A lawnmower/small engine repair guy

[doug9694]

I have been repairing small engines as a small home business since 1983 due to a bad economy and being laid off back then.
I have gone back into it more since being laid off in 2009 as a boat mechanic and needing to supplement my SS I had to take after unemployment benefits ran out. I found this site searching for carburetor solutions.

 

[reynoldston]

I have been repairing small engines as a small home business since 1983 due to a bad economy and being laid off back then.
I have gone back into it more since being laid off in 2009 as a boat mechanic and needing to supplement my SS I had to take after unemployment benefits ran out. I found this site searching for carburetor solutions.

Welcome to the forum. I have been running a small mower-motorcycle repair shop at my home since retirement as a mechanic more for a hobby because I guess I just have the repair business in my blood and just can't stop. You will find a lot of information on this forum, just don't take it as always being right. You doing it as a living can soon tell the bad from the good. Also some times someone will rub you just the wrong way but don't let it brother you and give it right back to them. :thumbsup:

 

[bt3]

Welcome.

I am not in the "business" but do repair my own mowers and 2 stroke chainsaws and trimmers. I used to repair my own cars and motorcycles until they got too complicated and tight fitting in the late 80's, early 90's. Back in the day, my 1970 Dodge Charger had enough room in the engine compartment for me to climb in there and work on my engine.

As I posted in another thread, I got tired of my 2 stroke LawnBoy being in the shop and costing me major $$ every year, so decided I had to learn 2 stroke maintenance and do things myself. My Snapper Commercial Wisconsin Robin has been a rock since I bought it new in 1987. Just did a float replacement this summer and that was the FIRST thing I ever had to do to that mower since I bought it. Well, other than oil change, air filter change, and spark plug of course.

I do run my own company and have since 1999, but it's not related to this forum whatsoever. I do this as a hobby.

Enjoy the Forum.

 

[Flintmotorsports]

I have a small engine shop I have done this since 2010 I opened the doors when I was 20 I had no idea what I was doing at the time
now I am a Ariens and Jonsered Dealer I can also do warranty repairs on 65+ Diffrent Manufacturers. I also Do all the repairs for the local
Tractor supply store. my shop has also gone from 12x20 to in process of building it to 20x36 I need the space I had no choice But to add on.
I am very busy as of now when I started doing this I was like is anyone ever going to come but now I don't worry the customers will show

 

[DaveTN]

Welcome and good luck on your small engine repair undertakings. I've had a couple of friends off and on over the years ask me to go into business with them and open a small engine repair facility. I told them they'd have to hold a gun to my head to get me to do it! There is no way I'd do it with all the gov't interference, EPA rules and regs and surprise visits, insurance, taxes, book keeping and accounting, not to mention disgruntled customers and so on. Some guys however are cut out for it or else we wouldn't have any shops period. Or we'd perhaps be hoping some neighbor could help us out in a pinch with repairs. A neighbor of mine is a small engine mechanic and had a couple of shops and worked as a partner as well as mechanic in several of them. I turned them all down on the offers to go into business. Too many headaches for me and I don't like being tied down with a flywheel around my neck and engine blocks and chains on my legs like a ball and chain from the movie "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?"! :thumbdown:

 

[Mikel1]

Welcome to the Forum & best of luck on your ope repair venture!
Like DaveTN I have also been asked by several people to open a repair shop but have declined.
I started repairing mainly lawnmowers, string trimmers and chainsaws then some how ended up working on atvs. I just got done working on a Kawasaki Prairie 360 atv which was racing when started up. I asked the owner had they messed with it, nope. I had to adjust the throttle cable to get the idle down, turns out the owner had tightened the throttle cable nut(near throttle lever) because it was loose.
Take your time to do things right, I know a small engine repair man who had a mower brung in, he told the owner it needed an engine. The owner didn't want to buy a motor and sold it for parts to the repair man. A friend of mine bought it from him and turned out that there was a blockage in the fuel line which was the only problem.

 

[ztrjim]

:welcome: You should be able to find answers to just about any question you have.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Funny you should say that.
I have just had my contract cancelled because I am too old ( 60 ) and my vehicle is too small ( 1.5 ton) to deliver wine to resturants any more.
The weird thing is they have been using 2 guys 1/2 my age with even smaller vans to do the same work at 70% greater cost.
Can't figure out how this works out which is probably why I never went into management.
Having been a contractor / sub contractor for the last 40 years dealing with the authorities it is not the problem many make out.
Ask nicely act like an idiot ( helps if you get it wrong ) don't argue and you rarely have a problem all the pencil d..cks just like to feel they are important & powerful.

The biggest problem you will have & the one I have, which is why I am here as well, is finding out the "secret information" the manufactures hide from you unless you have a 10,000' shop with 25 car parking spaces & agree to hold $ 500,000 of their stock on the floor in the vane hope some one might happen to come in & buy something . The idea that any one can make any sort of a living by actually fixing their machines properly when all they really want you to do is tell the customer it in an uneconomic repair & sell them something new is abhorrent to most companies.

Hang in there, take pride in your work and be prepared to run at a reasonable loss for the first year or two.
I have people driving 40 miles to me now because I will at least try to fix their equipment, don't charge $ 50 quote fee before I even book a job in & give honest opinions even when it is not in my favour.
People appreciate being treated like a human being and not just a wallet on two legs.

And one thing I have learned years ago, never answer your phone while you are with a customer, just let it ring out and get back to them latter.
Even if the customer you are dealing with tells you to answer the phone the reply is "the customer I am with is the most important one in the shop, I will call them back after you are gone"
this does 2 important things.
1) it tells them you really do appreciate & value their custom.
2) If they can not get you on the phone they will know why. Just make sure you call back.