Small Engine Shop Vent

[robbyr]

Bought a Scag Cheetah in 2013. Two or three years later a mower deck spring breaks. Found a Scag dealer in a town closer to me than where I bought the mower. Friendly folks. Bought spring and blades. Fast forward to this past weekend. Different spring broke. Went and bought it and a set of blades. Roughly $100. Got spring on bolt but haven't gotten it to the stud it hangs on on other end. Called dealer to see if they had any tips I could try. After being put on hold, second guy gets on phone and says No we can't tell you anything, you'll have to bring it here for us to put on. Obviously I'm not gonna do that. I will get it on. Just irks to be blown off like that. I noticed some of their new machines and told my wife they might be good ones for my son and daughter to check out as both will probably buy a zero turn in the next year or so. Inclined to tell em look somewhere else now. Ok, rant over.

 

[stevem5215]

I have a friend who is in the Auto repair business. He specializes in Transmission repair and rebuilds. Now granted I'm comparing your experience to what happens at his shop regularly but it's still the same. He gets calls regularly from people who want "free" advise on how to repair and or rebuild their transmissions. And he does get mad about it. See these same people usually also stop in the shop trying to get him to tell him what to do to repair them. And the truth is he doesn't have time to rebuild someones transmission over the phone. It's his lively hood. Now granted if someone has a simple question about how to change the fluid he answers. But the number of people who want more complicated info is amazing.

Steve

 

[grsthegreat]

Ya, i know its frustrating....but i get asked all the time how to do something electrical related...including whether i could drop by and look over their work and see-if its done right .... i wont and dont. This is the way i make a living. 35 years of experience that i dont give away for free.

A small shop needs labor charges to stay in business. Just the way it is. Im sure theres a web site or chat room out there where you could get advice from. When i needed some advice on changing the compressor fan on my built in refrig...... web site info and youtube video had the answer. Saved me a bloody fortune but i didnt want to ask the local appliance shop how to install the part i bought from them.

 

[4570Man]

I’ve used a loop of wire and a pry bar against the outside of the deck to pry deck springs on before. That’s the least chance of busted knuckles, least amount of tugging and least clogging up the spring eye reducing the area to fit it over way that I’ve found.

 

[robbyr]

I was able to pry it over above stud with a short pry bar and drive it down with a claw hammer. It's not like I was asking them to tell me how to rebuild the engine.

 

[ruffdog]

I was able to pry it over above stud with a short pry bar and drive it down with a claw hammer. It's not like I was asking them to tell me how to rebuild the engine.

Some dealers get REAL defensive about helping people even with the simplest things. They think they are entitled to money for even the smallest "help". The dealers that have acted that way around here have went out of business long ago. When I was a service manager, I would be honest with customers and help if I can. Sometimes we would accept walk-ins, even right at closing if the customer was in a bind.

 

[mark02tj]

Saved me a bloody fortune but i didnt want to ask the local appliance shop how to install the part i bought from them.

I wouldn't have a problem asking for advice on something that I bought from a dealer. I don't think that most dealers would have a problem with that either. It's the people that buy stuff online and then call a dealer/repair shop to ask for free advice that is bad!

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When I was in high school and college I worked in a small engine shop. We'd have people all the time asking for help and advice. Not usually a big deal and we tried to help when we could. It was the people that asked for your opinion and then argued about that were a pain. I remember one guy coming into the shop and asking my advice on an engine he was working on. I told him that I thought it sounded like a carb problem and he should clean/rebuild it. He said "It's NOT a carb problem. I'm an engineer - I know." I said "If you're so darn smart, why are you bothering me?" He got real upset and wanted to speak to the owner of the shop. He told the owner what was said by he and I and the owner said "If you're so darn smart, why are you wasting my mechanic's time?" LOL!

 

[fried1765]

Bought a Scag Cheetah in 2013. Two or three years later a mower deck spring breaks. Found a Scag dealer in a town closer to me than where I bought the mower. Friendly folks. Bought spring and blades. Fast forward to this past weekend. Different spring broke. Went and bought it and a set of blades. Roughly $100. Got spring on bolt but haven't gotten it to the stud it hangs on on other end. Called dealer to see if they had any tips I could try. After being put on hold, second guy gets on phone and says No we can't tell you anything, you'll have to bring it here for us to put on. Obviously I'm not gonna do that. I will get it on. Just irks to be blown off like that. I noticed some of their new machines and told my wife they might be good ones for my son and daughter to check out as both will probably buy a zero turn in the next year or so. Inclined to tell em look somewhere else now. Ok, rant over.

Just bought a new Scag Liberty Z last week.
Haven't even picked it up yet.
It will replace my JD LA110 rider.
Hope I will like it!

 

[artfull dodger]

Most folks dont realize they make proper tools for pulling springs, and such for small engine work. I have a small fortune in a 8 foot rolling Matco professional box from nearly 30 years of small engine repair work. I have everything to do simple jobs to full rebuilds, both the tools and the factory spec books. Used to get those calls all the time, thankfully we had a good service writer that kept those calls to a bare minimum. Usually it was someone we had already worked on their mower and we already knew they lacked the $$ to get further work done by us. So we would try to help as much as one can over the phone. Its frustrating, as are many aspects of running a repair shop, especially during "spring rush" when everybody waits till the last min, then expects it done yesterday!! I now work on an assembly line for FCA, just run my station, collect a great paycheck with awsome benefits and go home. So much less stress. I still wrench for my own enjoyment and for a few friends and old customers that dislike the way the new shop bought us out and fired nearly everybody. So a few customers that had my cell number, let me do their service work still. Mike the Aspie

 

[ultrarunner]

When I needed advice on a partially completed solar install at the new place...

Called several contractors and they were not interested in giving an estimate only new installs.

Then I called a small local guy with a small ad... I asked what he would charge to give me an estimate.

He said let me come out and have a look...

Nice guy and came out that evening...

Said I had everything in place and said for $250 he would file the application under his license with all the particulars...

He was happy and I was thrilled... money well spent!