I Guess I've Lost Touch

[g_man]

Went into a local saw shop today. A big sign posted on the door said "Effective Nov 1 the labor rate is $60 per hour. Payment up front is required."

I remember making 65 cents an hour. A 44 hour week got me $28.60.

[Autocar]

Your not alone , everything is out of hand . This would be a better country if everyone went back to $10.00 a hour and get stuff back into reality. Well everyone except loggers  ;D

[clww]

I've been seeing anywhere from $45 to $60 per hour around here for the past 3 years.
It adds up when the labor is more expensive than the parts you get replaced.

[albirk]

it don't take long in the shop to get a bill for more then you payed for the saw

[ladylake]

  A good reason to learn how to fix them yourself, most times I'll have a saw fixed in the same time it would take to haul it to the dealer.   Steve

[Cut4fun]

Thats what got me into fixing my own stuff. Shop wanted $200+ to fix a saw. I bought the parts and half that was the cost was shipping for $16 total and my labor extra. Saw still cutting 5 years later.

[Al_Smith]

You're going to pay 60 bucks an hour no matter if it's a saw,your automobile or a dishwasher .Keep in mind that a lot of repair shops use a flat rate book too which figures about the maximum  time it takes for repairs .

The "back room " of a lot of saw shops are filled with repairable saw which the shop has generously  taken in leau of a fee for the estimate of repairs providing a new saw was purchased from them .Fact is periodically I visit these nice people and purchase those saws for pennys . 8)

[Coon]

I just got a quote the other day to get the clutch replaced in my old work pickup.  The shop wanted $85 per hour and he said it would take six hours to do the job.  I gave the guy a nasty look and told him he was nothing but a crook cuz I could do the job myself in my backyard in half the time.  I already had the parts which was about half of what the truck was worth.  The labour through this guy would have came to more than what I paid for the truck five years ago. At his prices I'll be more than happy to do the job out in the snowbank myself.  I think I will give one of my friends a call to come help me.  It won't be anything the two of us and a good ol' bottle of 7 Year Beam can't handle.  ;D

Brad.

[Al_Smith]

 A couple of years ago the water pump went out on the '90 Caddy my wife had at the time .The flat rate book said about 8 hours labor .I thought nonsense .They were right it took me the whole danged day to do it .

[Cut4fun]

I like things you buy that say simple assembly, takes only so so amount of time to assemble. Right then I know I am in for a world of hurt that DAY  :D.

[SwampDonkey]

I visit these nice people and purchase those saws for pennys . 8)

Well, they are nice enough people, but when they start looking up prices online for new and place that price on a used part it's time to leave or just buy a new part. No way would I pay "new "price" on an old part. I can find someone with an old saw and then buy it for pennies, yes. But, not at any repair shop.

[OAP]

A couple of years ago the water pump went out on the '90 Caddy my wife had at the time .The flat rate book said about 8 hours labor .I thought nonsense .They were right it took me the whole danged day to do it .

Well I hope you went back and apologiesed to the man, when you had finished saving yourself the best part of $500. ;D

[Al_Smith]

Well I wasn't talking neccessarily about buying used parts ,just used saws the dealers have .The last 200T I bought set me back twenty bucks .Previously I got a low hour 038 Av for 40-45  with a broken handle which I eventually replaced .Some like Poulans of certain models they almost give away .

They can't repair them for what a replacement saw would cost in many cases .In addition many do not repair used saws and then resell them because a lemon would be a bad reflection upon their business .

Take like a trade in at a car dealer  .Most go through the auction because nothing would infuriate a customer more than trading in a car and get maybe 3 grand for it then later seeing it sitting on the same lot priced at 7 thou .Talk about mad as wet hen . :D

[SwampDonkey]

There's no shame around here, that's business as usual. ;D I've traded a 5 year old car with low mileage (50,000 km) and not winter driven and they were selling same car with 3 or 4 times that mileage same price.  : When you go to sell a car here, it's based on year and the tax man has a book they look up to collect the tax. The only way to challenge that is to have a licensed mechanic appraise it.

[Cut4fun]

Hey Al if you find one of those cheap 034 so I can make a 036 or  036 360 holler my way. I'm wanting a 62cc 036 to compare to my 362xp and a 044 to compare to my 372xp.

Just something to do over winter.

[Al_Smith]

I'll be making the rounds as soon as I get this danged "home improvement "thing done .Lawdy I hate working on a house with a passion although I'm pretty good at it .

Usually they find out their saws are on the fritz about this time of year and they get traded in .It's kinda like a box of chocolates ,you just never might know what's lurking in the "back room " .Usually the typical assortment of 10-10 Macs or old Stihls like an 032 or some such thing .One day I might get lucky and find an 066 or 084  but I won't hold my breath on that one .

However on that 034/036 it's on the to-do list this winter .Saw improvement as opposed to home improvement of which I'm much more fond of . ;)

[sawguy21]

Only the retired guy working out of his garage charges 60 bucks an hour around here. The well established OPE shops are 80 plus now. Rent, wages and insurance don't drop just because the mechanic is trying to nurse an old beater back to life as opposed to working on new stuff. In fact the cheap pos often costs more because he has to correct somebody else's goofs like the stripped 10-32 machine screw that should be a metric.

[Al_Smith]

Well I'm not retired altough I could be and I get 55 bucks an hour to run those machines in my shop .I'm also real selective of whom I do work for .I've got a good job in major industry and I'll be danged if I do work for those who want to nickle and dime me  on stuff I basically do as a hobby .

I look at it like this .If someone uses the products of my labor and knowledge as basically a hobby such as hotsaws I seldom charge a dime .If however someone uses same as a means of commerce in that a profit is expected then I expect my piece of that pie .Just the way it is .

[Cut4fun]

Al I worked for beer  the other day  trouble shooting a new strato poulan with spring AV      told the guy pick up something I havent tried and bring the saw with him.  That Samuel Adams Oktoberfest is some dang good tasting beer IMO ;)

Muffler mod, carb tune and the sucker cut for what it is.  Dont let anyone say strato's dont take to a muffler mod, thats is bs, this sucker took to it just like the old school ones  8).

Had to order the new oiler, but hey that gives me a chance to try another beer  ;D 

[JohnG28]

Hey Cut4fun, I agree that's some good beer. For what it costs your still getting paid well for your time too. ;D

[Al_Smith]

Oh you can't believe half the stuff some people say on the net especially about saws .It would make sense a fairly new stock saw such as this Poulan could benefit from more flow .Interesting about the springs because that 46 cc job which I modded  is around early 80's with springs .

Beer's good though .I did a 3 cube R-Red last summer for a guy and was only going to charge him 25 plus the price of a carb kit .I think he gave me 45 and a case of Bud so that wasn't so bad .Can't remember the model number off hand but I have an idea it could make a 3 cube cookie cutter with a little massaging . ;D

Later though he told me the saw shop wanted 60 minimum .I had maybe a half hour in it tops including laying a file to the chain .

[saw_nut]

Went into a local saw shop today. A big sign posted on the door said "Effective Nov 1 the labor rate is $60 per hour. Payment up front is required."

I remember making 65 cents an hour. A 44 hour week got me $28.60.

I feel bad charging $25. Most shops here are $45.

[caveman]

I agree the labor charges folks are charging are out of sight.  Saturday, the shuttle shift cable on my relatively new Kubota tractor broke.  I did not even ask about having the dealer fix it because I knew it would cost too much for my budget.  The cable alone was about $73 and I got it fixed this evening after work.  I really do not like working on my own stuff, I would rather spend my time using it but usually when my stuff breaks, I try to fix it in order to save a few bucks.

On those occasions when I am unable to fix my own stuff, I have a retired neighbor (he works harder and longer than most who go to work every day) who has one arm and an eighth grade education who can fix just about anything.  A lot of times he does not charge me anything or if he does it is only $10-$20.  He has taught me a lot about fixing stuff and how to treat folks.  His yard is always full of cars and mowers and his garage is usually full of chainsaws and weed eaters that folks bring him to fix.  Every neighborhood should such a wonderful person.

[SwampDonkey]

Since I'm a brush saw man and I have an easy saw to work on, I just do it myself. Saves me more than labour, saves me running 30 minutes away to get stuff done, plus lost time waiting. So your $80/hour soon reaches $120-160 for that hour. The guy running the shop has a life and business hours to keep. Me, I have to keep a healthy saw going to make any money, so I better know all there is about that dang saw. ;)

[Black_Bear]

I'm guessing it's either the shop in Charleston or Orleans. Back when I was cutting we used to buy a lot of saw parts from Charleston - that was when Wayne had the shop - but we did our own repairs.

Orleans has always been expensive - for everything!