"BOROWING EQUIPMENT "

[Truck Shop]

This thread makes me laugh---I don't borrow tools, cars, equipment or anything else. I don't count on people for anything, and trust very, very few. I don't have any friends and don't
invite anyone to the house. Even at work my work is my work and everyone keeps their d!ck skinner's off my work. I only let those who work in the shop use the tools I own. I operate
the equipment the company owns as if I owned it.---The fewer people around the better.

 

[Bumpsteer]

I hate to borrow, sometimes it's unavoidable. Had to borrow a friends Skytrak to replace/repair the yardlight from hell.
Took it slow and easy on the road (3 miles) put $30 worth of fuel in, unhooked the man basket and put the machine exactly where it was when I got it.

He bitched me out for filling it up with fuel......lol.

Ed

 

[CM1995]

No excuse to borrow someone's equipment on a jobsite without asking.

We may do something for another trade or GC but we operate our equipment - no one is allowed to borrow. The problem with other trades is they all run equipment like it's a rental. Our equipment puts food on our table.

 

[John C.]

One time I had to use a machine without asking.

I went to do an inspection on a log loader that was up a steep section of logging road. The owners told me they were moving the machine that day and if I got there at a certain time, the lowboy would be coming down the road and I could follow them to the next unloading point. When I got to the base of the hill there was a shovel parked off to the side and it had been sitting there a long time. Something was familiar about it but I didn't give it much. About a half a mile up the hill there was the empty lowboy stuck in the middle of a sharp curve with the back half in the ditch. The truck had spun out and that was it. The only way out was to lift the trailer back onto the road and have the truck back down the hill. The shovel I was sent to get was a good four miles up the road heading for us. It would take another hour and a half for it to get there so I asked who owned the shovel at the bottom of the hill. It turned out it was a low life that declared bankruptcy on me two year earlier and then hid some property from the creditors. Once I heard that news, it was open season. I went and jumped the machine to get it started and then headed up the hill and retrieved the trailer. I had to shepherd the trailer down the hill but got things in order and put the machine back in place. I knew that the owner of the shovel was never going to say anything to me even if he found out. I was real tempted to call the bankruptcy judge and let him know where the machine was. The fellas that owned the lowboy called my boss and thanked him for the good will and initiative to get things going. At any other time with any other owner, I wouldn't have touched that machine. Sometimes, life does have ways to even things out just a little.

 

[mitch504]

I did it once, not proud of it, but I was very careful, checked it over before I started it, offered to pay the owner later.

I was about 10 miles in the woods in the pre cell phone days, on a cold Saturday afternoon. Got my service truck stuck in a huge stump hole. Nobody knew where I was, so I started walking out. About a mile down what I guessed was the shortest route out, I saw a Hydro-ax on a log deck, so, I borrowed that one. I went Monday and offered to pay, or grease it, or something and got laughed at.

 

[DMiller]

Only machine I ever 'Borrowed' I called first to ask if could rent it, guy was too easy said have at it so I added fuel and made some small adjustments that he later thanked me for. Borrow is not a typical aspect for me tools or otherwise.

 

[Bumpsteer]

My friend with the skytrak farms our property, he knows my shop is open because stuff breaks. Go in and help yourself...call if you can't find it, whatever you need is there somewhere.

What comes around goes around, sometimes in a good way.

Ed

 

[Andy1845c]

The only thing I can think of that I have used without asking is aerial lift equipment. For some reason there is sort of an unwritten rule on jobsites that if a contractor isn't on site their lifts and ladders are fair game. I do always put them back and plug them in at the end of the day though.

There are a couple manufacturing plants I do a lot of work in that I pretty much use their tools/forklifts/welders/whatever as if they were mine, but thats different I guess.

 

[KSSS]

I think before someone gets sideways with "theft" when someone uses your piece of equipment, you may want to educate yourself on theft. There must be an effort to Permanently deprive the owner of the property. "Borrowing it" and it never leaves the job site, pretty hard to show that the intention was to deprive the owner of the equipment, unless they were loading on a Conex box while on the job site, shipping it Mexico. Using the machine onsite is the legal equivalent of "joy riding", still illegal. However it is a misd. not a felony like equipment theft. State laws can vary, this may not apply to every single State, but it is the rule rather than the exception.

 

[Raildudes dad]

So the church I went to as a kid puts on addition. One of the members is a partner with his couple brothers in a big excavation company. His uncle is the president. They do the site work at the church. His kid who does a lot of their restoration work is on site on a Friday. He sees a rental skytrack in the parking lot and thinks my neighbor needs help trimming a big tree. You can see where this is going.
So he gets it home and turns into his driveway. So he's used to hauling a small Kubota landscape tractor. Cuts the drive a bit sort and flops it over it's side. Well he needs dads help to right it so he has to fess up. His uncle calls the rental comapny and offers to repair it. Rental company says it doesn't work that way. It's damaged and we're not going to be returning it to the fleet, you get to buy us a new one. But But But. No buts sir, you buy us a new one or we will be filing charges. Well they didn't want to file an insurance claim, if they even could?, so uncle forked over $80,000 for a new one. The family holiday parties were a bit awkward for junior for quite a while.
True story, no stretching of the facts, my cousin married the company's real estate broker and the incident was a topic at a few of our holiday parties.. 3 of my cousins owned a commercial industrial painting company, I worked for them 3 summers going to college so there were lots of war stories told when we got together

 

[Willie B]

I don't know.
I had a truck mechanic/fabricator do an extensive job converting a fire truck to a dump.
The last piece of residue was the massive fire pump. I needed to haul it away.
He's located out in the tikki weeds 6 miles from me. No land phone, no cell service. I've made a few trips hoping to catch him there. When he isn't there, there is a good chance he's underground in the marble quarry. I texted him yesterday, hoping he could say when he'd be there, or would he give permission to use his crane?
Hours later, I had a window of time, I headed up there. No sign of him.
I tried the forklift, It only lifts 5'
I used a 15 ton rubber tired crane.
I've heard no protests.

 

[mitch504]

Hope that crane didn't have something wrong with it you didn't know about. You could have made a little repair into a big one.

 

[Willie B]

Hope that crane didn't have something wrong with it you didn't know about. You could have made a little repair into a big one.

I know, but he uses it often, keys were in it. I checked engine oil.
Some concessions must be made because of the brevity of human life. I couldn't keep travelling up there hoping to catch him. He works seven days, but in the shop is now & then. He can't readily predict his schedule. I considered hauling a backhoe up. That didn't seem to make sense.

 

[AzIron]

There are people that are allowed to use my equipment a few of them can grab and go but that's not a long list

In reality I couldn't really care that they used my machine to do what they did cause my beef is not about money they are paying me for there excursions it's that no where was it discussed that they would need it to set pipe and no care was given let alone check the oil

I have used things without asking in a pinch but I will leave it full of fuel and grease it if it's more than 5 minutes and its put back the way I found it and follow up with a phone call it's just respect

I think the thing that burns me most on this whole subject is on a job when someone borrowed your iron its because of there lack of planning and they beg there way thru 100 dollar favors and hey man it's no big deal no it's big deal your just not professional enough to manage your job

 

[DMiller]

Key word respect
They made money and time they did not alot for by using your machine
They need to pay the rate or at least offer to pay out of respect

Judging by actions they will not be around long on their own poor performance

 

[Mike L]

I’m guilty. Got sent to look at a knuckle boom crane one Friday afternoon. It had been raining all day and it was downhill to the crane. Slid my service truck into the yard where I cut the wheel, gave it some throttle and slid the ass end around so I was pointed back out and there I was. Stuck. Walked over and found the keys in the ignition of a Deere skidder. Hooked a chain in between the two and pulled myself back to the main logging road. It was a bit crude. I didn’t dare release the parking brake for fear that if the chain came unhooked my truck would roll into the crane. Saw the owner the next week and told him. He shrugged his shoulders and said “ that’s why I leave the keys in them”.

 

[Reuben Frazier]

The benefits of CAT security systems I guess because your not taking off it one lol but if anyone did “Borrow” any of my equipment I’d come unglued on them. It’s just way to easy for anything to happen and 99% of the guys never fess up to tearing it up. Been thr and done that to many times and spent way to much money fixing rude idiots mistakes so I go with a 100% no loan attitude unless we’re around to supervise and if I need something myself I’ll go rent/buy one.

 

[BeaudesertSand]

Where I work was letting some other crew store road base and what have you on our site, I had to leave my loader up at the crusher so they could use it at night.

Fortunately it was only for a while. But the guy who drove it was a midget and A: pulled the seat way forward but worse B: left the steering wheel angled down. Plus as I didn't know who used it I couldn't collect any refuse left in the cab and shove it up their car's exhaust with a stick..

 

[Birken Vogt]

One of my pet peeves as well, if somebody uses my truck or whatever and the seat, steering wheel and mirrors are all left adjusted for him.

If I do that I will do my best to leave all that stuff where it is for the other guy, or if I have to adjust it, put it back when done.

 

[Welder Dave]

Every time I take my truck for a service the seat is moved. All they have to do is drive it in and out. Had a friend who had a repair shop and he said you only move the seat in extreme cases if the driver is either very short or very tall but 99% of the time you don't adjust anything with the driving position.