The local JD dealer wants to hire me at a wage that is a bit of an insult. I offered to work as an hourly contractor for $30 an hour while the dealership charges $98 an hour. No benefits or other withholdings for me. They would make $70 an hour plus have a flunky to wash equipment, change oil and sharpen blades. I have no illusion as what jobs the temp new guy would be doing. The owner thought that was crazy. I am better off in the long run just doing my own thing. The dealer is already backed up 4 weeks.
I bought the repair run from a retired marine engineer who used to take in the overflow from the local mower shop ( now closed due to messy divorce ) .
He used to do the entire job, start to finish including buying the parts then hand it back to the shop
He also drank at the local & one day he got hauled over the coals by some one who was unhappy about the price the mower shop charged for the repair.
They just copped out & said it was what they had been charged.
The actual charge was $ 350
The mower shop charged $ 940 so he set off on his own.
An yes the mower shops around here will not take on apprentices because they can not sack them in winter when there is no work, they they bitch because they can not find tradesmen to work in the service department .
They demand that you put in at least 7 billable hours a day , won't pay overtime , expect you to supply all of your own tools, including all of the unique special tools then wonder why the workers leave & set themselves up as independents and on top of that the hourly rate is minimum basic wage $ 12 - $ 15 /Hr and the shop charges out at $ 120 - $ 200 / hour .
I get asked all the time come & work for the shops & they can not understand why I refuse when there is no benefit to me other than being able to access the dealer network knowledge base
And on top of that I am supposed to get myself accredited with Kohler ( already am ) Briggs ( Costs $ 2500 ) & Kawakasi ( costs $ 1300 ) and keep it current on my own time but they did offer me $ 20 / hr as a sub contractor ( no holiday pay or sick pay or superannuation ) which means I would have to use my own public liability insurance ( $ 3000 )