Sitting on a rock one day having a bite to eat with a contractor & his men. We started to discuss people stealing choker chains off the back of skidders & how best to stop it. General opinion was to remove them from the skidder then set one of the wheels on top of them.
I tells him the chains from my skidder were so safe even I coldae get them.
"Far di yi keep yours"?
Thir in your shed. Can I get them back please?
This was followed by a discussion with his son as to where they actually were. All happily at work on the back of his skidder!
Did eventually get them back after 6 months.
Bothy Loon
:D Cheeky beggars eh?
:D :D
I once heard that the quickest way to make an enemy is to loan money(or tools) to a friend. I HATE to go looking for a tool only to remember that I loaned it to someone that did not return it or who returned it broken. But now I have become one of those that borrow and keep. Cousin Rodney, Arthur, David and I have decided that it makes no sense for each of us to own the same tools since we live within a stones throw of each other...but since I'm the one building the house, guess where everone's tools are? But they say "we know where they are if we need them"...but it still worries me a little that they have to come looking for their tools.
It's really a good deal for us tho'. I keep the backhoe on my tractor and we use Rodneys tractor to mount 3 point implements. It makes no sense for each of us to own a 20' extension ladder, portable welder, pressure washer, etc., etc.
Once the cabin is done, I intend to put all of my power tools in to the saw shed and make a workshop for me and all of the above cousins to use. This arrangement works well for us but I'm reluctant to loan outside of that circle. Once burned...twice shy.
Quinton
:D :D That's a funny story, Bothy Loon!
Qweaver, I've got pretty much the same thing going on here. I have 3 buddies close by, and each of us has things the others don't have, including certain skills. I can go down the road a bit and come back with a backhoe, or a big trailer, etc, and I have the sawmill, concrete mixer, forklift, and a bunch of other stuff. One of the guys even has a pneumatic tire changing machine. He also has the fish pond. ;D 8) I have one of'ems engine stand in my shed...it's been there for about 5 years. He's had my disk harrow for about the same length of time. We know where they're at. ;)
:D Never lend money, it causes Amnesia. :D
I am a Scotsman.
I try never to part with money never mind lend it!
Bothy Loon
For the longest time I wouldn't loan to anyone ( a relative burned up a good chain saw started it ). But a good friend got me to change a little - I will now go with the tool, make sure that I use it properly ( I say if anyones to break it it'll be me ) and take it home with me when I go.
Seems to go OK as long as I keep it to "good" friends and not the ones that walk in off the street . . . ;)
Fact of the matter is Ken & I are the best of pals that would help each other out in any way we could.
He once gave me a forwarder & driver for 3 days to help me out of a hole & would not take anything for it
Bothy Loon
Aye Bothy! How deep was the hole? ;D
Try Rannoch Moor. Thats a big enough hole!
Bothy loon
the couple times I borrowed something and broke it, the lender got a brand new one.
that's all it takes to keep the peace.
I'd rather rent something than borrow it from somebody. I had a friend borrow our Stihl cut off saw all the time .I had to ask if I could use it the LAST time.
The best wya to keep skidder cables is to pick em up when you leave the woods. We've found 2 so far this year that the loggers left behind.
A local mason called up a year or so ago. "Can I borrow your broad and felling axes to hew a mantle, the wife is wanting me to finish our fireplace" I told him to bring the mantle and went to the barn to round them up. That was when it occured to me that he had borrowed them about a year prior to do the same job. When he got there he had never borrowed my axes but he sure wished I would retrieve them so he could do his mantle. I handed him an adze and stood right there with him till he was done. I know my stuff is in his barn summers :(.
Nail guns, chains, cables, moisture, metal and electrical meters...man the stuff likes to change ownership.
I loaned out my bushog one time, it was returned a broken one bladed wonder and I got chewed out for loaning such a obviously faulty piece of equipment, it was 1 year old ::) Gee my stuff has always been too busy or busted to loan to them again.
Knowing how it makes me feel, and knowing I don't like to feel that way. I rent or buy or borrow with an operator and exchange out in labor. Mike has the right idea, that is when I stopped borrowing and started buying. Then I get to break new tools and blame the manufacturer.