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Thanks for the replys. I guess I am wanting a rule of thumb that possibly does not exist. I will do a little net searching and see if I can come up with something. Thanks again, DaleP

Plus, a lot has to do with the type of repairs they are allowing you to perform right now.

If they are allowing you to do the kind of repairs that you are proud to turn your back on, this will cost more initially, but in the end .... will cast them far less money overall.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Period.


The largest meat plant I was ever in refused repeatedly to have a hose bib installed on their highest roof.
Afterall, they said, we do have a bib on another adjoining roof. Run your hose from "over there"!

Heck ... "over there" required three HUNDRED FEET of hoses!!!

I explained to them that when a tech comes out for service, if a hose bib is handy, he will usually wash down the air cooled condensors ... WHILE HE IS ALREADY THERE!!!
But that same tech will NOT go find, scrounge, buy, beg or even borrow enough hose to make that long of a run... not on your life!!!

That bib they spoke of was on another roof at a different elevation!!! It took an hour to run your hose!!!

They wouldnt do it!

Said it was too expensive.

I looked into it, it would have cost em $300 to sweat a bib and stub it up on their roof. There was already water near by.

Dale
Seems to me you can use their own repair & maintenance bills as a good start. Plus taking digital pictures of their good and about to go bad equipment will help in getting them to understand what their costs and future costs will be. Good luck on this one.

It's like the old muffler ad which said something like pay me now or pay me (alot more) later.

I am the contractor. I have an area that has $500,000 + in equipment, or more and they seem to think spending 25,000 per year in repairs and new equipment installation is out of line. There is more to this than I can ever type here but is 3% to 5% of equipment value a good approximate maintenance budget? I know there are a lot of variables but I need to start educating them and myself somewhere. Thanks, DaleP

Dale
You just asked "How high is high?" which is impossible to answer without lots more specific info.

I say call around and tell some contractors you like and trust that you need their help in setting a budget once you pay them to look at your equipment and give you their estimate.

Does anyone have a good rule of thumb for a maintenance and repairs annual budget for a small butcher plant? Thanks, Dale