Been trying to come up with ways to make extra money. Times are tough, im sure some of you here can relate to that. I have thought of doing carb and mag repair, as I like doing that and have the knowledge to do so. But I dont know. . .it would take alot to get started. Feel free to to give your input!
- Thread starter bigboreG
- Start date
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
In the northern half of the country if you have a loader or blower on the tractor you can do snow removal for people around your area.
Tractor repair can always be an option as not everyone is mechanically inclined. As long as you feel confident in your skills.
Random thoughts.....
Tractor repair can always be an option as not everyone is mechanically inclined. As long as you feel confident in your skills.
Random thoughts.....
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
I do a little tractor repair here and there but it has been extra slow this past year but then I do it as a hobby not a full time thing. Hard to get set up to do something like that full or even part time with out having a shop front or some such thing
Repairing small engines seems to be a dying trade, at least in my area, also In our area it is impossible to find anyone to hire to help with land clearing, general farm work, dirt moving or anything else that requires either manual labor or being able to operate anything from a skill saw to a tractor. Here a craigslist ad offering general handyman and or skilled labor would keep you busy. I have a friend who makes a good living feeding and tending after cows for people as well as hauling hay, fencing, bushogging etc. he has to turn down work because of other commitments. How about your local sale barn? our barn cannot keep help.
I do have my own shop, and ALOT of tools. Specialty tools even. I was a tech at a deere dealership, but took another position inside the company. My wife says I dont have enough time for a second job, and maybe she is right. But I would at least like to try do something extra. She works two jobs, I should be able to handle it also. . .i hope .
Tony in Mass.
Well-known Member
I'm sure magneto repair will get you some work, but if you can do diesel pump and injector work that undercuts the big shops, you will have the world beat a path to your door.
I wasn't going to pay more than I did for the tractor to have a place 'look at' my injector pump, so I bought a kit and did it myself. 3rd time lucky! And put an ad in your area Craigslist farm and garden 'on site tractor repairs', see what you get for bites. Good luck.
I wasn't going to pay more than I did for the tractor to have a place 'look at' my injector pump, so I bought a kit and did it myself. 3rd time lucky! And put an ad in your area Craigslist farm and garden 'on site tractor repairs', see what you get for bites. Good luck.
I'm leery of taking on side jobs without insurance in this sue-happy world.
Spill a cup of coffee and sue because it was hot.
What happens if a carb catches on fire? Blame it on the rebuilder?
I'm working full time and running a side business, like you're talking about.
I am by no means qualified to give legal advise, but you may want to
talk to someone who is. Which will of course, cost money. Money well spent.
Best I can offer other than that, is do what you're good at, price it fairly,
deal, and deal honestly.
Who says a farmer can't trade you some pork or beef or firewood, or ?? for some work?
Money not spent on necessities [b:018e2e849e][i:018e2e849e]is[/i:018e2e849e][/b:018e2e849e] extra income.
Spill a cup of coffee and sue because it was hot.
What happens if a carb catches on fire? Blame it on the rebuilder?
I'm working full time and running a side business, like you're talking about.
I am by no means qualified to give legal advise, but you may want to
talk to someone who is. Which will of course, cost money. Money well spent.
Best I can offer other than that, is do what you're good at, price it fairly,
deal, and deal honestly.
Who says a farmer can't trade you some pork or beef or firewood, or ?? for some work?
Money not spent on necessities [b:018e2e849e][i:018e2e849e]is[/i:018e2e849e][/b:018e2e849e] extra income.
glennster
Well-known Member
Ever considered driving a tow truck? We have a hard time fining good dependable drivers. Need a good driving record, and your mechanical skills are a plus. When our drivers are on call,they take the truck home with them, company cell phone too. You could do back up part time. Its outside work in all weather conditions tho.
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
Try doing some business cards from say Vistaprint.com. They do not cost a lot and that way you can get your name out there. A lot of what I do is by word or mouth and people I have helped in turn tell others about me so I sort of have a small snowball rolling. Have a trailer job right now if the weather will just warm up enough to let me get it done but building a 18 foot trailer just does not work in my small shop
I would love working at the sale barn on the side, did so as a teenager and loved it. Problem is now that im 60 miles away from the nearest sale barn. In reply to the diesel repair, I can do that, just dont have test stands or gauges. Dont get me wrong, I love diesels and went to tech school for tier 3 engines. But my passion is old iron. Even though I was trained and brought up on green, I like other colors just the same. So really I would like to keep it old lol. Its more simple and less headaches, IMHO.
Zachary Hoyt
Well-known Member
In my spare time I part out tractors that are in really bad shape, and I also build banjos, violins, lap harps, dulcimers and such and also twig furniture occasionally. I do have trouble with stock, I tend to either have a bunch of instruments sitting around or to suddenly sell a bunch and not have any left to advertise for a while. There is more money in tractor parts but I really love the woodworking and I do eventually sell almost everything I build, sometimes it just has to sit on the shelf for a year or two first.
Zach
Zach
I even thought of woodworking. I mean, people seem to buy things made from wood, as long as they look halfway decent. I made a few large bird feeders and birdhouses for friends / relatives and they loved them. Most were made from oak, which was kind of a challenge because it tends to split if not worked right. But I have most of the woodworking tools I need to make most things. Just another option!
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Where are you at? I have a class"A" CDL.
Walt Davies
Well-known Member
I thought about selling the wife but they told at 87 she's to old
Giggle
Walt
Giggle
Walt
I'm retired, 76 years young, have my pickup full of tools and my body says stay home, check book says, work. I usually work only on tractors I am very familiar with. IH line from H up to 86 series. Some on 50 series and little on Magnums. Very careful about who I do work for because things can and do go wrong. Pretty well down to just three regular customers now and a few small jobs like carbs and starters for others.
Kevin S SC
Member
Im buying all the cheap lawnmowers i can find. Then gonna get em running and sell them in the spring. Hope to double or triple my money.
Ted in NE-OH
Well-known Member
Walmart greeter?
37chief
Well-known Member
- Location
- California
I had a friend that would clean out houses, for the banks, after the people lost their homes. Sometimes they left a big mess. Someone has to do it. Make up a flyer and drop off at a few banks, and see swhat happens. Also maintaining yards after people leave. This will keep the house saleable. Just a thought. Stan
I'm a mechanic for a large plant and in the 90's I was doing a lot of work for a neighbor farmer and thought I'd branch into that maybe even go full time. The prospects I kept getting were the jobs too junky to take to the dealer because the owner didn't want to pay or the ones that were a risk to do cuz they were nearly unsafe. I quit doing side work after that.
Old coworker of mine had 5 kids. So, he started a painting business. Small of course, weekends, nights. Side money. $100 here, $200 there. All residential. No matter how bad the economy is or isnt people still hate painting. $1000 in tools would get you started. Rollers, brushes, ladders, drop cloths.
evilboweivel
Member
work with a guy who buys mowers for 5-10 and sells them for 55 to 60 when he gets them running
most need carb cleaned
bought a two stage 26" snow blower from him last year for 200 both of us were happy with the deal
used it yesterday for the first time
need to build a relationship with Lowes, H D and lawnmower repair shops to buy all of their abandoned mowers
he also has one guy come buy and buy 20 to 30 mowers at a time claims he is shipping them to Africa, pays cash
most need carb cleaned
bought a two stage 26" snow blower from him last year for 200 both of us were happy with the deal
used it yesterday for the first time
need to build a relationship with Lowes, H D and lawnmower repair shops to buy all of their abandoned mowers
he also has one guy come buy and buy 20 to 30 mowers at a time claims he is shipping them to Africa, pays cash
Worked for a place that used to do that. Started with the driver getting 50% of the bill. Then the boss decided that maybe that was too much so it went to 40% then 25%. Eventually no one would do it anymore so the boss decided it was because we were wimps and did it himself. One week of no sleep and he stopped also and that was the end of our night towing business.
jim johnson
Well-known Member
Tony in Mass is right about the injector pumps, it's usually just a seal and can be repaired for peanuts compared to what the diesel injector places want.
Jim
Jim
Hay hay hay
Well-known Member
If you want to make some money you either must have a skill or talent that people are willing to pay for (like you can do a good job reconditioning Diesel pumps) or you must be willing to do nasty work that others are unwilling to do themselves (like taring a roof at 105 degrees).
Other than that you are just another body looking to sweat.
Mowing lawns, fixing carburetors and building bird houses won't get you very far.
Depending on where you are located, ask some local folks what they have trouble getting done...fixing roofs, pouring concrete slabs, laying water lines...then learn how to do it fast easy and cheap, and you will have a winner.
Other than that you are just another body looking to sweat.
Mowing lawns, fixing carburetors and building bird houses won't get you very far.
Depending on where you are located, ask some local folks what they have trouble getting done...fixing roofs, pouring concrete slabs, laying water lines...then learn how to do it fast easy and cheap, and you will have a winner.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
I sell firewood. Did a little over 30 cords last year. Probably a little less this year cause it was cutting into hunting time. Use to make a lot trapping. Fur market not so good anymore. Still take care of a few problem beavers at $50 per beaver though.
Dan in Ohio
Well-known Member
- Location
- Mid-Ohio
There are alot of good sugjestions here bigbore. When I became an empty nestor I had more time than money so started working a second job. That was 12 years ago and now am down to 50 hrs. a week but still at two jobs. Once you start it is hard to stop and even remember why you did it in the first place. Do something you enjoy, offer a service or product people need, and keep your goal in site is my advice.
I usually can pick up some welding work on the weekends and in evenings. Luckily I have picked up my equipment over the years at auctions and not have had to pay new price for it, but this year the extra work has been short with the economy. The portable is where most of the work has been this summer. Scott
Goose
Well-known Member
I always said, one way to succeed is to specialize in doing something no one else wants to do.
Back in the middle to late 1980's and early 1990's, I made a full time career out of rebuilding rusty Chevy pickups, both for customers and buying, rebuilding, and reselling.
Whether a customer's or my own for resale, I could put a few hundred dollars worth of repair panels and paint, and a week's labor into a pickup and make $600-$800 on it. Not bad money back then, even after subtracting overhead.
And I did it right. Wherever there was rust, I cut the rust out and welded new metal in. Then used a minimum of filler to level it. Word got around, and I had plenty of examples on the street. For a few years I had more work than I could handle without even advertising.
Nowadays, pickups don't rust as soon or as bad, and the market has changed, so there's not enough of a price spread between a rusty pickup and a pristine one to make it worth while.
But, it was a good ride while it lasted.
Back in the middle to late 1980's and early 1990's, I made a full time career out of rebuilding rusty Chevy pickups, both for customers and buying, rebuilding, and reselling.
Whether a customer's or my own for resale, I could put a few hundred dollars worth of repair panels and paint, and a week's labor into a pickup and make $600-$800 on it. Not bad money back then, even after subtracting overhead.
And I did it right. Wherever there was rust, I cut the rust out and welded new metal in. Then used a minimum of filler to level it. Word got around, and I had plenty of examples on the street. For a few years I had more work than I could handle without even advertising.
Nowadays, pickups don't rust as soon or as bad, and the market has changed, so there's not enough of a price spread between a rusty pickup and a pristine one to make it worth while.
But, it was a good ride while it lasted.
I used to fix up cheap mowers to sell, but Craigslist has ruined the market in our area. So many people doing it now so that the market is flooded and prices are way down. I still make a few bucks selling snowblowers, but anything not sold by Xmas I will be stuck with until next fall.
showcrop
Well-known Member
It looks to me like you should be able to get started very easily as you are already set up for it. I would think that your employer wouldn't mind you putting up an add about it. They probably wouldn't want that work. You could also approach independent shops who would probably not want to be bothered with carbs and mags. I don't recall his handle but you could contact the YT forum member who operates the carb shop and ask for input.
Showcrop, I do work on a few two bangers from time to
time. The dealer dont really have time to work on them so I
do it here at home. The main thing holding me back is room,
I only space enough for one or two tractors, plus my own
that reside in the same building. I get carbs and mags
dropped of from time to time, and charge 35.00 an hour to
service that stuff. I figure half of what the dealer gets is fair.
time. The dealer dont really have time to work on them so I
do it here at home. The main thing holding me back is room,
I only space enough for one or two tractors, plus my own
that reside in the same building. I get carbs and mags
dropped of from time to time, and charge 35.00 an hour to
service that stuff. I figure half of what the dealer gets is fair.
I learned to trim horses. I was getting tired of paying for 4 or 5 horses to have their feet done when I know how to use tools and am physically capable of it. At $35-$40 per horse it adds up. I found someone willing to teach me a correct barefoot trim so I could do my own. I found I enjoy helping horses and now I have several customers horses I trim for extra money. If I had more time I would do more.
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