Buying Advice 1st Breakdown - Need advice
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EFC
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Gregster613
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OK EFC - you asked (and I did express my dislike of the high cost) for what I thought should have been a simple enough job. Here's the end result, $900 total -- to pick-up/return tractor, replace (1) burst 3/8" hydraulic pump hose, and install the 3 remotes w/valve.
Keep in mind that I had already purchased the valve, mounting kit, QD's, Hydraulic rams, etc., etc. Any additional items for cost would have been several elbow fittings and the actual 1/4" hoses. Oh yeah, the massive labor! So yeah, that's why I think it was too costly. Perhaps I'm mistaken.
My tractor dealer said it took his mech alot of time to disassemble and reassemble everything?? Maybe so, but I know that if I'd have had a steering wheel puller I'd have been able to remove that burst hose within 40 minutes. And that's seeing/learning as I go. It would have been cheaper for me to go buy the tools I lacked & have done the job myself & in the future I'll do just that.
I do admit, I've never priced out hydraulic hoses or fittings before so maybe they are indeed extremely high cost items. At any rate it's done, I'm happy with my new system, and I learned some things not to do in the future.
Gregster613
Keep in mind that I had already purchased the valve, mounting kit, QD's, Hydraulic rams, etc., etc. Any additional items for cost would have been several elbow fittings and the actual 1/4" hoses. Oh yeah, the massive labor! So yeah, that's why I think it was too costly. Perhaps I'm mistaken.
My tractor dealer said it took his mech alot of time to disassemble and reassemble everything?? Maybe so, but I know that if I'd have had a steering wheel puller I'd have been able to remove that burst hose within 40 minutes. And that's seeing/learning as I go. It would have been cheaper for me to go buy the tools I lacked & have done the job myself & in the future I'll do just that.
I do admit, I've never priced out hydraulic hoses or fittings before so maybe they are indeed extremely high cost items. At any rate it's done, I'm happy with my new system, and I learned some things not to do in the future.
Gregster613
EFC
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How far was the shipping each way? Not trying to be a jerk I am just curious. Did the dealer separate each job on the service invoice?
And you can call me Buck
Buck
And you can call me Buck
Buck
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Gregster613
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Hi guys,
Buck, (Thank-you for the invite) the distance between my "tractor/implement seller" and myself is 50 miles one way. Equals out to approx 200 miles to come get it, take to his shop and then return it to me and go back home. $ for diesel at the time was approx 3.98 p/gal = approx $50.00 for fuel; & time @ wheel = approx 1 hour each way. I figured $10.00 p/hour to just sit & drive was fair. Total = out to $40.00 just for driving, which = out to $90.00 for that service. I offered & gave him $120.00 for doing it. I wanted to be honest & fair, since he wouldn't quote me a rate.
Invoice, period??? Seperate invoice for the (2) seperate jobs??? Detailed, itemized invoice??? I know I should have been given - or even offered - something along those lines, but I wasn't. I was given a hand writen invoice that said parts and labor.
We had a verbal agreement that the valve install should be around $300.00 and certainly not over $500.00 --thus-- you should understand my jaw-dropping expression when tractor is returned and I'm told the total was $900.00! I questioned everything and was just told "that's what it cost."
To be honest I haven't paid it all yet. I gave him $600.00 and told him he has to wait for any balance because I just don't have it.
To be even further honest, I feel that $600.00 should cover it in full but that's what I'm talking about here; trying to gather an opinion if that is a fair price - or not - since I don't know the individual costs for 1/4" elbows [it took 6] and such. The pictures show what was installed, all are 1/4" lines except for the 3/8" feed from my loader block to valve and the return back to the sump. None of those fittings are gold, silver, or bronze and I'm just baffled by this cost. Am I being flim-flamed???
I have no binding contract to hold me to paying the balance, but I'm an honest man -- if it truly does cost this much for those fittings, then I'll continue to find a way to pay it off. Up until this event I had (what I thought) was a good connection between us. I bought my tractor and all of my implements from him and we got along just fine. Good prices on everything and I know he made $ on every deal but I was content with what my costs were too. Then bam, things got real expensive suddenly. So, I just don't know. I want to be fair, but neither do I wish to be an easy mark.
MYYAZ33 - "Gulp" is exactly what I did when confronted with the final tally for this service work!! So that's the whole story guys. My thoughts are I need to find a new repair place if'n I ever need any further work done to my "lil red beast". And that's a shame because I'm normally a very loyal type of customer. Any further opinions or advice? Believe me, I'm all ears!!!
Thanks for listening --- Greg
Buck, (Thank-you for the invite) the distance between my "tractor/implement seller" and myself is 50 miles one way. Equals out to approx 200 miles to come get it, take to his shop and then return it to me and go back home. $ for diesel at the time was approx 3.98 p/gal = approx $50.00 for fuel; & time @ wheel = approx 1 hour each way. I figured $10.00 p/hour to just sit & drive was fair. Total = out to $40.00 just for driving, which = out to $90.00 for that service. I offered & gave him $120.00 for doing it. I wanted to be honest & fair, since he wouldn't quote me a rate.
Invoice, period??? Seperate invoice for the (2) seperate jobs??? Detailed, itemized invoice??? I know I should have been given - or even offered - something along those lines, but I wasn't. I was given a hand writen invoice that said parts and labor.
We had a verbal agreement that the valve install should be around $300.00 and certainly not over $500.00 --thus-- you should understand my jaw-dropping expression when tractor is returned and I'm told the total was $900.00! I questioned everything and was just told "that's what it cost."
To be honest I haven't paid it all yet. I gave him $600.00 and told him he has to wait for any balance because I just don't have it.
To be even further honest, I feel that $600.00 should cover it in full but that's what I'm talking about here; trying to gather an opinion if that is a fair price - or not - since I don't know the individual costs for 1/4" elbows [it took 6] and such. The pictures show what was installed, all are 1/4" lines except for the 3/8" feed from my loader block to valve and the return back to the sump. None of those fittings are gold, silver, or bronze and I'm just baffled by this cost. Am I being flim-flamed???
I have no binding contract to hold me to paying the balance, but I'm an honest man -- if it truly does cost this much for those fittings, then I'll continue to find a way to pay it off. Up until this event I had (what I thought) was a good connection between us. I bought my tractor and all of my implements from him and we got along just fine. Good prices on everything and I know he made $ on every deal but I was content with what my costs were too. Then bam, things got real expensive suddenly. So, I just don't know. I want to be fair, but neither do I wish to be an easy mark.
MYYAZ33 - "Gulp" is exactly what I did when confronted with the final tally for this service work!! So that's the whole story guys. My thoughts are I need to find a new repair place if'n I ever need any further work done to my "lil red beast". And that's a shame because I'm normally a very loyal type of customer. Any further opinions or advice? Believe me, I'm all ears!!!
Thanks for listening --- Greg
MtnViewRanch
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Greg, not to be a hard nose here, but would you drive for half of a day for $40? What is your dealers hourly rate? That is probably what he charged you for pick up and delivery. It's to bad that he wouldn't give you an itemized bill. When you guys agreed to get this done, was there some sort of cost agreement?
Hope that everything works out for both of you.
Hope that everything works out for both of you.
OP
Gregster613
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Hi Brian,
It's only about an hour each way, so not really 1/2 day per trip, but I can see where it might seem as if I'm being on the cheaper side. Again, I wasn't given a quote for costs to pick up and deliver. Was just told "Whatever you think is reasonable". Well, I thought that was reasonable -- I'd drive an hour or two for $10 p/hour and fuel. Driving is not necessarily a specialized task; doesn't require any specific skills that are expensive to acquire.
Yes, we had a verbal understanding of the cost range this install should fall under. I was told "Should be around $300 and certainly not more than $500 since you've already bought all the large hard parts." At the time of this quote we were talking about the valve install only -- the only adjustment to this agreement was that then my main feed hose {3/8" from pump to loader block - perhaps 24" in length} also needed to be changed. So......
If the valve install costed $300 then it cost me $600 to get that (1) hose replaced! WoW!! If valve install costed $500 then it only cost me $400 to get that (1) hose replaced. WoW!!
My main original question to experienced hydraulic people was -- Just how expensive are elbow couplers and hoses?? It appears to me that they are worth much more than gold on todays market! I was told the mechanics labor was $65 p/hr. As I said, I could have removed that burst feeder hose within 40 minutes if I'd had a steering wheel puller. I can only guess at the amount of time it took his mechanic to do the entire job [I don't have any invoices at all] but 6 hours = $390. It probably took alot less time than that in reality. $300 + $400 = $700. $500 + $400 = $900. This seems like it's really riding on the high side no matter how you slice it up.
I appreciate your comments/thoughts/experience but no matter how I hash it out, it still comes out smelling like a bad deal to me. Which is why I'll do all my own repairs from now on - within my abilities - or I'll be finding a new tractor repair shop.
Although it won't be a TYM shop as none are anywhere near me.
Thanks for listenin'.....Greg
It's only about an hour each way, so not really 1/2 day per trip, but I can see where it might seem as if I'm being on the cheaper side. Again, I wasn't given a quote for costs to pick up and deliver. Was just told "Whatever you think is reasonable". Well, I thought that was reasonable -- I'd drive an hour or two for $10 p/hour and fuel. Driving is not necessarily a specialized task; doesn't require any specific skills that are expensive to acquire.
Yes, we had a verbal understanding of the cost range this install should fall under. I was told "Should be around $300 and certainly not more than $500 since you've already bought all the large hard parts." At the time of this quote we were talking about the valve install only -- the only adjustment to this agreement was that then my main feed hose {3/8" from pump to loader block - perhaps 24" in length} also needed to be changed. So......
If the valve install costed $300 then it cost me $600 to get that (1) hose replaced! WoW!! If valve install costed $500 then it only cost me $400 to get that (1) hose replaced. WoW!!
My main original question to experienced hydraulic people was -- Just how expensive are elbow couplers and hoses?? It appears to me that they are worth much more than gold on todays market! I was told the mechanics labor was $65 p/hr. As I said, I could have removed that burst feeder hose within 40 minutes if I'd had a steering wheel puller. I can only guess at the amount of time it took his mechanic to do the entire job [I don't have any invoices at all] but 6 hours = $390. It probably took alot less time than that in reality. $300 + $400 = $700. $500 + $400 = $900. This seems like it's really riding on the high side no matter how you slice it up.
I appreciate your comments/thoughts/experience but no matter how I hash it out, it still comes out smelling like a bad deal to me. Which is why I'll do all my own repairs from now on - within my abilities - or I'll be finding a new tractor repair shop.
Although it won't be a TYM shop as none are anywhere near me.
Thanks for listenin'.....Greg
MtnViewRanch
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If I were you, I would be figuring 4 hours for pick up and delivery. One hour each way to pick the tractor up equals 2 hours, and the same to return it, so your looking at 4 hours total. You may be willing to drive for $10 an hour, not to many others are. Maybe check with a towing company to see what they would have charged.
I keep bringing up the transportation, because I'm thinking that that is where your cost difference is, not with the actual work at the shop.
Good luck
I keep bringing up the transportation, because I'm thinking that that is where your cost difference is, not with the actual work at the shop.
Good luck
OP
Gregster613
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Hi Brian,
You're probably right about $10 - $15 p/hr being to little. I'd do it but I enjoy driving and my time is mine. I shouldn't have allowed myself to get into this fix; guess I shoulda been more forceful with my repair person and demanded a paper quote at start.
But, I wanted my tractor fixed asap and the tnt installed while it was in the shop. I'm dissappointed that he wasn't more professional but that's the way the ball bounces. I'm very satisfied with my new system and just thrilled to have my tractor back home.
I wish now that I'd never even mentioned the high cost in the first place. I was just shocked at the price tag! I'm just gonna pay the balance and be done with it. Lesson learned in my book per repair transactions.
As I said, if I ever need any more work done that I just can't do -- I'll use my local Montana dealer. He's only about 3 miles away and if'n I'm not doing warranty work a mechanic is a mechanic I guess.
Thanks.........Greg
You're probably right about $10 - $15 p/hr being to little. I'd do it but I enjoy driving and my time is mine. I shouldn't have allowed myself to get into this fix; guess I shoulda been more forceful with my repair person and demanded a paper quote at start.
But, I wanted my tractor fixed asap and the tnt installed while it was in the shop. I'm dissappointed that he wasn't more professional but that's the way the ball bounces. I'm very satisfied with my new system and just thrilled to have my tractor back home.
I wish now that I'd never even mentioned the high cost in the first place. I was just shocked at the price tag! I'm just gonna pay the balance and be done with it. Lesson learned in my book per repair transactions.
As I said, if I ever need any more work done that I just can't do -- I'll use my local Montana dealer. He's only about 3 miles away and if'n I'm not doing warranty work a mechanic is a mechanic I guess.
Thanks.........Greg
