Own Tools or employer equipment?

[Hawk321]

Hi folks,

I'm new here.

Want to know what you prefer?
Tools that you've bought and you know what the right tool is for, to get the job done.

Or tools that your employer give you, only on his decision ?

 

[garfunkle24]

I prefer my own choice in tools but would rather have my employer pay for them. Anyway, your question is a little vague to answer properly. For example if working a flat-rate job I want the very best, most specialised tools to do the job quickly. If i'm working for an hourly rate and my employer wants to supply me with **** tools to do a ****/slow/shoddy job, fine by me.

 

[joenero]

I've only heard of one situation where an employer supplied tools and that was to lube techs so they didn't have to pay them X2 the minimum wage that is California law. In that case most of them already had their own tools and kept using them because all they provided was C-man stuff that could "technically" get the job they were doing done.
Personally if an employer supplied something like all SO tools (wasn't that the cover of one of their catalogs once?) I'd be OK with it but there are some things that I prefer to own that help out a lot or that I like from different brands that they probably wouldn't find necessary to provide. I couldn't see them supplying specialty wrenches or a certain ratchet to one person that wants them unless everyone in the shop needed them.

In the end I'm spending money either way. I'll stick to my own stuff.

 

[krusty the clown]

i prefer using my own tools because thats what i'm used to.......i'm faster and more effecient with them.

as far as whether the emplyer should provide them or i should.............when i first got into the business the only tools a tech was required to supply was basic hand tools, every thing else was considered shop tools. due to flat rate we bought our own specialty equipment like pressure testers, scanners, etc because it saved us time looking for the shops. since that time it has now become the techs responsibilty to provide almost everything. while this is ok with me because i'm tool addict there is the thing about having to invest $50 in tools to make a living while other trades do not.

 

[Hawk321]

we bought our own specialty equipment like pressure testers, scanners, etc

Scanners??? Which one??? Good professional scanners are extremly expensive, Bosch KTS or Snap-On Modis with accesories will cost thousands of $$$??? Or do you mean basic scanners for just reading DTC's, except coding etc?

 

[krusty the clown]

Scanners??? Which one??? Good professional scanners are extremly expensive, Bosch KTS or Snap-On Modis with accesories will cost thousands of $$$??? Or do you mean basic scanners for just reading DTC's, except coding etc?

i personally own a SO mt2500. i know of techs that own thier own modis and other brands of VERY expensive scanners like OTC including auto ingenuity pc based scan tools.

and yes they run into thousands of dollars somewhere around 8K for the modis IIRC

 

[joenero]

Ever work at an independent? Your pretty much on your own so you're going to buy what gets the job done, including that $3000 scanner because that $300 autoxray scanner isn't going to check ABS or SRS codes now is it? Dealers are different because they usually have a specialty vehicle specific scanner that's outrageous in cost.

 

[goodfellow]

Back in the early 70's I started with a MAC apprentice toolset that I had purchased years earlier. The tools came in a cantilever tool box. The shop I worked for supplied everything else.

Only years later did I find the need to seriously extend that collection. At the time, if you wanted to buy a specialty tool to do your job, the show owner paid 30-50% of the cost --depending on the kind of tool it was. If there was a need, the shop payed a percentage of you personal tool expenses.

 

[Hawk321]

Worked on new BMW's....promise you, without spending 20K...you will have no chance to fix them up.
Even the software cost thousands...

 

[speed bump]

Depends on the job:
When I worked in Mining we supplied the bulk of the hand tools other than things like 3/4" impact guns, really big wrenches and most the pipe tools we used.

In Refrigeration it was kind of rare but the shop I worked for supplied the tools, that was mostly because I was the only non family tech working for them.

When I was doing weld inspection and stuff I brought my own hand tools because it was easier than attempting find the right tools in the shop.

 

[Hawk321]

In Germany (yes I'm one....:-( )
you get your stuff from your employer...normally cheap ****, without what you need...if you want to use your own tools...you get fired. Every Year 10.ooo shops are going insolvent.
I work only with my tools, special tools (like compression testers or timing belt tools, is shop equipment). When I need a new job, I tell the shop leader that I use my tools...
I just loose to much money with their tools. That's the reason...the dealers try to keep the wages low as possible.

 

[Frank Elson]

In the UK because I use my tools for my job I can write off the purchase of them against tax.
As I am not a pro mechanic I don't know if UK companies provide tools, but reading Chammy, Moose and Brookesy's posts I guess not.
But theirs should be tax deductible as well.

 

[wrenchr]

Some places have a tool allowance.

 

[trackwelder]

We get good tools to work with. Hand tools are proto, snap on, and williams. Luckly they supply everything we could ever want to perform our jobs. Examples are speedglas welding hoods, 3m respirators and papr setups, workboots, welding clothes, winter over boots, overalls, tyvek suits, many styles of safety glasses, gloves, winter hats, hoodliners, hardhats, flashlights and much more. Christ I have three lockers busting at the seams just to store all my workgear.

 

[88thunder]

I've thought of this a lot. I'm a model maker for a toy/collectibles company and using my own tools is obviously very important to how well I am able to work (customized tools to fit very specific jobs). But let me make a very simple example: If I did not own a dremel tool the company was very reluctant to supply you with one (i.e. wouldn't). Okay, so I use mine which was brand new when I started with the company, and three years later the bearings start to go out. Should they be responsible for replacing "my" personal tool that only went bad being used on prototypes/products for them (it never left the hanging device I had bolted to my desk, in my office, at the shop)? None the less they didn't, and I don't work for them anymore(I didn't leave because of that). Just thought I'd rant.

 

[davestlouis]

88thunder, my thought is, you voluntarily brought the dremel in the building, and presumably it made your life easier and made you more productive. Buying a new one every 3 years is a small price to pay for that.

 

[Fedwrench]

I prefer to use my own tools for a few different reasons. First, I know what I like to use, what works, and feels the best to me. I do not just have one brand of tools. I like certain items from different manufacturers Which may not be the same as an employer supplied tool. Secondly, there's accountability issue. If I leave my tool in a car, I'm out the tool. If I leave an employer's tool in a car, I'm out the use of the tool, I've lost something that belongs to someone else, and who knows when it will get replaced or if it will be held over my head. Next, I can modify my tools to accomplish a specific task. I wouldn't feel right modifying someone else's tool. Auto tech wages haven't really kept up with the price of tools and the amount of tools needed to be effective depending on your job.

 

[joenero]

Auto tech wages haven't really kept up with the price of tools and the amount of tools needed to be effective depending on your job.

Seriously, I see them raising prices all the time, it's like a guaranteed 4% every year. That's like $1 an hour raise for most techs not included the increased costs of all their expenses.

 

[krusty the clown]

Seriously, I see them raising prices all the time, it's like a guaranteed 4% every year. That's like $1 an hour raise for most techs not included the increased costs of all their expenses.

you see the shops raising thier rates? my income has gone down every year since 2002..........

 

[orangeastre]

Seriously, I see them raising prices all the time, it's like a guaranteed 4% every year. That's like $1 an hour raise for most techs not included the increased costs of all their expenses.

Do you see the shop rate going up or do you actually see the tech's pay going up?I would wager that most times a shop increases it's labour rate it is not to pay the tech more.

 

[davestlouis]

In a collision repair environment it's not quite so bad, because a good body man can repair a 15 hour quarter panel in 5-6 hours and do OK, but in mechanical operations that are time-studied to death there's not much wiggle room.

 

[Gregster]

I use my own tools and what specialty tool I need I'll use the shops. I work in a smaller shop with 4 lifts, 3 techs including myself so we are all pretty tight.

If I do need to borrow a tool, (VERY RARE) I will go out the next day and buy it for myself.

However these days I find myself buying more specialty tools because I like to use my own stuff. I usually browse local for sale ad's looking for stuff. Recently I bought a practically new SO cooling system psi tester with adapters for 150$.

It's amazing what you can before the holidays for ultra cheap.

 

[Fedwrench]

Seriously, I see them raising prices all the time, it's like a guaranteed 4% every year. That's like $1 an hour raise for most techs not included the increased costs of all their expenses.

It may just be where I worked but, I saw the shop labor rate went from $75 to $100 per hour and none of the techs got a raise. Nothing in the flat rate world is guaranteed so, I'm not sure where your 4% increase comes from. In fact when you consider most techs are clocking fewer hours due to the economy, holidays, bad weather, etc. today than previvously, they're not breaking even with past years let alone making more money today. Maybe it's just me and I'm missing something but, I see prices going up for tools from tool trucks and online vendors but, I'm not seeing most techs making more money.

 

[<>Severed<>]

In a collision repair environment it's not quite so bad, because a good body man can repair a 15 hour quarter panel in 5-6 hours and do OK, but in mechanical operations that are time-studied to death there's not much wiggle room.

Thats why I like body and paint compaired to mechanical work. Case in point I got a job yesterday at 415 to change a bedside and and paint it. it pays 16.3 for the body time and 4.4 paint. today by lunch (when i left for dr. appt)
it is basicly ready to weld on. I should have about 10 hrs in the whole thing when im done.

As for tools we supply our own even some of the special stuff. But the big stuff the shop provides. IE paintbooths frame machine big dent pullers welders stuff like that. I pride myself in haveing the most tools in the shop because it means I dont have to walk across the shop and borrow one from some one else.

 

[chammyman]

In the UK because I use my tools for my job I can write off the purchase of them against tax.
As I am not a pro mechanic I don't know if UK companies provide tools, but reading Chammy, Moose and Brookesy's posts I guess not.
But theirs should be tax deductible as well.

only tax deductable if your PAYE, so regular mechanics cannot deduct the tax.

In the uk the general rule is supply your own tools.

Things like tyre machines etc are shop equipment as are things like 1 inch guns etc generally.

 

[yellowbox]

tools i use i own except for a few the shop has but even then i already have what they supply. .
when i worked at ford dealer i had to buy all tools i needed , sure ford has speciality tools but somehow they always ended up in someones toolbox.
and as stated in another post ...too much time wasted looking for "shop" tools

 

[yellowbox]

Seriously, I see them raising prices all the time, it's like a guaranteed 4% every year. That's like $1 an hour raise for most techs not included the increased costs of all their expenses.

shop rates are going up but that is NOT passed onto the tech pay !!!!

 

[Hawk321]

In the UK because I use my tools for my job I can write off the purchase of them against tax

In germany, you can do that with a partial sum.

Here it's normaly not allowed to use your own tools and the employer is not willed to buy all your stuff. So you can't search for the right tool.
Special tools (like all the Klann stuff) are rare, because they are more expensive.
Impact sockets and extensions? No way, do the job with normal hand sockets...security glasses? Meybe you find some old scratched in the cellar....

I bought my tools, and it's fine. When sb. is at my box...I will whip him.
It's astonish me every day, that my co workers and other mechanics don't care. If you say them, "here, you get only 1000 Euro per month"...they do it...give them http://cgi.ebay.de/HAZET-Werkzeugwagen-178-mit-Werkzeug-Sortiment-178-143_W0QQitemZ260308836838QQihZ016QQcategoryZ30922QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
that...and they think, they got everything to work on modern cars...when there is a problem...the manufactor must be guilty. What happen then? The car will be "stored" so long, until the cheapest socket/tool (whatever is necessary) is ordered...in this case...the employee get's fired...

 

[Frank Elson]

only tax deductable if your PAYE, so regular mechanics cannot deduct the tax.
.

No way man, I'm freelance. Even my stamps are tax deductible... and my tool buys have gone up a whole lot since I found out they're counted in.

 

[Dust]

I'm an apprentice at a dealership, and was brought in under an academic program where they supply me a basic toolkit and box, while I go to school and get a two-year degree.

That said, I was on the job fixing cars for five months before they even acquired the kits. One of my buddies had been there a year before me on the same program and he got his kit the same day as I did.

I brought in my own tools two weeks after I started and haven't looked back. Out of the entire kit they gave me, the only things I use are the tool chest itself, the impact gun, lug nut sockets, torque wrench, and maybe the battery service tools. All the rest of the stuff I left in the original packaging and stuffed it into the bottom drawer of the chest.

I prefer my own stuff, mainly because I know how it handles and that I can head across the street to Sears and replace it if needbe. With the shop supplied stuff, I have to wait until the Matco guy shows up, and I'd probably have to go through Management as well.

I'm actually kind of bummed they supplied me with tools, because I could have asked for double minimum wage, as is my right under California law. They did that to the lube guys a couple years ago; the lubers were using their own tools, and Management told them to take home the personal stuff and provided them with Harbor Freight tool kits in order to cut their pay.

 

[tatra]

work for a railroad and like trackwelder , everything is supplied.........some good, some ****..........i have snapon at home as...........and the more i use the **** at work , the more irealize, tools don't make the tradesman, knoledge and experience is the best tool to have .............but a little lube doesn't hurt.............

 

[Hawk321]

I see, in my business it's usefull to have the own stuff...but what will you do, when you search a new job and any dealer/shop/garage says "Only our 125pc kit nothing else" (that by independent or multidealers)....
Had shops in the past, which had hired me for standart mechanical works and electrical diagnostics...
What happened? >>> Not my own stuff....got a cheap multimeter WITHOUT THE PROBES!
The wrenches were bought at a do-it-yourself shop...10pc 1.99 Euro...
Torque Wrench had has a range from 20-120Nm...(no other wrenches available)

you have that situation everywhere here....sb. a good suggestion for me?

 

[nightrain00]

I work for a large metro bus company that is supposed to supply us with anything over inch and a quarter . Their tool list of what we are supposed to have as mechanics could be carried around in one of those gray craftsman tool boxes. I think the list was written up in the 60's . If we went by what they tell us we need and waited for them to supply the rest nothing would ever get done. We also get 250 dollar a year tool allowance. that usually just about pays for whatever was lost/ stolen / broken.

 

[djtino]

every tool i touch is bought by my employer ... but hey! .. i'm in the military

but sometime i wish i can buy my own .. because my toolbox is full of mixed brand ****

 

[Jay H 237]

I work for a large plastic injection molding equipment supplier, basically building and servicing robots and other automation equipment.


They supply you with a roll around toolbox (either a Kennedy or Craftsman, mine's the Cman) and some very basic tools mostly Craftsman. Anything else you supply. I have a small Cman side cabinet I have on my box for more space plus more Cman, Gearwrench, Husky, Wera, Proto and some other tools to make my life easier.

Honestly, in this type of work you don't need many specialized tools, basically just the different crimpers (AMP, DMC barrel, ferrule) for the special pins and connectors used. The Cman and Kennedy boxes are great for the use they get and I've been there over 9 years now and still have the same Cman wrenches they gave me and most of the screwdrivers. We don't have to deal with rusted suspension components and the like that mechanics have too. Mid-grade tools hold up well in this enviroment in everyday use.