Would you have done the same thing?

I bought a disc quite a few years ago for $450. I used it a lot to do work on an MX track. I ended up selling it to the club for what I paid. It wasn't being used and I asked if I could borrow it for my own track. I've had it since about 2005. It had some broken blades when I borrowed it and has a couple more now. 2 years ago another track, that was run by the same club, was going to pick it up but never did. I said it had some broken blades and they said, no problem, the club will fix it. This morning I got a call from another track owner wanting to pick up the disc. I said it had about 8 broken blades. He then starts asking me what I'm going to do about it. I told him that I was told the club was going to fix it. Then he goes on like I should pay to fix the discs that broke at my track. He had quite a bit of attitude as well. Since he is not on the executive of the club and just another track owner, I told him he should be talking to the club president and not me. I don't know if he got approval to get the disc or not. That should come from the club executive. I have no problem paying for a few of the broken blades but I think I should be dealing with the club president rather than some guy who starts accusing me of not paying to fix something that broke when I used it. I also think this guy is trying to cause me problems so more people go to his track almost 2 hours away. He said he was going to call the club president right away. Would you have done the same thing or just handed money and the disc over to this guy? Dave

I'd probably pay for some of it.

Send the disc to club president or the club track, tell other track owner to talk to club president and pickup disc from them, tell him that is last word and don"t call you again. Call club president or secretary and tell them to handle other guy, remind them you gave them friendly price-what did other guy do for them? Wear and tear is normal, disc blades break, borrower should grease bearings and not break rest of blades. A cash rental for everybody to provide repair money would be fair- rental places may have disc requiring big deposit if borrower doesn"t want to pay share of grease and paint,repair costs. RN

Yes, I could have sold the disc for at least twice as much. I'll pay for a few broken blades. I didn't appreciate this guys attitude on the phone. I did a lot of work for the club in the past that is almost completely forgotten or newer members have no idea about. Dave

I'd take the disk & the money to buy 2 (or however many broke under your use) blades to the original track & person (or officer position if it changed) you got it from, and not ever think of getting it back. Get it out of your hair & your responsibilty, sooner than later.

You mention 3 different clubs; oh boy, they won't ever a one fix it, it's going to be passed back & forth with everyone expecting the other club to fix it; waiting for a chump to come along and use it so they can all blame him & pass the buck on to him......

Hello, chump...

Get outta that racket.

--->Paul

I'd say whoever was in possession when a blade broke was responsible for that blade.

Now, let me ask you a question. Our local County Commissioners recently denied an application by our local Ford and GM dealer for a conditional use permit to put in a MX track on 137 acres he owns on an Interstate interchange a mile from my house. He had grandoise plans right from the start. He hadn't even broken ground and he was talking about pulling in several national events per year with, like, 6,000 people each, talking about building motels to accomodate all the people who were going to come to his track, etc. He would have had all paid personnel including paid EMT's on hand whenever the track was open, permanent wash rack and rest rooms, and every thing else high dollar and first class. He envisioned having something going on there almost every night and all weekend every weekend.

The reality was, the well on the property tested out at 792 gallons PER DAY. If 100 people flushed a toilet once, you've used up your water for the day. There were traffic issues, noise issues, trash issues, the fact that there is a cemetary directly across the road dating to the Civil War, private residences directly abutting the property, etc. I don't think I would have been impacted much, being a mile away with a large grove of trees as a noise barrier between my house and the track site. Even a fellow who was once shot down on putting in a drag strip down the road said that was not the location for an MX track. The vote from the Commissioners was the minimum to deny the permit.

My question is, do you think he would have succeeded with his plans? My own opinion was he should have planned on starting smaller and letting it grow.

Just one club but different tracks. Only one track is exclusive to the club. That's where I picked the disc up from. I think more blades broke because there were already broken blades. I've done repairs to the disc in past on my own time. Maybe I should have charged for it? They owned it at the time and it was at their track. LoL Dave

What are you folks discing to be breaking blades. I have a disc especially for rocky fields, and have only broken a couple blades in quite a few years. Stan

It's a lot of work. Tracks in California can have 200 to 300 riders a day. They also have several employess and lots of money in equipment to keep the track groomed. Usually only one national a year for outdoor tracks. If there's people living nearby and it would be a distraction for people on the highway, then the decision was probably correct. As for noise, the current 4 stroke bikes sound carries a lot further than the sound of a 2 stroke. I have a lot of trees and people further away seem to hear the noise more than people that are closer. The first thing I did was make sure the county would approve of my track. Then I had the land completely rezoned for a track. Many people said that that was the absolute best thing I could have done. Almost every other track is dealing with petitions, noise, yearly permits and limits on when they can be used, etc. I don't have to deal with anything other than standard county rules. Obviously, I'm not going to have people riding after it's dark or 6 am every morning. Dave

It's a light finishing disc. That's why it was $450 and not $4500. Dave

Sounds to me like there are only 2 people involved; you and whoever you borrowed it from. If he brought it to you, ask him to come after it; if you picked it up, carry it home. You're responsible for whatever broke while you had it, imho. (The labor to fix it is gonna be more than the cost of the blades, if you hire it done) As far as the 3rd party calling and wanting to chew on you, I'd hang up within the first 20 seconds. I've lived too long to deal with fools or azzholes.

Thanks for the input. It would have been a permitted use on the current zoning. Sounds like our Commissioners made the right call, although the vote was split with the permit denied by one vote.

The guy's kind of a dork anyway. He bought that property thinking he'd make a killing on commercial development. When that didn't happen, he tried residential development. Wrong zoning. I think he's getting desperate to make something off of it, although about half is tillable farm ground and the rent from that should at least pay the taxes and interest.

Thanks again!

You are correct. I picked the disc up at a track about an hour away from mine. His track is about 2 hours away. I'd even do the labour to fix it if they paid for the blades that broke on their track and I paid for the ones broke at my track. This guy already has the clubs loader at his track. He did some fixing on it which is good. I think he was planning to fix the disc with his own money and wanted me to throw in some money. I don't even know if had approval to pick up the disc. He's been trying to cause me problems in the past because he views me as the competition rather than another track to ride. I don't think he's too bright either. He was at a race at my track in February and saw all my equipment. When he phoned today he asked if I had a way to pick the disc up. I have a track loader with a backhoe that picks it up like nothing. I think it weighs about 1500 to 1600 lbs. Dave

A track up here at a drag strip facilty was shut down because it was too close to the highway, which caused people to stop on the side of the hwy., which could cause an accident. They built another track a few years later further back so it wasn't easily visible from the highway. Having just a permit can be a problem. They usually have a time limit and have to be renegotiated when they are up. If there's lots of complaints, the track could get shut down or its use be limited. I sure wouldn't want that after all the work I did. If was building a multi-million dollar facilty like this guy was talking, I certainly wouldn't want to gamble if it was going to be around for the next 2 or 3 years and had the possibilty of being shut down permanently. The track that had to move is on land leased from the airport, so noise wasn't the problem. Dave

There is a saying for this but I'm not sure how it really goes but something like "A borrower or lender never be" My rule is "I go with the equipment the equipment is free but I get at an hour charge and that rate is based on who wants the equipment. I've been through a lot of similar conditions as yours over the years. We assume everyone has common sense but that ain't happening. CT

Buy the # of blades you broke, wire them to the disc, and send it on its way. If I borrow something from a neighbor, a rarity, these days, I like to make sure it goes back in better condition than when I borrowed it.

As Dave said but remember to take pictures before it leaves!

Also, this one would have had to be re-negotiated after at least the first year. I think the Commissioners did the guy a favor by turning him down, even if it was a close vote.

Sounds like it. If he's never run a track or been part of a club, he wouldn't have a clue how much work it is. People like to complain if conditions aren't just perfect and often still do when they are. Dave