designated equipment

[tri again]

I'm so tired of fixing stuff.
Kids ran the rototiller tires flat and didn't even notice.
Spun them so bad that tubes may not even work.
Another 250es won't shift. Obviously the shifter doubles as a footpeg.
Same no neutral on a pristine 110. Hoping that is a shiftdrum stopper bolt and not busted case
like the infamous 125...oh, and a really nice sidewall tire cut/leak to boot.

I have relocated the shifters to a vertical position as all the work we need to do is 2nd gear anyway
so the 'common' trikes all now have hand shifters.
Some yahoo kicked my daughters 250sx about 25 times with no key in it.
All the hondas start with 1/2 kick or pull.

Anyway, just had to vent.
Anyone who runs ANYthing gets checked out and a 'break it ya fix it' policy is forthcoming.

[ironchop]

Amen!

I`m also sick of being the guy who has to repair %99 of what everyone else breaks around my house.

Don`t bother trying to teach anyone how to do it. They simply tell me they are going in the house or into town to "grab a cold drink and BRB to help you" and then VANISH.

Wouldn`t matter......Even the stuff I have taught gets dismissed in favor of the ole "I`ll pretend like I`m a raging moron and he will just do it for me" routine.

My tools are in other kids trunks without my knowledge, my trouble light is missing which I found out about AFTER it got dark while trying to put new calipers on our car, my angle grinder I had been looking for for 8 DAMN MONTHS just magically reappeared.....laying on the sidewalk and RUSTY.

My lawn mowing guy ran over my $30 pr of Channel lock pliars and destroyed them when he accidentally found them over in the middle of the yard far from anything broken where I obviously did NOT leave them

I just bought ANOTHER $50 battery charger last weekend after the old one got burned up from being left out in the pouring rain while plugged up after I specifically said "Don`t leave that in the rain or hooked up overnight!!!".......It was both plugged up still and drenched in rain when I woke up and left for work the next day.

It`s not just the money, it`s a general lack of respect and consideration for other people`s possessions that pisses me off the most. You try and be helpful to people who spent their money on high fashion, impressing girls, partying, and fancy smartphones instead of buying JUST ONE FRIGGIN TOOL!!!! NOT EVEN THEIR OWN SCREWDRIVER!!!.....It`s just easier and cheaper to borrow and thouroughly disrespect someone else`s stuff than it is to buy and take care of/ or destroy your own sh!t. What tools aren`t missing, loaned out , or destroyed already are just spread all over the place so that I have to spend my Sunday looking for a 1/2 wrench of which I "had" six of before people.

Do I try and lead by example? Yes. When I borrowed my landlord`s chainsaw a few years back, The chains were all dull as hell, the tensioner was broken, the bar oil ports were plugged, and he had no fuel can for premix gas ony. He said his employees had darn near destroyed his brand new chainsaw in under two years. Anyway, I brought the saw back two days later with four chains sharpened and oiled, two new chain files for JIC, one brand new chain I bought as a spare, a new fuel can still half full, a half pint and a full pint of premix oil, and cleaned bar oil port, and a fixed tensioner. My landlord was floored. Offered me money for all the parts and work. I broke his lawnmower once while using it so I rewelded the cracks in the deck and replaced the deck bearings while I was fixing the broken belt.......because I appreciated the fact he let me use it to mow my yard and because when you borrow something from someone and it breaks, YOU FIX IT!!! That`s just how I was raised.

It`s the same way where I work. The common denominator is the age of the offenders and social background (in other words, farm-raised kids seem to know better but some other kids are ignorant as hell and shouldn`t be trusted to borrow anything)

Sorry....and thanks.....I needed to rant today too. I think I`m just going to adopt a "Don`t touch NOTHING" policy on all my stuff followed by the ole "they sell this stuff at the store. If you need a ratchet, you should get your ratchet set there instead of from my toolbox"

Good luck

[ps2fixer]

@tri again

if you need the center case to fix the shift bolt issue let me know, I have a couple of parts machines from 79 and 80.

@ironchop

I'm only 27 and I grew up with my dad's tools. Yes I was a bit careless when I was young, but now I respect his tools and have replaced some since I have had to buy my own and know how nice it is to have the right tool for the job. The general "City Kids" is completely true, had a guy come to my house to get a Jeep part and his son didn't know what Frogs sounded like, he thought it was some annoying bird!

I don't really have any rants, but if I were to try, I'd be ranting about work, but I'm quitting the job and going self employed so I'm not really effected by their problems any more :).

[tri again]

Amen!

I`m also sick of being the guy who has to repair %99 of what everyone else breaks around my house.

Don`t bother trying to teach anyone how to do it. They simply tell me they are going in the house or into town to "grab a cold drink and BRB to help you" and then VANISH.

Wouldn`t matter......Even the stuff I have taught gets dismissed in favor of the ole "I`ll pretend like I`m a raging moron and he will just do it for me" routine.

My tools are in other kids trunks without my knowledge, my trouble light is missing which I found out about AFTER it got dark while trying to put new calipers on our car, my angle grinder I had been looking for for 8 DAMN MONTHS just magically reappeared.....laying on the sidewalk and RUSTY.

My lawn mowing guy ran over my $30 pr of Channel lock pliars and destroyed them when he accidentally found them over in the middle of the yard far from anything broken where I obviously did NOT leave them

I just bought ANOTHER $50 battery charger last weekend after the old one got burned up from being left out in the pouring rain while plugged up after I specifically said "Don`t leave that in the rain or hooked up overnight!!!".......It was both plugged up still and drenched in rain when I woke up and left for work the next day.

It`s not just the money, it`s a general lack of respect and consideration for other people`s possessions that pisses me off the most. You try and be helpful to people who spent their money on high fashion, impressing girls, partying, and fancy smartphones instead of buying JUST ONE FRIGGIN TOOL!!!! NOT EVEN THEIR OWN SCREWDRIVER!!!.....It`s just easier and cheaper to borrow and thouroughly disrespect someone else`s stuff than it is to buy and take care of/ or destroy your own sh!t. What tools aren`t missing, loaned out , or destroyed already are just spread all over the place so that I have to spend my Sunday looking for a 1/2 wrench of which I "had" six of before people.

Do I try and lead by example? Yes. When I borrowed my landlord`s chainsaw a few years back, The chains were all dull as hell, the tensioner was broken, the bar oil ports were plugged, and he had no fuel can for premix gas ony. He said his employees had darn near destroyed his brand new chainsaw in under two years. Anyway, I brought the saw back two days later with four chains sharpened and oiled, two new chain files for JIC, one brand new chain I bought as a spare, a new fuel can still half full, a half pint and a full pint of premix oil, and cleaned bar oil port, and a fixed tensioner. My landlord was floored. Offered me money for all the parts and work. I broke his lawnmower once while using it so I rewelded the cracks in the deck and replaced the deck bearings while I was fixing the broken belt.......because I appreciated the fact he let me use it to mow my yard and because when you borrow something from someone and it breaks, YOU FIX IT!!! That`s just how I was raised.

It`s the same way where I work. The common denominator is the age of the offenders and social background (in other words, farm-raised kids seem to know better but some other kids are ignorant as hell and shouldn`t be trusted to borrow anything)

Sorry....and thanks.....I needed to rant today too. I think I`m just going to adopt a "Don`t touch NOTHING" policy on all my stuff followed by the ole "they sell this stuff at the store. If you need a ratchet, you should get your ratchet set there instead of from my toolbox"

Good luck

Love the battery charger story. I had to ask my neighbor if I could "borrow" my own charger since he'd had it for a year.
I had it on my 6 volt POSITIVE ground 1947 tractor and someone borrowed it and returned it, hooked up backwards at 12 volts.

Some of my tools, like all of ours, are 100 years old from dead relatives.
..just an old rusty hammer, right?

GF got mad when I suggested a sign out sheet when her kids use stuff so now it's simply 'no'.

yupp, 2 am, freezing rain, need to cut neighbors car out of collapsed carport in a storm. You guessed it, was was empty and the chain was off.

[tri again]

@tri again

if you need the center case to fix the shift bolt issue let me know, I have a couple of parts machines from 79 and 80.

@ironchop

I'm only 27 and I grew up with my dad's tools. Yes I was a bit careless when I was young, but now I respect his tools and have replaced some since I have had to buy my own and know how nice it is to have the right tool for the job. The general "City Kids" is completely true, had a guy come to my house to get a Jeep part and his son didn't know what Frogs sounded like, he thought it was some annoying bird!

I don't really have any rants, but if I were to try, I'd be ranting about work, but I'm quitting the job and going self employed so I'm not really effected by their problems any more :).

Thanks for the offer on the case.
I should have an extra one but it's a split the case deal I think.
Faster to get another engine.

Good luck with your self employ.
It can be really fun.
I did it for a while and only worked 1/2 days so I could pick which 12 hours I wanted.
Thanks again

[ps2fixer]

Thanks, hoping for the best out of it. I did a short time of self employment durning college and got a job by accident :D.

And yes, the center cases require splitting the engine to change the one half :(. I did the same thing with a 125m, ended up just buying a 2nd one that needed a top end. The engines are together but in an unknown state. Transmissions most likely are good though as they were both missing electronic parts, axle, etc.

[90nut]

Exactly why I have a sign in my garage that reads, no tools loaned! My brother needs to use something, he fills out the tool sign out log. Or leaves collateral. Hate to be that way, but I've had enough stuff borrowed, broken, and or never returned. Life lessons.

[ironchop]

@ironchop

I'm only 27 and I grew up with my dad's tools. Yes I was a bit careless when I was young, but now I respect his tools and have replaced some since I have had to buy my own and know how nice it is to have the right tool for the job. The general "City Kids" is completely true, had a guy come to my house to get a Jeep part and his son didn't know what Frogs sounded like, he thought it was some annoying bird!

I don't really have any rants, but if I were to try, I'd be ranting about work, but I'm quitting the job and going self employed so I'm not really effected by their problems any more :).

Congrats on the new job venture

LMAO@ the frog sound......my oldest daughter`s friend in college was spending the night one time and she kept hearing a 'thunk thunk thunk' noise.....she looked perplexed for about a half hour and finally said, "what`s that noise?"..................yeah...................it`s the clothes dryer, honey. She said "that sounds crazy!". We asked her if she had ever heard a dryer because ours isn`t any louder than anyone else`s dryer........she said "No, my mom does all the laundry in the basement and I don`t go down there."

WOW

Not so much city kids......just dumb kids... and dumb adults...there`s plenty of stupid narcissists living in the country as well. The farm kids tend to have been expected to turn wrenches a time or two and farmers have to be very respectful and caring for their stuff because it ain`t cheap so they seem to be more successful instilling that into their own kids.....My dad and grandpa would light my ass up with a belt for doing the same stuff my kids, "friends", and neighbors do to me....maybe I need a good belt....or a switch....that would send my neighbor a message for sure! LMAO

[onformula1]

I still have all my tools from when i was about ten that were presents and all my first tools i bought with my first job at 14... how?

I don't lend out tools, everything is locked up and only I have the key, I put together a small basic toolbox for my wife that stays inside the house for her.

No tool problems for me.

[poolieZerUK]

I had a good selection of snap on tools 20 years back
Then I got out of playing with bikes and cars and they gradually disappeared lent to friends neighbours etc.
Had to replace them all but I think it's worth it for the guarantee
You only need to buy them once lol
And yes they are extortionate price here too

[ride red #1]

Cool stories. We all have them. Thanks for sharing.

[90nut]

My loaner tools that have been broke or on permanent loan are not of good quality, they also double as tools for my trail truck. But its still the principal behind it. I buy lots of hand tools at garage sales and auctions.

[Zach]

When I was a kid I loved to tinker, but like most kids I was terrible at putting my Dads tools away. I got older and became a mechanic. I am no longer a mechanic but have a very large tool box full of top end tools. Now, it seems Dad and Mom both have taken revenge by borrowing and not putting back my tools. Its amazing when i find snap on and Mac tools in the kitchen, but noone ever seems to know how they got there. I am sure if i spent a week looking I could find a couple thousand worth of crap that was never returned.

[hoosierlogger]

Any of my neighbors can borrow any thing of mine and except one. He screwed me too many times by not bringing things back in the condition he got them. The stuff I have loaned him, I have had to go get when he was done.

Once I was splitting firewood loading it into my dump trailer. He stopped and asked if he could borrow it for. Hay ride ride for the kids that were coming to his sons birthday party. I told him he could use it if he brought it back tomorrow before it rained and loaded all of the wood back into it. Guess what....... He didn't bring it back. My guess is he didn't want to load the 2 ricks of wood back in it. I had to do go get it 4 days after the party was over and the rain was gone. He had it parked in his flawless front yard that he was spends lots of money on to keep it green and weed free. I went down there, hooked on to it, and noticed there were 7 busted bales of straw in it. What a lazy disrespectful trailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotr ailpro were the words that popped into my head. I put the truck in 4WD, locked the trailer brakes, raised the dump bed, and left two of the biggest ruts I have a ever left in a yard. He had never asked to borrow anything again.

[ironchop]

... Now, it seems Dad and Mom both have taken revenge by borrowing and not putting back my tools. Its amazing when i find snap on and Mac tools in the kitchen, but noone ever seems to know how they got there. I am sure if i spent a week looking I could find a couple thousand worth of crap that was never returned.

LMAO....funny you mentioned that Zach.

I was telling my wife that once the kids were all settled in and had families and stuff of their own, I was gonna stop in for a weekend, invite some of my friends over to hang out too, eat up all the snacks in the house, toss their tools or whatever all over the yard, play electric guitar real loud in the middle of their favorite tv programs, and leave my dirty snack dishes all over the coffee table and empty OJ or milk jug in the fridge..........just a little payback action lol....she said I was being spiteful and mean. I pointed out that I could have justifiably done way worse than that like use up all the hand lotion or perhaps toss my used tampon NEXT to the bathroom trash can rather than inside it. I would say I`m being more than fair. Lol.

honestly I love my kids and I like their friends and I`m thrilled my son has friends who even pretend to want to work on their own stuff so a lot of things I let go but it piles up occasionally and I have to vent steam. I play the part of grumpy dad who walks around shouting at everyone to "quit F@#$%ing around! Now go put that back where you got it!"

As for some adults I just wonder how they made it thru life being that rude.......and I thought part of being a MAN was possessing tools. I guess I don`t understand these new gender roles where a grown 'man' doesn`t own a basic set of mechanics tools or carpentry tools.

[tri again]

Any of my neighbors can borrow any thing of mine and except one. He screwed me too many times by not bringing things back in the condition he got them. The stuff I have loaned him, I have had to go get when he was done.

Once I was splitting firewood loading it into my dump trailer. He stopped and asked if he could borrow it for. Hay ride ride for the kids that were coming to his sons birthday party. I told him he could use it if he brought it back tomorrow before it rained and loaded all of the wood back into it. Guess what....... He didn't bring it back. My guess is he didn't want to load the 2 ricks of wood back in it. I had to do go get it 4 days after the party was over and the rain was gone. He had it parked in his flawless front yard that he was spends lots of money on to keep it green and weed free. I went down there, hooked on to it, and noticed there were 7 busted bales of straw in it. What a lazy disrespectful trailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotr ailpro were the words that popped into my head. I put the truck in 4WD, locked the trailer brakes, raised the dump bed, and left two of the biggest ruts I have a ever left in a yard. He had never asked to borrow anything again.

aaaah.. I did similar with good friend except I did a drive by on his lawn with 50 lbs of sulfate of ammonia.
His grass grew about a foot a week from that stuff.
Then when he NEEDED my mower, it was conveniently non operational.
I may tell him someday why his lawn went psycho.

[fixer2u]

My great grandpa was a farmer had 6 boys, as they got older they all started using his tools and getting them mixed in with his own. He got sick of it and painted his tool box red and started painting all the handles of hos tools red so you could spot them a mile away. When he saw a red tool in a toolbox that was not his own he would say. "Hey fella, see that red tool? When I get back it had better be back in my tool box or I know where there are some thistles that need to be hoed." Worked for him!

[Dirtcrasher]

Just like lending money, it often has to be asked for to be returned.

My neighbors wife died. I put in a new well pump (down 200') using a day of my backhoe and then the bladder tank for the well died. The constant on/off cycle is what ruined his pump; He didn't "get it" when I told him that happened. I did it all for free and with my cost of equipment.

Then he asked about his Culligan water system with salts and a brine backwash. I bought ink, copied the 50 page manual and got him some salt. Set it up, went over to see how things were and he was sun tanning at 60 years old. I get it, he was lonely. When I asked if he read the manual and set up the backwash or whatever it's called he said no. I set it up for him with the book I made him.

Then his HVAC AC died. I told him he needed a condensor (rock went thru it) and I had to vacuum it down to 500 microns and refill it with the ever rising cost of R22 as it is phased out. He said "do you have a window unit I may borrow?" I replied I did and installed it in his bedroom. 1 month later I lost my run capacitor and contactor to a lightening strike and I needed MY AC window unit back, it was a Saturday and hot as hell with the shop HVAC supply house closed. He said he'd come by with it. He showed up with it all smashed and ruined and this was made out of metal, not plastic with direction vanes were NOT mounted in styrofoam like the 89$ specials today. He said "Steve, I started to pull it out and it and I fell out the 2nd story window!!" He had no injuries at all, it was BS. So, he had a new 20' ladder and I have had HVAC since I got out of school for it 15 years ago. I told him I'd take the ladder and his 2 knives he wanted me to sell for my now dead AC.

We were now not friends; GOOD!!

It simply does not pay to lend shiyt out or do free work. Another neighbor got 2 hours of me and my 10K JD BHL to dig out 2 oak trees. When I was done, I asked for 75$. He seemed PISSED!! I paid 10K cash for that 1982 John Deere 500C BHL to build my MX track and plow my 125' driveway. We don't wave or say hi anymore. It should be 60-90$ an hour for a good operator and the machine.

However, if anyone needs a tap, helicoil, filter, o-ring, drill, carb cleaned and pilot screw/spring/washer/o-ring order corrected and or light bulbs or just help at Trikefest this year; I'll help you all like I did last year for free. Thats the way I deal with trike buddies.

The rest of the world can go to hell; Just DOES NOT PAY!!.........

[dman10]

As a teenager, I can vouch for the fact that we aren't responsible with our tools. Even our own. After my dad died, I did get better, I still left things out in the yard, but picked them before it rained, and recently something clicked and I've been working hard to keep all my tools where they belong.

[oscarmayer]

Good job Dman. Keep it up. Taking care of stuff means less $ spend later.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Keith Salyer]

I love these stories. The most giving thing you can give someone is your time. Also with some people what they most take for granted is your time.. I feel good when I help someone, just not over and over and over..

[ironchop]

Damn DC.....yer neighbor is a TOOL!

one of mine has owed me $75 (half price) for fixing their hayrake. He hit a fencepost and bent the stanchion over in half. Showed up begging me to help because his Dad was really pissed off and threatening to kick him out blah blah blah. Fast forward and I agreed to help him...for a price...and told him I needed 6 weeks lead. He disappeared for three months but showed up finally because hay season was fixin to start. Told him the rake wheel and stanchion were fixed and still in my truck bed and to go load it up while I put pants on. I get outside and he`s pulling out until he sees me coming and says "how much I owe ya?"....I said "half price for a neighbor. Seventy five bux"

he says "I`ll be right back with your money"

That was a year and a half ago. He lives across the road. He won`t answer his own door when I show up frequently.

[Buck Snort]

I have a neighbour who I grew up with. We our both in our mid forties, so lots of history. He has been out of work for quite a long time. Over the years, everything I have lent him I have to track it down later.( drives me crazy). Over looked it because of our history. But over the last year he now has decided he can walk into my shop and drink my beer while he borrows whatever he needs. I have promised my wife not to rock the boat, she is good friends with his wife. But all of a sudden I have buddy's 20 year old son in the shop needing a metric socket set and in the shop fridge helping himself. I wanted to pick the kid up and use him for a club to beat his dad.( my supposed buddy).

[tri again]

Damn DC.....yer neighbor is a TOOL!

one of mine has owed me $75 (half price) for fixing their hayrake. He hit a fencepost and bent the stanchion over in half. Showed up begging me to help because his Dad was really pissed off and threatening to kick him out blah blah blah. Fast forward and I agreed to help him...for a price...and told him I needed 6 weeks lead. He disappeared for three months but showed up finally because hay season was fixin to start. Told him the rake wheel and stanchion were fixed and still in my truck bed and to go load it up while I put pants on. I get outside and he`s pulling out until he sees me coming and says "how much I owe ya?"....I said "half price for a neighbor. Seventy five bux"

he says "I`ll be right back with your money"

That was a year and a half ago. He lives across the road. He won`t answer his own door when I show up frequently.

I remember the good ol' days when a 20$ loan was the easiest way to get rid of annoying people.
Now they come back for more.