is it.
It would be interesting, but probably more frustration than it would be worth. There really isn't a lot of competition up here for people who know their way around a small engine, and it would be a interesting side line, maybe retirement hobby??
Working for yourself is great but you need to be very choosy of what you fix and for who....also with the throw away society we are in, folks feel like they do not want to put much money into anything. But I think if you stuck to pro saws, motorcycles, atv's, snowmobiles, outboards you can make great $$$. Getting into lawnmowers, hand held equipment, and so on doesn't leave much room for error.

What is going rate for a marine mechanic now? It has to be 90-100 an hour?
 
I'm an HVAC service tech, you would be surprised at the calls you get and the time of day and NIGHT from people that know someone who knows someone who knows you. I literally changed my phone number because of the amount of call's I was getting.

As far as small engine, myself and a very select few.

It’s amazing how being in the skilled trade whether it’s a plumber or HVAC or welder, people automatically assume you do side work and at a discounted rate.
 
For anyone willing to go home from their day job and put their evenings into more work, you can easily turn a part time gig into a lucrative business. That’s what I did and it allowed both my wife and I to quit our jobs. I hate watching TV and enjoy working.
 
I have so many projects that aren’t mine in the garage I can’t get my own in there. Some I’ll make money on and some are good friends so there charity jobs as I call them. So I guess I don’t know when to draw the line. Currently I have a John Deere 250 skid steer with a bad hydro pump, a 2001 yz250 with bad crank bearings, a 89 yj doing a spring over and high steer set up and couple other small things that I took on and somewhat forgot about. I just tell people it’s gonna be a couple weeks.
 
I work on anything for almost anyone. Mostly concentrate on snowmobiles and cars, but draw the line at nothing.

Often the car work is charity work my wife lines me up with. Mostly her friends that may have divorced or maybe are just having a hard time. Also young families or high school/college age that just can't afford a shop. Quite often they pay in beer or restaurant gift cards....which is fine by me.

For the others it's $60/hr + sometimes a small mark up on parts.
 
We who are handy with this kind of stuff are often handy in other areas as well. It's mechanical. Some brains process it, see how it works or goes together, and "just get it". Others need a manual to figure out how to put gas in a car.

Yep, agreed. My superpower (the only one I have) is to be able to look at something broken or in pieces and figure out how it is supposed to work or go together. Makes me handy around the house for a great number of things - or so I'm told.

My latest thing is repairing mechanical clocks. Looking at a pile of clock parts and figuring out how they go back together taxes my superpower quite a bit. But it's GLORIOUS when the clock works at the end of the process.
 
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