my one man repair shop

[JTH]

Keep in mind you need to find 1 good employee. I had a 1 man shop back in the 80s. I was also a single dad w 2 boys prior to opening my shop. There wasn’t enough time in the day to deal w phone and customers and fix vehicles. It’s hard to find a good mechanic that shows up everyday. If I had I might still be working for myself. The garage I was in (old gas station) was bought and a Captain Ds is there now. I was faced with finding a new shop investment in shop tooling and knew at that point without at least 1 good mechanic I couldn’t grow the business enough to cover the overhead.
Wish you and your boys all the best!

 

[Dmoen]

Keep in mind you need to find 1 good employee. I had a 1 man shop back in the 80s. I was also a single dad w 2 boys prior to opening my shop. There wasn’t enough time in the day to deal w phone and customers and fix vehicles. It’s hard to find a good mechanic that shows up everyday. If I had I might still be working for myself. The garage I was in (old gas station) was bought and a Captain Ds is there now. I was faced with finding a new shop investment in shop tooling and knew at that point without at least 1 good mechanic I couldn’t grow the business enough to cover the overhead.
Wish you and your boys all the best!

thats the thing i am heavily pondering now. i have 2 friends i in the business that come help when they want to. in there free time. i have an abundance of work, and it REALLY helps. They both i trust mechanically. One is a dealer tech and is fairly good at Diag, but if he gets stumped or has anysort of set back he gets discouraged and he will just sitt there. There is no drive or imagination on how to power through and just get the job done. Also, he is pretty much strictly GM only. Try getting him to work on some other brands but he shys away. He started a nissan titan headgasket job, and hasnt come back to work on it. he has been back and done a couple other smaller jobs. i have a feeling he does not want to work on the titan anympre lol

the other guy works for an independent shop. small place. they do a lot of **** work there, and almost nothing involving a scan tool. this mechanit is quite famaliar with an impact and a hammer. a "thor" if you wil. sometimes i have to watch him a bit close. just grabs the impact and breaks bolts off. and i DO NOT trust him removing a broken bolt. he also wont try, so that helps.

both of them have theree advantages and dissadvantages. but unfortunatley i like oth of them, and i would not like either of them to work for me full time.

another part is im not sure i could afford an employee. Not unless it was a seasoned tech tat KNOWS what he is doing. As ive stated my shop does a lot of heavy line work, there is pretty tight margin in making money and doing people favors if you will. They just require a lot of time, time is money. So i do not have the time to baby sit or remove someones broken off bolts continuously. ive been paying these guys $25 an hour, as thats what the one makes, and the other guy i like and he has helped me out more then i can count. i could not however afford to pay either of them full time that rate, plus aquire more insurance, pay workmans comp, and everything else that comes with an employee.

 

[Fueler]

As a small shop owner and employer I have 2 things to recommend.
1: Your 2 likable employees are costing you money, not making it. Cut them loose.
2: What is this giving away work? Favors never paid a bill. You are being played. Everybody except maybe your parents pays.
Ignore 1 and 2 and your shop will be a memory.

 

[Dmoen]

As a small shop owner and employer I have 2 things to recommend.
1: Your 2 likable employees are costing you money, not making it. Cut them loose.
2: What is this giving away work? Favors never paid a bill. You are being played. Everybody except maybe your parents pays.
Ignore 1 and 2 and your shop will be a memory.

I may have worded my last post wrong. The 2 guys that come in do fine on the work I give them. More of the gravy work. I could not however let them be full time at anything I could throw at them. When they work for me I s well as them make money.

As far as giving away work, I use that phrase loosely. Just on some of the older vehicles now that need big repairs, sometimes book times are not enough, and it’s tough to charge too much more. I do anyways but that’s just the way it is. Some of them cut very close to making or loosing money to where it could have been better to just decline the job and make bank working on something else. That is “doing favors” imho
I haven’t done any work for friends or family yet. Couple close friends I do have, there mechanically inclines enough to fix there own. Family hasn’t had any issues with vehicles yet, and I’m not worried about payement there honestly.



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[Dmoen]

Well the past couple days after Christmas have been great!! Wednesday I got mega load of work done. Finished up an engine swap job and figured out an electrical nightmare job. Along with a TON of phone calls finally, booked all for Thursday. Thursday went great got all them in and out ok. Made GOOD money thankfully. Much appreciated to the customers.

Today I went and checked out a tractor that came up for sale yesterday for $500. It’s a ‘49 Massey 44D I’m told. I’m not a tractor guy. But I do have a need for a bucket, and something that’s capable of pulling a fairly good size mower on my small price of land I bought. (5 acres). Went and checked it out. Was under a military canvas tarp thing. It’s a narrow front end, unfortunately. Anyways I ended up knowing the guy fairly well after he told me where to see the tractor. I didn’t realize it was him. Got the old friend to take $400 and I got it fired up after a few hours out in the cold. It’s -10 here today, with wind chill it’s around -20. So I plugged in the block heater, and got a 200watt mag heater on it, and banked up around the tractor pretty good with snow and left the tarp over it with a nipco furnace running under it for about an hour. Thankfully no fuel leaks! Wouldn’t start. New spark plugs and it came to life. Runs like ****.

Tried to drive it to the shop about a mile and some change away and made it about 100 yards and it died. Combination of choke cable stuck, and the guy kept screwing around with carb adjustments since it’s cold. It’s all outta whack now. Anyways, little brothers going to help me drag it to my shop with his pay-loader shortly. Other then that, haven’t worked on anything today. Got some bills together this morning and collected on them. No one owes anything now. Just wish I didn’t owe anyone haha




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[Dmoen]

Well, went back to the tractor, and I set the idle and main jet screws to some specs I found online. Fired right up and managed to get it almost to the shop. About half a block it died out, started and died a few more times and brother behind pushed with his payloader the rest of the way. Cleaning the filthy carb up now. All full of deposits. Doesn’t have a real good fuel filter on it, just a sediment bowl. Which is fairly clean. So clean that up and get an in-line filter for it and should run well. Put it in high gear and it REALLY fell on its face and actually wouldn’t even pull itself. It would die out.








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[Kent_B]

Gravity feeds sometimes don't get on well with in-line fuel filters. Make sure that you have a steady stream of fuel to the sediment bowl. You're a pretty smart guy, so just remember all of the basics.

There's a really good source of old tractor knowledge over at Yesterday's Tractors. Mostly friendly guys with a wealth of experience.

I've really been enjoying your thread. Keep up the good work.

 

[Spareparts]

For $400 you got a steal young man, that tractor is well sought after with the antique and classic tractor pullers. Check out the show Classic Tractor Fever on MAV TV. Happy New Year young man

 

[FRONK 1969]

Great Job on the business so far. Have you thought about maybe Flipping a couple cars where the customers does not want to put the money in to them ?

Also where do you live where you have that much ice and snow ?

Keep up the good work !

Steve

 

[Dmoen]

Gravity feeds sometimes don't get on well with in-line fuel filters. Make sure that you have a steady stream of fuel to the sediment bowl. You're a pretty smart guy, so just remember all of the basics.

There's a really good source of old tractor knowledge over at Yesterday's Tractors. Mostly friendly guys with a wealth of experience.

I've really been enjoying your thread. Keep up the good work.

thanks for the info kent, theres some metal mesh filters that go inline that help keep some stuff out that seem to work pretty well. paper filters have given me problems on these gravity systems. i got it all cleaned up last night, and ir runs very smooth and just a bump of the starter it fires right up. i have the hydrauliv valve assembly apart currently getting it cleaned up. it leaked a bit, and one of the screwes loosed up quite a bit causing it to raise the bucket itself. get that back together either tonight, or tomorrow.

For $400 you got a steal young man, that tractor is well sought after with the antique and classic tractor pullers. Check out the show Classic Tractor Fever on MAV TV. Happy New Year young man

thanks for the info! not much of a tractor guy, i got this one pretty much for working it. i can use it here at the shop for stuff, and it seems within the family were always renting a skidder for something or another. and thats $200 a day. so this will pay for itself quick.

Great Job on the business so far. Have you thought about maybe Flipping a couple cars where the customers does not want to put the money in to them ?

Also where do you live where you have that much ice and snow ?

Keep up the good work !

Steve

steve, i buy as many vehicles as i can afford to as repairables. i honestly make more money doing that then i do on customer cars. but theres not enough"good deals" around to do it full time! this year alone ive bought/repair/and sold 8. i only have one flip vehicle left, and the engines not ready to go back in yet. its an 06 chrysler 300C. a beautiful deep blue. leather, sun roof, HEMI. the camshaft is bad, and they never changed oil so its very dirty. cars only got 116k miles on it, so it should make me a lot of money at time to sell. cars in GREAT shape. paid $700 on a facebook post for iit.

and as far ac ice and snow..... we got another 6" this week. i live in devils lake ND. over 100,000 acre lake. the ice is around 18" thick where ive been fishing. it will get to around 4 feet of ice around feburary. I have been driving my half ton around on some of thee smaller bodies of water that freeze up forst for weeks now, but the main bay of the lake still has some sketchy parts so i use the snowmobile for now. some guys are driving tho. last week we had (on the record) one side by side, and 2 snowmobiles fall in.

tonight im at the shop, im going to build another hard sided ice house to put out on a Part of the lake and leave there. this one is going to be built fairly cheap, and as light as possible. pics of that as soon as i get rolling. just unloaded the lumber.

 

[Spareparts]

That reminds me of the movie Grumpy Old Men

 

[Dmoen]

Well I’m no damn carpenter, never have been much for wood building. Anyways, got the small ice shack framed up almost complete last night. Going to run a 2x2 horizontal all the way around, and brace the roof a bit more. Then styrofoam board insulate and sheet it. Then it’s just 4x4 sheeted with plastic on the bottom for skids. Currently it’s light. 2 guys can fairly easily pick it up still.







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[Dmoen]

Another setback in life today. Not huge to some, but kinda kills me a bit inside.

About a month ago I bought a slightly used vexilar FLX28 for $500. Well it’s always in the back seat of my pickup. Went fishing on christmas(Tuesday) and it worked great! Got done fishin and put it back where it belongs in the truck. Fast forward to Friday and for some reason I looked in the back seat and it’s gone. [emoji35] Needless to say, I’m tired of being robbed. 2nd time this year. The only place I leave my truck unlocked is out front of my business. Damn it.

Today I filed a police report and called local pawn shop. No dice. Called a couple guides to see if they had any used, as I can’t fork out $700 for a new one. Neither of them had one. But one of them called a buddy and then said buddy called me with a BRAND new flx28 in the box, never been used. Only stipulation was I had to buy that, and 3 other sonar units. An fl18, marcum showdown 5.8 dual beam and a marcum LX5. Price? $875 for ALL of them. Deal. Went and got cash and grabbed them. Put three of them on face book for 250 each, and sold one already, and have a couple buyers lined up for each tomorrow if a sale falls through. So if all goes well, I got this BRAND NEW 28 cheap! Still very upset my original got swiped, but karma will get the *******.






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[Finallygotit]

Sorry about your issue but it sounds like you're making lemonade from lemons. I also looks like you're going to have to start locking you vehicles when not using them.


Happy New Year!

 

[SkywalkerCR]

Dustin,

Great updates! You go man! Here are some other considerations to think about in your longer term business plans.

Is there someone in town or in the area who does regular tows and recoveries? IF so, get to know them. They can end up sending lots of business your way.

Same with any independent body shop owners. Often times they don't want to have to deal with any mechanical repairs for collision jobs they are working on. They get paid mostly to straighten and replace sheet metal and refinish panels, and not to change out bent control arms or struts, or damaged fuel tanks.

Please don't get me wrong, I am not trying to tell you how to run your business. You are doing a GREAT JOB of that already IMHO.

Lastly, the auto body alliance thing could really work out if you can team up to buy cars on a site like erepairables.com and flip them.

One more thing.....one of my college buddies, had a little brother who chose to go his own way. His parents were very upset with him after he got a job in junkyard. Today he owns two yards and makes more than all of his siblings combined. Between his dedicated scrap business, and the whole unit parts he salvages and sells, I can tell you he is doing ok. I know for a fact that the house he lives in cost 7 figures. So keep thinking and keep your imagination going. You never know what opportunities come around the corner.

The ice house looks great BTW.

 

[Dmoen]

@skywalkercl

this towns fairly small, under 8k people. i know all 3 of the towing and recovery guys very well. one keeps me very busy. the other 2 kick me some work occatonally. My biggest issue is no parking. I have a store front shop as im sure youve seen, and no lot to park dead cars that are towed in. if i dont have room in the shop when they call, i simply and unfortunately turn down the work.
and yes, i buy quite a few repairable when i have the cash, and time to get one done. I only buy then if i can about double my money on them though. normally they have a major powertrain problem. got a chrysler 300c now im waiting to find some time to rebuild the engine in and get it put back in the car.

ice house is at a stand still! no big box store here, and i refuse to pay the price at the local lumber yards for insulation. menards has 1 1/2" styrofom board for around $8 a sheet. local place wants $29!!!!!!
may go get insulation this weekend and get it sheeted and put on a lake somewherr

 

[Dmoen]

Well guys seems like this threads sort of boring. I think I’ll start sharing some new tools I picked up in here too.
Today I ran to tsc for some small engine stuff that they didn’t have. Normal occurrence **** anyways by the checkouts they have this bargain rack of tools. Normally it’s middle of the road garbage that’s kinda gimmicky. Noticed these longer nut drivers. They were about $12. I bought them and got to the shop. Opened it up and the case is actually a pretty nice one, with the black rubber. The latch *****, does not hold shut. Anyways looked a bit closer, and there all magnetic! Kinda cool, was hoping they would have been a deep socket like the traditional but driver but these will surely have there place some times!




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[Finallygotit]

Those should come in handy. I know they would for me.

 

[Dmoen]

Well I’m working on a Sunday, when I should be fishing with the kids. Got asked by a local plumber if I could get one of there trucks done by Monday. The oil pump ain’t doing its job any more. ‘09 Silverado 6.2. So get that done quick then clean this damn shop up.



The shop is a disaster. Been kinda in a mood lately. Haven’t seemed to be working much or trying real hard and the shop is a pit. In professional, I know. I’ll get it cleaned up shortly.









Also some tools. When I first opened shop as I have said before I was BROKE. I sold a car for $4200 and that is all the money I had. And I still had about 2 weeks left at my last job so there would be that check too. About $1200. Paycheck to paycheck life ***** with 2 young kids. We were making it, but barely lol
Anyways, once open I needed my own scan tool. My previous employer provided them. I used to have my own snap on Solus while at the dealership. It was an old one, One of the first to come out. Ended up selling it when the split up came and I needed cash.
So my cornwell guy sold me this launch X431. Great scan tool for about $1500 and he financed it no problems. I couldn’t believe the data and controls it has. The down fall, it’s ******* slow. Slow to build vehicles and get into pages. Once your in somethingand watching live data it is fast and responsive. But just to go scan a car for codes sometimes it takes 3-5 minutes. Then sometimes it glitches and needs to be restarted. That’s not good at all. It is super nice being wireless from the car. It is also just an Android based pad. So it’s full functioning internet and anything else your pad will do along with the scan tool app. Kinda nice to be able to jump on the internet on alldata or google when your in the shop Working on a car. Not a huge deal, but it is handy.



About a month ago now the snap on guy cut me a GREAT deal on the last solus ultra he had. I am not supposed to say what I paid for it, but it was a GREAT deal with 2 years of updates. This is what I’ve been using the past couple years at my last job. Works great and gets the job done. I’ve noticed on a few jobs where it doesn’t pick up a reading, or doesn’t have something. Mainly on the VW’s I’ve worked on. And the launch always has it or reads it. I noticed on a Chevy a while back that was missing horribly the snap on would not pick up the misfiring cylinder, but the launch had no problem. So it is nice to have them both on hand sometimes. The snap on is a scan tool only, and is not wireless to the car it has to be plugged directly to one post. You can not do anything else on it. It is wireless to the internet for its sure track or fast track system. It gives some other tech fixes on some codes and what not. I haven’t used it much. My last employer did not have that on his. So I am. It familiar on how to use it. If anyone had any advice on that or anything else, I’d LOVE to hear it





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[Dmoen]

Ordered a small security camera setup from amazon last week and they came today. It’s a ZOSI brand. 4 cameras and the recorder for about $100. They are Indoor/outdoor and night vision. Bought a 2TB hard drive for it as you have to buy the HD separately. Not sure how long of recording i will get, but hoping atleast a month of run time per camera. Also a have been slacking BIG time on the business owner portion. I haven’t done a stitch of paper work or anything to do with taxes. [emoji15] so today I bought quickbooks and am hoping to get myself a bit organized. That will be a learning curve as I am not a computer guy. I can learn anything, guess I’ll get through this too.




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[drivesitfar]

Dmoen: let us know how you like your new security set up and wouldn't it be nice if the IDIOTS would just work for their money or stuff instead of stealing ours?

the most expensive time in a new business is setting it up especially with all the new tools and stuff you need to work on a variety of cars so most businesses don't make much the first 2 years mainly because of that reason.

good luck keeping up with the paperwork cause those are some of the biggest reasons why people don't work for themselves. once you get that figured out you can just work on growing your business. we've had the same accountant doing our taxes for the last 30+ years so hopefully you find a few good guys or gals to help you in your journey.

 

[Growlertdi]

Congrats on opening the new shop, it sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders. its nice to have all of that indoor storage for customer cars.

look forward to following along on this journey

 

[Dmoen]

Ace hardware had these sets on clearance for 9.99 each. They will be used somewhere



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[Dmoen]

We was feelin a bit crappy at the shop yesterday and put the customers on hold, and got the ice shack done. It out of the shop, out of my way now lol. To the lake in the morning. These pictures were before I was 100% done. After these were taken the floor was cut to drop in the catch covers almost where there at in the pictures. And have since put a pull bar on the front to drag it with















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[Dmoen]

well the shack made it to the lake no problem! i am rethinking those 5x6 lumbers i used for skids. its too heavy to lift now by hand. that added about 300 lbs to the shack. it does pull great tho behind the pickup! i almost wonder with how light i built the thing if just green treated 2X10 or even just a 2X6 verticle on both sides would be enough? thinking be so narrow it would just drive itself into the snow but still may be light enough its not as bad as i think. that would cut a TON of weight. also, aluminum skids are out of the question cost wise.

a question for the tractor guys. My MH 44 i picked up a bit back does not have a live PTO so it really is a bear moving snow with. is there a way i can mount the hydro pump on the motor? right off the front of the crank?

 

[Spareparts]

Yes they make a hydro pump mount that the shaft goes thru the crank hole on the front of the radiator shroud, connects to the harmonic balancer. Check out a web site called ATIS Antique Tractor Internet Service. It should answer any questions you might have.

 

[Dmoen]

Well I needed a welder again today, and it was a job I just couldn’t finish without. Since I sold both of mine when I started my last job, had to buy a new one. Called the parts stores in town and this is all that was to be had unless I wanted to go to a retail store and pay cash for a unit. Got it on a sale I guess, sold to me for $300, plus the tank lease and a spool of wire. In my old Hobart 140 I ran .30 wire and it welded great! But slthere were times like exhaust work where I thought maybe even less wire and heat would be nice. So I bought some .23 to run and so far on the exhaust I welded on today I am VERY happy. This later nicer welds on this thin exhaust then my Hobart and #30 and could have.






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[SkywalkerCR]

The welder looks like a nice unit. Make sure you keep the receipts / manuals of all of the shop equipment you purchase in a safe place.

Also you may want to check with an accountant and tax man to see how you use these investments next year at tax time.

I am curious, I know that most new cars have stainless steel exhaust systems. Do the after market replacement parts also come in stainless?

When I was a kid, they were just plain steel for the pipes, and some mufflers were galvanized wrapped.

Thanks Clark

 

[Dmoen]

The welder looks like a nice unit. Make sure you keep the receipts / manuals of all of the shop equipment you purchase in a safe place.

Also you may want to check with an accountant and tax man to see how you use these investments next year at tax time.

I am curious, I know that most new cars have stainless steel exhaust systems. Do the after market replacement parts also come in stainless?

When I was a kid, they were just plain steel for the pipes, and some mufflers were galvanized wrapped.

Thanks Clark

it all depends on what you order for replacements. some are just cheap raw steel, some aluminized steel, some stainless, some ceramic coated . i dont per say do exhaust work. i dont cureently own a bender so i turn that work down. the exhaust i welded here was on an f150. Its a huge time saver to cut the exhaust to remove the ****** and weld it back together when done with the replacement. i cut right next to a factory weld, and you canr really tell ive been in there when im done so it doesnt bother me. some call it a "hack job" to do it that way, i call it working smarter. its not like i cut a hole in a pickup box for a fuel pump job. although i have in camaros

 

[drivesitfar]

Dmoen: how about bolting or screwing the fishing ice house together on site so you can carry the parts easier to and from your spot?

hope you are staying warm cause guessing you are getting some of the BIG FREEZE too (not that ice fishing wasn't already a clue).

take care

 

[Dmoen]

Dmoen: how about bolting or screwing the fishing ice house together on site so you can carry the parts easier to and from your spot?

hope you are staying warm cause guessing you are getting some of the BIG FREEZE too (not that ice fishing wasn't already a clue).

take care

yes its cold! i heard it was around -60 on tuesdday but havent heard officially.
and as far as taking the house apart thats a lot of work! its sturdy!! it pulled up on a trailer super easily. electric winched it up on a tilt bed snowbile trailler in about 30 seconds. drove as fast as i wanted to the lake and un pinned the tilt bed an pulled it off as far as i could by hand then drove out from underneath. hooked a rope and pulled ith the truck. i couldnt ask for it to be any easier! i could heat this with a candle i think. between the 2" foam and the ductape on all the seams then a tarp over its pretty tightly sealed up.

 

[drivesitfar]

Dmoen: I was thinking of screwing or bolting on the 2x6's or 4x4 runners and not the entire thing cause you were mentioning that adding them made it a bit too heavy to move by yourself.

sounds like you've figured it out so hope your fish in your honey hole keep breeding and nobody else finds the same lake so you can still have it almost to yourself.

OMG -60 sounds horrible even if that is with wind factored in. i'm guessing you know a lot of the tricks to keeping your rigs running and you keeping warm so all the best. is the inside of your big shop warm enough to do some work on the long term projects if the regular clients are staying warm at home?

cheers

 

[Dmoen]

Dmoen: I was thinking of screwing or bolting on the 2x6's or 4x4 runners and not the entire thing cause you were mentioning that adding them made it a bit too heavy to move by yourself.

sounds like you've figured it out so hope your fish in your honey hole keep breeding and nobody else finds the same lake so you can still have it almost to yourself.

OMG -60 sounds horrible even if that is with wind factored in. i'm guessing you know a lot of the tricks to keeping your rigs running and you keeping warm so all the best. is the inside of your big shop warm enough to do some work on the long term projects if the regular clients are staying warm at home?

cheers

yea shops staying at a sunny 70*. monday i came to shop and it was 59* and i found a few drafty spots i fixed, now its holding heat

 

[48RON54]

Great thread! Subscribed! You are a great storyteller!

 

[don long]

Just read through your thread.
Our lives are some what similar. I dropped out of school very early. got a job in a body shop and after 15 years of doing body work I opened my one man bodyshop 1500 sqft. and worked 20 hours a day when I had the work.
21 years later I sold all my businesses and retired at the age of 50
Hard work, determination, a little good luck and picking the right employees was the key to my success.

Good luck to you and your endeavors

Don

 

[drivesitfar]

Dmoen: in case you haven't heard of Don or seen his PARTY GARAGE thread or some of the other threads he has you sir are in for a treat if you check them out. he's got some cool STUFF and he's a great guy.

Don: you sir are a gem and thanks for posting that motivating story to Dmoen and for all of us.

 

[oilslick]

Cool thread, ive been wrenchin for independent for 24 yrs. Your shop looks cluttered, my work place did too. New hire at my work is a neat freak, very organized. It's helped our shop tremendously, easy to find things and we run out of the common stuff much less often. At first I didn't like goingthrough old parts/shelves, but it's been a year and haven't missed anything too bad yet. Good luck, and my advice is to install the best parts you can reasonably find and be honest with everyone, including your self. I've got 2 daughters, so far neither are very interested in dad stuff , hope your boys find mechanical stuff interesting, could make for a great father son thing!
Also want to tell you I had a lift just like yours at home, nut broke, car got stuck, lucky it was a **** box I was parting out. Used a tractor to pull it off the lift! A descent certified forward brand lift for my home shop from napa was only 2500. Just keep that in mind.
Try to get a name for quality brake repair , it's quick profitable work, and if done with quality parts and care, a win for everyone. I mean two vehicles that need all new pads and rotors could make for a nice low stress day with everyone happy and you well paid.

 

[850xpeps]

Did you make sure the float is set on the tractor carb? An in-line will work on the gravity feed but I would bend up some new line. And make sure the screen going into carb is clean as well. Nice tractor.


As a self employed person it’s hard to find time for fmwily and try maintain a healthy business. Saying no never usually works out in the long run for you. You will never make lots and hr because you have to put in so many hours. 7 days a week from 5 am to 10 pm and later. That’s life and the choice you made. Hopefully you can learn to balance that and keep your company going. Good luck


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[Dmoen]

Cool thread, ive been wrenchin for independent for 24 yrs. Your shop looks cluttered, my work place did too. New hire at my work is a neat freak, very organized. It's helped our shop tremendously, easy to find things and we run out of the common stuff much less often. At first I didn't like goingthrough old parts/shelves, but it's been a year and haven't missed anything too bad yet. Good luck, and my advice is to install the best parts you can reasonably find and be honest with everyone, including your self. I've got 2 daughters, so far neither are very interested in dad stuff , hope your boys find mechanical stuff interesting, could make for a great father son thing!
Also want to tell you I had a lift just like yours at home, nut broke, car got stuck, lucky it was a **** box I was parting out. Used a tractor to pull it off the lift! A descent certified forward brand lift for my home shop from napa was only 2500. Just keep that in mind.
Try to get a name for quality brake repair , it's quick profitable work, and if done with quality parts and care, a win for everyone. I mean two vehicles that need all new pads and rotors could make for a nice low stress day with everyone happy and you well paid.

yea, shop is a DISASTER no doubt. i hate a mess honestly, and ive been extremely busy here, and at home, and it seems as if every time a say im going to take a couple hours and clean, some shows up and needs it fixed now, or a custor calls and asks if there cars done yet and i feel bad so i go finish that first.. and the cycle continues. i think ill take this afternoon now to do some cleaning and putting tools away! as far as parts, i refuse to use cheap parts unless thats all thats available. most of the customers understand this, as i explain if the part goes bad they will be paying for labor again if it fails. i do take pride in knowing i do things a step above the other shops in town. i wish i could honestly say im the cheapest in town, but i am BY far not even close. i just cannot compete with some of the places like good year and other places when they use, say the cheapest remanufactured CV axle they can find in town. i wont do it, and if i loose a few customers here and there for it thats the way it will have to be. i see most of my customers REALLY appreciate the honesty, and are willing to fix it once and not have to worry about it again. there is some places i will do some cheap parts, but its a case by case basis.

Did you make sure the float is set on the tractor carb? An in-line will work on the gravity feed but I would bend up some new line. And make sure the screen going into carb is clean as well. Nice tractor.


As a self employed person it’s hard to find time for fmwily and try maintain a healthy business. Saying no never usually works out in the long run for you. You will never make lots and hr because you have to put in so many hours. 7 days a week from 5 am to 10 pm and later. That’s life and the choice you made. Hopefully you can learn to balance that and keep your company going. Good luck

yup the floats set, and it runs untill the fuel valve plugs up. I think its ok now! i completely ran it out of fuel and took the sediment bowl off, and left the valve wide open and ran about a gallon of gas through it and hopefully flushed out what was in the bottom of the tank. it was BLACK for a while, but ran clean in the end. have ran another 2 full tanks through since without a hitch! Still have a bad exhaust valve, but that will have to wait till spring to tear the head off. its not missing too bad, but its noticible.




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[Dmoen]

Me and the eldest son made a day on the lake yesterday day, and had a blast! Me and both boys went out for a couple hours this morning too, but got off after a few hours due to sether setting in again. Claiming another 6-9” snow, and cold weather again all week.




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