Norwester
Member II
Madame Diesel FB Public Post (just passing on and ideas and opinions may not represent mine; full disclosure: I have not done official motor business with Mechanic Anderson; however, I've attended a brief lecture of hers and appreciated her pedagogical approach (mix of social constructivism and liberationism, which is somewhat evident in her writing below) to teaching).
As I wrote in another forum thread (and I'm NOT seeking responses for my posting here...just sharing)
Meredith Anderson (aka Madame Diesel) a regional diesel mechanic, diesel engine course instructor and author of 48-North articles (worthy of reading) could be a model for modern engine (inboard or outboard) regional mechanics. She made her argument for her $230/hour services on her FB page."
for those who don't use FB.
MEREDITH ANDERSON
The cost of a good mechanic vs a bad one:
Last week I worked on 3 boats where the clients had hired another mechanic to fix the problem or service the engine and found out that the work was either not done at all, done to subpar levels or wayyyyy overcharged. That mechanics hourly rate was almost half of mine, hence the reason why the client hired them first. But in the end, I ended up coming to not only clean up their mess, but then complete the original job to begin with.
I have been self employed for 8 years and worked as a mechanic for over 20 years. As the last several years have passed, the cost to engage in this business has gone up exponentially and it's scary. I never realized how expensive it would be to play the game the proper and legal way. I never thought I would be this invested in equipment, shop and vehicles to be able to get to places to fix things. As time moves forward, my business has grown in it's own capacity, my ability to do more in-house. I find myself welding/fabricating, machining, rebuilding and designing systems. I have invested alot in the right equipment and tools to get the job correctly. I have invested in making sure my service truck is reliable and ready to go at all times and it has never let me down on a call. It all costs alot of money to be able to come help.
I have always hated raising my rates, I feel like I'm being greedy or unfair, and avoid doing it every year like most. I go as long as I can without doing it and when the time comes, I find that in order to continue, I must. Many times, folks believe that I'm laughing my way to the bank, but if only they knew my actual take home pay doesn't equate to much. The goal with my business was always just to be able to pay my bills and be happy and I have succeeded in that. I truly love what I do, and have had alot of wonderful folks who have supported that growth! In the diesel industry, my travel and labor rates are actually pretty cheap. Don't believe me? Called Mercedes Benz, Peterbilt, or any legit diesel specialty service, all of their rates are over $300/hr. For labor and a hell of alot more for travel. Why is that? Because owning all the equipment to do this type of work, staying insured, renting and keeping the lights on so I can fix your stuff costs ALOT.
In the recreational industry, everyone jokes that it is the wild west in terms of service and repair. When I entered this industry from the commercial world, I was taken back at the poor quality of service and even more by the lack of basic and fundamental knowledge required to do this type of work. I started out working for a few boatyards and it became abundantly clear just how inexperienced alot of boatyard "mechanics" truly were. I remember one of our fiberglass guys trying to remove an injection pump from an engine once before I got hired and because he didn't know how everything was timed, he didn't mark anything or make sure gears stayed in place. The engine fell out of time and I ended up having to remove more than half of the front end of the engine to re-time everything under the gear housing because of his mistake. The boatyard was a very crooked boatyard and charged the customer for every minute of labor (claiming the engine was really screwed up) despite the fact it was our fault. When I learned what they had done, I quit and moved on. The customer paid more than 6x the labor to just have it done right the first time by a legit mechanic who knew what they were doing.
My rates are $230/hr. for labor this year, which is surprising even for me. When I sit down and calculate what I need to function as a business legally, the costs are insane. Ironically those three customers this week found they had actually paid significantly more having the shop who was $125/hr. work on their stuff because they had milked hours and lied about the work being done, and didn't do the job right the first time resulting in us havjng to tear out what they had done and redo it. After looking over their invoices, they had also charged the customer for way more parts than were actually needed and those parts were never actually used. Almost everytime, the cost to fix stuff honestly and correctly the first time, always to comes to less than trying to go cheaper.
I have always encouraged people to do their research and be onboard if possible when work is being done. All recreational marine professionals should be doing any work to the bare minimum standard which is ABYC. If they can't even do that, there is a problem. Word of mouth is a powerful thing too, so listen to your friends and neighbors. Education and proper equipment is important, trying to do a precision job with crappy rooling or equipment won't make the cut. If you want it done right, you are gonna pay for that expertise. I can train a monkey to change oil or an exhaust elbow, but if that monkey doesn't understand why things have failed in the first place, you are bound to go down the same path again. A good mechanic will understand how all of these systems work and will almost think like a doctor who is working to diagnose a health problem. The more information I have, the more I know about what caused your issue and the better equipped I am to help you repair the current issue, but also make the changes to avoid doing it again. It's more than just slapping together some parts with nuts and bolts!
Articles by Meredith Anderson in one PNW publication:
48north.com
As I wrote in another forum thread (and I'm NOT seeking responses for my posting here...just sharing)
Meredith Anderson (aka Madame Diesel) a regional diesel mechanic, diesel engine course instructor and author of 48-North articles (worthy of reading) could be a model for modern engine (inboard or outboard) regional mechanics. She made her argument for her $230/hour services on her FB page."
for those who don't use FB.
MEREDITH ANDERSON
The cost of a good mechanic vs a bad one:
Last week I worked on 3 boats where the clients had hired another mechanic to fix the problem or service the engine and found out that the work was either not done at all, done to subpar levels or wayyyyy overcharged. That mechanics hourly rate was almost half of mine, hence the reason why the client hired them first. But in the end, I ended up coming to not only clean up their mess, but then complete the original job to begin with.
I have been self employed for 8 years and worked as a mechanic for over 20 years. As the last several years have passed, the cost to engage in this business has gone up exponentially and it's scary. I never realized how expensive it would be to play the game the proper and legal way. I never thought I would be this invested in equipment, shop and vehicles to be able to get to places to fix things. As time moves forward, my business has grown in it's own capacity, my ability to do more in-house. I find myself welding/fabricating, machining, rebuilding and designing systems. I have invested alot in the right equipment and tools to get the job correctly. I have invested in making sure my service truck is reliable and ready to go at all times and it has never let me down on a call. It all costs alot of money to be able to come help.
I have always hated raising my rates, I feel like I'm being greedy or unfair, and avoid doing it every year like most. I go as long as I can without doing it and when the time comes, I find that in order to continue, I must. Many times, folks believe that I'm laughing my way to the bank, but if only they knew my actual take home pay doesn't equate to much. The goal with my business was always just to be able to pay my bills and be happy and I have succeeded in that. I truly love what I do, and have had alot of wonderful folks who have supported that growth! In the diesel industry, my travel and labor rates are actually pretty cheap. Don't believe me? Called Mercedes Benz, Peterbilt, or any legit diesel specialty service, all of their rates are over $300/hr. For labor and a hell of alot more for travel. Why is that? Because owning all the equipment to do this type of work, staying insured, renting and keeping the lights on so I can fix your stuff costs ALOT.
In the recreational industry, everyone jokes that it is the wild west in terms of service and repair. When I entered this industry from the commercial world, I was taken back at the poor quality of service and even more by the lack of basic and fundamental knowledge required to do this type of work. I started out working for a few boatyards and it became abundantly clear just how inexperienced alot of boatyard "mechanics" truly were. I remember one of our fiberglass guys trying to remove an injection pump from an engine once before I got hired and because he didn't know how everything was timed, he didn't mark anything or make sure gears stayed in place. The engine fell out of time and I ended up having to remove more than half of the front end of the engine to re-time everything under the gear housing because of his mistake. The boatyard was a very crooked boatyard and charged the customer for every minute of labor (claiming the engine was really screwed up) despite the fact it was our fault. When I learned what they had done, I quit and moved on. The customer paid more than 6x the labor to just have it done right the first time by a legit mechanic who knew what they were doing.
My rates are $230/hr. for labor this year, which is surprising even for me. When I sit down and calculate what I need to function as a business legally, the costs are insane. Ironically those three customers this week found they had actually paid significantly more having the shop who was $125/hr. work on their stuff because they had milked hours and lied about the work being done, and didn't do the job right the first time resulting in us havjng to tear out what they had done and redo it. After looking over their invoices, they had also charged the customer for way more parts than were actually needed and those parts were never actually used. Almost everytime, the cost to fix stuff honestly and correctly the first time, always to comes to less than trying to go cheaper.
I have always encouraged people to do their research and be onboard if possible when work is being done. All recreational marine professionals should be doing any work to the bare minimum standard which is ABYC. If they can't even do that, there is a problem. Word of mouth is a powerful thing too, so listen to your friends and neighbors. Education and proper equipment is important, trying to do a precision job with crappy rooling or equipment won't make the cut. If you want it done right, you are gonna pay for that expertise. I can train a monkey to change oil or an exhaust elbow, but if that monkey doesn't understand why things have failed in the first place, you are bound to go down the same path again. A good mechanic will understand how all of these systems work and will almost think like a doctor who is working to diagnose a health problem. The more information I have, the more I know about what caused your issue and the better equipped I am to help you repair the current issue, but also make the changes to avoid doing it again. It's more than just slapping together some parts with nuts and bolts!
Articles by Meredith Anderson in one PNW publication:
Meredith Anderson, Author at 48° North
48north.com
