Small engine techs....lets talk.

[RED-85-Z51]

Ill tell ya, the job is fun, the customers are usually really nice, you get a broad sample of society...Ill give it that.

One thing I have customers do that just seems to always grind my gears, is I can get 1 guy walk in the back, and say to me..."You got time to sharpen a chain"?

Chain stuff is almost always done while you wait, takes about 3-5 minutes depending on the saw, to remove the chain, geind it, check it out, blow the saw off under the cover, put it back on, and tension...hey...good for a quick bucks.

So I tell the guy...Sure.

So he brings in an Echo CS-510, I start taking off the chain..then another guy brings in a big Homelite...he says he wants it sharpened..I tell him I can do it as soon as I finish these first guy...he tell me they are together..same bill...so I say..okay..

Then a 3rd guy brings in a 455 Rancher, wants me to sharpen the chain, and replace the clutch..

So...Im alone in the back at this point, it was early in the morning, 1 co-worker was off, the other was Ill at the time. So I have 4 guys now standing around the bench, talking and carrying on...I get the Echo done, and now the 2nd guy wants to point something out on his homelite..while Im trying to put the echo back together. I get the echo done. Now he wants to know what file to use...then the 2nd guy wants to know what file his saw uses...

I pull up the homelite, start taking off the bar...1st guy walks back in, he wants a new chain for his Echo..uggh

I sharpen the chain on the homelite saw, I ask the guy if HE wants a new bar, he says no.

Keep in mind here, these chains were BAD...they had been handfiled, freehand for a while and the angles were staggered pretty bad, Ireally had ot clean em up.

So I go look at the bar on the Echo, it's a 18", so I think it is 72DL,, I cut that chain, mend it...etc..

Now the guy tells me he wants the new chain on the saw...so I have to put that chain on, and take off the sharpened one.

So I pull up the Husky, and it's a mess..the spur is eaten in half. The chain is wrecked, the bar is wrecked...air filter is off it, recoil wont go all the way back in...I tell him it's going to be tedious to get it all gathered up, as we dont stock husky saw parts beyond just rolls of chain...so it will all have to be ordered (spur, bar, bar nuts he lost, etc) and he is just b*tching to me about how he stood around for 25 minutes only to have me tell him I didnt carry husky parts...blah blah..

So we put his parts on order...In the mean time Ive had 2 people stnading in the shop holding chains waiting to have them sharpened. Both are royally pissed at the fact they have had to stand around..

MY complaint is...Why does everyone think they are the only customer...Why cant people drop stuff off, and let it be worked on at a normal pace, something like that...and why cant "pros" know what they want done to their equipment before they show up?

I mean, if the guy came in and said " I have 3 saws that need work, 1 needs a new chain, and 1 sharpened, 1 needs a sharpen, and 1 needs parts, can you do that now"? I could have easily streamlined the whole thing, and had the first 2 out in 10 minutes or less, easy...the 3rd I would have put on the list as a drop-off, knowing it needed parts.

I would have been servicing the other walk in customers in a quick fashion, no long waits.

I dont really like walk in work. The people standing around, trying to talk to you while you are working...they bug you, and frankly make me nervous. I get especially pissed when they try to "help"....And they get mad when you ask em to back off, go inside, etc..

We have 5 signs on the shop door reading "EMPLOYEES ONLY" "NO ENTRY" "COSTOMERS NOT ALLOWED IN SHOP" "NO ADMITTANCE" "WORK AREA, KEEP OUT". And people just walk right out there...

Sorry...had to vent, customers do this all the time to us..they start off with one problem, and after you are elbows deep in it..."oh yeah and"

Like someone drops off a mower, just wanting the blades sharpened...right....okay, Ill do it while you wait.

Zip the blades off..."Oh yeah, and the belt jumps off" So you put a new belt on..

Then they ask you if a blade is bent...you say "no". They scowl and say, " I was hoping that was what that noise was".

What noise...

Boom...mandrel bearings are long gone in one of the spindles...so after all that it gets signed in and put on the list...

I swear we should charge extra for "customer withholding information".

Thankfully, only about 2% of customers pull this crap...

 

[Lakeside53]

yes... I can guarantee that the MOMENT I try to fix something at the counter... 3 customers will appear...

 

[stihlboy]

yeah it sucks sometimes but somebody has to do it right?? i know from personal experience

 

[Jacob J.]

I like that blank stare they give you when you tell them it's going to be a half hour. They blink a couple of times, 30 seconds or a minute goes by- "A half hour to sharpen a chain???..." "Well sir, I've got three people ahead of you" blank stare- "It's really going to take a half hour???" continued blank stare...

 

[stihl only]

I'm a one man show and my grinder is in the basement, so there is no sharpen it while you wait.

What I like is when they get jacked if they have to wait a day, and it's because the chain on the saw is the only one they HAVE for the saw.

 

[stihl86]

3-5 min to remove, sharpen, install and clean. Damm, your freaking amazing.

 

[kevlar]

I have them fill out a work order and make them think I'll get to it as soon as I can,even if I got nothing in the back. I quit doing the while you wait B#$%^&#$ !

 

[RED-85-Z51]

3-5 min to remove, sharpen, install and clean. Damm, your freaking amazing.

Ive got a system. Air hose hanging on the bench with a blow nozzle on it, ready to go.

3/8" ratchet, dedicated to that area, always next to the air hose, with the option of a 3/4" socket, 10mm socket, or 13mm socket, that covers nearly every saw I see.

The grinder is only a 90* turn from the stool I sit on.

Set the saw on the bench, remove the nuts, pop the bar off the tensioner pin, push it into the clutch, remove the chain, run it through my hands looking for borken teeth, chewed up drive links, etc...put it on the grinder, bring the head down to set the bite, flip it on, and Im off to the races. do the first side, hit the release and chainge the plate angle on the grinder, do the other side. Done, put the chain on my knee, and grab the nozzle...aim it at the clutch, give it a few hits, blow out the oil hole in the bar, put the chain on the bar, around the clutch, slide the bar back on the pin, put the cover on, finger the nuts down, tension the chain with the flthead driver that sits in a hole bored in the bench...cinch down the nuts..and bam, Wham bam, Thank you Sam.

3 or so on a little saw like a CS-305, the chains dont take any time to run across the grinder.

5 or so on a Wild Thing, LArger Echo, Stihl 260, 280, 290, 360...

Larger bar equipped saws obviously take more time...have saws with 28"+ bars come in from time to time, full comp...it takes 5 minutes to sharpen the chain..haha

Kinda like doing tires...

When I started working where I do now, little over a year ago, I had never sharpened a chain, never spun a chain, never replaced a tire...when my boss found this out...it was instant. Trial by fire. he said I would be the only person in the shop to make a chain, sharpen a chain, put a tube in a tire, replace a tire, seal a tire, etc...for the next year.

It was hard at first...but I had to get good at it, as I was the one that would have to explain to the custoemr why it took 20 minutes to put in a tube..

Now, I can do tires in my sleep. I mean seriously, it's methodical now. My hands just know what to do, my body just works in ways now that it didnt back then. I can tube a 15-6-6 mower tire in under 4 minutes now, from removing the core, to checking the air pressure in the new tube...

Chains, I can nearabout setup the bite on the grinder by just looking at the chain, and I fine tune the bite by sound.

Ive had customers stand there with their mouth hanging open watching me run a chain across the grinder...all they can udder when Im done is..damn

Trial by fire works...Im telling ya. If you dont know how to do something...you will be the only one to do that particular task for the next year!

 

[RED-85-Z51]

I'm a one man show and my grinder is in the basement, so there is no sharpen it while you wait.

What I like is when they get jacked if they have to wait a day, and it's because the chain on the saw is the only one they HAVE for the saw.

In the middle of summer, I had a guy ask me if I could give his saw a new bar, chain, clutch, tune-up, etc...while he waited. I told him I could do it, but he would have to go on the list, but I would expedite him and do it the following morning. He moaned and groaned about how he needed it that afternoon...etc..

He told me he thought I could do better..." I think you can do better than that"

So I pointed to the row of 25 saws, 6 blowers, and the rack of trimmers that were now ahead of him...he left, took it somewhere else.

He came back later and apologized, and dropped the saw off asking if I coupld possibly do it by the following morning...so i did. Been a damn good customer since then too, so it all worked out.

In the middle of summer, you dont demand ANYTHING from a small engine shop...hahaha:censored:

 

[flimflam]

Sounds like you let your customers run your shop. We don't do while you wait service unless you're our pro. Our pro meaning they buy and repair equipment through us. The other pro's that buy elsewhere and get service here have to drop it off. Non pro's always have to drop it off. If customers want a specific job like sharpening a chain, they get charged just for that. If we sharpen a chain and they pick up the saw and say "did you try and start it?" we say no, all you wanted is sharpening. Some of them want to get somethin' for nothin' and ask if you can start it for them right there, we tell them the minimum service charge to check their saw out. This is how you elminate the problems you have now. If they don't like it, go somewhere else.

We have signs in bold letters for all to see and yeah you get people coming in anyway. They get kicked out, no political correct talk. Just tell them to get out and charge them more for disrespecting the shop. You have to set the law and have flat rates that way you don't go around wasting time for a couple bucks. That 3-5min sharpening of yours turns into 20 minutes and you make what on that sharpening? Whatever you charge probably doesn't make up for the 20 minutes lost.

 

[Jacob J.]

3-5 min to remove, sharpen, install and clean. Damm, your freaking amazing.

Try doing a hundred harvester chains a day...You can flat out grind a chain quick after a few weeks of that!

 

[Jacob J.]

He came back later and apologized, and dropped the saw off asking if I coupld possibly do it by the following morning...so i did. Been a damn good customer since then too, so it all worked out.

In the middle of summer, you dont demand ANYTHING from a small engine shop...hahaha:censored:

Our rush always came a couple weeks after the beginning of 'green-up' and people start pulling their weedeaters and mowers out for the first time after a long winter.

The most common line we'd hear is: "BUT HAVE YOU SEEN HOW TALL THE GRASS IN MY YARD IS?!?!?"

 

[Brushwacker]

Most 3 to 5 minute sharpening jobs I have seen , ruined the temper in the chain teeth to the point they were extremely difficult to file. Thats the main reason I don't take my chains in to get them sharpened.

 

[ropensaddle]

I am not a tech but do my own saws and even though I know
it is not the techs fault, I hate going to the dealer and hearing; we will have to order it. I have quit using them because, I am only wanting parts to fix my own saws or ? I always tell them that's ok I will order it myself, I could understand if I was looking for p&c but something like a 372 xp coil ! I mean your supposed to stock some stuff right? I only go there now if I am getting oil mix or a scrench or a new saw. He knows I am a pro and knows what I run and I know he is busy taking care of stuff that is only in there from neglect. I just wish they would carry the things that go out. I already said in a earlier thread,the reason I do my own repair is I need it fixed today, not next week I can't make money waiting on lawnmowers be repaired that someone left the gas in for a year then wonders why it wont start I don't think I really pissed him off yet, as I just told him I will order it and have it come to my door and he looked too busy anyway.

 

[Jacob J.]

I already said in a earlier thread,the reason I do my own repair is I need it fixed today, not next week I can't make money waiting on lawnmowers be repaired that someone left the gas in for a year then wonders why it wont start

I live in a small logging and ranching town, so naturally I've gotten more than my fair share of mowers with a tank full of diesel instead of gas.

 

[stihl86]

Most 3 to 5 minute sharpening jobs I have seen , ruined the temper in the chain teeth to the point they were extremely difficult to file. Thats the main reason I don't take my chains in to get them sharpened.

Well, he did saw the customers jaw dropped.

 

[Jacob J.]

Most 3 to 5 minute sharpening jobs I have seen , ruined the temper in the chain teeth to the point they were extremely difficult to file. Thats the main reason I don't take my chains in to get them sharpened.

It's all about finesse when you're using any type of grinder.

 

[mattinky]

I've twisted wrenches at several motorcycle shops over the years and I've seen it all. People just don't understand do they?

 

[Lakeside53]

yep.... I never burn chains when using a grinder... It's all in the wrist, and eye..

 

[chainsawwhisperer]

The local shop subs there saws and sometimes there blowers to me to fix. there usually to busy with mowers and snow blowers. So I just pick them up,
get them fixed and return them. No customer hassles, It's a good gig.
I do here the stories about dumb customers from the owner.
If all the customers were smart we'd have a lot less to fix.LOL