Simple things wrongly diagnosed

[WeFixIt]

Jensen chipper!

 

We had a customer who brought their chipper in last week, no feed roller drive?

 

 

This being his first chipper and there for thinking along the right tracks there was a hydraulics problem!

 

Simple job! A quick check confirmed it was the solenoid valve coil! (One of the easiest repairs there is!)

 

 

After visiting a number of hydraulic specialist and a few other repair outfits he was told repeatedly he needed a new hydraulic pump and control valve block?? Quoting figures of around £1300-1500

 

We had the chipper in the workshop replaced the coil gave the chipper a check over and gave the customer some advise on maintenance and use (stress control setting and feed roller speed ect) with a few consumables out of the shop his total visit cost less than £150 just a shame he was based over a 100 miles away...

 

 

We also have a customer down the road who says our labour rate is to high!! His local garage only charge £25 per hour!????

 

Knowledge is expensive labour is cheap!

 

 

 

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[markieg31]

Excellent stuff.

 

Sounds like great customer service.

[dig-dug-dan]

I had a problem with a jcb beaver powerpack. It would only run on half choke, then die after a few minutes.

no local lawnmower place would touch it, saying it was a jcb specialist thing, despite me saying it was a honda engine problem.

took it to jcb, who after a week said it was the ignition module, but they couldnt repair as they are not honda dealers!!

when I went to buy the spares,from a honda dealer, I was told that ignition modules do not go on honda engines, and it must be something else. I eventually persuaded them to look at it.

it just needed a new spark plug!

thanks jcb for your useful insights

[WeFixIt]

We aim to please [emoji6]

 

 

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[woody paul]

Took a Makita breaker to be repaired as it stopped running, no good knackered dealer said and gave it back in bits in a box. Had a word with someone in my village how said he would test motor, armersher fault so I fitted new one think it was about £35 cheaper than £700+ for new one.

[PeteB]

I came across a chipper which needed new bearings for the second time this year. The independent mechanic fitted new bearings on an old shaft which he knew was worn to save costs and has it back again for another set of bearings and a shaft! He went and got a price for a complete new rotor instead of asking for a new shaft or having the existing one built up and re profiled!

[Gary Prentice]

I came across a chipper which needed new bearings for the second time this year. The independent mechanic fitted new bearings on an old shaft which he knew was worn to save costs and has it back again for another set of bearings and a shaft! He went and got a price for a complete new rotor instead of asking for a new shaft or having the existing one built up and re profiled!

 

Ouch!

 

We got a new shaft for the ST6 recently, £100 + Vat. With bearings being £60-70 it seemed daft not to replace at the same time. Compared to the time and effort of dismantling parts are pretty cheap, so the job might as well be done right to start with.

 

Speaking to the engineering shop next door, they said they couldn't make one for the cost of buying one or in the time that Forst could supply (Next day)

[monkeybusiness]

Ouch!

 

We got a new shaft for the ST6 recently, £100 + Vat. With bearings being £60-70 it seemed daft not to replace at the same time. Compared to the time and effort of dismantling parts are pretty cheap, so the job might as well be done right to start with.

 

Speaking to the engineering shop next door, they said they couldn't make one for the cost of buying one or in the time that Forst could supply (Next day)

 

That's incredibly cheap!

[TGB]

Know someone who used to have one of those B+D alligator loppers. Used it occasionally for a year before it ceased cutting. Motor was ok he said but it wouldn't cut. He'd never added chain oil or sharpened the chain and having not read the instructions, didn't know he had to or how to. Handed it over to a friend, who also hadn't read the instruction and also knew nothing about how a chainsaw functions.

 

Said friend takes it to an unknown repair shop. Who took one look at the dim friend and announced the machine dead. Said they'd dispose of it for him. Save him the trouble of taking it home. The ex-owner told me all this too late. Probably only needed a b+c, (and some instruction on how to read instructions). Cost of machine at time approx. £85, cost of b+c approx. £22inc.

[Gary Prentice]

That's incredibly cheap!

 

That's what the engineers said, cost of steel, two milled keyways, two threaded holes at one end and profiled/trued up - They could do a hundred at that cost - one off - forget it.