Busy weekend

[brain55]

My helper and I did full services on 4 machines this weekend. A Cat 420D, a 420E, a 928G, and a John Deere 410G. These poor machines haven't been getting their services done. I did a 420E earlier this week for the same customer that had 900 hrs on the engine oil. None of the 4 this weekend had the engine oil filters marked, but one had 2000+ hrs on the transmission and hydraulic oils and another hadn't had its hyd and trans oil changed since its 250 hr service it has 6000 hrs on it now. Judging from the diff and final drive oils some had never been done. All of these machines had 5-6000 hrs. We took oil samples from everything along with adjusting the valves. It was two full days of work for both of us.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Are they changing oils and coolants by analysis reports? I know from experience that you can greatly increase service intervals that way in most, but not all cases. Chances are that the company has been deferring maintenance for some other reason.
Sweet operation you have there.

 

[brain55]

They had company mechanics that weren't doing their job,

 

[Bob Rooks]

They had company mechanics that weren't doing their job,

WOW! Ya, that'll do it!
A bad mechanic is expensive, a good mechanic is priceless.

 

[brain55]

Yeah unfortunately their current mechanic is likely to lose his job over this. They hired him to take care of their fleet of trucks but he sold them on being able to take care of their equipment too and apparently was being compensated accordingly. The problem isn't so much that it was too big of a job for one guy, but that guy never said anything and the boss was under the impression that it was all getting handled.

 

[aczlan]

Yeah unfortunately their current mechanic is likely to lose his job over this. They hired him to take care of their fleet of trucks but he sold them on being able to take care of their equipment too and apparently was being compensated accordingly. The problem isn't so much that it was too big of a job for one guy, but that guy never said anything and the boss was under the impression that it was all getting handled.

Out of curiosity, how did they find you to get their equipment caught up on its maintenance?

Aaron Z

 

[brain55]

It was kind of a referral/cold call. One of the local Ditch Witch salesmen told me they needed some help so I stopped by to see them last year. He hadn't told them anything about me, so in that sense it was like a cold call. I have been doing repair work and welding for them as needed but they were supposed to be taking care of the maintenance. Now I'm catching up there whole equipment fleet. It is going to be a huge month for me.

 

[aczlan]

It was kind of a referral/cold call. One of the local Ditch Witch salesmen told me they needed some help so I stopped by to see them last year. He hadn't told them anything about me, so in that sense it was like a cold call. I have been doing repair work and welding for them as needed but they were supposed to be taking care of the maintenance. Now I'm catching up there whole equipment fleet. It is going to be a huge month for me.

Awesome. Glad to hear that you are able to find enough work to keep yourself and your helper busy.

Aaron Z

 

[brain55]

Thanks, I'd like a couple more customers like this. I could easily justify moving up to the bigger truck and trailer. It puts me in a tough spot. Can I add the new customers without upgrading or do I need the upgrade first.

 

[aczlan]

Thanks, I'd like a couple more customers like this. I could easily justify moving up to the bigger truck and trailer. It puts me in a tough spot. Can I add the new customers without upgrading or do I need the upgrade first.

A chicken and egg situation if I ever saw one.
If you buy it now, you could end up being stuck with the payments and not have enough work to pay for your new truck.
On the other hand, it would be easier to have the downtime needed to switch trucks and get your new trailer setup just so if you dont yet have the business needed to keep the new truck busy all the time.

Good luck

Aaron Z

 

[brain55]

I think the climate is right for my business right now. The economy is getting better but I think many businesses are in the same position I am. They need to grow but aren't sure if they can justify it yet. I think I have a two year window here before things get good enough for businesses to justify the expense of their own mechanic or additional mechanic.

 

[aczlan]

Makes sense. They can have you come in a couple of times per week/month as needed and take up the slack without having to make the commitment that hiring an additional mechanic would entail.

Aaron Z

 

[3930dave]

Hi Brain - congratulations on landing a new sizable customer. I don't know if it as bad where you are as here (People's Republik of Ontario, Canada), but with all the all the government overhead and payroll taxes, etc. in place in ON, many companies don't want to hire employees directly, even when things are good !

The honest and competent mechanics that I know that work on high value machinery usually only have one real problem - not enough hours in the day ! Best wishes for your expansion plans.

Those oil samples might have been just to show the customer, but if you do get any UOA done, please let us know the results if you feel like sharing.

That has to be some pretty beat to **** lube.

Rgds, D.

 

[brain55]

Thanks Dave. My helper has another part-time job that takes care of his benefits and he is comfortable with getting paid when I collect from my customers. So for right now it is a great situation for both of us.

I will definitely let you guys know about any oil results I get. We are doing two more machines tomorrow, and I'm heading out Saturday to do the repairs that needed to be done on the machines from last weekend.

Brian