On Sun, 08 May 2016 14:22:39 -0400, wrote:



Yeah well if he balances it against the gas he burns driving all around
town collecting, he's in the hole.

These guys make a living at it. Little bits like that motor do not
amount to much but they also get bigger things like AC units, white
goods and chunks of scrap aluminum. The trucks are usually pretty full
when you see them. I always sit my stuff out there and it disappears
pretty quickly, although I will admit, since construction has
recovered, there are not as many people doing it. It did take a week
for a fridge to go away and they used to be gone in a day.
OK by me, I scored a spare set of crisper bins, Someone had already
taken the ice maker.

I dont make a habit of picking up junk, but twice a year a local town
has "junk day". People can throw away anything except tires and tv sets
and a few other things. They pile the junk on the curbs on Friday and
it's all picked up by Sat. afternoon. During that 24 hour period, there
are a bunch of people who drive around and grab all the good stuff. Some
of them continue doing it late into the night. Knowing from the past
that I've gotten quite a bit of useful stuff, I go out early on Friday
and just drive around. I've come home with lawn mowers, snow blowers
etc., that only need minor work. New building materials that are just
left over from jobs, like lumber, bundles of shingles, and so on. Used
but good sinks, cabinets, and the list goes on.

They just recently did that. I went to the wealthy side of town first,
and got a perfectly good picnic table and chair set, made of metal with
a glass top on the table. Aside from a few minor spots of rust, it's
perfect. I got a around 150 brand new picture frames still wrapped in
their packaging, (which I'll sell to a local guy who sells at flea
markets), got one of those expensive park-like benches made with cast
iron legs and back, which just needs some new boards on the seat. (heck,
I got lots of scrap treated wood to fix that). I also got a few gas
cans, an electric guitar which works fine but needs a few strings,
several rakes and shovels, a wheerlbarrow that only needs a tire, a few
windows, and more....

But my biggest find was a MIG welder, which appears to work, except I
dont have the gas that is needed to use it, but it feeds wire and will
throw an arc. (I've never used one of them, I only stick weld, but I'll
have a friend who welds look at it and if it's worthwhile, I'll buy some
gas for it).

Total cost to get all this stuff was about $10 worth of gas to drive
around, and I have to admit I had a lot of fun doing it.

What surprised me were the guys who were still doing it (with
flashlights) at 2am, when I left the local bar.

It's amazing what some people throw away....

---

As far as the original topic of this thread, ANY motor can be rebuilt at
a motor rebuilding company. Those companies can be found in almost every
city and even small towns. Those guys can rewind any motor, replace
brushes, etc. The question is whether it's worth the cost. We have a
place in town that does this work, and it's well worth his price to
rebuild a 10HP motor from a farm auger, or rebuild a starter for a
tractor, or industrial motors that cost a firtune to buy new. And lots
of other stuff. But the cost to repair a small jigsaw motor may not be
worth it.