Is anyone running a mobile small business?

[grumpygrizzly]

I've got a '95 Grumman step van on a Chevy chassis, 1 ton but, it's only 12' long in the 'work' area.

Right now it's got a ton of shelves on both sides, wooden, all built in. I'm thinking about taking the shelves on one side and making it into a bench with maybe keep the shelves under the bench.

I'm planning to run a Marine Battery and a 1000 watt inverter for powering small tools like my grinder and a small air compressor.

I've been pondering carrying along my wire feed welder but, might leave that for the home shop..

I've got a small old Craftsman generator that's 1500 watts that I can also make use up to prevent killing my step van battery and the marine battery. Maybe I'll put that along with the welder on my trailer.

Any ideas on other things I might want to put in there?

Does anyone have pictures of their own mobile rigs?

I've even pondered the idea of carrying loaner equipment in case I need to take a clients machine back to my shop..

The van will also allow me to keep clients from coming to my house all the time and disturbing my neighbors. Should be able to get away without having a permit for my shop so long as customers aren't coming there for business..

Thoughts??

 

[exotion]

I think its a brilliant idea. Hardest part your going to run into is when a machine requires parts. Can't keep that many parts in there otherwise for common repairs keep all your basic tools/grinder extra bolts and nuts lock washers spray grease oil etc etc

 

[grumpygrizzly]

I think its a brilliant idea. Hardest part your going to run into is when a machine requires parts. Can't keep that many parts in there otherwise for common repairs keep all your basic tools/grinder extra bolts and nuts lock washers spray grease oil etc etc

The right side of the 'work' area is all bins that are about 6" tall, 12" wide, and 16-18" deep. I'll definitely be able to keep a decent amount of parts. I usually only keep filters, gas line, primer bulbs, and other small parts on hand. I'll keep my 'bad' gas container in there along with a 'good' gas container with premix and one with high test straight gas. I'll also have chains for chainsaws, some parts machines, that kind of thing. Recoil springs as well. Pull starter cords.. Carb cleaner, ether, WD-40, small engine medic.. Maybe some lawn mower blades in case I run into any that can't be sharpened with my blade sharpener on my drill..

I've got a decent tool kit I can grab and step out of the van with and it'll stay on my bench for access when I'm working inside it.

Looking at buying a small RV awning to offer some shade if I'm going to set up for a while at a location. It's got one RV roof vent towards the rear but, I'm thinking about another one towards the front with a built in fan.

It has 12 volt lighting in the ceiling and I'm looking at mounting a task like on one of those arms that will allow it to swing out over where I'm working.

One thing I look for at yard sales is golf towels. They're great for shop rags and usually pretty good quality, like bath towels in thickness. Pretty good absorbency.. I'll also have a paper towel rack with those blue shop towels on it for more serious cleaning.

For cleaning my hands, I've found that WD-40 works great.. Then a small hand sterilizer for final hand cleaning.

For comfort, I'm thinking about a small 4 cup coffee pot and probably a 12 volt cooler I can use like a fridge. With all the 12 volt usage, I plan to get a decent battery monitor like RV's have so I don't kill my batteries.

It used to have a sound system in the back hooked up to the radio in front and I plan to do something along those lines but, I use my Kindle Fire with Pandora to listen to commercial free music that I like.. I'll probably pick up a small speaker system I can mount back there for the tunes.

I've heard of one guy local that charges $80 to come out and work on stuff. I don't know if that includes an hour of his time or what. Need to get an idea what to charge for 'lawn calls' for the landscapers and the folks that just can't get their stuff to a shop.

I think if it's something I have to just pick up and haul back to my home shop, it'll be a standard delivery/pickup rate of something like $25 plus mileage for anything over maybe 10 miles or so..

 

[X-man]

You should post pictures when it's all said and done. :thumbsup:

 

[grumpygrizzly]

You should post pictures when it's all said and done. :thumbsup:

Right now I'm definitely in the 'pondering' stage. As an engineering type by trade, I want to have it kind of laid out in my head, possibly even on paper before I start ripping out shelves and supports.

I DO know what the flooring will be. Ever see those 12"x12" play mats with the letters and numbers they use in kids play rooms?? They're about 3/4" thick fairly dense rubber... I've got a couple of bags full of them I picked up at a yard sale and plan to put them down on the floor. I have them in the bed of my Ford F-150 right now and they definitely save my kneecaps when crawling into the back of my truck..

I picked up a pack of 6" black vinyl letters I might use on the outside of the truck for a company name.

Thinking of a name like Small Engine Rescue but, to be quite honest and not trying to be sexist at all but, most women don't know what 'small engines' are.. There are definitely some men that don't put two and two together either but, as long as they think about it when they want to get rid of a chainsaw or need some repairs, I'm fine with that.

I'm thinking of some kind of support off the bench to make for holding the non-motor end of weed whackers.. I have a problem already in my shop where I'll have the trimmer part on the floor, go to pull start and end up with it slapping a chair leg or scaring the dickens out of my shop cat.. That and possibly some kind of hold down for a chainsaw as well. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to see some pictures.

 

[grumpygrizzly]

So no one else is running a mobile business or you just don't want to share?

Some things I'm looking at installing in my step van are a small 5 gallon bucket shop vac.. It's basically a shop vac that fits the top of a 5 gallon bucket.

Picked up a decent bench vise for $2.00 at a yard sale this weekend.

I've got a 5" bench grinder which is a pain to find wheels for. I have a grinder wheel on one side and a wire wheel on the other. The wire wheel pretty much sucks so I need to find a decent source for one that'll work. That or go to a 4" or 6" vise.

Bought a nice ATV ramp that folds in the middle. I was looking tonight at mounting it in the space between my back door and the back wall for my shelfs on the right side but, it's about 2" too long for that.

I'm planning to put a Marine battery in the truck, along with a decent sized inverter to run small electrical equipment. I've got a nice little Craftsman Generator that was made in the late 80's I'm thinking about putting in it to run my wirefeed welder. Not sure if I want to have it mounted inside or just leave it so I can pull it outside and use it when needed. I've also thought about making an outside storage box to fit it in.

I'm looking for step vans on the internet that have images of how they laid things out to get better ideas.

Any comments, suggestions??

 

[reynoldston]

I would think you would need a bigger generator and a air compressor to run air tools. I find also what I don't do very much welding in mower repairs but would want a acetylene torch for small welding jobs and for rusted bolts and nuts. Maybe something to fast charge dead battery's? Battery's can be very time consuming to charge properly. or a good supply of mower battery's?

 

[grumpygrizzly]

I would think you would need a bigger generator and a air compressor to run air tools. I find also what I don't do very much welding in mower repairs but would want a acetylene torch for small welding jobs and for rusted bolts and nuts. Maybe something to fast charge dead battery's? Battery's can be very time consuming to charge properly. or a good supply of mower battery's?

I'm looking at the generator being used more for my grinder, charging my cordless drill and screwdriver, running my small coffee pot and running my compressor. The compressor is more for airing up tires and a source of air for blasting gunk and debris off the motors, etc..

I follow you on the welder.. Of all the work I've done so far, I'm mainly only done one welding repair on a craftsman edger.. They only put three spot welds to hold the whole cutting wheel section onto the deck itself. Even thought it's only a 110 wirefeed, it would probably put a heavy tax on my battery and inverter. Might even be a bit much for my generator. OK, it stays in the shop..

Torch is a great idea for those nasty bolts. I'll look into that.

I agree with you on the charger. I have a small 4amp and a 30/60/200 amp charger. I usually put the 4amp on as soon as I start working on a unit with electric start, just to give it a little time to soak up some current. I've also just used my truck battery with the ignition off to jump a lawn tractor. Couple spare batteries is a great idea as well.

That's just what I'm looking for.. Ideas I haven't come across yet that people run into during every day repairs.

Thanks!

 

[reynoldston]

You are asking a lot from a 1500 w generator or a 1000w inverter. My 2500 w generator wouldn't run a small air compressor.

 

[grumpygrizzly]

You are asking a lot from a 1500 w generator or a 1000w inverter. My 2500 w generator wouldn't run a small air compressor.

I recently picked up a couple of 4000 watt generators and they both run great. One is an older 8hp Tecumseh motor. It has 110, 220, and 12v plugs on it. I'm debating cutting into my stepvan and making a door from the outside with a cabinet on the inside for the generator, kind of like an RV setup. That'll insulate it and make things a little quieter in the van. Then I could also run a roof top A/C if necessary.