What to charge

A friend of mine has a 14ft lund with a 15 Honda 4 stroke he uses for duck hunting.

He asked me if I would do a few things to get his boat and trailer ready. He does not do anything for maintence on this unit.

Here is a list of what I did.

Trailer

Put new LED lights on the trailer and ran all new wiring.

He had not packed the bearing for 9 years.

I put all new beaings, races and seals in and also had to cut one inner bearing off the spindle as it was all but siezed up or welded to the spindle. I got it cut off with a pencil saw and then cleaned the spindle all up and put the hubs back on.

Boat

Changed oil, new plugs, fuel filter and changed the lower unit oil.

Also pulled the prop and checked to see if the bottom end was not leaking anything.

Total cost for parts including the new LED lights and wiring was $118.00.

What would be a fair amount to charge a friend for the labor.

I was thinking $175.00.

I don’t charge friends or family anything for my carpentry services.One friend I gutted entire kitchen, installed new soffitts, drywall taped and mudded,underlayment and flooring,new cabinets, countertops,installed dishwasher,sink, all new trim, patio door and basement door. all he had to do was the painting. I never charged him a nickle.I figured if I needed help some day, he’d be there for me.

Recoup your out of pocket costs.Thats what friends do for each other.

A good night on the town

The only reason I am charging him is he said he would pay me a fair pay for the work.

I guess if he went to a shop, this would have run $400 plus dollars so I figure I am already giving him a deal.

I have no issues doing something to help another out. He only asked me as I am sure he did not want to pay a shop their labor rate.

No doubt your friend is getting a heck of a deal Tom

I think this is very fair. This lets your friend show you his appreciation beyond merely words and for some that means a lot for them. It is not about the money being exchanged its about showing gratitude. Some use money others may use food or beer it all says the same thing and that is THANK YOU so much for the help.

If you are set on charging him something.. how many hours did you work on it? If he is a friend, 10.00 per hour would let him show his appreciation. If you are trying to make some money, only you know what you think you time is worth.

Charge him for the parts. If you’re married tell him to take you and the wife out for supper to a very nice place.

I would charge him around 2 grand and if he has a problem with that I guess you weren’t really friends after all.

It sounds like your friend wants to pay you something for you helping him out, sometimes friends want to pay eachother for thier help. Does the $175 include the parts, eigther way Tom $175 for labor and the costs of the parts over that is good. $175 just for labor sound alright Tom beings he wants to pay you something, maybe he figures he can’t pay you back anyway else and thats the way he wants to do it.

$175 sounds fine, my boat is next.

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Charge him for the parts. If you’re married tell him to take you and the wife out for supper to a very nice place.

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I probably had 13-15 hours of work on the boat and trailer.

I did fix 4-5 other small items and I believe $175.00 is more than fair compared to what a shop would have charged him.

I would guess that for the work I had to do to the spindles to get the bearing to fit again that a repair shop may have charged him $150 for the bearing job. That leaves $25 for the rewire and putting the new LED lights on and all the other work.

I figured that the bearing change and having to cut off the inner bearing as they were siezed up to the spindle and then to clean the spindles up, the bearing job would have taken a shop at a minimum 2 hours. Seems they charge at least $65 an hour so thats $130 just for the bearing fix.

Total items fixed or repaired on the boat and trailer was 17.

I thought I was being more than fair for the work done.

Sounds like I may be a bit greddy.

I guess for the work done to the whole unit, I am fine with what I am charging him as I saved him alot of money.

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I think this is very fair. This lets your friend show you his appreciation beyond merely words and for some that means a lot for them. It is not about the money being exchanged its about showing gratitude. Some use money others may use food or beer it all says the same thing and that is THANK YOU so much for the help.

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That’s my thinking too. I’m the type of person who would offer remuneration time and time again until my friend told me that we wouldn’t be friends anymore if I offered it again . I’m also the type of person who would want to hang around and watch/help so I could do it myself next time. Most of my friends would not allow me to pay them for the help but that wouldn’t stop me from leaving some cash somewhere they’d find it after I was gone.

$175 is a lot of beer!

Sounds like you have a fair price for him, fair price for you and a fair market price for the work being done.

Being you didn’t (I’m assuming) start with a fair price quote, tell him what you have spent on parts and shop equiptment and the hours you spent.

See what he says and take the money.

Open ended deals can easily lead to bad feelings on one or both sides.

Al

No price qwuote at all to start out with. He wanted to give me $125 right away to replace the trailer lights and I said just wait until I am done with it. Then he added a bunch more to do and said fix whatever you see that needs fixing.

It will not end up a bad deal for feeling as I know he will simply be happy it is all ready to go for duck hunting. He is use to payng heavy repair bills to fix what he does not take care of.

If he squacks about the price, I will drop the charge a bit.

He runs stuff very hard and does nothing to his stuff.

When it breaks he pays to have it all fixed. He does nothing until it breaks down.

I have told him he should pack the wheel bearings at a minimum every 2 years and also change the lower unit oil which he still to this day does not.

Shoot Tom round it up to a $200 or $250, a few duck hunting trips and call it good. Sounds like you did a lot of work for him. He would of paid a lot more at the shop. If he squawks let him know all that you did and what a shop would charge. If he still squawks ask him what he thinks is fair and go from there. If he hoses you over its time he starts taking his stuff to the shop again.

I’m with the crowd that says not to charge him a penny for labor. You couldn’t buy the good will you’ll get at any price, let alone for a lousy $57. Then again, if he’s not a good friend of yours I’m with Mike. Tell him what the parts cost, tell him what he would have paid at the shop, and tell him you’ll split the difference. You’ll probably end up with $100 or so you can spend on a fishing trip with a better friend.

i’ve got 14 boats, motors and other toys and tools that i have one mechanic handle.

He also thinks i run things hard and never take care of them. BUT, when he met my shop mechanic, his attitude changed.

I’d go get and estimate from a shop mechanic on the list of stuff that you did. Give the guy $10 (or the equivalent amount of beer).

Take the estimate to your neighbor with YOUR bill for 1/2 the labor estimate and all expenses.

Personally, if you’re willing to drive, you can come handle all 14 of my T&Ts!!! I’d LOVE a half price deal…

Not looking for any more fixes like this last one no matter what the pay is. I do not mind doing bearings but when they are siezed up on the spindle, it becomes so much more work.

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A friend of mine has a 14ft lund with a 15 Honda 4 stroke he uses for duck hunting.

He asked me if I would do a few things to get his boat and trailer ready. He does not do anything for maintence on this unit.

Here is a list of what I did.

Trailer

Put new LED lights on the trailer and ran all new wiring.

He had not packed the bearing for 9 years.

I put all new beaings, races and seals in and also had to cut one inner bearing off the spindle as it was all but siezed up or welded to the spindle. I got it cut off with a pencil saw and then cleaned the spindle all up and put the hubs back on.

Boat

Changed oil, new plugs, fuel filter and changed the lower unit oil.

Also pulled the prop and checked to see if the bottom end was not leaking anything.

Total cost for parts including the new LED lights and wiring was $118.00.

What would be a fair amount to charge a friend for the labor.

I was thinking $175.00.

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If he’s a friend I wouldn’t charge him anything. Maybe tell him he’s buying the burger and beer.

I’ve helped many family and friends do anything I can including donating 3 months of my life to help a friend build a house. No charge (although he did feed me and buy the beverages for a while).

The brother in law who installs hardwood floors professionally wanted $2.50/sq to install our new floors. I wanted to punch him in the nose. I choose to laugh at him and tell him I was going to pay his competitor that rate to install the floors.

If family and friends can’t help, who can.

If it was a very good friend I would do it for nothing.

As I stated in another post above, he agreed to pay me for the job.

This one will be discounted but is not a freebie.