Would You Loan It Out?

[hornett22]

I think he was hinting that those borrowers are family members, which might be a little awkward.

I know who he was referring to. Family members are usually the worst. They feel entitled to your stuff because you're family. If you do let them, you either never see it again, have to chase them down, or get it back broken.

Oddly, they usually never anything worth borrowing. If they do, they always have an excuse why you can't borrow it.

 

[hornett22]

I waited nearly 6 months for a contractor I hired, to install rip-rap on a a few hundred feet of deep creek bank. He needed to clear scrub vegetation, weeds and small saplings, and couldn't get his chain saw to run. He told his teenage helper to start swinging a weed sickle, which he did for a while, but wasn't making much progress.

I asked him what he was going to do, and his answer was to probably come back another time. (???). So I offered to loan him my chainsaw and brush-cutter, both of which I bought new more than 25 years ago, always take proper care of, and they have never failed me.

I filled them with my Amsoil 2 stoke mix (light blue), and fired them right up. They used them for most of the morning, then took a lunch break. I saw the young lad fill the tanks from their 5 gal gas can, and they started using them. Then I saw them using the sickle again, so I went out to see what was going on.

Contractor said your saws aren't working. Asked why, and he shrugged it off, and said their probably too old. I said, they might be old, but they run just fine (both were Homelite 2 stroke saws).

Turns out, he topped them off with straight gas, not 2 stroke, and said their your saws; it's not my problem". He never gave me even a dollar off his more than $18,000 bill.

Both engines were seized. Scored cylinder walls, broken ring and scored pistons. Both saws trashed, and I never even got a thank you, or a sorry about the saws.

Some people are just takers. There is only one person, a good friend and retired jet engine mechanic, who I will load tools or equipment to. Otherwise, no.

You should have deducted it for him.

 

[4570Man]

Usually I’d be ok with loaning a tiller. But after the guy already screwed me out of $50 that would be a no.

 

[nbking]

Uh uh, no way, no how. Glad you got your tiller back. Now go get your $50, if he refuses, there's your reason for next time he asks.

 

[dirttoys]

Uh uh, no way, no how. Glad you got your tiller back. Now go get your $50, if he refuses, there's your reason for next time he asks.

This is a good position, I hate lying or blaming it on insurance, but, calming reminding the dork he screwed you, and you remember, is a pretty defensible position.

Best,

ed

 

[Williy]

You should have pointed out he still owes
you $50 and you don't loan out your equipment
but he can go to the rent it shop to rent what he
needs. Tilling up new ground you don't know if
he has any rocks that could damage your tiller
and I don't think he would pay for any new parts

willy

 

[sd455dan]

If he calls for it again , I would direct him to apply the $50 he saved not paying you and apply it to a rental, or if he prefers a tiller purchase of his choice.

 

[jaxs]

What we are talking about is self-centeredness that happens to manifest when sharing pocessions,faith,wealth and a host of other things including love. I think it must feel pretty cold and lonely.

 

[Jstpssng]

A side post... If acetylene is unstable at more than 15 psi why do regulators allow higher settings. The regulator's gauge have red lines at 15 psi.

Here's the connection, a friend asked to borrow my oxy/acetylene kit. He had several stuck fasteners. When I asked if he was familiar with using a torch to cut... A negative answer prompted me to do it for him.

In a similar vein, allowing a "wanna be" to use a potentially dangerous attachment as a tiller is to be regretted in a court room or hospital.

My father used torches all of his life. When the Alzheimer's was starting to take over though he tried to use them and had to call the fire department to put out the fire. He blamed it on a bad hose, but I suspect he just turned up the gauge too high. At any rate he turned his tanks in after that, even though he owned them.

 

[Jstpssng]

What we are talking about is self-centeredness that happens to manifest when sharing pocessions,faith,wealth and a host of other things including love. I think it must feel pretty cold and lonely.

I think that many people see all that you have and think you can afford to loan it. What they don't understand is that you have what you do from working hard, saving... and not loaning it out to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who is just starting out.