How much will it cost to fix.......?

[Agrarian]

So word is starting to get out that I work on chainsaws and people will come by with their saw that doesn't run and ask "How much will it cost to fix it?". For those of you who do this regularly, how do you answer them?

Do you ask what the max they would spend is when they drop it off?
Do you charge for an estimate because you do some minimal testing before giving a dollar figure?
How do you handle those cases that you know one thing has to be fixed but once fixed, it was hiding one or more other expensive repairs?

I ask because I have a saw that I took in to repair. I told the guy, from the description of the failure, it sounded like a carb rebuild and/or a carb boot so it should be under $100. Well, what I actually found was that 1 of the 4 crankcase bolts on the clamshell had broken and fallen out. Another crankcase bolt was completely missing. Once that was fixed it passes the pressure test but fails the vacuum test. I then figure out that the carb boot is not sealing well and needs replacing.

When dealing with these two issues, I found that the sparkplug needs replacing, the ignition wire is cut into 3 pieces, an antivibe rubber is destroyed, the sparkplug boot has the remains of an old sparkplug cap embedded in it, and the throttle linkage will only allow the throttle to go to 1/3 open.

If this is what you guys deal with daily, my hat's off to you!

 

[ncfarmboy]

Yep happens fairly often. I wind up eating a lot.
Shep

 

[bikemike]

Hourly plus parts. Call them when it's done. And also ask them about a spending cap. Not all ppl are rich

 

[Warped5]

I ask how much they're willing to spend, then tell them I'll call them with the estimate; which I try very hard to stick to.

I never mark up parts ... and provide an itemized list of charges.

Sometimes they expect me to work magic with duct tape and earwax ... I'm brutally honest with them when I see a mistreated machine.

 

[fordf150]

Sound about normal

 

[Big_Wood]

i tell them i'll diagnose it for $10 and not do anything until they agree to it. i used to diagnose it free but realized this was just a pain in the ass as people would bring their saw to me and waste my time only to not want to spend money on it. if they are willing to spend $10 on a diagnosis i know they are serious about having it fixed. the dealer charges $30 for a diagnosis here and 50% of the time they are wrong. bunch of parts changers lol.

 

[alexcagle]

/QUOTE Warped5 said.....
Sometimes they expect me to work magic with duct tape and earwax .../QUOTE

No, that's Red Green and Shrek. McGyver used panty hose and a coat hanger. Lol
Those piles of used dead saws come in handy when you run in a turd snowball
saw like that. Except when the part you need is the same poorly designed part that failed on 98% of that particular model.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Do you ask what the max they would spend is when they drop it off?
Do you charge for an estimate because you do some minimal testing before giving a dollar figure?
How do you handle those cases that you know one thing has to be fixed but once fixed, it was hiding one or more other expensive repairs?

Good to hear about your chain saw repair business and reputation growing. what are you growing? a hobby or a business? if tell people you are a business. assumes you have set up with all the licenses, business accounts, tax profiles, etc. if not, then you are a hobby. for a business, post your rates. one Echo/ExMark, Snapper and repairs dealer local to me has large sign in front of walk in door to shop... Our Shop Rate is: $85.00 per hour! another large Stihl, Echo, ExMark, Snapper, etc... dealer - his repair shop charges $16.00 flat rate for diagnosis. will tell customer what is wrong with item and costs to repair. for a hobby type of repair service, cash in hand, cash in poc _ _ _ , wing it! win some, loose some. but let your reputation continue to grow favorably. give the customer a reason to tell another how happy they were with how you treated them and the repairs needed. if you make them happy, they will tell only one person, if u make them unhappy, they will tell everyone they know!! one hobby repair guy I know... will split a typical case and reassemble, put in a new crank or bearings... etc... $100.00 plus parts. it is only reasonable to think unexpected items needing repairs would be extra. state it up front. can always invite the guy back to see. of course, that's time not paying... one local dealer will not rebuild carbs any more on small engine equipment... if fuel related to carb, new carb only. he says, they dont come back that way. well, some thots on business of doing business, with some examples. in any event, we all know: money don't grow on trees...

only firewood does!

note: spark plug end of old plug still in plug boot? omg!!! I recently acquired an 044... and when I drained the fuel... inside tank was an extra filter....

 

[Macman125]

Hopefully will turn out to have some good info in it, subscribed.

 

[Agrarian]

Do you ask what the max they would spend is when they drop it off?
Do you charge for an estimate because you do some minimal testing before giving a dollar figure?
How do you handle those cases that you know one thing has to be fixed but once fixed, it was hiding one or more other expensive repairs?

Good to hear about your chain saw repair business and reputation growing. what are you growing? a hobby or a business? if tell people you are a business. assumes you have set up with all the licenses, business accounts, tax profiles, etc. if not, then you are a hobby. for a business, post your rates. one Echo/ExMark, Snapper and repairs dealer local to me has large sign in front of walk in door to shop... Our Shop Rate is: $85.00 per hour! another large Stihl, Echo, ExMark, Snapper, etc... dealer - his repair shop charges $16.00 flat rate for diagnosis. will tell customer what is wrong with item and costs to repair. for a hobby type of repair service, cash in hand, cash in poc _ _ _ , wing it! win some, loose some. but let your reputation continue to grow favorably. give the customer a reason to tell another how happy they were with how you treated them and the repairs needed. if you make them happy, they will tell only one person, if u make them unhappy, they will tell everyone they know!! one hobby repair guy I know... will split a typical case and reassemble, put in a new crank or bearings... etc... $100.00 plus parts. it is only reasonable to think unexpected items needing repairs would be extra. state it up front. can always invite the guy back to see. of course, that's time not paying... one local dealer will not rebuild carbs any more on small engine equipment... if fuel related to carb, new carb only. he says, they dont come back that way. well, some thots on business of doing business, with some examples. in any event, we all know: money don't grow on trees...

only firewood does!

note: spark plug end of old plug still in plug boot? omg!!! I recently acquired an 044... and when I drained the fuel... inside tank was an extra filter....

Great reply! That's what I was hoping for.

At this point it is only a hobby. I prefer to work on the saws I choose but if someone comes by and asks for help, I usually will. As a hobby though, I can't loose money and find it enjoyable - satisfaction of a job well done only goes so far. This was a Husky 350 so it only is worth about $200-$250 according to what they are selling for on ebay in good working condition. I've been charging $20/hr because I am not a pro and everything takes 2 or 3 times longer than what it would take them. But parts alone to fix this saw are $80 and I am up to almost 4 hours to fix all the things that need fixing.

 

[bikemike]

Do you ask what the max they would spend is when they drop it off?
Do you charge for an estimate because you do some minimal testing before giving a dollar figure?
How do you handle those cases that you know one thing has to be fixed but once fixed, it was hiding one or more other expensive repairs?

Good to hear about your chain saw repair business and reputation growing. what are you growing? a hobby or a business? if tell people you are a business. assumes you have set up with all the licenses, business accounts, tax profiles, etc. if not, then you are a hobby. for a business, post your rates. one Echo/ExMark, Snapper and repairs dealer local to me has large sign in front of walk in door to shop... Our Shop Rate is: $85.00 per hour! another large Stihl, Echo, ExMark, Snapper, etc... dealer - his repair shop charges $16.00 flat rate for diagnosis. will tell customer what is wrong with item and costs to repair. for a hobby type of repair service, cash in hand, cash in poc _ _ _ , wing it! win some, loose some. but let your reputation continue to grow favorably. give the customer a reason to tell another how happy they were with how you treated them and the repairs needed. if you make them happy, they will tell only one person, if u make them unhappy, they will tell everyone they know!! one hobby repair guy I know... will split a typical case and reassemble, put in a new crank or bearings... etc... $100.00 plus parts. it is only reasonable to think unexpected items needing repairs would be extra. state it up front. can always invite the guy back to see. of course, that's time not paying... one local dealer will not rebuild carbs any more on small engine equipment... if fuel related to carb, new carb only. he says, they dont come back that way. well, some thots on business of doing business, with some examples. in any event, we all know: money don't grow on trees...

only firewood does!

note: spark plug end of old plug still in plug boot? omg!!! I recently acquired an 044... and when I drained the fuel... inside tank was an extra filter....

Apples. Orange. Nuts. And cork

 

[olyman]

Great reply! That's what I was hoping for.
This was a Husky 350 so it only is worth about $200-$250 according to what they are selling for on ebay in good working condition.

mmmm, NO!!!!! that saw on ebay,, may be right on the edge, with many things pics dont show. they get it home, and surprise,surprise!!! makes yours cheap at half price,,which you should get more for it........

 

[fearofpavement]

For the reasons stated above, I don't work on other people's saws. A few exceptions with friends which I usually don't charge at all. Sometimes if someone has purchased saws from me, I'll work on their other saws for cheap.
Chainsaws are a hobby for me, I want to keep it enjoyable. I can visualize this changing rapidly if I try to turn it into a business. I had a repair business in the past but it was for vehicles and equipment. I just charged a labor rate plus actual parts cost for that and it worked out well as a part time job. I do get a fair amount of inquiries regarding fixing saws and other ope equipment. I just tell them I only work on my own saws. If they want to sell me a broken one...

 

[bikemike]

I like broke saws. They are cheep

 

[tallfarmboy]

I work on a lot of my neighbors equipment... Chainsaws, trash pumps, generators, lawn mowers, ATV's... I really don't ever charge them much for my labor. I feel that it will come back to help me if I ever need anything in return from them. I do get a lot of free cheese from the neighbor who works at the cheese processing plant, and usually when I charge them an amount, they pay me more than I ask for. I probably work for around $10 per hour. 50% of the time, a neighbor will call me and I can diagnose over the phone, they bring it over and they wait for me to get it repaired. Maybe one of these days, when I retire, I might try to do this for a source of income... But, until then, I'll just stick to helping folks for cheap.

TFB

 

[RIDE-RED 350r]

Like you Agrarian, I have recently been hit up by friends to see if I could fix saws. I do this as a favor and despite being offered money beyond the cost of parts I decline as I don't want to have money ruin a friendship if a repair doesn't work out for whatever reason...

I recently did crank bearings, seals, piston and cylinder on a 394xp. A couple of other things popped up that I was only able to see the problem with after the rebuild was done and attempted to run it. That couple of extra parts mostly ate up the $100 over the cost of parts my friend could not be dissuaded from giving me. He wouldn't take no for an answer. And when he asked how much those extra parts cost, I wouldn't tell him so he wouldn't throw more money at me.

Same fellow gave me a 575xp that is currently down to bare cases on my bench.

Another friend gave me a 359 that needed the updated carb kit and intake boot along with a couple of other small things. That project is done now and it runs great.

So yes, I have kind of been thrown into the hobbyist saw repair "business" recently.

What I have done with the saws that were obviously blown up when I got them is to get the saw completely apart before getting a parts estimate. Some damage is obvious, some isn't. This is the reason I don't do the part estimate until I have it completely apart if the bottom end is remotely questionable. The 575 was given to me with just the top end off with a damaged piston. I didn't get apart list together till I got the bottom end apart and was sure of the condition of the lower rod bearing. I figured it would need crank bearings judging by the type of damage to the piston.

So in a nutshell that's how I do it.. Being that I'm not an actual licensed business I just spend the time doing any and all tear-down necessary to ascertain what is needed with 100% certainty before providing an estimate. But I always advise that when an already non-running saw is brought to me, there may be some other minor issues that need to be addressed once the major repairs are made and the attempt to run the saw is underway.

 

[pafire]

 

[blsnelling]

My hat's off to you guys that repair saws for other people. What you've described is why I only work on new or almost new saws. I simply don't have the time to deal with the issues. I once ported a 371 that had been completely rebuilt. I found issue after issue. It's just not worth it.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

$90/hr here, but we charge by the book, not actual time. If the book calls for a cylinder and piston r&r at an hr, but the mechanic drags ass and takes 4, well he's eating Ramen.

Like a tuneup is normally 1/4-1/2 hr plus parts, depending on what was done.

As far as repairs, it is what it is.
Had to fight a bit on a Wild Thang this weekend. Had no compression and customer wanted it fixed. It needed at minimum a cylinder and piston. They expected it could be done for $20.
Ended up telling them we weren't interested in fixing it after they kept arguing.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

$90/hr here, but we charge by the book, not actual time. If the book calls for a cylinder and piston r&r at an hr, but the mechanic drags ass and takes 4, well he's eating Ramen. Like a tuneup is normally 1/4-1/2 hr plus parts, depending on what was done. As far as repairs, it is what it is.
Had to fight a bit on a Wild Thang this weekend. Had no compression and customer wanted it fixed. It needed at minimum a cylinder and piston. They expected it could be done for $20. Ended up telling them we weren't interested in fixing it after they kept arguing.

>Ended up telling them we weren't interested in fixing it after they kept arguing

and that's a wrap! so there you go! can't buy too much in Alaska as to equipment for $20.00! much less repair it!! weren't interested! spoken truthfully... by a man where saws, trees are about as plentiful as floatplanes! well, nearly... tress might edge them both out, but only barely!! lol. spoken truthfully. always good to hear about bush or bush related typs of events... activities from Alaska!!

thanks for the post.