So last Monday my skid steer broke down. The foot pedal that controls the bucket roll function broke. I knew I needed a new pedal as the connection point was rusted off. I am not a mechanic and i don't particularly enjoy trying to be one. So I called 2 different dealer shops for estimates. One said parts plus 5 hours of labor at $150 per hour. The other said parts plus 3 hours of labor at $125 per hour but said to budget a grand just in case. I thought both were crazy.

So I started tearing it apart myself. I found what parts I thought I needed and called a place that I had gotten a part for this machine from before. (the best parts man I have ever dealt with) He got me squared away with the parts I needed and sent them right out to me. I got it all fixed up and back together for a total of $209 in parts and about 2 hours of my own labor. If a dummy like me can do it in two hours a professional shop guy could have had it done in a hour I'm sure. But I bet that they would have still charged the price they told me.

They probably make some money when the machine leaves the show room .......but kill it when it comes back

Yeah dealers will rip you. My son asked me the other day how did you learn to fix all this stuff i said if you dont want to pay somebody to do it for you, you can learn pretty quick lol

The price of a "shop hour" is beyond ridiculous around here anymore. Most of them providing the service have no incentive to complete the task in a timely manner as well. Am I going to take my equipment to get worked on, yes. Unfortunately my time is better spent doing the other 10,000 things I need to get done this week. Yesterday was a prime example. Dropped off a commercial grade Hustler mower for its 100 hr break in service, which was highly recommended to have done when we purchased the machine. I am going to trust that my local dealer wasn't just blowing smoke up my (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman). Yet the girl running the service counter was so clueless as to what service I was requesting for my mower that we went round and round for 20 minutes before I just asked her to go ask a mechanic what I needed to keep my machine in compliance with warranty and functioning its best.

NEVER go to the dealer unless it's for warranty work. Find a good local mechanic instead. Ask around.

There are very few independent ag mechanics close by. And the few that there are, are so busy that you have to get on a waiting list. That wasn't an option for this job. My boss just had a Tractor repair done by a independent guy that comes to the farm. He had to split the tractor. It was in the farm shop split for 6 months as he worked on it an hour here and an hour there.

Same thing happened to me a few years ago. Ball joints on my dodge pickup. I bought the parts at a part store for less than firestone in Ottawa KS quoted me. Not cheapest ones either. Said 4 hours labor. I did it in two out in the yard on a day cold enough I had to go inside to warm up several times. Lots of crooked shops out there. Jeep had about 6000 miles on it. Took it to Olathe jeep for an oil change. Said I needed a new cabin air filter. Wanted 75 bucks. I think the filter they showed me was from another vehicle. Full of bugs and dirt. I had not even drove it on a gravel road yet. Bought a filter at a parts store for 12 bucks. Watched a you tube video and took about 5 minutes to change it. Dealer told me to get a jeep credit card I would get 5% off any dealer work from the CC company. So I did. No annual fee or anything. First time I used it (that oil change) dealer charged me 3% for using a credit card. Canceled the card and have not been back to the dealer.

Like most, I never realized how good we had it when there was a gas station on every corner that had service bays and most had good mechanics. Back when we had the farm I couldn't afford new so I had to do all the wrench turning if I wanted to keep things working. Not so today with all that computer stuff. SOL

Good parts people are really worth a little spoiling.

a buddy is a mechanic in a dealership and they have this book that they go by for work there is 5 licensed mechanics on duty mon-fri and everyday it one of there jobs to do oil changes the dealership only books 7 a day per mechanic because the book says it takes an hour so the mechanic bangs them all off in an hour an half and than is free to work on whatever the rest of the day he calls that his gravy day because all extra work goes directly into his pocket not the company he also told me if you are redoing heads they charge a complete tear down for each side even though you only tear it down once

I wonder who writes the book? What a built in scam. If you cant change oil in ten minutes or less your in the wrong occupation.

94 dealerships make the other 6 look bad.

New Holland quoted 500 for tractor service.
I've done this myself and don't think this price is out of line.

If I am too cheap, or too lazy,
I can always go online and preach NH are junk.

That flat rate book.
I know of one that only uses it when the job takes less time or parts.
If over they go hourly. Real pros.