Opening an Independent Saw Shop

[jacktheripper]

Has anyone here given any thought to the idea of opening an independent saw shop? Basically, a non-dealer shop that fixes saws and sells used saws as well as chains, gear, maybe wood stoves and splitters, etc? Would there be any risk of Stihl or Husqvarna coming down on an independent shop if they stocked new parts from EBay or purchased from other dealers? Very curious about this.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Has anyone here given any thought to the idea of opening an independent saw shop? Basically, a non-dealer shop that fixes saws and sells used saws as well as chains, gear, maybe wood stoves and splitters, etc? Would there be any risk of Stihl or Husqvarna coming down on an independent shop if they stocked new parts from EBay or purchased from other dealers? Very curious about this.

Not much they can do, you’re allowed to own a shop and fix and or sell used equipment. I started an actual shop and have been doing it for a couple years already on a small basis. Stock some common small parts and wear items mostly for tree service saws and keep one of each solenoid green and white for Stihl. Have the mdg1 but can’t get the husky one so only fix older saws in that brand or they need to be willing to pay the 50$ on top to have the updates done after I fix it.

 

[HumBurner]

I live in the heart of West coast logging land.

Shops have closed up left and right. The one in town almost closed, but got injected with a ton of capital and has managed to stay open.


Most shops make their bread and butter on repairs, not sales, as it is. Shop rates now are $100+ minimum per hour. Its deterred many people from using the shops, and lots of folks are attempting to work on their own gear, with some crews specifically hiring a mechanic part- or full-time.


Not knowing what the market is like where you are, I'd say probably a no-go. But hey, it might be worth trying it, starting small and using word of mouth.


Edit: There are a few small-engine mechanics around, but my understanding is they own the buildings they operate out of and have long-standing reputations (and arent generally 3-6 weeks out.) One guy locally has done okay as a mobile mechanic. None of these folks are raking it in, but they're staying afloat in these harder times

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Not much they can do, you’re allowed to own a shop and fix and or sell used equipment. I started an actual shop and have been doing it for a couple years already on a small basis. Stock some common small parts and wear items mostly for tree service saws and keep one of each solenoid green and white for Stihl. Have the mdg1 but can’t get the husky one so only fix older saws in that brand or they need to be willing to pay the 50$ on top to have the updates done after I fix it.

This is a side business and I’m a full time welder in a mine, I don’t think I’d make a very good living at it but could make more than I do since all of the local dealers don’t have good mechanics for most part and have pissed a lot of the locals off. I will continue to do and get more into it as a retirement job. Another 9-10 years to go before that happens though.

 

[redneckhillbilly]

A good friend of mine lives in a very densley populated area, he does small engine repair out of his garage, he does very well dealing with the well off people that dont have the time nor the care to use good fuel and run it out at the end of the season.

local husqvarna dealer in my rural area hates dealing with husky, he does decent but my area is soo rural that the pool of clientel is very limited.

i guess it all depends on your specific region, in my opinion quality work will speak for itself, people will either like you and use you, or they wont. either way there is only one way to find out.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Also I don’t sell parts or saws or have any tax exempt accounts because I don’t want to get into collecting sales tax so I buy all parts through the dealer and the person getting a repair pays that exact amount on parts. I’ve actually only sold my own collection saws that I have and sold personally not through the business. In mn labor is exempt from sales tax so I don’t need to collect or pay sales tax 1-4 times a year. I also only right some milage off on my truck otherwise if I write the truck off I get into all sorts of other stuff with using as a personal truck ect. If you do it talk to an accountant and find out tax laws for your state ect so you can weigh that in also.
I do this to make a little extra money and get a few write offs with as little hassle as I can.

 

[farminkarman]

IMO, if you can't get dealer pricing on parts, then it is just going to be something you do for fun.

 

[redneckhillbilly]

1 more thought. auto repair shops are damn near everywhere, but small engine shops are relatively rarer, it seems for every small engine shop there is 40-50 auto repair shops, but yet most households own OPE and need parts and consumables, I really do think small engine work can be profitable if located in the right community.

 

[dangerousatom]

IMO start in your garage and work on friends & neighbors stuff. If your good at what you do and everyone is fine with your pricing and your fine with installing the parts they source, word will get around and it will be self sustaining. When a business like your inquiring on is small, buying parts for others is a slippery slope. Some people only want cheap other want the best, let them get what they want after you say it can be done. There are no hard feeling and no stocking parts overhead.

It can be done, I have a friend who is a High School Tech Teacher. The guy he replaced like 15yrs ago is living off a $50k a year pension and working the small engine-lawn equipment repair thing . He's making more then his pension out of his garage. He does a trade thing where you bring in your broke down mower or w/e and pick from what hes go for a discount or wait till he fixes yours for a price. If your in a location where its all small property owners of 1/4 to 5 archer type homes and thousands of people locally its a gold mine depending on your work ethic. If your looking to do mostly saws your going to need a good reputation and a lot of guys felling trees and clearing stuff to get any word out in the local community.

Most small engine equipment on the curb is fixed with a new carb, filters, and a flush of good gas and oi, so there's plenty of used stuff out there to be plucked for free or near it. So theres plenty of potential inventory to fix up if you have a some cash to buy parts and get things fixed up to sell.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

IMO, if you can't get dealer pricing on parts, then it is just going to be something you do for fun.

Why do you need to make money on the parts? Around here shoes are 100-120 an hour, I honestly don’t need to make the small amount of money on the common small parts. Only large items like cylinder kits pay the dealer or shop any real money, then your back into lots more book keeping and collecting sales tax to send in ect.

 

[farminkarman]

Why do you need to make money on the parts? Around here shoes are 100-120 an hour, I honestly don’t need to make the small amount of money on the common small parts. Only large items like cylinder kits pay the dealer or shop any real money, then your back into lots more book keeping and collecting sales tax to send in ect.

You don't need to if it is just for fun or a side gig as I said. Trying to make a living is a different story in my opinion.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

You don't need to if it is just for fun or a side gig as I said. Trying to make a living is a different story in my opinion.

If I had enough stuff getting brought in to occupy 8 hours a day between repairs and chains I could make pretty good money out of my house. Renting a building is a different story or having so much you need help, I turn stuff away at times and don’t advertise at all just word of mouth from previous customers and the 5 tree services I fix saws for. Going rate is 10$ a chain and 100$ and hour for repairs. But yes not relying on it to pay the bills just extra money, I’m sure if I took in all work and advertised I could make 4-5000 a month some months when it’s wood cutting season but I don’t want that much work right now. Far as parts it’s new or good used oem parts on repairs other than a few Oregon carb kits or a meteor piston ect. If I have to stand behind my repairs I won’t use any hit or miss China parts. If they insist on it they can bring it elsewhere to get it fixed.

 

[redneckhillbilly]

i think in order to get dealership pricing you have to become a dealer, that means buying and trying to sell dealer brand bar oils for $22 bucks a gallon and other overpriced consumables, and not being allowed to offer more reasonably priced alternatives.

dealing with the manufacturer for parts can be a pain, sometimes husky is back ordered for a few months on certain parts, than your stuck sitting on customers equipment until its available or ordering the parts elsewhere just to get the job done and out the door, which is frowned upon by corporate.

parts can still be marked up a bit to cover your time for sourcing and ordering them and tying up your $ as well. personally I would remain independant from any manufacturer, Ive seen the local husky shop owner beat red in the face screaming on the phone at the warehouse people trying to get parts ordered and paid for weeks ago shipped.

I would steer clear of getting locked into dealing with anyone solely, independant i think is the only way to go.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

i think in order to get dealership pricing you have to become a dealer, that means buying and trying to sell dealer brand bar oils for $22 bucks a gallon and other overpriced consumables, and not being allowed to offer more reasonably priced alternatives.

dealing with the manufacturer for parts can be a pain, sometimes husky is back ordered for a few months on certain parts, than your stuck sitting on customers equipment until its available or ordering the parts elsewhere just to get the job done and out the door, which is frowned upon by corporate.

parts can still be marked up a bit to cover your time for sourcing and ordering them and tying up your $ as well. personally I would remain independant from any manufacturer, Ive seen the local husky shop owner beat red in the face screaming on the phone at the warehouse people trying to get parts ordered and paid for weeks ago shipped.

I would steer clear of getting locked into dealing with anyone solely, independant i think is the only way to go.

Most of the dealers here have the husky and or Stihl products but do offer house brand oils and cheaper chains ect if that’s what you want. Local fleet store is Stihl and husky dealer but 99% of the bar oil they sell is harvest king.

 

[timg]

You could message @ZukiRyder440 and find out how hid dad made out on his venture. He also started a private shop 5 or 6 years ago in New York if I remember correctly. He may have some insight you are looking for. IMO as a hobby it's good side money. But property, buisness expenses, taxes, accountants, etc these are all things to consider. Technology advances in electronic combustion control, battery saws, and the future all will dictate how your buisness flows and the cost of tooling. But for now there's still alot of older saws still earning guy's a living. Sorry for sounding negative but I've been in heavy equipment all my life and face technology changes and tooling on a regular basis.

 

[oddsaws]

I think about opening a saw specific shop occasionally. Just wouldn’t want to work on all saws and would cater to tree service professionals. Right now I do repair work for a couple of small local companies out of my garage. Their primary repairs are usually done at the Stihl or Husqvarna dealers but when they have a six to eight week wait, they will check in with me. When I hear of some of the money they have put into saw repairs only to have the same problems, it makes me want to step it up further.

I source parts from anywhere I can get the best deal and parts at the Stihl dealer are normally a lot lower than any reseller/ebay stores. The Husqvarna dealer doesn’t keep stock of common items and anything I have to order can usually be found cheaper online. If I had a shop I feel like I would probably keep my method the same but learn my customers and stock the parts relevant to their fleet.

One thing the dealers have a big advantage with is their ability to connect things to the dealer-only software. I haven’t looked into this much so it’s just an assumption at this point.

Started my chainsaw journey about 7 years ago, rebuilding a few saws for myself. Went to ‘flipping’ for a bit but the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze unless the buy-in was really low. Some saw buyers would occasionally ask me about working on other saws they had but I just wasn’t really about a bunch of strangers coming by the house. Eventually built a few relationships in the tree service industry and let them feed my habit. I just like working on em like a lot of you guys. I’ll still sell a couple of saws each month so I can buy more tools.

I’d say if you wanted to go this route just get familiar with the needs in your area and tweak your business plans accordingly. Best of luck to ya. Your saw builds look nice @jacktheripper