No more borrowing our my car and trailer....uggg

I've not had a problem loaning out a trailer. Mine are cheap though, and if a friend damaged it w/o trying to make it right, I'd simply "unfriend" them.

Loaning out vehicles, I do that occasionally, but only old ones. Same story.
 
Loan just the trailer and let them bust up their own bumper?

It must have been pretty funny watching me try to back up a Honey Wagon with a Farmall H years ago. I didn't think it was funny at the time, though. Never could get that thing backed up straight.
I used to work at a dairy in my teens. Having grown up on a farm I was no stranger to tractors or backing trailers, I could put anything, anywhere.

We were bringing in hay on wagons and the owner's sons would loop the tractor in front of the barn, staighten out up the slight hill and park, then they'd pull the hitch pin and let the wagon roll back down to the barn. "Can't back up wagons" they said repeatedly. Well, me being me, I decided to give it a shot anyway and backed it with absolutely no issues. Apparently, what they meant was that THEY can't back wagons! :lol:
 
Well upon thinking this whole thing thru I figured out it was in fact the trailer that jack knifed into my bumper. However, there is more to the story. This trailer is very short and with a very short tongue. He had loaded sheetrock on top of the rails so it over hung on the front and rear. Well it doesn't take much of a turn when backing to swing that sheetrock around and into my bumper. Big lesson learned. I should get a tongue extension to help eliminate this. Secondly.....not loaning it out anymore. It's just a bumper on a 12 year old vehicle. Friends are harder to find than bumpers.
 
There are a very select few people, and all of them are family, that I’ll toss my keys to.... my parents, my younger brother, and my wife.

But you highlight the exact reason I don’t have a trailer, everyone will ask to use it. Having a truck is bad enough, I’m not adding a “can I borrow your truck and trailer?” to it!
 
Whats wrong with the truth?
Great, let's get this thread locked too.

Secondly.....not loaning it out anymore. It's just a bumper on a 12 year old vehicle. Friends are harder to find than bumpers.
One does not follow the other. Why would you let this hold up a friendship? Put differently, let's say you didn't loan it out--are your "friends" any less apt to withhold information from you, on the basis of not borrowing your stuff? As in, they somehow are now nicer/better people, but once they borrow your vehicle, some sort of transformation occurs.
 
I used to work at a dairy in my teens. Having grown up on a farm I was no stranger to tractors or backing trailers, I could put anything, anywhere.

We were bringing in hay on wagons and the owner's sons would loop the tractor in front of the barn, staighten out up the slight hill and park, then they'd pull the hitch pin and let the wagon roll back down to the barn. "Can't back up wagons" they said repeatedly. Well, me being me, I decided to give it a shot anyway and backed it with absolutely no issues. Apparently, what they meant was that THEY can't back wagons! :lol:
I was summer help at a factory during college. It was a tight squeeze for the big trucks to back in to the loading docks and many of the professional truck drivers struggled with it. The factory employed a truck driver whose sole job was to back the trucks up to the loading dock. No one would even know where he went. He just showed up when a truck pulled in, backed it up perfectly, and the disappeared until the next truck arrived.
 
I used to have a stout flat bed trailer that could haul cars and farm equipment easily... It got to the point I was constantly lending it to "friends" but no one ever offered to help put new tires or bearings on it when it needed it. I got tired of lending it and sold it. I figured the few times I need a trailer, they are cheap enough to rent at U-Haul. As much as I liked having it for the occasional time I used it, I didn't like being the free trailer borrow guy. It is true, when you have a truck and/or trailer, you gain many "friends".
 
This is one of the benefits of having a manual transmission van/truck. I once had a girl in college ask to borrow my van for moving. She was barely an acquaintance. I said it would be fine, but asked her if she knew how to drive stick. She never responded after that. Not only is a manual transmission a theft deterrent (in the U.S.) but a moocher deterrent also!
 
I am the tool guy/wrench in my neighborhood. I have no problem with that; I mostly enjoy it. Years ago a neighbor asked for some "mollys"; he meant allen keys. I inherited my older brother's tools when he got cancer and died at 44. So I give the neighbor my set of Snap-On allen keys; clean and perfect in the red stand up box. I told him, please take care; these are very valuable to me. They came back full of what looked like wall plaster sanded dust. The neighbor thought nothing of it. I was heartbroken.

I think it boils down to respect for tools and other's property. Hopefully we on BITOG respect our tools.
He who dies with the most tools wins!
 
I used to have a stout flat bed trailer that could haul cars and farm equipment easily... It got to the point I was constantly lending it to "friends" but no one ever offered to help put new tires or bearings on it when it needed it. I got tired of lending it and sold it. I figured the few times I need a trailer, they are cheap enough to rent at U-Haul. As much as I liked having it for the occasional time I used it, I didn't like being the free trailer borrow guy. It is true, when you have a truck and/or trailer, you gain many "friends".

I borrowed one quite a bit last year before mine was done. Kept offering to buy him tires and bearings for it. He wasn't sure if he wanted to stick with 14s or 15s. But I would have bought either.

I did service the wheel bearings (one was bad but got some more life out of it) and fix the lights.
 
I learned to say "I don't loan out stuff like that because I have had problems with it getting damaged".

This puts the onus on me, which kind of throws people off. This tells them I have a policy of not loaning some stuff out to anyone, regardless of friend status. It "Steals the Thunder" from further conversation and is very effective. I told them no in a non-offensive way, explained why, and left no opportunity for discussion. No need for lengthy reasons, options, etc.. Again, it shuts down the discussion immediately and effectively. If someone gets their shorts in a bunch, that's their problem.

I tend to be spineless and this technique works excellent. Valued books - came back with spaghetti stains. Chainsaws - don't even go there. A garden shovel, hammer, wrench - sure, no biggie.....you lose it or damage it, I expect the person to make it right.

When I used to loan out valued things, the anxiety it caused was measurable. Why put oneself in that position. The one poster here that said he sold his trailer to avoid having to lend it out seems over the top.

EDIT: I sometimes do what pantygnome recommends below - offer to assist them with me operating the equipment (especially if SHE is very attractive, LOL).
 
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If anyone needs to "borrow" my truck, I drive.

If they cant fit their chore(s) into my schedule, they can borrow someone else's truck.

I dont ask for anything in return but usually am offered beer and wings, which is fine by me. My truck doesnt get wrecked AND I get food and alcohol (after we're done, of course)
 
Folks - a lot of off-topic lecturing about a term used in the thread. Those kind of posts have no place on BITOG. This isn’t Facebook where you comment over and over about your indignation over someone’s post or action. It’s the equivalent of vigilante justice. It may be quick, and feel good, to go “punish” and lecture the poster, but it’s not appropriate. It’s not professional.

If a post is out of line, or offensive, please just notify and let a mod take care of it. Don’t drag the discussion off into a bickering session. That risks the thread just going away.
 
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Every vehicle/trailer I have loaned to family or friends has come back damaged or not at all. One even had the car repaired after an accident and tried to not say anything; his brother ratted him out after I came asking about the runs in my paint.
Opposite experience here...my stepfather used my car for a week after surgery. No trouble except the awful radio station he saved as a preset.

My father in law used my trucks several times...never any real problem, aside from once returning my J-20 with a screw in the front tire. (I expect he didn't realize it.)
 
I would rather back a 53’ trailer than 4’x6’ trailer. Small trailers are near impossible to follow up quickly, especially if you’ve never or rarely backed one.
 
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