"Can borrow your tractor?"

[skyhook]

Just tell him "you couldn't afford the fuel for it", she drinks about $80 bucks worth an hour. Then ask him how many hours he needs it for....lol

 

[check]

My dad loaned a chain saw to a friend for a little cleanup around his new house. It came back and would not start. When dad asked what had happened he said, "I was almost done and ran out of the gas you sent with the saw and so I put some pure gas in it to finish up. I only ran it a little bit so I am sure that it didn't hurt it but it stopped and I don't know what is wrong." So we rebuilt the engine on the saw and never loaned anything out again. Lesson learned. I do have one guy that if he asked I would loan it to him but he has never asked and I don't think he would. Anyone else I will do it or just say no. Ed

The chainsaw is the last thing that I would loan to anybody. Too dangerous.

 

[check]

Yeah.....every 2 cycle engine needs some 'pure gas' now and then.......ahahahaaaa Joke: One guy asks his neighbor to borrow his chainsaw. Other neighbor says "No, can't lend it to you....I have to make soup today." "What has making soup to do with you lending me your saw ?" "Well, nothing. But if I don't want to do something, isn't one excuse about as good as another ? "

That's a great one! I have to try that.

 

[check]

I adopted a policy several years back, if I like you and if you need help, then you really need my personal help and the tractor is just a tool to get a job done and may or may not be used. I once loaned a friend tractor with a 15' brush-hog to clear a overgrown pasture, I warned him is was designed as stalk cutter and would throw stuff out the back a long way, so make sure the field as clear. Well, he parked his truck in the field, hit a piece of metal and broke a door window out of his truck, had the basketballs to ask if I would pay or claim it on my insurance. My wife does get mad when I tell neighbors who ask to use anything that if they are willing to work their way thru college, work hard for 24 years in the Navy, retire and start a second career, save money and not spend beyond their means, they could either afford to hire the work out or buy the item they want to borrow... BTW- their are some good folks out their, I have a new neighbor who asked what my thoughts are on getting yard drainage around his new to him home fixed, he has some really bad drainage problems that is allowing water into his basement, I showed him my drain arrangement around my house and figured that is what he needed. Next day, he is out digging around his house with a shovel and pick, I go over and ask to help him and he politely said no, he would get it done and did not want to burden anybody else, I told him no burden on me, so we dig hard for about 8 hours that day, he never complained once. We might have got 15' about 6' down dug in some really hard clay. The next day, I bring my shovel and pick over, the backhoe, he was concerned that he could not afford to pay me, I told him no money, just be a good neighbor. I finished the dig out that day, he seemed overwhelmed that someone would do that. His wife baked me some bread and painted a watercolor of me on my backhoe, hmm, better than money to me, good neighbors that do not believe you own them something...

An amazing "salt of the earth" neighbour, KY - you are very lucky to have him!

 

[Deere Dude]

The chainsaw is the last thing that I would loan to anybody. Too dangerous.

I have a friend camping group that offered me the use of a bunch of scaffolding which I accepted and it worked great for my new addition on my house. He also let me use his sheet metal bender just out of the blue. I told him I was looking for a pole saw to buy and he just told me I would use his new Stihl pole saw and he said it was just sitting there anyway.

I declined because I understand how things can happen with saws. Fast forward to Thursday after checking out forums on what to buy I decided to buy a Stihl pole saw.

I took it home and showed my wife and she said, "You pain $650 for that. Are you nuts?" I told her it would pay for itself in no time.

She went away so I went to the edge of the woods and found a branch about 10" in diameter and 12' off the ground to practice on. I under cut it, top cut it half way through then went on the other side to finish it off. No sooner than I started cutting the branch came down and slammed the saw to the ground. It happened that fast. I bent the telescoping pole section on maybe a 30 deg bend. I took it to the house and bent it sort of straight but didn't work right.

After dinner I told my wife the saw had a vibration in the saw so I took it back to the dealer to fix it. I did not tell her what happened for very obvious reasons; she would rip my face off.

In hindsight I should have used my friends saw.

 

[Mysfyt]

One thing I learned the hard way. Once you start lending something out, how do you stop it. (Without being an ahole about it)
Keep this in mind before making a decision. Think of Kramer on Seinfeld.

 

[oosik]

Loaning tractors & other tools - Ha. Loaned my very heavy duty draw knife to a friend so he could peel some fence posts. He promptly had it slip and he pulled the knife right into his knee. He almost cut his knee cap off, it became infected, it developed gangrene - he ended up having multiple operations and is still gimp in that leg after 40+ years.

How was I to know he was a klutz with simple tools. Thank God he didn't borrow my chain saw.

 

[homedad]

Years ago my neighbor asked to borrow my Kubota L185 DT to spread some fill. He returned it and handed me the muffler with half of the cast elbow still attached to the end of the muffler. No apology, no offer to fix it or money to fix it. Just said thanks and walked away. It was only about $25 but a very cheap lesson. It gave me an excuse for everyone who ever wants to borrow my stuff. I recently told his now ex-wife's new husband this story when he wanted to borrow a tool. She wasn't surprised.

 

[davesl708]

I will loan a hand tool but no power tools. My SCUT is to unstable to let someone with no experience use it with a FEL. Not to mention what would they try to ram out of the ground with it.

I would do the work for them but not let them operate it.

 

[Howling]

After dinner I told my wife the saw had a vibration in the saw so I took it back to the dealer to fix it. I did not tell her what happened for very obvious reasons; she would rip my face off.

Hope your wife doesn't read this forum.

The only friend I would lend my tractor to already has a similar tractor with a backhoe.

 

[jenkinsph]

If anyone is insensitive enough to want to borrow my tractors I just tell them no. Most neighbors and friends I will help out on when I can. I loan tools on RARE occasions only as I use them to make my living.

 

[STx]

My true friends, I would loan just about anything to without hesitation and they'll do the same for me. That said, my true friends would never ask to borrow my tractor, they'd offer to pay me to come do a job for them, I'd refuse payment and do the job after which, we'd all have dinner and wine/beer.

A neighbor, no way they're borrowing anything.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

People think the FEL on a compact is good for digging their project. Sorry, but they don't dig worth a flip in our clay soil.

I come with the tractor if it gets used on neighbor projects.

 

[STx]

People think the FEL on a compact is good for digging their project. Sorry, but they don't dig worth a flip in our clay soil.

I come with the tractor if it gets used on neighbor projects.

I tell those people something I read here once. "It's called a front end LOADER, not a front end DIGGER." That usually takes care of that.

 

[Creamer]

My true friends, I would loan just about anything to without hesitation and they'll do the same for me. That said, my true friends would never ask to borrow my tractor, they'd offer to pay me to come do a job for them, I'd refuse payment and do the job after which, we'd all have dinner and wine/beer.

A neighbor, no way they're borrowing anything.

Absolutely! Done this many times. It is the best way to have friends.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have never had anyone ask to borrow my tractor. My brother in law can use anyone anytime he wants and I can use his but that just doesn't happen. Anytime he needs a tractor like I have, I go with it to do the work. Mostly it is my backhoe that is needed for a hole to bury one of his animals that has died. Sometimes he will ask me to come over and smooth out some dirt close to a building. He is not very good at judging distances with his NH tractor with cab, so I bring my little B26 over, he becomes the spotter and we get within a couple inches of a building to grade out the dirt fill.
If it is a bigger job, I may use my LS P7010 and again, my B-I-L becomes the spotter which is a requirement for me with the cab on my LS, it is very hard to see the front of the bucket.
I also have done a little work for each of my neighbors. None of them ask to borrow my tractor but ask if I could do some small chore for them. They never offer to pay and I wouldn't accept if offered.

Just last summer a neighbor asked if I would bring my backhoe over and dig a hole for him to bury his Great Dane dog. I swear that dog was as big as a calf and the dirt was almost like concrete but we got it done. No way was he going to dig that hole with a pick before the dog started to smell.
Every neighbor around me has gotten a favor or two or three from my equipment but never asked to borrow anything. I think that they are all professional enough(we are in a farming community) to know that borrowing a tractor is just not done but a good neighbor will help out when asked. What with me being retired, just an opportunity to do some work is enough. Many times, I have seen work needing to be done and just volunteered to come over and do it whether it is tractor work or just handy man needs. Last week I built a door for a pump house for my neighbor. He had a guy that was suppose to do that, but had not done it since last summer, so I did the work from some scrap lumber and siding that I had, even put some insulation on the back side. I will eventually mount if also when he (actually his wife does most of the work because he has COPD) gets ready to supervise.

 

[kryptzard]

I have never had anyone ask to borrow my tractor. My brother in law can use anyone anytime he wants and I can use his but that just doesn't happen. Anytime he needs a tractor like I have, I go with it to do the work. Mostly it is my backhoe that is needed for a hole to bury one of his animals that has died. Sometimes he will ask me to come over and smooth out some dirt close to a building. He is not very good at judging distances with his NH tractor with cab, so I bring my little B26 over, he becomes the spotter and we get within a couple inches of a building to grade out the dirt fill.
If it is a bigger job, I may use my LS P7010 and again, my B-I-L becomes the spotter which is a requirement for me with the cab on my LS, it is very hard to see the front of the bucket.
I also have done a little work for each of my neighbors. None of them ask to borrow my tractor but ask if I could do some small chore for them. They never offer to pay and I wouldn't accept if offered.

Just last summer a neighbor asked if I would bring my backhoe over and dig a hole for him to bury his Great Dane dog. I swear that dog was as big as a calf and the dirt was almost like concrete but we got it done. No way was he going to dig that hole with a pick before the dog started to smell.
Every neighbor around me has gotten a favor or two or three from my equipment but never asked to borrow anything. I think that they are all professional enough(we are in a farming community) to know that borrowing a tractor is just not done but a good neighbor will help out when asked. What with me being retired, just an opportunity to do some work is enough. Many times, I have seen work needing to be done and just volunteered to come over and do it whether it is tractor work or just handy man needs. Last week I built a door for a pump house for my neighbor. He had a guy that was suppose to do that, but had not done it since last summer, so I did the work from some scrap lumber and siding that I had, even put some insulation on the back side. I will eventually mount if also when he (actually his wife does most of the work because he has COPD) gets ready to supervise.

I never loan tools to anyone who can't afford to replace them. I had a guy ask about using the tractor for some digging tonight. I sort of shifted the discussion to rentals but didn't want to just say no even though that's always what I tell them.

How do you guys deal with these types of questions?

I paid way too much to loan out my pride and joy.

I always say "NO, please don't take offense, it is too big of a liability for me". Unless I am willing to do the work myself for them, then it's "what can we barter?" Always an even playing field... making gifts in life reciprocal... speak soft and clear.

 

[kryptzard]

I always say "NO, please don't take offense, it is too big of a liability for me". Unless I am willing to do the work myself for them, then it's "what can we barter?" Always an even playing field... making gifts in life reciprocal... speak soft and clear.

My neighbor charges me cash to dig my culvert out every couple years, ... I still don't have a back hoe... but I have no prob paying him.

 

[paulfun9]

No! Its a very simple word and one I use when almost anyone wants to borrow anything!

 

[kryptzard]

I always say "NO, please don't take offense, it is too big of a liability for me". Unless I am willing to do the work myself for them, then it's "what can we barter?" Always an even playing field... making gifts in life reciprocal... speak soft and clear.

I never loan tools to anyone who can't afford to replace them. I had a guy ask about using the tractor for some digging tonight. I sort of shifted the discussion to rentals but didn't want to just say no even though that's always what I tell them.

How do you guys deal with these types of questions?

I paid way too much to loan out my pride and joy.

If it is a good friend, a neighbor, or someone who is otherwise a good guy, I will bring my tractor over and do the work while he watches and directs. I will bring my tractor to the church and work there. When our house in CA burned down a few years back, a member of our church, who is a retired electrician, drove 500 miles to help us with the electrical part of the rebuild. On his own dime. I did some work at his house a few weeks ago.

Otherwise, it is just not going to happen.

There is one person I will let take my tractor -- he is a very close friend, closer than a brother. Ex-marine, hunting companion, 25+ years clean and sober, honest, and very careful. No one with lesser qualifications should even ask.

I have never had anyone ask to borrow my tractor. My brother in law can use anyone anytime he wants and I can use his but that just doesn't happen. Anytime he needs a tractor like I have, I go with it to do the work. Mostly it is my backhoe that is needed for a hole to bury one of his animals that has died. Sometimes he will ask me to come over and smooth out some dirt close to a building. He is not very good at judging distances with his NH tractor with cab, so I bring my little B26 over, he becomes the spotter and we get within a couple inches of a building to grade out the dirt fill.
If it is a bigger job, I may use my LS P7010 and again, my B-I-L becomes the spotter which is a requirement for me with the cab on my LS, it is very hard to see the front of the bucket.
I also have done a little work for each of my neighbors. None of them ask to borrow my tractor but ask if I could do some small chore for them. They never offer to pay and I wouldn't accept if offered.

Just last summer a neighbor asked if I would bring my backhoe over and dig a hole for him to bury his Great Dane dog. I swear that dog was as big as a calf and the dirt was almost like concrete but we got it done. No way was he going to dig that hole with a pick before the dog started to smell.
Every neighbor around me has gotten a favor or two or three from my equipment but never asked to borrow anything. I think that they are all professional enough(we are in a farming community) to know that borrowing a tractor is just not done but a good neighbor will help out when asked. What with me being retired, just an opportunity to do some work is enough. Many times, I have seen work needing to be done and just volunteered to come over and do it whether it is tractor work or just handy man needs. Last week I built a door for a pump house for my neighbor. He had a guy that was suppose to do that, but had not done it since last summer, so I did the work from some scrap lumber and siding that I had, even put some insulation on the back side. I will eventually mount if also when he (actually his wife does most of the work because he has COPD) gets ready to supervise.

Absolutely! Done this many times. It is the best way to have friends.

Logical... well said!