Services
Repair and Maintenance at Your Service
While Stihl products have for long been our main focus, we also service and repair most other brands of lawn and garden power and construction equipment and mowers, including Maruyama, Craftsman, Sears, Toro, Echo, Husqvarna and Honda.
Many of our repairs cost $45; at least that’s our base quote. That price can vary up or down in line with a repair’s ease or difficulty. That $45 includes different situations from re-hosing a trimmer or a chainsaw and checking its carburetor to repairing damaged spark plug threads with an insert, a process that can prevent the need for a cylinder replacement on, for instance, an expensive Stihl chain saw.
With today’s fuel alcohol content comes the risk of carburetor issues that affect two-cycle equipment. The repair can require a new carburetor because sometimes no matter what you do, the old carburetor will not clean up. In that case the repair cost can reach close to $100 – buying a completely new unit is a consideration here.
Many of our repairs are based on expediting the process while customers wait, so they can roll in and out and back to work. These include sharpening saw chains, replacing starter ropes and other minor repairs. Another example is a bent shaft on a string trimmer or brush-cutter. With the extensive amount of parts on unclaimed units at our disposal, we might be able to exchange that shaft with one on hand, saving both time and money.
This brings to mind an insightful Bloomberg article about Stihl’s business model that describes their typical dealers and in particular, Copeland Equipment Co. Author Kyle Stocks wrote:
Many of our repairs are based on expediting the process while customers wait, so they can roll in and out and back to work. These include sharpening saw chains, replacing starter ropes and other minor repairs. Another example is a bent shaft on a string trimmer or brush-cutter. With the extensive amount of parts on unclaimed units at our disposal, we might be able to exchange that shaft with one on hand, saving both time and money.
This brings to mind an insightful Bloomberg article about Stihl’s business model that describes their typical dealers and in particular, Copeland Equipment Co. Author Kyle Stocks wrote:
Stihl has built its business model in the U.S. around retailers such as mom-and-pop hardware stores, lawn mower repair shops, and thousands of other small outfits with creaky signs out front and piles of greasy spare parts in back. About 8,500 Stihl dealerships exist in the U.S. These aren’t the places consultants mention when they talk about the future of retail. They don’t have 3D printers, and they aren’t working on package-delivering drones. These dealers don’t have delivery at all. Although Stihl’s website details its products at length, anyone who wants to buy has to see a dealership employee in the flesh.
Those greasy spare parts in the back serve a purpose. You will often read or hear from many dealers in all industries the quote: “We pride ourselves on the finest service, fixing your repair the first time around with the highest quality OEM parts.” Yes, genuine OEM parts are always better, as GM’s Mr. Good Wrench wants you to believe. But those parts can be expensive. From the customer’s point of view, with their outdoor power equipment, our concentration is about time and expediting the process with as little sacrifice of quality as possible.
As the owner of Copeland Equipment Co., I know first-hand from an early age how time is a most important factor. Growing up in Houston, my father always had his three sons working at the family hardware store. Once in 1961, when the Texas Blue Laws (retail had to close on Sundays) were still in effect, Hurricane Carla was rolling in. That Sunday we all went to the store and opened up in time to help supply residents with emergency items. A few years later that hardware store was a rental yard requiring knowledge of industrial equipment as well as on-time delivery to job sites during the 1970s’ Houston boom.