Snap On Box

Sweet, some good advice for you, Ringhaver Florida, Cat dealership, get on the marine propulsion side, or ZF Florida, or even find a good marine transmission rebuild shop....fck the Merc dealers. very saturated which drives the wage down. get a niche, most dealerships will repair all the hanging stuff but dont want to dabble into transmissions and send them out.
what part of Fla are you in?

I should remember but don't (senior moment?)......where are you guys in Florida?

john

hey Hoss...changed my location just for you...

Had my snips and blue knife on today for a Church work day. Felt good. I always tell the guys at the garage that there will always be a spot for a guy with a butt set and a orange buzzer and a little common sense.
As long as there is weather and squirrels.

Yeah...a free truck to drive to the mall, shopping, Mom's, Dr's office. They have finally stopped 'home garaging' in Ohio. Never could figure that one out but it sure was a good deal for guys for a long time. Never did get to take my UG truck home.

john

sweet77 wrote: and another week with Pete B.

I think that since GL reunion is taking a break that we should just show up next year at Pete's new shop

I keep telling my one guy he should be paying me because im teaching him a trade that will last a lifetime, its funny on how i use to watch his every move and now i can let him lose and not worry...i knew he had the ability deep down in him to solve problems and as he does things such as a bellow job, he is getting much quicker at it.
a good for instance he will come to me and say something is broke, but i will ask him why its broke, go back and figure out why it broke, just dont replace the part...there is a hidden message and this sharpens his troubleshooting skills

I'm slowly starting to realize the tools I have now will be sufficient for awhile. The only thing I've borrowed so far was a small filter wrench which I've bought since then, maybe the best thing for me is to wait until right before the end of school when I've got a full years experience at the dealership to decide whether there are things I have to have from Snap and in the mean time only buy what I absolutely need to do the job.

As a side note concerning the grass:) I've spent the last 8 years doing everything from drywall to outbuildings to union concrete and I've never enjoyed working for so little money. When I left IL I was making 30+an hour now I'm making just over a 1/3 of that. It's hard on the checkbook but between going to school for 8hrs and working at the dealership for another 4 M-F there's not much time for anything else. I've had to look for sidework on the weekends to supplement my income but the bottom line is I'm still happy with my decision to do this.

This site and the people on it are BadA**!

Lake Wales Hoss...half-way between Tampa and Orlando. Close to Lakeland or Winterhaven. We are at the junction of rt60 and rt27.
Thought we covered this at the River.
BTW..love the new boat!

john

Jbear : Location: United States, But i want to know where the famous Jbear stays are you in florida?

bbishop1974 wrote: i can't believe how much attention this thread got.i think its because we can all remember being in similar scenario.just remember debt/interest SUCKS

Mine I would venture to say was " Young and Dumb"

I was not a four year grad student, after high school, no more . Started at a dealership sweeping and cleaning parts, begged to go to every I could be accepted at.
Merc and Yamaha had by far the best scool and seminars, OMC almost a waste of time. Mercruiser was held in Stillwater Ok.As your schooling increases so do your ability to see new "concept" long before they are at the dealership. Louisiana pay scale for techs is a little higher than that, most here work on 60/40 labor rate. Thats the only way I could work for a dealership again.Many are scared of a straight commision job, I loved it.
I am probably the richest man on this site with the friends and memories made thru this site. All because of these old boats, love what you do , not so much money .......billy

We aren't flat rate here in the North East. There's not a long enough season to bother with flatrate. Since march 15th we have been removing shrink wrap and getting boats running with the usual dead starter, dead battery, crapped out primary solenoid, oil changes, lower unit oil, trans fluid blah blah. So by the time we start "fixing boats" say mid june? We would have a 2 month area to work on flat rate, then we will be right back into shrink wrapping and winterization.

I just plan to try and learn and absorb as much as possible during that 2-3 months of fixing boats.

+1 to mike about wishing I went to law school aka any school.

I came lit of MMI after paying 25,000 dollars plus having a job to pay living expenses and I was offered a job at 12$ an hour in New Jersey which is a state with a high cost of living. I've gotten a few raises and am making better money than that now but it's still nothing close to what my friends with college degrees are making and from what I've been told, it's tough to achieve higher than 30+ an hour in this business unless your a manager or an owner.

It's absolute BULLSH!T (sorry for the language Keith) how Underpaid mechanics are. For the amount of money and training many of us go through these days to come out of school and get offered 12 dollars an hour (which is less than I got paid one summer to clean dorms at MIT in Boston) is absolutely wrong.

Maybe I'm in the wrong area of the country but this industry isn't just fixing ski/wakeboard boats and taking them for test rides. It's fight starters in the worst designed 24 foot sea ray sundecks with a BBC in it that makes you curse like a sailor and stab your screw driver through their interior in frustration. That's the reality of being a boat mechanic

Mike, the numbers show less than 10% pay off the loan working at a dealership.The work is dirty, the hours long and the pay could be better. This is not the dream that most students signed on for. I have made a living, bought a house and sent three thru college and bought a few toys, not to count the great memories made over the last thirty years . Living the dream then, lovin' it now.
The boats have been good to me and for me, hope you make a great tech.........Billy

I have been a motorcycle tech for 20 years. I have a 10,000 dollar box overflowing with tools. It took all 20 years to get that far. Listen to Eric & the Boat Dr, they know of what they speak. Its not the tools that make the tech, its the knowledge. Good luck in your new endeavor. In two years you'll wish you went to law school

Mike

harddock wrote: uk1979 wrote: If it must be Snap-on have a look on Ebay too, Uk ebay Tool chest around $1400 less must be the same in the US. Caution...Might not be a bargain if you have to have it shipped.

I'm trying to say look on US Ebay if there on over here must be the same in the US