I'd sure like to hear from some guys who mow for a living. Just like a truck driver said to me one day at a truck stop, I was asking him about what radar detector to buy and he shows me his in his pocket which he is not suppose to carry. He said, "I speed for a living!". I am sure professional lawn mower people who mow lawn for a living, "Speed for a liviing." You ever watch those professional lawn mower people cut a lawn - el zippo fasto! And their machines I can't buy at Home Depot! They're in the thousands of dollars for just a lawn mower. Yes, they ride like the wind! And those are the guys that the professional mower shops keep them up in running. Jack said, "The guy in town charges $80 an hour." But he's got overhead like your wouldn't believe - overextended, underextended, far beyond extended. This professional repair guy baught a defunct hardware store and redid the outside of the building. Must have money! Yesterday, the True Value Hardware Store guy in Oxford, MI helped me out again. I showed him a drill I baught at Home Depot for drilling concrete. I had to pound that thing straight at lease 5 time and the time turned brown from heating up. The manager said, "Go to Lake Orion down the road, turn right at Clarkston Road, and a couple blocks down on the right is Orion Rental and get a "Hitachi Hammer Drill" with a carbide tip. I tried that and it went through this hard concrete like butter. I stuck in some 3/8 "Red Heads" for this post that was holding up an I beam in my basement. I told him problem 2: my thermostate keeps getting dimmer and dimmer. I hammered that thing last winter just to barley read the digital read out. He said the thing's got batteries in it. Wait a minute. It's hooked up electrically to my heater. Why would the thing need batteries? I'm a retired college gratuate and I was banging it with my hands in the middle of the winter last year just to control my temperature in my house. But I didn't think to check the insides. :laughing:
JACK: THE NIMBLE LAWN MOWER REPAIRMAN
- Thread starter bill897
- Start date
I'll rest my case.
I have another problem. I have a Sciatica again. Lower back pain goes all the way down my leg and the
bottom chin is a little numb. After 65, all the body parts need repair and some I cannot replace. The first time, there was a drout around 1983 in Michigan. I was trying to take the top of my lawn off with a shovel. I didn't know I was kicking my back out of allignment. I did get the lawn off, and there is a
price to pay. We went up to my mother's cottage and I ended up sleeping in the floor. The two kids and a wife took the bed. I think there were some cousins too. All of a sudden I pinched my Sciatic Nerve. My right leg locked up high, I went in the shower; turned it as hot as it would go. My mom called EMS and all I remember was laying on the operating table, bright lights, and doctors discussing what should be done in a small town hospital. They gave me a shot in the back and the next morning my right chin was numb. It took me till now to get it almost not numb. Now, this happens. They tell me too much golf, 27 holes did it and running for 30 or more years. I lined up a PT, physical therypist, I also visited a Chiropractor. He had me in agoney on that levetating table. I had a nightmare about a mechanical robot wanting to adjust me. I also visited a doctor and he gave me plenty of meds. I think I'll stay with the PT. You guys every use Chiro or PT or have a Sciatica?
bottom chin is a little numb. After 65, all the body parts need repair and some I cannot replace. The first time, there was a drout around 1983 in Michigan. I was trying to take the top of my lawn off with a shovel. I didn't know I was kicking my back out of allignment. I did get the lawn off, and there is a
price to pay. We went up to my mother's cottage and I ended up sleeping in the floor. The two kids and a wife took the bed. I think there were some cousins too. All of a sudden I pinched my Sciatic Nerve. My right leg locked up high, I went in the shower; turned it as hot as it would go. My mom called EMS and all I remember was laying on the operating table, bright lights, and doctors discussing what should be done in a small town hospital. They gave me a shot in the back and the next morning my right chin was numb. It took me till now to get it almost not numb. Now, this happens. They tell me too much golf, 27 holes did it and running for 30 or more years. I lined up a PT, physical therypist, I also visited a Chiropractor. He had me in agoney on that levetating table. I had a nightmare about a mechanical robot wanting to adjust me. I also visited a doctor and he gave me plenty of meds. I think I'll stay with the PT. You guys every use Chiro or PT or have a Sciatica?
JDgreen
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In my 11 years of belonging to online forums, this is the furthest I have EVER seen a thread get off topic.
From mower repairs to Chiropractic....:confused2:
wjjones
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Yep an honest job for an honest $$ and not rip anyone off... and sleep better at night because of it...:thumbsup:
wjjones
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Same here on the repair part the shoppe here is $65 per hr with a 2 hr minimum. They say those new Kawi engines are pushing 5000 hrs now.. I cut a few yards for parents of friends that are elderly but nothing major. I gave up the commercial gig operated it for 10 years, and got out....
Not all the dealers end up the way you say, was the service mgr for a shop with 2 locations, one sales only with very minor repairs and machine drop off and our site with sales and service, store overall did avg 3-4 mill a year. I was paid salary and percentage of shop profits after all expenses were included such as payroll, electric, gas, insurance building costs etc etc, it was far and few between weeks when I did not make any commission, I had 8 -10 mechanics along with a asst service mgr at both locations. We kept very close tabs on hours billed, non billable hours , combacks, and each mechanic was given a written report of thier effective billing % during a service dept staff meeting on tuesday mornings. They were expected to be no less than 80% and would rcv a bonus any week they reached 92.5% or better. That business is still going today after over 30+ years. The owner knows nothing about mowers or repairs, he knows business mgt, customer service and sales promotion and techniques. He is very well off financially now.
wjjones
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Oh i know not all shoppes are bad its just the bad ones that ruin it for the rest. I know they are in that line of work to make money but some take it to the extreme. The shoppe i mentioned shut down because his bad business dealings caught up with him. Word of mouth will catch up with you fast..
We charged for estimates and I still do unless it is a freind of mine, estimates take time, writing up service order, have mechanic find and pull out machine, check it over write up est look up parts and prices, return the mower to the pile, someone calling customer to explain est, customer comes and picks up machine, someone has to find it and get it out and load it for the customer, etc etc, who is supposed to pay for all that time, I would tell the customer if over 100.00 for walk mower or 150 for rider we will call first and if not repaired then there would be an est fee, if they asked for an est up front they paid upfront, I also charge if the unit doesn't look like it is worth repairing I did and will charge for est. we had to do it due to the number of cheap units and big box units that people brought in, if it isn't worth them paying an est fee then it ain't worth me looking at it for them. If customer had work completed then the est fee applied to the repair. I am mobile service and charge min 25.00 for road call. if repaired or not. Just because they buy a cheap unit doesn't mean I have to work for less $ to repair it. We had an old jacobson snow blower come in 5 times in one winter by different people, each one found it by the side of the road out for the garbage man, I did an est the first time, the next four people insisted that I give them an est, I told all of them that I had already looked at it and the engine was shot and couldn't get parts for the rest of the unit, 2 told me they didn't believe me and gave me an est fee for it, the last two I told my guy just to load it back in thier car and walk away.