So Im in the middle of this 96 scrambler 400 4x4, and the guy that's paying me to fix it for him, bought another 99 scrambler 500 4x4. Although this one is in better shape and from what I see, needs new front axle shafts, seals, a few electrical issues withe the key/kill switch, nothing I cant handle, ect. Hopefully the front axle housing isn't all tore up. The engine has had a fresh rebuild from the dealer, and has new transmission seals. (guy he bought it off of, his dad owns the local Polaris dealer, got the work done there.) my buddy payed a 1000.00 for it. I might have to buy a small shop somewhere to do all this work. There are quite a few power sports shops around though. I'm right in the cottage country corridor, right neer a sled trail, just need a licence. I haven't had any complaints from what I have worked on. Guys keep coming back. I mostly work on outboards and sleds. Albeit, they are far easier to work on than atv's. Its too bad i have too much overhead to quit work, go to school, and do something i enjoy doing. I'm sure a lot of you guys dream about running your own shop. It would be great to get some input from you guys that are in the trade. Maybe some advice, or your 2 cents. Wrenching on stuff is what I've done my whole life, my old man is a diesel tech close to retirement, he always tells me he's forgotten more than than I've learned, and some times he's right. That old bastard still pulls tricks out his sleeve, that I would have never thought of. (I'll keep those under my hat) So I've been well versed in broken studs, rusted shafts, busted knuckles, blood, sweat, and tears. What will it take to get to that horizon? Need input.

 

Necessity sometimes pushes you. My nephew and I were in commercial construction,me for almost 20 years when it fell flat.He left before I did to get his shop built(had some backing) I came along right before we opened the doors. To sell new ones techs had to be certified.Plenty of schools and refresher courses over the years.Independent shops can do well if you can get the parts and have a lot less restrictions.Manuals,manuals,manuals you'll need,specialized tools acquired over time. Rent,insurance,etc eats into profits and don't plan on making a pile of bucks right off.Over 23 years that I was there we added space as we needed. Built our own building,paid it off and kept adding on. Takes time, desire and determination to stick with it. If not you might as well work out of your garage part time.

 

I have been tinkering with engines all my life. Grew up on a farm and always played around with the old briggs and stratton motors we had laying around. Rebuilt my first one when I was in 6th grade. This was around 1980 when the Honda big reds were popular. Me and my brother wanted one bad so my dad made us a deal, we could pool our money together, go into town to the Honda dealer and buy one or we could take our money and he would kick in a little extra and we could buy a pair of little farmall tractors. We both got one and rebuilt them and painted them up in school shop class(remember when they had that!). The old farmalls are still working today, kinda wonder what would have happened to that big red, lol.

I went into the collision repair field but always tinkered with stuff on the side. Back in the early 2000's I opened my own shop that did custom work, restorations and sold speed parts. Got tired of chasing people for money and getting hounded by customers even when I was not at work. I always bought four wheelers to fix up in the winter to take up time since I am a hermit when it's cold. I recently bought a new house that has a nice shop behind it so I can do my projects without having to run to work all the time. I am always asked if I want to work on someone machine. I prefer mot to since I was into business for myself once and I prefer to work on stuff when I want to and not be burdened by someone who wants something done right now. I have a great paying job so I don't need the money. I do fix friends or families machines but under the strict rule of I do it on my time and don't want to be bothered with phone calls on nights or Sundays. I buy older machines that need work and fix them for myself. The real nice ones stay in my herd and the others get sold off for a profit. Maybe someday when I become semi retired, I may think about taking on other people's projects to supplement my income, but I'm really not so eager to get onto the whole licence, taxes and government stuff the democrats around here want to choke us working guys with, lol.

Mike