Do you loan equipment out?

I feel I have been blessed in life and like to think I'm a pretty generous and enjoy helping people out. I'm starting to question this behavior of mine. In the past few years I've started having people, who, at one time, didn't think twice about, return (or not return, point of this thread), equipment that has been broken and not repaired, or if it was repaired, it was a hack job. Now, I am not one to throw stones when it comes to hacking a job, 99% of the time, it's on my stuff.

A few years ago I loaned my dump trail to a guy who was doing his roof and he wanted to do a tear off. Apparently, he lowered the box with the tailgate under the partially dumped load or maybe he backed up, I'm not sure. The end result, he broke the lower pins welded into the bottom of the tailgate. The next load, he decided to keep the top pins in so the tailgate functioned in a conventional manner. The problem is that he mounded it so high it bent the brackets and pins at the top. Zero attempt to repair, and I had to discover it when I went to use it. Uhggg.

Next, loaned my PTO 3pt tiller to a guy to till his "garden". I guess trying to reclaim an old fence line on muddy, clay ground counts as a "garden". It was returned with electric fence and barbed wire wrapped along the entire 5' wide tiller and as a bonus, the clay had dried as hard as red brick. At least it didn't take out the seals and this was mid summer, so I didn't need it right away. Uhggg X2.

Several years ago I loaned my little compact, 3pt mounted backhoe to my cousin to help him with his business of drilling water wells. He was, and still is, struggling but my empathy is quickly vanishing. He bought a used mini excavator a few years ago so he parked my unit. Over the years, when I needed my hoe for a little project, he would say, "how about I drop my excavator off for you"? Well, I took him up on that offer since the excavator was WAY faster. That occurred a few times over the years. Throw in a few years of leg issues ha had me down and out for several months at a time, and the hoe location and need slipped to the back burner. He recently did say his son was going out every 6 months and wiping the cylinder rods so they didn't rust, so in my mind, he was taking care of it.

Well, now I need a hoe again. His is broken down, and has been for nearly a year. I went down to find mine and there it was, in the weeds, stabilizers leaked down so it has been in ground contact for who knows how long. Seat back is bent so it won't fully unfold. Transport lock is broken and hydraulic hoses are sketchy where they were on the ground. Yeah, the hoses are always deteriorating, but the dump circuit blew where it was on the ground.


When he borrowed I gave him a chain that I used to run between the feet of the stabilizers to keep them from spreading. The leak down was a know issue and I conveyed that to him when he picked it up. That chain is nowhere to be found.

I have to admit, I was NOT happy last night when I got down there to retrieve my hoe. Looks like I have a project to do before the project I need it for. I'll post a few pics as I progress. Here it is at our farm as of last night. First order of business is a good pressure wash, head down in a few hours.




Wish me luck.

 

I have borrowed out stuff in the past, still do
Mostly hand tools and misc stuff
My criteria for borrowing is: would this person replace if needed, and if they would repair would i be satisfied?
Chainsaw: never!! (Except my dad)

 

And good luck!! Hopefully any damage is minimal

 

An old timer that used to fish with us the local late ice crappie hole told me one time, “There are three things you never borrow out: Your auger, your chainsaw, and your wife.”

I am pretty sure it was just a quip, and hopefully he wasn’t speaking from experience regarding all three.

 

There are about four people I'll loan anything too. They are of known good character, return it when they say, and have the means and willingness to repair or replace in the event of damage. Otherwise I don't. Been burned by deadbeats a few times. If people don't have the wherewithal to take care of their own stuff, they won't treat mine any better. I tell em to rent from a rental company.

 

I really don't loan OPE out. If someone I know needs use of a saw, they also get me to operate said saw. Now, my dad does borrow my splitter but that's about it.

 

I had a guy one time ask to borrow my pickup, his name was Percy. So, i said to him, its best i don't loan it too you because if i do and some thing happens to it, you'd have to fix it. Or pay to have it fixed, i'd rather not loan it too you. So, he, Percy asked Al if he could borrow his pickup, it was to get some firewood with. So, Al loaned Percy his pickup. Al worked at the rock pit, i was down there one day getting some rock. Al asked if Percy had asked to borrow my pickup for getting some wood. Told him yes, well Al told me the ''rest of the story'', lol. Then, he went to Al to ask if he could borrow his pickup.

Percy had so much wood in the pickup the spare tire was dragging on the way out of the wood area. He drug it totally flat!! Then, as he and his son were throwing wood in the back, they put a huge dent in Al's pickup, top of the box or the side. Al was a good guy, super picky, had his first car he ever bought, it was like 50 yrs old, No kidding! So, he took care of things. I tried hard not to smile, or, laugh, it wasn't funny at all. Al was a older guy and was pretty serious about things like that, but the look on that old boy's face was pretty stern, and i could almost hear him grinding his teeth. So, NOPE, don't loan things out that i use almost every day. , its just not a good idea. Did Percy fix the problems, i never had the heart to ask Al.

 

Luckily my family and friends are all like-minded thus are self-reliant and meticulously maintain their own equipment. That being said, since they are this way, I would borrow out to them any time they needed the help…but now that I think about it, I can’t recall the last time it was needed, other than a hand tool or power tool here and there.

I did borrow out a 9.9hp outboard to a peripheral “friend” one time. I remember being taken by surprise that someone would ask to do so. If I need something bad enough to ask to borrow it, I would much rather rent or buy my own. Anyways, I was young and more non-assuming at the time. Well sure enough he returned it with a bent prop, and scratched up motor cover, without seeming to notice himself that anything was wrong with it. That was the one and only time I needed to learn that life lesson.

 

Generally, no. I learned my lesson early on. If I do loan something out anymore it has no moving parts and its easily replaced. Like a hammer or crow bar. Anything electronic or motorized, never again.

 

The last saw I loaned out was the 260 Pro. It was the only saw I was willing to loan out at the time. I knew the good hearted young man and figured as long as he got the mix gas right it would be hard to wreck a 260. Strike one, I had to ask for the saw back, strike 2, the chain was bad dulled and slack, strike 3, the bar was scorched. I don’t know if it was from no bar oil, or just continued wood burning with a dull chain. I cleaned up the saw, sharpened the chain, cut with it and immediately knew the bar was toast.

 

The short answer is no. I'll help with my own equipment but I won't lend anything out any more. Kind of like lending out books - I learned my lesson when I lent out my personal copy of "Catcher In The Rye" that had all kinds of scribbled notes in there I had made and the "friend" never returned it. Not a friend any more.

I gave my neighbor a Brute garbage can of mine full of kindling.....TWICE.....and have asked for it back.....TWICE.....and it still has not been returned. The kindling was free and he told me he'd buy a can to store it in and return mine. Forget about loaning someone a chainsaw if my garbage cans are treated like this.

If I give you something to borrow with stuff inside of it that's free, I shouldn't have to ask for my containers back. Seriously.

 

Some people I'll let borrow certain things...some people get nothing.
There is a fellow at my work that I would have loaned about anything to...but a few years back I was reroofing my garage and wanted to borrow a roofing nailer...I knew he had all that stuff in a storage shed somewhere from a previous job...I have worked with him for years and he knows my character, that I know what I'm doing, and that I take good care of my tools. It took me by total surprise when I asked him and he said "let me think about it"...next day he says he says "no, I don't think I'm gonna do that" no reason or anything. I mentioned this story to another coworker and he says hey have a whole box of them that I bought at a construction auction...come get it, there has to be at least one that works in there. Turns out there was 2 roofing type nailers in the box, both needed work, one a lot. I fixed up the one that needed less work, used it, and returned the whole shootin match to him after I was done. He tried to pay me for the parts, I said nope, thanks for letting me use it! All said and done I think it cost me about 50% of the cost to rent one for the time that I had it.
Couple years ago my neighbor asks to borrow an angle grinder and wire brush cup for a couple hours...I said sure, and I almost gave him my Dewalt, but then thought better of it and have him my Harbor Freight cheapy...good thing, he finally admitted later on that he burnt it up...said he would buy me a new one...he goes to auctions a lot so I told him to just get me a nice used one...but never did get one from him then...as a matter of a fact I had to chase him around to get what turned out to be my now halfway shot wire cup back! Grrr.
Overall though I have borrowed more stuff from him than he has me, so I just overlook this one incident.

If that was my hoe Casper I think I'd be having a lil chat with that lad.

 

I only loan out things that I don't want back, or things that I would like to have destroyed.
I've also learned not to barrow trailers from anyone, because they always seem to have tires that are about shot......so, I have to replace the tires to keep from being the bad guy, has cost me more $ than renting a proper trailer on more than one occasion.
Overall, I'm probably in the hole quite a few thousand dollars because of borrowing and loaning, not to mention a few lost "friendships".

 

My brother and my mechanic friend can borrow anything, anytime. Doubtful they would ever break something, but if they did it would be fixed/repaired before it was returned, and probably better than it was.
My brother had a flat tire when using my utility trailer once. He told me he dropped the trailer off with our buddy who has a tire shop. I went to pick it up-Kris wouldn't let me pay for it-said it was on my brother's account.
Other people, if I like them, I'll offer to do what they want done- mow a lawn, cut a tree, haul something with my trailer for them, etc.

 

My closest neighbor and brother who lives nearby, yes. Everyone else gets none of the power tools.
That neighbor talked me into letting him borrow his Dad's stump grinder to take care of three stumps in my yard that were bothering me. He dropped it off one evening and the next day on the second stump it just died. Checked everything over and there didn't seem to be any reason why it wouldn't even offer when pulling the starting rope.
I apologized profusely to him and told him to tell his Dad I'd take care of the bill.
He took it into the dealer where he bought it and there was something wrong with the engine but it was still under warranty and they fixed it no charge.
I won't be borrowing anybody else's power tools ever again. If it's going to break, it will be when you are using it.

 

Can't embed a short but got it fixed enough to get it home.
https://youtube.com/shorts/Tk5Emt7uxd0?feature=share

 

NO! Been burned too many times. I will offer to bring the splitter over and help them split but not loan the splitter out! If I help out on something with my own chainsaws and if one breaks its on me but I won't loan it out. My sister loaned her Subaru station wagon to a close friend who was moving. When it was returned she noticed it was leaking through the roof. Turns out there was a different and very cheap luggage rack on it. They had carried a huge heavy couch on it and busted the original rack and dented the roof. When she went to have a new original rack put on it there was also some roof structure damage. She asked them to pay the comprehensive deductible and they finally did with ill grace. No longer friends! Even on small things it is just not worth the frustration!

 

My brothers are good and one friend.All others pay me for what they want to use my tools for and I'll do it.

 

Anyone got a 880 I can borrow?