Who do you let borrow your trailer?

[Sackett2]

Mostly, people short me of gas if and when i lend a vehicle- most recently was my truck and trailer to the neighbor kid when he was moving into town. He promised to fill it but I knew his real finances- I couldn't afford to fill it at that time.

Anyway, a few borrowing stories from my end.
Borrowed a older Troy built tiller from my best friend; and within oh 1/2 hour it stopped running. I had not checked the oil, and it was dry. As this tiller had a extra shaft for reverse gear, I couldn't just replace it with with a standard 5 horse engine; so I spent about 200 dollars, rebuilt it, added electronic ignition and painted it pretty!
Needed to cut into a home made septic tank to pump it- I had a sawsall at my parents house-but borrowed one from my father-in-law, just next door. His was a great Harbor Freight line- did about 5 strokes when the plastic gears stripped. He got a real one for Christmas.
Then was doing laminate flooring in the house (in fact, he owns the house I'm doing all the work on) and borrowed his "under 100 dollar" table saw- Dad has one but not practical to move. Its motor sized up during the project- he got a replacement saw.
Borrowed a old Chevy truck from a friend years ago- to tow my 1950 Ford from Oregon to Arizona. He ended up with two new tires, a water pump, leaf spring centering bolt, tune up - couldn't get the quadra-jet corrected befor I returned it..

Anyway, don't you all buy cheap tools and ask to lend them to me- the free replacement policy applied to my family.

 

[Groo]

A friend of mine at college asked to borrow my snowmobile less than a month after I got a new one. I thought about and said ok. he showed up to get it and saw the new sled and said something to the affect of ,"Oh didn't know you had a new sled, I woulnd't have asked to borrow it." I said "If I didn't have a new sled, I wouldn't have said yes. The old one was always breaking, if something goes wrong, who pays? If something goes wrong with this one, Yamaha pays". nothing went wrong, and he was so happy with it, he switched over to yamaha for the next 5 sleds at least.

My dad borrowed a very old 3 point mower. the bearings let go while he was using it, sent the blades throught the deck, gear box was thrash. not worth fixing it. I don't know if he bought him a new one, or just some cash toward a new one. he did buy a new one for himself, maybe offered to lend it back whenever. They are still friend and still lend stuff out.

basicly borrowing new is OK, because you know what its worth and random mechanical breakdows that may or may not be opperater related are rare.

borrowing something old is a can of worms.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

My problem is that I'm not in a position to afford all of the various things I need or want to use. I've had to borrow a lot in my life, and I'm greatly indebted to many different people for their generosity. I've always tried to return things in as good or better condition than I found them.

Now that I have a few things that others may need from time to time, I try my hardest to lend whatever I can. The only time I'm reluctant to lend is when lack of experience may create a hazard for someone. (i.e. my tractor, streetbike, etc.)

I am glad, though, that my dad finally got a full size truck of his own. Everytime he'd borrow mine he'd put in $10 - $15 in gas and not tell me. It always screwed me up whenever I'd fill up and try to calculate my gas mileage.

 

[rcowan]

Sackett you are killing me.

It sounds like some of my experiences

Mostly, people short me of gas if and when i lend a vehicle- most recently was my truck and trailer to the neighbor kid when he was moving into town. He promised to fill it but I knew his real finances- I couldn't afford to fill it at that time.

Anyway, a few borrowing stories from my end.
Borrowed a older Troy built tiller from my best friend; and within oh 1/2 hour it stopped running. I had not checked the oil, and it was dry. As this tiller had a extra shaft for reverse gear, I couldn't just replace it with with a standard 5 horse engine; so I spent about 200 dollars, rebuilt it, added electronic ignition and painted it pretty!
Needed to cut into a home made septic tank to pump it- I had a sawsall at my parents house-but borrowed one from my father-in-law, just next door. His was a great Harbor Freight line- did about 5 strokes when the plastic gears stripped. He got a real one for Christmas.
Then was doing laminate flooring in the house (in fact, he owns the house I'm doing all the work on) and borrowed his "under 100 dollar" table saw- Dad has one but not practical to move. Its motor sized up during the project- he got a replacement saw.
Borrowed a old Chevy truck from a friend years ago- to tow my 1950 Ford from Oregon to Arizona. He ended up with two new tires, a water pump, leaf spring centering bolt, tune up - couldn't get the quadra-jet corrected befor I returned it..

Anyway, don't you all buy cheap tools and ask to lend them to me- the free replacement policy applied to my family.

 

[powerstroke444e]

I have a group of friends and family and we share almost everything (still trying to get some to take the exwife) and it is understood we all keep equipment in good shape and we all have blanket equipment coverage on our insurance and if you break it you fix it, can't afford to fix it don't borrow it. If you don't share your equipment or have any equipment worth sharing your SOL. By the way the fuel tank should always be full when you start and when you finish.

 

[deere755]

I loan mine out but to only people who bring it back in the same shape they found it in or better. I still let my ex son-in-law use it but not my new son-in-law, makes for interesting holidays. I don't use my trailer much in the winter so right now it is sitting in the shed loaded with fire wood. If someone wants to use it I tell them they are welcome to use it but they need to unload the wood first. Most of the time they figure out something else to do.

 

[ragkar]

I've never loaned something out without getting it back broken in some way.

 

[gboudreau]

I've got a gooseneck trailer so when anyone asks I simply tell them they don't have the proper set up to tow it. My brother and father have gooseneck hitches and they are about the only ones I woudl let borrow it.

 

[jgrreed]

I seen lots of good criteria on this thread as to who to lend to, but I haven't seen anyone say that you should make sure that the person you are lending to is not only willing, or capable of fixing what they screw up, but also that they can afford to do it. I've got a jetski with a beaten-up impeller that I lent to a good friend who would give his last dollar to you if he could, and is more than capable of repairing it, but his last dollar went to his mortgage therefore my jetski will likely remain unrepaired until I bankroll it.

Uuuuggghhh....

-Jer.

 

[NuBota]

I have the opposite problem - my small group of friends won't borrow from me - even when I offer. Of course I am the same way, so maybe that is why. I will generally buy or rent what I need and so do they - not sure if it's just over-politeness or what. I don't think it's a trust issue - hope not - but stating to get a complex about it

But, I have two trucks - '03 RAM 2500 and '95 F-350 (250K+ miles,just can't bring myself to get rid of it - runs great - good workhorse). The Ford sits more so i encourage people to please use it. If they kill it accidentally, I won't really care - because I will know they weren't careless. The only one I know will borrow it is a specific family member and is the only one I will not loan it to because I know it will return broken if at all

The only neighbor/friend that would borrow stuff was in my old neighborhood - and he treated my stuff much better than I did - almost to the point that I would clean it up before lending due to embarrassment. And, of course, we generally worked together on each of our many projects just for the social aspect of it.