He says I don't get any style points for reverse boring instead of just filing the pilot to fit. Lol!
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This is it....
- Thread starter Batmanacw
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Anything really, its more about opportunity than anything else.
My best flips have been snowblowers. Their pricy so good used ones sell well and they usually break right when you need them and repairs are expensive so people just go buy a new one.
I removed for free 10 used blowers from a landscape repair place. I wasn't even there for them, but the guy was just wanting to be rid of his field of BS so I took them as scrap.
Took parts from the bad ones, fixed up the better ones and wound up with 6 good blowers. I sold them cheap as I had no where to store them and netted between $150 and $425 depending on various factors.
The best I ever did was making roughly $400 for about an hours worth of work on a FREE craftsman track drive off of FBMP. I had just woke up and logged on and saw the free ad that had just been posted close by.
Hooked up the trailer and ran over there and brought it home. It mostly needed a carb cleaning, but whoever set it up did a poor job so I made some adjustments to the cables and it was mint.
I "Only" got $400 for it as this was in the middle of July and again, I had no where to store it do I dumped it for cheap. If I could have stored it till fall I would have got twice as much.
10-35hp boat motors are another good flipper. I try to stick with OMC motors for this as there are a lot of common parts between the 18-35hp models. They either get a carb clean, lower unit oil and water pump or their junk and can be used as parts machines.
I typically pay $100 for them and a good one that looks nice will go for $600-$1000, with 5-20hrs of work put into them depending on what they need.
Again, its mostly opportunity and time dependent.
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Another route is to put an ad out for machining/fabricating services and see what kind of reply's you get.
Ive done work for individuals at a reasonable price and Ive been contacted by small businesses for work. You have to be careful who you bring to the house, but with a little experience you can get a fairly good idea who you're dealing with over the phone and you can always have a pistol in your pocket if things get weird.
I have had misunderstandings in the past, but nothing that couldn't be discussed and worked out, but then again Ive turned a lot of people away if I didn't like the vibe.
Ive done work for individuals at a reasonable price and Ive been contacted by small businesses for work. You have to be careful who you bring to the house, but with a little experience you can get a fairly good idea who you're dealing with over the phone and you can always have a pistol in your pocket if things get weird.
I have had misunderstandings in the past, but nothing that couldn't be discussed and worked out, but then again Ive turned a lot of people away if I didn't like the vibe.
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yes, but that's not bad, if it's a small job. IF THEY ARE REALLY YOUR FRIENDS. I like the people who you do favors for over and over, then won't help when you need them... That's' why they are people (barely) and no longer your friends. Ungrateful jerks.
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Early on in my apprenticeship I had to fire a couple friends for getting ****ty with me over not being able to live up to their expectations.
A good shop friend who I used to hang out alllll niiiiight with when we were both working 2nd shift, couldn't understand why I didn't want to be caught doing all of his car work (Pressing out ball joints, making frame brackets etc) during the first year of my Apprenticeship.
He had it in his head that I suddenly felt I was better than him because I was getting into the trades and couldn't see that I was TRYING to get into the trade and wasn't a "Patched member" of the tribe yet.
Here I'm paying my dues and walking the line to try and make something of myself and this ****head couldn't see my side.
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really, have you ever needed to draw it on someone? I've never had that need.
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No, last thing I would ever do, but I don't believe in being unprepared.
Had a situation years back where I almost had to club a drunk doped up electrician "friend of a friend" who came to the house and was supposed to know 3 phase wiring.
I knew nothing about electric hookup at the time and this guy got sent over and proceeded to make the Hendy lathe I had humm loudly, smoke and stink until I stopped him and told him to get out and he wasn't getting paid.
He got ****** and called our mutual friend glaring at me explaining the problem and was getting more out of line by the minute.
He was a huge irrational guy, that's coming from me who was probably 240 at the time and I was seriously looking around the garage near me for what to grab to hit him with until he backed off.
Not going to let myself get into that situation unarmed again.
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I’m pretty well versed in dealing with the public being in a two man garage where we each had our clientele. Long before that when going to school I supported myself by doing repair work out of my garage. I got the huge dose of who to avoid. I’m maxed out as far a biz with my online home biz so I’m not looking for more work. I’ve had to cut off the custom orders because of time restraints.
My “problem” is also a lack of space and the fact the universe keeps tempting me. A couple of weeks ago I caught a CL listing as it was posted just minutes before where a guy was getting rid of an old friends machines. It was a surface grinder, lathe and mill, FOR FREE. Yeah I can hear the groans and head shakes and “I’d be there in a second” but these were all full sized machines and the logistics alone and then having to turn them somehow kept me in check effortlessly. I know my limits.
I could see snowblowers(we have no snow) and boat motors etc because of the manageability. I appreciate you revealing your secrets.
In my neighborhood it seems most people
GsT
GST
GsT
Then there are the guys that have a never-ending stream of work for you. Eventually you've just got to say 'no'. I recall being at a (shooting) match and overhearing a friend say "take that to Gene, he could do it in 20 minutes...". Not only was that a gross under-estimation of the work involved, but I wasn't looking to take in any work. I have my own, lengthy, list of projects, thank you.
GST
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+1 THIS! What I describe as the magic ignorance syndrome. They have no clue so everything is no big deal. My first big thunderclap moment was being faced with a guy no matter how much I raised my price to get rid of him he said ok. I realized working too cheap made it seem like you just enjoyed doing it and didn’t really need $$. And time is never anything that is part of the equation with those afflicted with MIS.