Felony Flats?

It is an interesting thing nicknames. I remember the cruelty of many of them while in school growing up. I guess being so far removed from those days I hadn't really paid much attention, but then recently I saw an article in The News Review (our local news paper) about how bad things were in the Pine/Mill/SE Stephens neighborhood. Its true, the area is called Felony Flats by a fair amount of folks in this community.

We put it to a test last night. Not intentionally, but a test none the less. An employee forgot to close one of the garage doors to the facility. So it sat in plain view of anyone walking or driving by on Highway 99 through town.

The call came in from the alarm company about 3:30 am, motion sensors activated in several bays. I gave them my vehicle description to share with the police and headed toward the shop.

Here's the deal, I show up, recognize that there has been no damage to the door which is odd because we normally lock them from both the inside and the out. Without a key, you're going to have to damage something to get the door open.

The Roseburg City Police had been dispatched after receiving a call from a concerned citizen who noticed the door open when they drove by. They performed a really thorough inspection on the facilities, and in the process of entering the building tripped a motion sensor, thus the alarm.

So I wonder, how many people walked by but stayed honest. The video cameras tell the rest. All evening long, even into the early morning, folks stop, look and move on. So Felony flats? I say no way. This neighborhood like any other has its share of lawbreakers, but I would say if anything we're better than average on our good guy percentage.

Thank-you to all in the neighborhood for keeping it honest, and calling it in when we're dumb. It helps keep us in business, and we love being able to offer a needed service.

-Tim-

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rent...?

I was reading a flier for an event recently when I was reminded of this concept. The tie in was obvious to me, but I wrote the person in charge for the event to get their take on it.

Turns out he saw it the same way. I have long felt driven to help where I could in helping resources go farther. 

For instance, I hate seeing walk behind lawn mowers go to the dump when simply cleaning a plugged main jet in the carburetor could have it up and running again. I can almost guarantee this has happened more times than we care to count right here in the Roseburg landfill.

So I wrote an article about it, complete with picture's, you can find it in a previous blog post. 

Getting it running again keeps it out of the landfill, saves the owner money they would have spent on a new mower, reduces all the energy spent creating and shipping the new mower. That's how I see it anyway. We sell mowers, so this statement isn't in our favor.

The mowers we do sell last, they are better for the environment than cheap box store throw aways.

So back to renting, and the environment.

A.) You're sharing that resource with your neighbors, they are renting it too this reduces the amount of equipment manufactured. 

B.) Most equipment requires service (at least an oil change) twice a year to maintain the warranty. Unless it is used frequently, the time expires before the hours used trigger a service requirement. This means lots of wasted resources compared to equipment that is serviced for hourly use reasons.

C.) Most rental stores are pretty good about recycling. At Roseburg Rental, all waste oil is repurposed as fuel oil and used to heat various businesses around town. Equipment to be disposed of is disassembled as necessary and recycled (it how they fund the Christmas party!). Carboard, paper, bottles and more are all recycled whenever possible.

What this all means is that renting is good for the environment and;

You don't have to store it

You don't have to maintain it.

You don't have the to drop a bunch of dough to purchase it (good for your cashflow).

You get to use commercial grade equipment that usually mean a better finished product, done faster, and was easier to use.

For a great place to rent in Roseburg or central Douglas County for that matter, check out; Roseburg Rental

Christmas window art.

Check out the window art!

We hope everyone has a great month and that next month begins with a happy new year! 

Winter power equipment storage tips

So none of us like the thought, but whether we like it or not winter is on us, and chances are you're about done with most of you power equipment for the year. Here are some tips we recommend for making sure your equipment is still functioning when you break it out next Spring.

• Riding lawn mowers - We don't like to see equipment stored with old oil in it. There is a lot of nasty stuff in there like metal particles that can create corrosion when resting against dissimilar metals over time. Start the machine up, let it get warm, drain the old oil out and put new in. Put a battery tender on it. We all mean to start our mower and let it warm up and recharge once a month but never do. If you have a slow leak tire put a block of wood under the axle, sitting with the rim against the tire all winter isn't good for it. Clean all the debris from on top of and under the mower deck, that grass and dirt retain moisture and is corrosive over time, we've seen a lot of badly rusted decks because of this. Either run the fuel out of it, or get good non-ethanol fuel mixed with a fuel stabilizer and fill it completely (remember to run it for a few minutes after to get the good fuel all the way through the system).
• Walk behind lawn mowers - Change oil, clean under deck, run fuel out of it, or fill completely with non-ethanol fuel mixed with fuel stabilizer (remember to run it for a few minutes after filling to get the good fuel all the way through the system).
• Pressure washers - Get all of the water out! You don't want any moisture in there to freeze, it does really bad things. Another option is to get (we recommend potable) antifreeze into it, or we sell a kit that puts it into the pump via an aerosol can. Change the oil. Either run the fuel out of it, or get good non-ethanol fuel mixed with a fuel stabilizer and fill it completely (remember to run it for a few minutes after to get the good fuel all the way through the system).
• Paint Sprayers - What is in the pump now? If you rinsed out the paint with water and left it, now is the time to put mineral spirits into the whole system including the gun and hose. Manufacturers are no longer warrantying damage due to freezing. One of the first components typically damaged is the pressure sensor also called a transducer. On electric powered computerized paint sprayers (most commercial grade electric paint sprayers are now controlled by a small onboard computer) this part is very expensive, and they will require we send them the part to analyze before approving a warranty claim. If your sprayer is gas powered, apply the same info. from "walk behind mowers" above to the motor.

Have a piece of equipment not listed that you'd like to know more about? Send me an email or post it to one of our Facebook pages and I'll see what we can come up with for you! 

-Tim-

Hand tools and gloves/safety gear on the South side of town!

We've brought in some quality hand tools, gloves, hearing protection and more to save folks a trip across town. If there are other items you'd like to see, let us know!

Motor won't stay revved up?

On most commercial motors, for instance this Honda GX motor, there is a friction adjustment nut somewhere on the throttle system. It will typically be either at the fulcrum of the throttle lever itself, or at the fulcrum of the throttle lever on the motor. On this Honda GX (and most other Honda GX motors) it is located at the throttle lever on the motor, it is the nut in the center of this picture located between the muffler, air filter and fuel tank. If your throttle won't stay revved up tighten this nut slightly, if it is too hard to move the lever, loosen it up a touch. A little bit of movement on the nut makes a big difference so don't expect to turn it more than half a rotation maximum.

Have a small engine or equipment challenge you'd like to know more about? Post it here or on our Facebook page (link is here on our blog) and we'll get you an answer!

Employee makes company donation to Riddle High School.

I'd been putting together a plan that would give responsibility to our employee's to participate in deciding what groups or organization recieve money or equipment donations beginning with the next calendar year budget. However, our mechanic Mike Jarvis came to me with a request recently and it was so well thought out that I agreed to start early on this idea!

Yesterday Mike used the company credit card to order bleacher seat cushions for Riddle High School with their logo on one side and our information as a sponsor on the other. These will be sold to those attending the events as a fundraiser for the school. Additionally, our investment will be returned to us over time so that we are able to reinvest in another program later! This is the kind of win-win collaboration I hope to see more of between "for profit" and "not for profit" organizations in the future. Hats off to Mike for the vision and implimentation required to put this opportunity together for us and the community, I'm proud to have him on our team.

-Tim-