Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I loaned my 5 year old Husqvarna 136 chainsaw to one of my area managers at work as he had just moved into town from Michigan, and need to cut down a few trees.  He had the saw for a while and admitted to abusing it a bit, but stated he would pay for the damage he did to it.  I took it to a local dealer in Chardon, Ohio and their quote to fix the saw was $10 less than what it costs new.  My wife feels that this guy owes me the entire amount necessary to fix or replace the saw;  I said that since it's a mechanical object with a certain lifespan, that I would be kind and take the depreciation on it and only ask for around $100 to put towards a new saw.

Am I being too easy on this guy, or should I make him pay for 100% of the repair/replacement cost?  I can see my wife's point, why should I have to pay any money when I started the entire interaction with a completely good chainsaw.

Thanks

How could anyone lend a powertool (especially a chainsaw as told above) to someone who doesn't know how to use it?  Makes a no lending policy sound like a safe bet.  Imagine lending a tool and the lendee being seriously injured simply because they didn't know any better.

I'd expect back what you lent less some wear and tear, or a satisfactory to you replacement.  That's nothing less than what would happen if the person borrowing the tool broke their own and fixed or replaced it.

An added awareness to loaning out any machine / tool...

If the borrower (or someone else) gets hurt using it...
Guess what... ?
the lender can be sued !! 

The blame for the accident can be placed on a fault with the machine... and thus it's owner...
Especially if the machine is not in factory-new condition... and accompanied by the Owner's amnual and associated literature/warnings...

Too bad Mad Dog isn't here to expand on this...


Dave...

for the most part i dont loan tools out either, but there are 2 or 3 friends who i would never hesitate to loan anything to. They're attitude is the same as mine though, when you borrow something, return it in as good or better shape, than it was when you borrowed it.

a (sort of) humorous side note to this, years ago we had a family move in across the street from us, the gentleman (in the broadest sense of the term) came over one day and asked to borrow my chainsaw to cut some railroad ties he was doing some landscaping with. . it was the first time i'd met the guy & didnt know a thing about him. i politely informed him i didnt loan tools out. anyway, to make a long story short he made a total of probably 50 or 60 cuts with all the short pieces he was using and he ended up using a HACKSAW. it took him most of the summer.....but i'll give him credit......he got it done even if he was too cheap to go buy a more suitable tool.

PaulR,

Bring us up to date, what ended up happening, anything yet?

spottedpony wrote:

I don't think I would use my chain saw to cut railroad ties with my saw, let alone loan it to someone else. 

I look at it like this, I borrow something and it breaks then I will either pay to fix it or buy a new one that is as close to the original as possible.  Some folks don't look at it the same way. 

Best of luck and let us know how it works out.

Now this reminds me to get back a table saw from one neighbor and a miter saw from another.

Well, I think I settled on upgrading to a larger Husqvarna Saw and will buy the parts to fix the old one (my neighbor is pretty mechanical and will help fix saw).  Like I said, the guy I loaned the saw to is 2 grades higher than me at work, so I don't want to push him too hard for the money.  I think a "friendly" reminder is certainly in order though.  I may have to delay the new saw purchase as I found out I have about $450 repair bill on my 02 Ram that's 4,000 miles out of warranty....

PaulR wrote:
Two ways to look at the work thing. My dumb dog gone advise, don't seem to easy, but be fair. Don't know how political your work place is. But if this is a test. Be careful.

The truck. Ouch. Maybe the service advisor (if that's what they call themselves these days) will take some mercy and throw in some plugs and an oil change. Or maybe split the labor or parts. Doesn't hurt to ask.

robmints wrote: I've learned that in these deals where the vehicle is barely out of warranty, being nice and asking for break is sometimes worth doing and the other times turning into the exorcist is the best bet. Just have to know your folks there a little. LOL 

Hint, Service mangers want good CSI scores.

My take on it is "it depends".

You mention that the saw needed repair after your co-worker admitted abusing it but didn't say how much was due to the abuse and how much was there before he got his hands on it.

Personally I think the person is on the hook for any damage that was done while it was in his care. If that is 90% of the repair cost then so be it. If nothing else it will teach him that tools should be used properly. The fact that he admits to it and offered to pay seems like a point in his favour for taking resposibility. Sometime damage occurs despite a person's best efforts, their still responsible.

The concern about  the training aspect is also valid. I borrowed a chainsaw from a co-worker several years ago and he wouldn't let me have it until he had seen me start  it, turn it off and discussed how to use it with me. I was most impressed and not at all put out despite having used a chain saw for 20 years before. It meant he was doing his best to make sure I was safe. I do the same thing now.