Service Prices

[StarTech]

I am @ $55 due low overhead too but it barely pay the bills. Spring and Summer months are more profitable but it is a starvation mode during the winter months with a few ATV and chainsaws repairs. Otherwords I make a profit during the Summer but have a negative income during the Winter even though I make a profit on the repairs themselves.

As for annual maintenance I don't have a fixed fee as there is way too many things that can be wrong with a piece of equipment so I bill accordingly to what has to be done.

It is sorta like the Z830A that I just finished up. Came in with broken muffler and engine loose with oil leaks. Engine had to be removed and cleaned first. Repaired oil leaks and welded muffler. Then the fun part started as to remove broken bolt that someone had already tried to remove. I was just going to Heli coil the Kawasaki oil pan three mounting screws holes but found the engine deck holes already worn out to 7/16"+ so went with tapping out to 1/2-13 threaded holes and brought the engine deck holes to 1/2" too. I took an hour just to tap three holes along buying a bottoming tap because they were 1-1/4 deep. New flange head bolts purchased. Engine remounted and use thread lock on the new bolts. Reinstall the muffler after the studs were replaced which one was stuck. More time. At least I had the JIS 8mm hex nuts in stock, no clearance for none JIS nuts.[no room for a standard 13mm socket, it had to be 12mm socket] After I got everything back together and started the engine that is when I found out I had an idler pulley with bad bearings. We couldn't hear the bearing noise with the muffler completely broken off. End of the story is the customer now has a $375 billed just because four loose engine mounting screws. I should charge for the job but I use the mower to cut my lawn that was overgrown as my personal has bad shorted starter and I allowed for that use. Maybe I can get it back together Sunday as I got some three foot tall grass to cut when things dries out again.

 

[bkeller500]

As a consumer, none of us want to get hit with a $400-$500 repair for our mowers and tractors. It just dose not seem to settle well. But we don't have the tools, the time, the skills, the knowledge, the lifts, the work shop, or the other resources. We might have a couple of those but most not all. Having a nearby shop that we can trust t take care of us is very convenient. And that shop owner has to make some money to keep that shop open for when we need him. Hat's off to you guys that take care of us and put up with our problems and fix them for us.

 

[rustycat]

All you guys out there that do mower repair for a living just wondering how much labor you charge for a typical service. Air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, oil change, spark plugs. Sharpen blades clean mower, air up tires etc.

I get $20 for lawn mowers and $60 for lawn tractors.

 

[hlw49]

As a consumer, none of us want to get hit with a $400-$500 repair for our mowers and tractors. It just dose not seem to settle well. But we don't have the tools, the time, the skills, the knowledge, the lifts, the work shop, or the other resources. We might have a couple of those but most not all. Having a nearby shop that we can trust t take care of us is very convenient. And that shop owner has to make some money to keep that shop open for when we need him. Hat's off to you guys that take care of us and put up with our problems and fix them for us.

Well a lot of these types of things could be avoided if the customer would do a pre-mow check of the equipment before they mow. I have seen them come in with the engine almost falling off the mower and they did not have a clue there was anything wrong. Hear them drive them in and the engine rattling from lack of oil. Or a T-Box screaming form lack of gear oil and they wonder why the splines on the pump and t-box stripped out and you have to replace the t-box and both pumps because the original parts are nla and they have to update to the new style. That one is really expensive to fix. Around $2,000.00. Or they threw a rod through the the side of the block because they ran it low of oil and it needs a new engine. Did one this summer that customer spent $5,000.00 to replace the engine on a mower that would cost over $12,000.00 to replace the mower.

 

[hlw49]

I get $20 for lawn mowers and $60 for lawn tractors.

Don't shoot yourself in the foot and work for nothing. What are the other shops getting an adjust your price accordingly.

 

[ILENGINE]

As a consumer, none of us want to get hit with a $400-$500 repair for our mowers and tractors. It just dose not seem to settle well. But we don't have the tools, the time, the skills, the knowledge, the lifts, the work shop, or the other resources. We might have a couple of those but most not all. Having a nearby shop that we can trust t take care of us is very convenient. And that shop owner has to make some money to keep that shop open for when we need him. Hat's off to you guys that take care of us and put up with our problems and fix them for us.

A lot of the time those repair cost is due to ongoing lack of maintenance. those are the type that will run their mower until it doesn't start and has to be pushed onto the trailer. Then you find out the battery is bad, needs all the drive belts replaced, bearings are out on at least one spindle, the blades needed replaced two years ago, and after getting the mower started you discover that there is a bad ignition module, or has dropped a push rod due to the mouse nest, and the voltage regulator isn't charging the battery.

 

[DK35vince]

As a consumer, none of us want to get hit with a $400-$500 repair for our mowers and tractors. It just dose not seem to settle well. But we don't have the tools, the time, the skills, the knowledge, the lifts, the work shop, or the other resources. We might have a couple of those but most not all. Having a nearby shop that we can trust t take care of us is very convenient. And that shop owner has to make some money to keep that shop open for when we need him. Hat's off to you guys that take care of us and put up with our problems and fix them for us.

As a consumer, none of us want to get hit with a $400-$500 repair for our mowers and tractors. It just dose not seem to settle well. But we don't have the tools, the time, the skills, the knowledge, the lifts, the work shop, or the other resources. We might have a couple of those but most not all.

Speak for yourself
As a consumer I have everything I need to maintain our own car, truck, tractor, mowers. (the time is sometime difficult, but I'll manage)

 

[bertsmobile1]

As a consumer, none of us want to get hit with a $400-$500 repair for our mowers and tractors. It just dose not seem to settle well. But we don't have the tools, the time, the skills, the knowledge, the lifts, the work shop, or the other resources. We might have a couple of those but most not all. Having a nearby shop that we can trust t take care of us is very convenient. And that shop owner has to make some money to keep that shop open for when we need him. Hat's off to you guys that take care of us and put up with our problems and fix them for us.

People who come in for annual service get a better price & pay a lot less because as Star has just made very clear, small things undetected can lead to major repairs.
Also I knw when they oil filter was changed, I know the oil was changed last year and will be dome next year so I am happy to leave the filter for 4 or 5 years.
Similar story with fuel filters .
I also know when things are starting to become a problem so I will change the starter pinion for $ 30 because if let go it will be a new starter or even a flywheel.

 

[bkeller500]

Speak for yourself
As a consumer I have everything I need to maintain our own car, truck, tractor, mowers. (the time is sometime difficult, but I'll manage)

I did speak for my self and a bunch of other's that don't have what you have. You invested in yourself ( congratulations) and you acquired some skills and are independent.......good for you. But if you add up the cost of doing so, you may have spent more than you would have by using a local repair shop. Have you saved some money....maybe so. Maybe a lot. But not every lawn mower owner is going to be able to do as you did.

 

[StarTech]

I did speak for my self and a bunch of other's that don't have what you have. You invested in yourself ( congratulations) and you acquired some skills and are independent.......good for you. But if you add up the cost of doing so, you may have spent more than you would have by using a local repair shop. Have you saved some money....maybe so. Maybe a lot. But not every lawn mower owner is going to be able to do as you did.

Because some of us have well over $10K invested in tools alone to run a shop to those that don't have the right tools . I, myself got over $7K in tools and storage cabinets and they are not even major brands. Just two of my 44" tool cabinets over were over $1,000 a piece. Of course there are those custom made tools that I got too. One of these days I sit down add them all up. At least they are usable for other things to too Like using one the 2" wrench to throw a rope high in a tree so it can be anchor to prevent it falling the wrong way as I cut the tree down or to fine tune a customer's attitude.

It is price that I have to pay in order to do this type of work. I buy the needed tool(s) for a particular job just hoping that I will need them later for other jobs.