Track saw or spindle sander

[Unquestionably Confused]

Well, yeah, you could say that as well.

[Leon]

Buy aside from a couple of spark plugs and air filters, I have only replaced the wheels.

You have to love stuff that lasts. ;~)

[Leon]

The CPU does not seem to be aging well though. ;~)

[Leon]

2006???? Have you even burned a tank of gas yet? LOL

I was looking at the Commercial series before buying the wheels. Double the price I paid 32 years ago but they use the same style OHV engine with direct drive to the hydro-static trans, roto stop engagement lever, engine speed lever, and self propel bar. If it works, don't change it.

[russellseaton1]

ld you buy a Dewalt track saw or a Delta spindle sander?

I have a Honda mower too. Paid about $600 two or three years ago. Has the bigger 190cc engine. Self propelled. Not the commercial series. Has the steel deck. Starts on the first or second pull every time. Excellent mow er. Only big complaints are it needs a bigger motor. I can easily kill th e mower when the grass is tall. And I wish it mowed a wider swath. It wou ld need a bigger engine.

[nailshooter41]

I am surprised to read that you would charge by the hour for something like that. Probably 25 (more?) years ago I decided to have develop schedules fo r different things I do, and it falls in line with other tradesmen like plu mbers, electricians, etc.

I have a trip charge that includes one hour including material pickup. I w ill do all I can in an hour for the trip charge if I don't have to pick up material for a project, say door lock replacement, threshold installation, etc. where the customer has the hardware.

Otherwise, I charge by the unit. So for doors, I charge $25 a door to cut a hollow core to fit carpet. Minimum trip charge to drive out, set up the horses and remove the doors, cut them and reinstall them is $125. But with set up, I can only get two doors done, so a minimum trip charge would only get two doors. But if it is a house full, then with all the tools out and me on site, I can usually cut 3 an hour, working out to $75 an hour.

Different trades have different minimum trip charges, and as a repair/remod el/maintenance contractor I have all of them and charge them as well. Roofi ng around here has a minimum charge from a reputable company of $250 on an asphalt shingle roof and can include roof jack replacement, sealing a chimn ey, etc. Cement tile has a minimum of $375 and can include reseating tiles , sealing them, or caulking cracked tiles.

I have a plumber that works for me a lot and I charge just a bit less than a full time plumber does.

Using that method, when I price things out or develop an estimate, I can mo re easily plug numbers in or remove them as needed. I have found that the best thing for me is to convert anything I can to units (structured pricing that shows no favoritism between my clients that know each other) and then I know what I am going to charge if I get a quick phone call from a client or prospective client.

At any rate, it costs a certain amount of money to have a truck on site, ke ep the quarterly reports filed, buy/maintain/replace tools and consumables, keep all the paperwork straight and the bills paid, and on and on. The wa y I figure it, I am on the clock when the computer comes on, or the key tur ns in the ignition. I keep in mind I don't get all we estimate, but the e xpenses are ongoing.

Not reflecting on anything said or written here but only on my personal exp erience, as a cub contractor back in the mid 70s, I didn't understand the c ost of staying in business and continued overhead that has to be spread ove r all the business you get while staying competitive. Overhead is the only thing in business that is constant (and taxes). That was a hard lesson. You can't pound extra money into a job because you haven't had much work latel y, and it can't give away too much if the job is lucrative. It all has to work out over the year.

Ahhhh?. to know then what I do know. MIKE... seriously... go to mi nimum charges!

Robert

[-MIKE-]

I'm learning more and more and more, the more I do this stuff, about what to charge. And the more I learn about what to charge, the more I learn that I need to charge more and more and more. :-)

I am, in fact, developing a set of charges for tasks, or unit prices, as it were. I have minimum charges. For general handyman tasks, I have a minimum home service visit fee of $75 which covers the 1st hour (that's for local). After that, it's $50/hr.

This is for jobs where the client has a hodge-podge of things they want done. Some of these things may be $70/hr jobs like electrical work. Some may be $20/hr jobs like hanging pictures. Some may be $90/hr work like plumbing. Some may, again, be $20/hr work like replacing outdoor light bulbs.

When I have clients like that, instead of racking up a bunch of per/item charges that might give them sticker-shock, I will usually tell them I'll charge by the hour and remind them that I don't mess around and waste time.

When I have specialty jobs or large, single project jobs like big trim work or deck rehabs, door replacements, porch columns, storm doors, appliance installations/swaps, etc., I do have set prices per job that take into account my expertise and experience in doing these things, as well as consumables and other factors involved.

For example, I recently charged and collected a fee of $750 to remove and dispose of 2 toilets and install 2 new toilets in their place. I may have had $25 in materials invested. Including travel time, I had not more than 6 hours invested in the project. I made $120/hr on that job, not including time spent chasing the lead and communicating with the client. I'll take it because as the saying goes.... it's a shitty job. :-)

I had a deck job recently, where me and a partner ended up making about $550 per day on the job (-8hr days). We had the expertise, the ability, the efficiency, and came in around the market value for the job. Good for us.

I routinely make over $150 to install (swap) ceiling fans. $65/per light fixture swap. $175 min for dishwasher installation. $175-200/ mounted microwave installations, $300-400 shower door installations, $150-200 for storm door installations, etc., etc., etc., all of which I am getting more and more efficient at, which rewards me for my expertise.

So the reason I brought up the time factor with the bi-fold door project was that I didn't realize how freakin fast that track-saw tool was and how much quicker it was than the method(s) I would have previously used to do that task.

I know, now, and will adjust my fees to reflect that. It's always been a motto of mine that I shouldn't be penalized for becoming efficient at doing something, nor should the client be penalized for my brain-farts or learning on the job. So when I know that I'm good at something and I know the fair market value for it, I will charge a premium for my skill, knowledge, expertise and the value of my work.

It just so happens, to my benefit, that in today's environment of "skilled" labor... that my charge keeps going up and up and up. As a mentor once told me... "If nobody's telling you you're too expensive, you're not charging enough."

[Clare Snyder]

My old Yazoo cuts 24 inches and is self propelled. The 3.5HP engine was sub-optimal - the 6.5HP Chonda is adequate.

[DerbyDad03]

ould you buy a Dewalt track saw or a Delta spindle sander?

he bigger 190cc engine. Self propelled. Not the commercial series. Has t he steel deck. Starts on the first or second pull every time. Excellent m ower. Only big complaints are it needs a bigger motor. I can easily kill the mower when the grass is tall. And I wish it mowed a wider swath. It w ould need a bigger engine.

If "it" cut a wider swath and had a bigger motor, it wouldn't be "it" anymo re. It would be a totally different model - the one you should have bought in the first place. ;-)

[Leon]

Mine is the HR194. Honda has not made this size in years. It also has the aluminum deck, 4 HP motor and cuts a 19" swath. I wish 19" was still available. The 4 HP is plenty even in tall St. Augustine/Carpet Grass. I have an average sized yard but lots of obstacles and narrow paths that I need to turn around in. My son has the OHC lawn mower that he inherited from my dad, IIRC the HRX217HYA, it is about 12~13 years old. I used it a lot when I mowed my dad's yard and I was never really impressed by the OHC engine, compared to the OHV engine on mine.

[russellseaton1]

Would you buy a Dewalt track saw or a Delta spindle sander?

the bigger 190cc engine. Self propelled. Not the commercial series. Has the steel deck. Starts on the first or second pull every time. Excellent mower. Only big complaints are it needs a bigger motor. I can easily kil l the mower when the grass is tall. And I wish it mowed a wider swath. It would need a bigger engine.

I think officially I have the Honda HRX217VKA mower. And it only has a 21" deck! Now comes with a 200cc motor, but mine is 190cc. Guess even Honda has learned a little in the last couple years and put a bigger motor in the ir underpowered mower. And it has a plastic, nylon, polyester deck. Not s teel like I thought. Its been 6 months since I last used it.

[russellseaton1]

ote:

Would you buy a Dewalt track saw or a Delta spindle sander?

the bigger 190cc engine. Self propelled. Not the commercial series. Has the steel deck. Starts on the first or second pull every time. Excellent mower. Only big complaints are it needs a bigger motor. I can easily kil l the mower when the grass is tall. And I wish it mowed a wider swath. It would need a bigger engine.

more. It would be a totally

Problem, sort of, is that I was fixated on a HONDA mower back a few years w hen I really needed a mower. A friend had one and I had heard they were qu ality. So it had to be a Honda. But 21" is the widest push mower Honda ma kes. And their 190cc at the time mower was the biggest engine they offered . So my choices were kind of limited.

Kind of like if you wanted a 30" wide jointer. I think 20" is the widest y ou can get. Or a bandsaw bigger than 36". Don't think they make bandsaws bigger than 36". Or a table saw with more than 10 hp three phase. 10 hp i s the biggest electric motor you can get on a table saw.

[krw]

I just had someone replace the corner boards on my house (replacing wood with PVC) and about 750 ft^2 of Hardi-plank siding on one side (original moron didn't use house-wrap). Some of the corner boards required some pretty high work (and from the roof, where they found the Hardi wasn't even nailed around the chimney). The guy did a really nice job but wasn't cheap. It took he and a helper four days and me, $3400 labor. I thought it a little high but he has a life to live too and as you folks point out, he has to make the government happy too.

While he was working on my house, two neighbors came over and wanted his number to do similar work (and their homes are only three to five years old). A friend at work wants his number, too. Seems it's hard to find people who will do small jobs like this, and do them well.

[russellseaton1]

I think we have different definitions of "small jobs". Three people working four days. $3400 labor only cost for two people. Materials cost additional?

[Leon]

I think the only difference between the VKA and the HYK is that yours has a different style engagement for the self propel. The HYK pretty much has the same layout of controls, on the handle bar, as my mower.

We learned on the OHC engines to not let gas sit in it over the winter period, it was particularity touchy with stagnant gas so we learned to only run premium gas, use a gas stabilizer, and drain the tank at the end of the cutting season. I do this too with my personal mower now.

[DerbyDad03]

. Would you buy a Dewalt track saw or a Delta spindle sander?

as the bigger 190cc engine. Self propelled. Not the commercial series. H as the steel deck. Starts on the first or second pull every time. Excelle nt mower. Only big complaints are it needs a bigger motor. I can easily k ill the mower when the grass is tall. And I wish it mowed a wider swath. It would need a bigger engine.

21" deck! Now comes with a 200cc motor, but mine is 190cc. Guess even Ho nda has learned a little in the last couple years and put a bigger motor in their underpowered mower. And it has a plastic, nylon, polyester deck. N ot steel like I thought. Its been 6 months since I last used it.

With my 160cc OHC Honda I've been using regular gas with stabilizer and starting it a couple times over the winter for what's gotta be 15 years now .

I did replace the carb a couple of years ago but that was when it started acting up mid-summer, not at the beginning of mowing season.

I do the same thing with my snowblower. Every couple of months, when I'm already making noise with the lawn mower, I pull it out of the garage and let it run for 15-20 minutes. I drive it a bit and run the auger just to keep everything loose.

There may be better ways, but it works for me so I'm not trying anything di fferent. ;-)

[Clare Snyder]

A bit hard to do when you need to trade storage spots seasonally - and unless you FULLY warm up the engine every time you start it you are accumulating moisture in the oil - which is not good. How often do you change the oil? Most people don't even CHECK it more than once a year - if that.

I just use premium fuel and keep the tank full for storage. I throw a bit of seafoam in with the gas if I remember, and run the carb dry after shutting off the gas on the blower and on any engine with a fuel shutoff. Cold storage over the winter isn't as fuel critical as hot storage (over the summer). Occaisionally it will take a chuff of starting fluid to start the little mower in the spring for the first time. (primer carb - no choke)

[DerbyDad03]

rds. Would you buy a Dewalt track saw or a Delta spindle sander?

Has the bigger 190cc engine. Self propelled. Not the commercial series. Has the steel deck. Starts on the first or second pull every time. Exce llent mower. Only big complaints are it needs a bigger motor. I can easil y kill the mower when the grass is tall. And I wish it mowed a wider swath . It would need a bigger engine.

s a 21" deck! Now comes with a 200cc motor, but mine is 190cc. Guess even Honda has learned a little in the last couple years and put a bigger motor in their underpowered mower. And it has a plastic, nylon, polyester deck. Not steel like I thought. Its been 6 months since I last used it.

different. ;-)

Not really, as long as the storage spot is accessible. I put the snow blower/mower on a moving dolly to make it easy to finesse it in and out of the back corner of the garage.

15 or so years on the mower, 9 - 10 on the snowblower. I must be doing something right. If it ain't broke, I ain't fixing it.

Per the manual. I check the air in the snowblower tires too. It's an SOB to maneuver when they are down a few pounds. Unfortunately, they never

*look* like they're down a few pounds, so you have to have check them regularly. Maybe I should put TPMS sensors on the machine.

[krw]

It's not a whole house or even an addition. Just some Hardi-plank. Labor only. I bought all materials, another $1600 give or take. Labor not including paint.

[Clare Snyder]

Tracks are an SOB any time and you can't air them up. When my stuff is in off-season starage getting them out to run them is a "production" The shed is 10X10 and it doesn't have any waste space - racking pn 2 sides, bench on the third, and door in the 4th