Lending tools to people you love

[ohiofarmer 3,158]

 I helped a friend of mine clear an undeveloped lot to place an old Airstream trailer on, I took a Stihl chain saw there to help with the project. His bulldozer operator showed up so i ran to town for him to get a few marking flags to mark the zones he wanted cleared. When I got back later, the saw was missing a nut that tightens the bar. He was cutting some plywood with the saw and the smoke was a'flyin. Scratch one chain.

 

 Today, i went to use the saw, and change out the chain, and the entire stud came out of the body of the saw. Stihl surrounds the portion that threads into the saw body with a plastic insert of sorts that is designed to keep it from letting the steel stud welt tight to the insert. I reused the old plastic thread shield, hoping it will still work OK.

. First, he used the saw [without permission] that I brought there to use myself. Then, he blamed his nephew for losing the nut. Why he let his nephew even touch that saw is beyond me. Finally, when i tried to take the bar off the saw this morning, I discovered that the nut was cross threaded and both the nut and stud had to be replaced.My best guess is that once the first nut was lost, someone horsed the remaining nut super tight in an effort to keep working. .It cost me at least three hours of work time.this morning.

 

 I just hope that the chain saw body will hold up and the saw remains functional, If this friend ever wants me to help him again, my tools are staying home. If he asks to borrow another tool, i will show him the ruined parts and explain to him that i never said anything to him about this incident, but he will need to go to a rental yard because I am not loaning to anyone ever again.

 

 

[WNYPCRepair 1,875]

I loaned a friend my power washer, brought it back with a blown engine

 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,115]

I quit loaning tools years ago . Either the tools were broken . bent, wrenches ground down so would fit in a tight space ,or just broken beyond repair ( that usually applied to gas or electric drive power tools). One guy welded a crescent wrench to a  1/2" opening because he could not find his open end 1/2". My own brother broke a small electric chain saw and never said anything.  With friends and relatives like that , who needs enemies ? 

[rmaynard 14,945]

Quoth William Shakespeare: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be ...

[wallfish 16,016]

1 hour ago, ohiofarmer said:

If he asks to borrow another tool, i will show him the ruined parts and explain to him that i never said anything to him about this incident, but he will need to go to a rental yard because I am not loaning to anyone ever again.

Or, since he IS your friend just talk to him about it like a friend. If he doesn't know what happened, how can he make things right?

If he doesn't want to make things right, then you know he is not really your friend!

[stevasaurus 22,273]

I'm thinking like John here.  You can always vent here if you want, but that does not solve the problem.  The problem gets solved when you talk to your friend.  Life is a learning experience...don't cheat your friend out of that...let him know how you feel...he may not get it unless you tell him.     You are choosing to be angry, there is always a better way to handle things like this.   BTW...it took me a long time to learn this. 

[Aldon 4,826]

I like the method a friend of mine employs. He takes a very fair fee for loan of any tool that has anything that wears. Perhaps 10 bucks for a wet tile saw as the uses of the blade is finite. While this fee would not likely handle catastrophic loss, it does remind said friends beforehand that there is a cost associated with tool use. Would not have worked in this instance as the friend pilfered the use of tool while you were on an errand on his behalf. I would charge some minimal fee for use of a chainsaw for chain if it was a planned loan of the tool.

[N3PUY 1,031]

I use to loan tools to my BIL.    They never came back damaged ..... just never came back!  

[DougC 2,641]

My neighbor got his chain saw stuck trying to cut down a tree so he came knocking on my door to borrow mine. I was at work, so my wife let him into my garage and gave him the loan of it........   Long story short, Had to replace bar and chain, remove spark plug and squirt oil in cyl. and use channel locks to turn sprocket backwards to break loose stuck piston ( he must have got that small engine red hot!!! ) I told him to buy an extra bar and chain for his saw so the next time he gets it stuck he can take the saw off the bar and chain while stuck in the tree and put on the spare bar and chain and destroy his own equipment................ He agreed.....

[JPWH 5,320]

I will only loan or borrow tools with a small group of friends. Our procedure is we buy new blades or chains for our use or as replacements and If we break it we have it repaired or replace it. It most cases it's cheaper than renting.

[AMC RULES 36,961]

Remember, abstinence is the best policy...

just say no Nancy.         

[WHX?? 47,018]

Around here we have an open garage policy with my bros where my stuff is yours just let me know you took it kinda thing so I  know it ain't stolen. Works pretty good with the understanding of you break it you fix it clause. Many times I've taken stuff back better than when I took it and vice versa.....my 

[c-series don 7,894]

Here is a rule I have, if I need to borrow it twice in two years I need to own it. Obviously not big dollar items that you rent once in a while. I had to tell a good friend of mine he was no longer allowed to borrow tools. It was awkward because we are close friends, but I had to stop it. He has an excavation business and no tools, after loosing tools that were in my family for years I had to tell him that if you want equipment you need to take some of the profit and get your own! Even cut off my brother from certain things, (pressure washer, leaf blowers,etc) I worked for it so he can too! 

[can whlvr 991]

lent a horse to a friend last summer so his father could cut the grass after surgery,came back with the clutch spring broken,no big deal but he didn't even offer to pay for the new spring,and I lent it for 4 months,then again to another friend who just bought his first home,i went over and he bent the deck so bad I said you just bought a tractor and bent mower deck

[Coadster32 793]

I went in with my brother in law on a chain saw a few years back. That was a mistake. I'm the only one to care for it, and 1/2 the time, he lets his freinds borrow it. I bought a new chain and bar, and keep it in my garage. When he wants the saw, He gets the old beat up stuff. Frustrating.

[Pullstart 60,087]

On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 6:15 PM, DougC said:

My neighbor got his chain saw stuck trying to cut down a tree so he came knocking on my door to borrow mine. I was at work, so my wife let him into my garage and gave him the loan of it........   Long story short, Had to replace bar and chain, remove spark plug and squirt oil in cyl. and use channel locks to turn sprocket backwards to break loose stuck piston ( he must have got that small engine red hot!!! ) I told him to buy an extra bar and chain for his saw so the next time he gets it stuck he can take the saw off the bar and chain while stuck in the tree and put on the spare bar and chain and destroy his own equipment................ He agreed.....

 

 

That's a genius idea!  I've gotten enough bars stuck, I ended up just buying another saw to have on sight!

[mmmmmdonuts 274]

I am of the mindset that I will help my friend/family member with the project typically rather than loaning a tool out for the most part. I know it is time on my part but there are only a select few that I trust to use with more complex equipment (chainsaw, pressure washer's - (it never ceases to amaze me how many people run the engine before running the water and blow the pump), but if it something like a right angle drill I am more inclined to lend it for them to do the work themselves.

[ohiofarmer 3,158]

On 6/28/2016 at 4:23 PM, stevasaurus said:

I'm thinking like John here.  You can always vent here if you want, but that does not solve the problem.  The problem gets solved when you talk to your friend.  Life is a learning experience...don't cheat your friend out of that...let him know how you feel...he may not get it unless you tell him.     You are choosing to be angry, there is always a better way to handle things like this.   BTW...it took me a long time to learn this. 

I would not say that I am angry with him. Disappointed is more like it. You are correct about the chance to vent. Better to have my little hissy fit here than bruise a freindship. After all it is more time than money that I lost. It is a very nice day and I still have strength left to get the job pretty much accomplished. We lost the top out of a huge pine tree at a rental house due to a thunderstorm and tornadoes in the area, and now i have to load the 16 foot tandem trailer full to the gills with heavy branches to be dried and burned at my little farm. Also with a hot fire going, i was able to trim my own trees and burn the wood green. The Raider 10 gave a good accounting of itself by dragging big branches closer to the burn pile.

 

 We go back a long way. I took all my scaffolding and helped John build a log cabin 5 years ago and was also his vocational instructor for carpentry 30 years ago. He had not much support in becoming a carpenter with his father predicting he would flunk out and not be a success. Talk about a guy thirsting for knowledge. I hired him to help me a few times and even got him some side jobs to build him up, and to this day, he still thinks the sun rises and sets with me, according to what he tells my wife and other people I know. i had no idea at the time that my confidence in him filled a need that he lacked at home, but that is just the way it works sometimes.

 

When we were building the cabin, we took a break and went on the lake. John's father had previously borrowed and damaged a marine gas can and it delayed using the boat for a couple of hours and John ranted and raved about it even for a time after it was fixed . Maybe I can use that as an example of how breaking something and not telling the owner can ruin his day

 

 Posts 4,5,6, and 7 have some very good advice, and I thank you guys for leveling me out, so to speak.

[ohiofarmer 3,158]

 I don't want to beat a dead horse here. but had to share another story . i told a buddy about this at church yesterday, and he told me that his neighbor lent a chain saw out and it came back with MUD in the drive gear. It seems that the guy who borrowed it has a dog and used the saw as a trenching tool to install the cable for Invisible Fence!

[WHX?? 47,018]

I did that once too farmer....worked great but I used MY OWN old junk saw with a bar and chain that was already shot. Couldn't even dream of doing it with a good saw nonetheless with someone else's. You guys that accidentally touched the ground for a nanosecond while cutting wood know what I mean!

[AMC RULES 36,961]

 Like I used my old circ saw, that was on it's last leg...

to cut out the high blacktop in front of our driveway drain here.      

Would never even think of using someone else's tools in such a manner.