Jimmy B. wrote:

For planned maintenance, it is easy to go to another shop, but he's the
only mechanic on the field and I do want to stay on good terms with him
just in case I need something done and the plane is unflyable.

I would like to find a free-lance mechanic that could come to my field
to do work.

Yeah, that would be nice, but it looks like you're stuck with this guy for now.
Here's what I would do in your shoes. Don't ask this guy any questions if you
can help it. When something needs to be fixed, ask him to fix it, and try to do
it in such a way that he won't feel comfortable arguing.

I once had to deal with a mechanic who had similar ideas to your man (mine would
never have recommended postponing oil changes, however). Pete's problem was that
he dealt with cheapskate pilots so much that he just assumed that everybody
would want to take shortcuts. Once I had a bad plug wire and he recommended
replacing just the bad one. When I told him to put in a new set of plug wires
instead, he did what I asked. After I explained that all the wires were the same
age and I didn't want to be bringing the plane back in every few months to
replace another one, he understood. After that, we could discuss alternatives
for each job of work. Sounds like that approach isn't working for you, though.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.