Nardoo
Addicted to ArboristSite
I have been dropping in to my local scrap metal yard for a long time and occassionally the owner has an old saw for me, but mostly junk. A few times I have seen nice saws there but he will never sell them to me. One day recently his son told me someone had dropped in three big ole Stihls the day before but no, he would not sell them to me. I understand he has better customers but I keep trying.
Couple of weeks back he had a busted Chinese saw for me which I paid his asking price of $10.00 despite it being junk. I smiled and said my thanks. As I left he asked me if I fixed saws. My ears pricked and I said sure I do, and asked what he had. He produced a battered Echo Little Champ with no starter side. He said they used the saw for cutting tyres and that rubber had got caught in the fly wheel and wrecked the starter pulley, side case, recoil and all. He kind of intimated that he'd be very thankful if I could fix it.
Naturally I offered to repair it and took it home and started scouring sources for parts. To cut a long story short I paid $58.00 for two parts saws (not to mention 200 miles in the truck for pick up), replaced the whole starter side of his saw including the flywheel, sharpened the chain, dressed the bar, cleaned out the carb and kind of beautified the saw by scraping off all the melted rubber.
So tonight I proudly return to the scrap yard to be greeted by the owner's son who demands to know where the saw I 'took' is. Taking a deep breath I told him I did not 'take' it as his Dad had given it to me to fix. Smiling, I pulled the saw out, gave it two pulls and it fired right up. I thought this would turn him around but he snarled, "it went just like that before." Luckily the sound of the saw starting drew the owner from his little shed and saved me from using the little Echo on his son. Again, proudly, I show the owner the repaired Little Champ. All he says is, "How much?" I tell him I don't charge anything, it is free, because, you know, you keep saws for me occassionally.
Now here is the good bit. He says a chainsaw came in today and I brighten up - things are finally going my way. He walks to a skip full of trash and pulls out the cheapest, most broken down Chinese chain store piece of rubbish you have ever seen. I smile and stammer, "no thanks I have lots like that," but before I can say any more he cuts me off and says, "well stop wasting my time," turns tail and returns to his shed.
I am left standing with my mouth open - I could not think of a single thing to say. Nothing. I turn around and hop back into my car with my tail between my legs, where my dear wife has been waiting patiently, listening to every word spoken. She said, "that went well." I looked at her and we both burst out laughing.
Oh the joys of chainsaw collecting.
Al.
Couple of weeks back he had a busted Chinese saw for me which I paid his asking price of $10.00 despite it being junk. I smiled and said my thanks. As I left he asked me if I fixed saws. My ears pricked and I said sure I do, and asked what he had. He produced a battered Echo Little Champ with no starter side. He said they used the saw for cutting tyres and that rubber had got caught in the fly wheel and wrecked the starter pulley, side case, recoil and all. He kind of intimated that he'd be very thankful if I could fix it.
Naturally I offered to repair it and took it home and started scouring sources for parts. To cut a long story short I paid $58.00 for two parts saws (not to mention 200 miles in the truck for pick up), replaced the whole starter side of his saw including the flywheel, sharpened the chain, dressed the bar, cleaned out the carb and kind of beautified the saw by scraping off all the melted rubber.
So tonight I proudly return to the scrap yard to be greeted by the owner's son who demands to know where the saw I 'took' is. Taking a deep breath I told him I did not 'take' it as his Dad had given it to me to fix. Smiling, I pulled the saw out, gave it two pulls and it fired right up. I thought this would turn him around but he snarled, "it went just like that before." Luckily the sound of the saw starting drew the owner from his little shed and saved me from using the little Echo on his son. Again, proudly, I show the owner the repaired Little Champ. All he says is, "How much?" I tell him I don't charge anything, it is free, because, you know, you keep saws for me occassionally.
Now here is the good bit. He says a chainsaw came in today and I brighten up - things are finally going my way. He walks to a skip full of trash and pulls out the cheapest, most broken down Chinese chain store piece of rubbish you have ever seen. I smile and stammer, "no thanks I have lots like that," but before I can say any more he cuts me off and says, "well stop wasting my time," turns tail and returns to his shed.
I am left standing with my mouth open - I could not think of a single thing to say. Nothing. I turn around and hop back into my car with my tail between my legs, where my dear wife has been waiting patiently, listening to every word spoken. She said, "that went well." I looked at her and we both burst out laughing.
Oh the joys of chainsaw collecting.
Al.
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