Working to barter for staying free at Campgrounds

[HelloImDavid]

Hello. Im a retired HVAC Owner / Technician / Installer who would like to swap my Trade skills for a place to stay free at Campgrounds . I envision doing maintenance on Heating and Cooling equipment at Campgrounds in exchange for free stays .

Im wondering if other Tradesmen on the Forum are already doing this who can tell me the ins and outs of getting started as well as tips, suggestions, etc....

Is something like this done by going to private Campgrounds and asking to barter...or.... can it also be done thru places like Good Sam ? Are there places for people like me to run an ad offering their skills in exchange for free stays or for me to be paid outright for services rendered ?

Thank you. David. Florida.

[HelloImDavid]

Ive already received adequate information on the Spirit of Workamping thru this thread...and now I am just tossing out some personal ideas and thoughts which I wanted to run by the Participants --- im certainly not looking to argue or defend my position ...but I do appreciate hearing all the pros and cons , some of which I hadn't considered.

Good to know about the infeasibility of staying short term ; im quite flexible on how long I stay but generally, I would say no more than a few weeks at a time as I enjoy touring the entire state of Arizona .

That's encouraging to hear of that Electrician who was used for his specialty. Between my vast HVACR experience , being physically fit to do laborer type work, and my musical talents.... I am hopeful for a barter arrangement. Thanks.

[HappyKayakers]

To the OP: You're not accomplishing much in this extended debate. Put your ads out and see what kind of response you get. Be prepared to negotiate.

From my personal experience, I've worked at campgrounds/RV parks where at least one of the workamper crew was a retired electrician. The owners/managers took full advantage of that experience. They never divulged how much they were being compensated but I suspect it was more than the rest of the general maintenance crew.

Your idea to do a little work then move on may not be feasible. Most places prefer you to stay for the season.

[HelloImDavid]

bigdogger wrote:

HelloImDavid wrote:

bigdogger wrote:
As a business owner, I will only deal with local tradesmen, because they are going to be there should problems arise. Since most workamping positions seldom pay much over minimum wage, I doubt many businesses are going to offer $40 an hour, barter or not.

For a larger upscale C.G. to have all their heating,cooling, refrigeration equipment thoroughly inspected and serviced professionally in exchange for some free nights stay... has no bearing on future breakdowns and calling someone in locally for that. Theyd have to do that in any case.

If theres a lot of equipment to service....I would be willing to do a fair and equitable Barter even as low as $15 per hour on my end . That's considerably cheaper than the going $85-120 per hour from a local Contractor. I found a 5 star RV Park in Arizona that has a few buildings, café, etc... and im going to propose my professional HVAC services and non-professional services to see if they are interested . If their concern is liability, then id be pleased to sign a waiver releasing them of any possible injury to myself (which they most likely have everyone sign in any case who does workamp grunt work for them) .

Say you replaced a fan on an Air conditioning unit. Usually the replacement is guaranteed for a period of time, both parts and labor. Should that fan fail, no fault of yours in 4 weeks, how are they going to get that labor portion handled? Liability is usually more towards injury to others. Things like you carrying a vent pipe and accidentally slice open the forehead of a kid. Or, you are in the attic and accidentally put your foot through the ceiling of the office. For some, those incidents would be enough to motivate them to get in their rig and drive off, never to be seen again. Therefore you are going to need a business liability insurance policy. Also, don't many states require licensing of HVAC contractors?
As for the cost, it isn't as big a deal as it may sound. I wouldn't sell out my local contractor, that has probably done thousands of dollars of work for me, to hire someone who walked in off the street, who I have no idea of their actual skills and abilities, who have no local references in order to save a couple of hundred dollars. I don't intend this to be anything personal, but I wanted to offer you the viewpoint a business person on the other side of the transaction.
Doing business locally is very important to most businesses. I use the local contractors, they refer business to me. It adds up to a lot more than the $200.00 I could save.

I can respect your view and that is fine . Maybe many CG's wouldn't want me to barter in this manner for professional services...and that's fine. Im also available to barter for general grunt maintenance work and/or my musical talents including Guitar and leading large groups of people in Gospel Music singing or Folk Music around the Bonfire.

As to your repair scenario, if the CG Owner didn't want me to perform that Fan repair and instead opted to hire his normal HVAC Contractor for that specifically, then that works for me too. What I can offer primarily, is meticulous and professional maintenance on the HVACR systems from a 40 year Veteran who was not only an Owner/Tech but taught and trained young Men coming into the Trade. As for licensing, many States are reciprocal to the State I got licensed in ... IF they require licensing at all. Many don't. As for Me putting my foot thru a drywall ceiling, etc... its never happened in 40 years of being in business and if it does, then ill fix it or surrender a free nights stay .

I realize that my Barter proposal wont be for every C.G. Owner ... but I suspect a fair amount will see the advantage and especially after they see my qualifications, unsolicited testimonial letters, awards, certifications , and graduating from Trade School with high honors . Im pleased either using my Trade experience or being a general maintenance Laborer for whatever needs they may have at the time.

[paulcardoza]

I'm thinking that you'd have to go well beyond just HVAC servicing to get enough work to barter for a free site. You would probably have to handle all maintenance duties for the CG. Even upscale resorts don't have that much HVAC work on a day-to-day basis.

[bigdogger]

HelloImDavid wrote:

bigdogger wrote:
As a business owner, I will only deal with local tradesmen, because they are going to be there should problems arise. Since most workamping positions seldom pay much over minimum wage, I doubt many businesses are going to offer $40 an hour, barter or not.

For a larger upscale C.G. to have all their heating,cooling, refrigeration equipment thoroughly inspected and serviced professionally in exchange for some free nights stay... has no bearing on future breakdowns and calling someone in locally for that. Theyd have to do that in any case.

If theres a lot of equipment to service....I would be willing to do a fair and equitable Barter even as low as $15 per hour on my end . That's considerably cheaper than the going $85-120 per hour from a local Contractor. I found a 5 star RV Park in Arizona that has a few buildings, café, etc... and im going to propose my professional HVAC services and non-professional services to see if they are interested . If their concern is liability, then id be pleased to sign a waiver releasing them of any possible injury to myself (which they most likely have everyone sign in any case who does workamp grunt work for them) .

Say you replaced a fan on an Air conditioning unit. Usually the replacement is guaranteed for a period of time, both parts and labor. Should that fan fail, no fault of yours in 4 weeks, how are they going to get that labor portion handled? Liability is usually more towards injury to others. Things like you carrying a vent pipe and accidentally slice open the forehead of a kid. Or, you are in the attic and accidentally put your foot through the ceiling of the office. For some, those incidents would be enough to motivate them to get in their rig and drive off, never to be seen again. Therefore you are going to need a business liability insurance policy. Also, don't many states require licensing of HVAC contractors?
As for the cost, it isn't as big a deal as it may sound. I wouldn't sell out my local contractor, that has probably done thousands of dollars of work for me, to hire someone who walked in off the street, who I have no idea of their actual skills and abilities, who have no local references in order to save a couple of hundred dollars. I don't intend this to be anything personal, but I wanted to offer you the viewpoint a business person on the other side of the transaction.
Doing business locally is very important to most businesses. I use the local contractors, they refer business to me. It adds up to a lot more than the $200.00 I could save.

[HelloImDavid]

bigdogger wrote:
As a business owner, I will only deal with local tradesmen, because they are going to be there should problems arise. Since most workamping positions seldom pay much over minimum wage, I doubt many businesses are going to offer $40 an hour, barter or not.

For a larger upscale C.G. to have all their heating,cooling, refrigeration equipment thoroughly inspected and serviced professionally in exchange for some free nights stay... has no bearing on future breakdowns and calling someone in locally for that. Theyd have to do that in any case.

If theres a lot of equipment to service....I would be willing to do a fair and equitable Barter even as low as $15 per hour on my end . That's considerably cheaper than the going $85-120 per hour from a local Contractor. I found a 5 star RV Park in Arizona that has a few buildings, café, etc... and im going to propose my professional HVAC services and non-professional services to see if they are interested . If their concern is liability, then id be pleased to sign a waiver releasing them of any possible injury to myself (which they most likely have everyone sign in any case who does workamp grunt work for them) .

[bigdogger]

As a business owner, I will only deal with local tradesmen, because they are going to be there should problems arise. Since most workamping positions seldom pay much over minimum wage, I doubt many businesses are going to offer $40 an hour, barter or not.

[Executive45]

I think you're misunderstanding the spirit of work camping.

My experience has been most are not proactive but rather reactive. Furthermore, I believe you may run into problems with insurance, coding and the like with your proposal..Attorneys have eliminated bartering for the most part, Uncle Sam has eliminated what the attorneys missed.....Dennis

[HelloImDavid]

Ozlander wrote:
I can't imagine any campground needing an HVAC man on duty 24/7.

Not sure how you got the impression I was looking for 24/7 work . Id be happy with going thru all of a CampGrounds existing HVACR equipment doing maintenance and repairs for as long as that takes.... then moving onto the next upper scale larger Campground within the same State earning free stays .

[HelloImDavid]

Thanks for your replies.

Ill try running an ad in the Workamper Site and see what happens.

I have a feeling that my Trade skills would be best utilized at a very large upper scale CampGround that might have a few Buildings such as Offices/Shower Houses/Recreational buildings/and the like.

Im trying to establish a barter labor rate to charge ; when I had my own Business of 30 years my labor rate was about $80 per hour --- but im thinking a competitive barter labor rate now im retired would be closer to $30-40 per hour (or less ?) . Or is that even too much to expect being a certified professional HVAC Tech ? I do have a total of 40 years experience in the HVAC Trade and have even taught it ---- its all ive ever done since age 19 .

I think ill try writing to the larger upscale CampGrounds particularly in Arizona since I love that part of the USA and have friends in Tucson and Tempe.

[Ozlander]

I can't imagine any campground needing an HVAC man on duty 24/7.

[AprilWhine]

You would get more and better answers by posting this in the Workamping forum.

[HappyKayakers]

You could join Workamper News and run an ad or you could try one of the free sites like http://www.workampingjobs.com/index.php. With your skillset you could get some of the more desirable locations in the winter. Just be aware that you'll probably also have to do some grunt work in between skilled work.