Another little shop project

Nothing as satisfying as that feeling of accomplishment!

Great job Terry!

snipped

Thanks guys , I love it when something comes out as well as this project did . The part was heat treated , gear teeth and seal surfaces , so I packed the whole thing except the area I was building up in wet sand . Worked out well , the HAZ was a narrow band just behind the o-ring groove when I was finished . The shop foreman at the tractor dealer liked it ... I think they may send more business my way .

In general experience, what's the liability risk when a hobbyist without business insurance repairs something that failed in service?

I've been turning down most requests to fix stuff, other than getting a stubborn engine to start or bolting in a new commercial part. Asking if they have the shop manual is enough to send them elsewhere.

-jsw

In this case liability is minimal , I think . This failure was due to another part breaking , and this part is deep inside the PTO drive . Worst case if my repair fails is loss of some oil and the PTO quits working . Everybody seems happy , the charge was under 200 bucks to repair a part that goes for $2800 ...

On 06/19/2015 7:44 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote: ...

Realistically, probably not terribly great risk _probability_; on the other hand, if have no insurance and are working as individual without the protection of a corporate structure to protect personal assets from those of the business then _everything_ is at risk if you do happen to get an [proverbial appendage adjective] type of client and they decide to come after you.

Of course, the likelihood of them being successful and getting a large judgement would be dependent upon the type of damage suffered and whether you could show the repair was done in a "workmanlike" fashion, etc., etc., etc., ... but the onus would be on you and you'd have to be the one to pay the bills to defend the case and all. If you win you can probably get judgement against the other guy for costs but then collecting that is likely going to be iff...

So, all in all, you're probably right in not doing anything for other than the minimal and as casual labor...while it's not likely, the ramifications can be serious. OTOH, most folks are reasonable; the problem you never can know a priori what may transpire...

Are you sure you're asking enough money to ply your skillsets, Terry? Didn't you diagnose, grind, weld, mill, groove, and fit those parts?

Yes, I'm sure they were happy with that price.

Well , they brought me a broken part and the problem was obvious . I spent just over 4 hours welding and machining . So I charged them for 5 hours shop time . I could have charged them more , but the plan here is to charge reasonable (for this area) and get a few jobs thru them . Shop rates up here aren't as high as many places , most of the auto repair shops are only around $45 to $50 per hour . -- Snag

I think you were fair and would do the same. If someone insists on giving me more, because it was worth it to them, I'm fine with that too. But that was there choice.

In my opinion overcharging for stuff, just because you can is one of the biggest problems we have today (shrug). Customers use to pull into our shop because there radio (two-way) wasn't working. Sometimes all that was wrong was the power connection came loose from the fuse block or something else that took me less than 5 minutes to figure out/fix. If they were still there I would sent them on there way. No paper work, no bill. If they questioned that I would tell them to come back when they had a REAL problem. You can't get goodwill, warm fuzzy feelings from your customers any cheaper...

"Leon Fisk" wrote in message news:mm3rpg$90t$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me...

Yes, charge a fair rate. I was given advice a long time ago that you are much better off in the long run to charge a fair rate to a lot of people than you are to charge a high rate for a few. You will have more happy customers and they spread the word about you and the experience you get from a wide variety of work will pay off in the future. There are two categories of work that put me on alert and they are aviation and marine. There is no tolerance on quality and any work must be done right no matter what the customers idea of a fix is. CYA ! phil k. phil k.

What about consumables? They're not cheap and people do expect to pay for them. Don't cheat yourself.

A warning about discount pricing: Once people are charged a low price once, they'll expect it from then on and they'll tell everyone they know that's what your price is. It can really bite you in the ass.

Wow, auto shops get over $100/hr here in tiny Grass Pants, OR.

Yep, money isn't the only way to keep score.