Winter's Coming!
Bleah....
I heard on the news this morning that we're expecting some nasty weather, and I knew right away that a customer of mine was going to be up in arms about getting their snow-blower back. I was right too; Thankfully I was one the phone with a U-Haul customer at the time, and they just left a message on the voice-mail. Not a very nice, nor accurate message either... "You've had it for two years!" No, I haven't. You brought it in on December 06, last year. "Tom dropped off the part last week!" Yeah, and I have other customers besides you. "There's a blizzard coming!" No shit sherlock, I'm well aware of that and am working on the machine, but your snitty message makes me want to tell you to come get it, and put it back together yourself. :P
Why has this thing been here since December 06, last year? Surely they have a right to be upset that it's taken nearly a year to fix it? Well, yes, to a point. But the reason it's taken so long is that it's a Chinese import; And I don't just mean "made in China" like darnnear everything these days - I mean literally it was designed and built in China, and imported here. It's one of those machines that is mass-produced and then sold under tens (or hundreds) of different brand names with different coats of paint on it. Trying to get any information on it is just about impossible; The owner's manual is written in poor Chinglish, and has no details about the machine at all. It tooks months just to find out what parts it needed, and then those parts were impossible to find. We finally had to resort to having the needed part custom-made.
When I finally cracked the gear-box open this afternoon, two loose bolts fell out of it. I also discovered that one of the auger-drive belts (it has two, plus another belt for the traction-drive) was torn to shreds inside. Wonderful "Made In China" quality there! The machine is over-engineered in many aspects, making it prone to mechanical failures, and it certainy doesn't help when bolts aren't tightened down properly and wind up falling into the inner workings. Another bolt had the opposite problem; It had been tightened so severely that all of its threads were stripped off, and removing it took a lot of twisting and prying at the same time. I can't replace it either, since it's a metric bolt and just about everything I have in the shop is SAE.
The customer called again while I was working on the transmission linkages, and was considerably calmer when I told her I was in the process of working on it right then. I assured her that it would be done tonight, and that I wouldn't leave the shop until it was. I was true to my word, and I called back around 6:45pm to say that it was ready. She said that she'd have their friend come by and pick it up. Tom (the friend) called about 15 minutes later, and said that he'd been asked to come get it. "But I'm getting ready for bed," he said, "I'll come for it tomorrow morning." I like Tom; He's been by the shop several times and he's much more calm than his friend's wife. "She gets a little excited sometimes," he says. Yeah, no kidding... I don't think he's too pleased with this machine either, since he's the one who generally has to deal with it (his friend's health doesn't let him do much on his own anymore.) At any rate, he'll be by sometime after 10am tomorrow to pick it up, unless we actually get the massive snow-dump and it blocks the roads:
SNOWFALL WARNING IN EFFECT Warnings
Shaunavon - Maple Creek - Val Marie - Cypress Hills
3:03 PM CST Thursday 08 November 2012
Snowfall warning for
Shaunavon - Maple Creek - Val Marie - Cypress Hills continued
15 to 25 cm of snow tonight and Friday.
A storm system developing over the American Rockies is spreading an area of snow over Southwestern Saskatchewan. Snow is expected to intensify overnight, becoming heavy at times on Friday, before tapering off Saturday morning. Snowfall totals of 15 to 25 cm are likely over the warning area by Saturday morning with the heaviest amounts expected over the Cypress Hills and near the international border. Northeast winds of 40 to 60 km/h overnight and Friday will also give occasional blowing snow with poor visibility at times, mainly in southeast portions of the province.
Motorists should be prepared for poor driving conditions across much of Southern Saskatchewan on Friday. Listen for updated forecasts and warnings on this developing winter storm as warnings may be extended if the system pushes farther north.
The only part that really bugs me is that I'd have liked to get home and get my 3-point-hitch snow-blower attached to the tractor before this storm hits. Ah well, it is what it is....
On more positive notes; Got a U-Haul double-ender this afternoon. Customer came in with a trailer that they were supposed to drop off here; But they discovered there's no storage facilities (yet) in Shaunavon, so they need to take the trailer to their final destination in Claresholm Alberta. They would have faced a massive penalty had they simply taken it there, so I had to receive it into my inventory here, then re-rent it to them to take to Claresholm. U-Haul gave them a $50 reduction on the rental-rate for their trouble, which was nice of them. On the downside, I found out that my U-Haul rep (Roland) is no longer with the company! I had called him on the number he gave me, and he explained that as of last Friday he didn't work for them anymore. Geeesh.... thanks for letting me know guys... :/ At least the main team in Winnipeg was able to talk me through everything and get the customer on the road again.
Got my first call for Shop-Vac today too! A customer had called about getting a new fan for his model 6060 Contractor vac. Much to my dissappointment, it seems that Shop-Vac doesn't do real repairs - they just swap out the entire power head. :/ Hmmmph... Fine and dandy if it's under warranty, but annoying for the customer who just needs the fan, and not the whole unit. I called shop-vac to get more info, but my rep was out so I had to just leave a message and hope he gets back to me in a timely fashion. (I did mention that I'm now a factory-authorized Shop-Vac repair centre, didn't I?)
Also got a cheque for $550 from the golf-course that I did an engine replacement for on Monday. That's darn impressive: I mailed them the invoice on Monday afternoon, and three days later I've got a cheque! I wish all of my "mail me the invoice" customers would pay up so quickly! The timing is good too, as there are a lot of bills to pay, and they're coming up fast! (what else is new?) I had a number of drop-in customers at the shop today too; No one dropping off machinery, but picking up parts, picking up repaired machines, buying bits and peices. Overall, a very good day!
Just about forgot: Last night was the Elk's meeting; I made Roast Ham with Cousin Chery's Cheesey-Potato-Bake and mixed veggies. It went over very well, and like last time there was a huge amount left over. That's fine, as this dish freezes very well, and we can use the leftovers for another meeting. The supper even turned a profit of $22, so our Treasurer will be happy. :) I do my best to make sure that I keep the suppers within a profitable budget, and I think the members really appreciate having someone who knows how to cook more than sausages and hamburgers. I get a lot of compliments each night, and it's something I really enjoy doing. I don't care so much for having to clean up afterwards, but that is part of the job... Usually I get some help, but last night's supper was pretty much a one-dish creation, so there wasn't much to clean up anyway.
So that's that... Just got a text from Trixstir saying that the roads are not too bad (yet) but that it's starting to pile up in our driveway. That's to be expected, unfortunately - The wind blows it all in, and buries the driveway in a short time, thus the need for the tractor-mounted snow-blower. We'll see what the morning brings...
I heard on the news this morning that we're expecting some nasty weather, and I knew right away that a customer of mine was going to be up in arms about getting their snow-blower back. I was right too; Thankfully I was one the phone with a U-Haul customer at the time, and they just left a message on the voice-mail. Not a very nice, nor accurate message either... "You've had it for two years!" No, I haven't. You brought it in on December 06, last year. "Tom dropped off the part last week!" Yeah, and I have other customers besides you. "There's a blizzard coming!" No shit sherlock, I'm well aware of that and am working on the machine, but your snitty message makes me want to tell you to come get it, and put it back together yourself. :P
Why has this thing been here since December 06, last year? Surely they have a right to be upset that it's taken nearly a year to fix it? Well, yes, to a point. But the reason it's taken so long is that it's a Chinese import; And I don't just mean "made in China" like darnnear everything these days - I mean literally it was designed and built in China, and imported here. It's one of those machines that is mass-produced and then sold under tens (or hundreds) of different brand names with different coats of paint on it. Trying to get any information on it is just about impossible; The owner's manual is written in poor Chinglish, and has no details about the machine at all. It tooks months just to find out what parts it needed, and then those parts were impossible to find. We finally had to resort to having the needed part custom-made.
When I finally cracked the gear-box open this afternoon, two loose bolts fell out of it. I also discovered that one of the auger-drive belts (it has two, plus another belt for the traction-drive) was torn to shreds inside. Wonderful "Made In China" quality there! The machine is over-engineered in many aspects, making it prone to mechanical failures, and it certainy doesn't help when bolts aren't tightened down properly and wind up falling into the inner workings. Another bolt had the opposite problem; It had been tightened so severely that all of its threads were stripped off, and removing it took a lot of twisting and prying at the same time. I can't replace it either, since it's a metric bolt and just about everything I have in the shop is SAE.
The customer called again while I was working on the transmission linkages, and was considerably calmer when I told her I was in the process of working on it right then. I assured her that it would be done tonight, and that I wouldn't leave the shop until it was. I was true to my word, and I called back around 6:45pm to say that it was ready. She said that she'd have their friend come by and pick it up. Tom (the friend) called about 15 minutes later, and said that he'd been asked to come get it. "But I'm getting ready for bed," he said, "I'll come for it tomorrow morning." I like Tom; He's been by the shop several times and he's much more calm than his friend's wife. "She gets a little excited sometimes," he says. Yeah, no kidding... I don't think he's too pleased with this machine either, since he's the one who generally has to deal with it (his friend's health doesn't let him do much on his own anymore.) At any rate, he'll be by sometime after 10am tomorrow to pick it up, unless we actually get the massive snow-dump and it blocks the roads:
SNOWFALL WARNING IN EFFECT Warnings
Shaunavon - Maple Creek - Val Marie - Cypress Hills
3:03 PM CST Thursday 08 November 2012
Snowfall warning for
Shaunavon - Maple Creek - Val Marie - Cypress Hills continued
15 to 25 cm of snow tonight and Friday.
A storm system developing over the American Rockies is spreading an area of snow over Southwestern Saskatchewan. Snow is expected to intensify overnight, becoming heavy at times on Friday, before tapering off Saturday morning. Snowfall totals of 15 to 25 cm are likely over the warning area by Saturday morning with the heaviest amounts expected over the Cypress Hills and near the international border. Northeast winds of 40 to 60 km/h overnight and Friday will also give occasional blowing snow with poor visibility at times, mainly in southeast portions of the province.
Motorists should be prepared for poor driving conditions across much of Southern Saskatchewan on Friday. Listen for updated forecasts and warnings on this developing winter storm as warnings may be extended if the system pushes farther north.
The only part that really bugs me is that I'd have liked to get home and get my 3-point-hitch snow-blower attached to the tractor before this storm hits. Ah well, it is what it is....
On more positive notes; Got a U-Haul double-ender this afternoon. Customer came in with a trailer that they were supposed to drop off here; But they discovered there's no storage facilities (yet) in Shaunavon, so they need to take the trailer to their final destination in Claresholm Alberta. They would have faced a massive penalty had they simply taken it there, so I had to receive it into my inventory here, then re-rent it to them to take to Claresholm. U-Haul gave them a $50 reduction on the rental-rate for their trouble, which was nice of them. On the downside, I found out that my U-Haul rep (Roland) is no longer with the company! I had called him on the number he gave me, and he explained that as of last Friday he didn't work for them anymore. Geeesh.... thanks for letting me know guys... :/ At least the main team in Winnipeg was able to talk me through everything and get the customer on the road again.
Got my first call for Shop-Vac today too! A customer had called about getting a new fan for his model 6060 Contractor vac. Much to my dissappointment, it seems that Shop-Vac doesn't do real repairs - they just swap out the entire power head. :/ Hmmmph... Fine and dandy if it's under warranty, but annoying for the customer who just needs the fan, and not the whole unit. I called shop-vac to get more info, but my rep was out so I had to just leave a message and hope he gets back to me in a timely fashion. (I did mention that I'm now a factory-authorized Shop-Vac repair centre, didn't I?)
Also got a cheque for $550 from the golf-course that I did an engine replacement for on Monday. That's darn impressive: I mailed them the invoice on Monday afternoon, and three days later I've got a cheque! I wish all of my "mail me the invoice" customers would pay up so quickly! The timing is good too, as there are a lot of bills to pay, and they're coming up fast! (what else is new?) I had a number of drop-in customers at the shop today too; No one dropping off machinery, but picking up parts, picking up repaired machines, buying bits and peices. Overall, a very good day!
Just about forgot: Last night was the Elk's meeting; I made Roast Ham with Cousin Chery's Cheesey-Potato-Bake and mixed veggies. It went over very well, and like last time there was a huge amount left over. That's fine, as this dish freezes very well, and we can use the leftovers for another meeting. The supper even turned a profit of $22, so our Treasurer will be happy. :) I do my best to make sure that I keep the suppers within a profitable budget, and I think the members really appreciate having someone who knows how to cook more than sausages and hamburgers. I get a lot of compliments each night, and it's something I really enjoy doing. I don't care so much for having to clean up afterwards, but that is part of the job... Usually I get some help, but last night's supper was pretty much a one-dish creation, so there wasn't much to clean up anyway.
So that's that... Just got a text from Trixstir saying that the roads are not too bad (yet) but that it's starting to pile up in our driveway. That's to be expected, unfortunately - The wind blows it all in, and buries the driveway in a short time, thus the need for the tractor-mounted snow-blower. We'll see what the morning brings...