can't pass up usefull trash
 

Anyone here need 3' of steel pipe, 6"ID 7"OD been rusting behind the
shed for about twelve years now. Picked it up alongside the highway
one day.

Need? No. Want? Yes. Willing to pay $85 or so to have
105lb. (48kg) of metal shipped to me from Ontario? No.
Guess I don't want it that bad! :^)
--Glenn Lyford

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 22:07:43 -0500, "Greg O"
wrote:



I had a small engine repair for five years here in North Dakota. About 1/2
the push mowers you see are throw away machines. I always got a kick out of
people buying the $99 mower down the street, forgeting to put oil in it, or
bending the crank, and then wanting me to fix it. Lets see, crankshaft $45,
two hours labor at $26, (this was a few years back!), gaskets, oil,
whatever, over $100 at any rate! Hell a new 3.5 HP engine from Briggs &
Stratton was $159! Try to explain way a whole mower sells for less than just
the engine!
That's always the problem.

Once in a while I had people bring in higher quality machines with a bad
engine that they wanted to repair and were willing to pay the price. Down
the srteet I would go to the $99 lawn mower store and buy a mower, strip the
engine off of it and install it on their mower. Even as a dealer I could not
buy a engine that cheap.
Yep.

I did a ton of small engine repair for consrtuction companies. I was the
only shop in town that would do LP gas powered small engine repair as it was
so differant in the way the engines would run. It was good money as they
would have me fix everything they brought in, no questions.
Those are the good ones.

Still on our 3-1/2 day long summers, it was inpossible for someone to run a
small engine repair and make a living at it. Shops start up every year and a
couple of years down the road they are gone. There is one shop in town that
hass been around for maybe twenty years, but has changed ownership 5-6
times!
You definitely have to other things as well. Just fixing mowers
won't cut the mustard.

This is a small town (and it just keeps getting smaller). When I got
out of the Air Force I wanted to start a shop of my own. Now I'm not a
master of any one trade but I've always been fairly versatile so I
could do anything I needed to do. I spent a lot of time trying to
figure out what would work. I considered computer repair, motorcycle
shop, small engine, and many more. Every one of them suffered from one
problem. There's not enough demand in a small town to make a living at
any one of them. Then while taking my mothers stuff to Oregon I
stopped by my Grandmothers in Utah. She lives in a town so small that
I swear it's just a one room post office in the middle of a field. :-)

Anyway while there it was noticed that the trailer tongue was
cracked. They didn't have a welder but the neighbor down the road did.
He was to old and couldn't see to weld but I was welcome to use his
welder to do the repair. When we arrived I found his shop was
basically a slightly oversized two car garage made from cinder block.
He had a welder a old drill press (just like the two old ones that I
have, I can remember lusting after it while there), and a few other
tools in the shop. But what caught my eye was the sign on the back
wall. It was his name (I can't remember it after all these years)
Fixit Shop.

That's where it finally dawned on me that in a small town you can't
specialize. You have to be willing to take on just about any kind of
work. I think it took me about 3 years before it got to the point that
I was always so far behind schedule that I couldn't keep track of all
the work. Some of it paid better than others but at that point I was a
bachelor and I always had enough money to do what ever I wanted. I was
working on building up my capabilities the whole time. I added new
machines in any way possible. Many where home made. I built the chop
saw I currently use before I had any real machine tools. All I had at
that time was a drill press, a home made simple lathe (which I did use
to turn some metal with gravers, files, and grinders), a sander,
grinders (some home made as well), and of course my cutting torch
(which I bought when I was 13) and the old cracker box which my great
uncle "loaned" me about a year after buying the torch.

Then I got married and things got even better for a while. When she
was working we could pretty much live off what she made and I could
put nearly all my money back into the shop. I bought the Shop Task
during that period. Then it happened. She got pregnant and had to quit
work. The combination of me being burned out from all the work (I was
at least 6 months behind about then), the worry about the cost of the
baby, pressure from her parents to get a "real job", and the offer for
work at the local machine shop (a place I had always dreamed of
working but could never get in) caused be to once again put the shop
in moon light mode. Even that didn't last to long since it wasn't to
long before I was so tired after work and my feet hurt so bad that I
didn't have the energy to work after hours. This was the dark ages
around here. Never before did I have to budget so close. I was just
barely making enough to keep up with the bills.

After several years at the machine shop they got in trouble. It got
to the point where they didn't have enough money to pay me for the
next week. When I heard that I decided that it was definitely time to
get out of there. I had been considering it for a while but had never
managed to build up what I considered enough of a buffer fund for the
startup but this forced my hand. Fortunately I did have a little saved
back by then (about $1800). The Saturday after my last day there I put
out flyers saying I was back. The whole time I had been in the machine
shop people had been calling me wanting me to work on there mowers.
Well that first series of flyers has been the only advertising I have
had to do to date. I brought in $300 profit that next week which was
equal to my paycheck from the machine shop (all of it small engine
work). It only took me about 1 hour a day to do the paying work so I
had time to start my shop. I knew at that rate it wouldn't be long
before I wouldn't have time to work on the shop so I pushed it's
construction hard. Fortunately I had already stockpiled the material
for the shop about 2 years earlier. I started it in april and I barely
managed to get it closed by winter for all the work coming in. In fact
I had to use tarps for doors that first winter and the next summer.
That winter the machine shop had it's auction and through some help
from local businesses that didn't want to be without a machine shop I
managed to get a loan for enough equipment to keep the most needed
capabilities here. It's been a race since then to keep up with the
work. I can't say that there's not been any hard times but I'm
definitely bringing in more money now than when I worked for them.

This is the reason why I won't turn away small engine work. It's
saved me to many times in the past. It's not the most profitable part
of my current business but it's still a part of it and will probably
always be a part of it.

Wow. I didn't mean to get that carried away. Hopefully not to many
fell asleep during that out burst. :-)

Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 02:31:44 GMT, Lewis Hartswick
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I haven't, but yer...so what? What made you feel you needed to make
any one of us guys believe him? G

God I feel better!

Folks he's telling it truly. I've been there and seen it. :-)
...lew...

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 21:18:59 -0500, Wayne Cook
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email



junk. It's piled everywhere including two 8'x14' truck boxes, one
store bought 8x10' shed, one 10'x30' shed (built by tearing down a old
hay barn and reusing the pieces), a 8'x40' insulated reefer box (this
was my electronics workroom but is more of a junk room now), and of
course any nook and cranny of my 36' x 40' shop which was built from
the remains of a old Chevron station building which was blown off it's
skids while it was waiting to be moved.

Oh yea that doesn't include the piles which are in the other end of
the mobile home which is tacked on the back of my house. This end is
my office and the kitchen is here while the rest is just storage.

Then there's the piles along the cliff behind the house, the piles
on the south side of the house, the piles along the north side of the
shop, the piles in front of the shop, the..... well you get the idea.
:-)

Married?

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 21:20:41 -0500, Wayne Cook
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I have been on the other side of that. As I was entering a small town,
the exhaust system fell of my Toyota truck right at the
header/manifold.

I went to three petrol stations looking for a suitable nut or two and
was sent to Old Fred. Old Fred had junk coming out of his ears!

He walked into this shed that was chokkas, and came out about 1 minute
later with two nuts to suit. I reckon he teleported them from
Aldebaran or something.

He would not take any money. He seemed to fail to realise that the
fact that they were "only a couple of nuts" was eclipsed by the fact
that he was the _only person in a sizeable country town_ who could
service that toyota.

Well he was referred here by the local parts store. :-)

Jim (with a personal thing for Bosch electrics...)

PS. Wayne you might want to check your driveway and fenceposts.
He probably found the standard hobo's "Good Magnetos Here"
symbol chalked there someplace.


What do those symbols look like. I think I need to go chalks some
more. :-)


Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 21:20:41 -0500, Wayne Cook
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I have been on the other side of that. As I was entering a small town,
the exhaust system fell of my Toyota truck right at the
header/manifold.

I went to three petrol stations looking for a suitable nut or two and
was sent to Old Fred. Old Fred had junk coming out of his ears!

He walked into this shed that was chokkas, and came out about 1 minute
later with two nuts to suit. I reckon he teleported them from
Aldebaran or something.

He would not take any money. He seemed to fail to realise that the
fact that they were "only a couple of nuts" was eclipsed by the fact
that he was the _only person in a sizeable country town_ who could
service that toyota.

Well he was referred here by the local parts store. :-)

Jim (with a personal thing for Bosch electrics...)

PS. Wayne you might want to check your driveway and fenceposts.
He probably found the standard hobo's "Good Magnetos Here"
symbol chalked there someplace.


What do those symbols look like. I think I need to go chalks some
more. :-)


Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"wallster" wrote in message ...

I call it "Fred". (Ooh! OOh! that's an old drillpress! OOh! an old
bandsaw. Oh, Wow! Lots of good stuff in here!)

Nope, don't know what it's like at all.

Seriously, I have far too many machines already, ten lathes, two
surface grinders, three mills. six drillpresses, and the list goes on.
It's what happens when an old machine develops puppy dog eyes. Can't
seem to leave short pieces of barstock or any plate with usable size
to it, it has to find a home, and my basement looks like home.

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"Lou" wrote in message
news:jHIHc.50672$a24.21366@attbi_s03...
I'm with Roy on this one.

They like to charge 25 cents for a bolt, 75 cents for a washer, $1.50 for
a
half dozen nuts, etc. I've got BOXES of exotic hardware for free from
disassembling things - and I use it constantly to build new stuff.


I have a five gallon bucket full of nuts, bolts, screws, widgets that I need
to sort one of these days, and put them into the umpteen thousand little
clear plastic drawers I have for them. Many is the time those things have
saved me a trip to the hardware store, and a couple of bucks. Where I work,
I can always pick up hardware that is left for the garbage crew. And I do.

We did an indoor self-storage business convention. They made several
mockups of storage units, then walked away from them rather than disassemble
and ship back. I got two full bags of 1,000 5/16" head, self tappers with
neoprene sealers used to fasten sheet roofing, and 1,000 "stitcher" self
tappers designed to join two pieces of sheeting together. I used to have to
buy these when I had a welding business that serviced carports. That was
1994, and back then, they were seven cents apiece. $140 laying on the
floor........... Plus lots and lots of lags, bolts, nuts, corner brackets,
gate handles, hasps ............. I get a lot of great stuff from the
conventions.

Steve

can't pass up usefull trash
 

on a slightly serious note - giving stuff to someone younger who is
SERIOUSLY interested will remove it from your garage and get someone else a
boost at the same time, AND it will keep it out of the landfill


"Ron Thompson" wrote in message
...

past few years. But I still have more stuff than I have room for. I hate
this affliction I have. Anyone have any (painless) cures? grin

Lane

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"Old Nick" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 02:31:44 GMT, Lewis Hartswick
vaguely proposed a theory
......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I haven't, but yer...so what? What made you feel you needed to make
any one of us guys believe him? G

The "reefer box" part BG

Tim

--
"I've got more trophies than Wayne Gretsky and the Pope combined!"
- Homer Simpson
Website @ http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 17:18:19 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:


How many other people in this newsgroup stop and pick up discarded stuff?

ALL

If they dont, we pull their membership cards.


Gunner

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's
cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays
there.
- George Orwell

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"william_b_noble" wrote in message
s.com...
on a slightly serious note - giving stuff to someone younger who is
SERIOUSLY interested will remove it from your garage and get someone else
a
boost at the same time, AND it will keep it out of the landfill

Yeah... Hey Lenny, you seem to have enough lathes . . . . . ;^)

Tim

--
"I've got more trophies than Wayne Gretsky and the Pope combined!"
- Homer Simpson
Website @ http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 16:35:18 -0400, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

Jeff Wisnia wrote:

Some of the town "refuse collection stations" (That's PC newspeak for
"dump")around here have "put 'n take" tables.

It's amazing the kind of good stuff lots of technologically deprived
folks leave there ...

I am posting this using a beautiful 21" (!) monitor that someone left at
our "put 'n take", aka "swap shed".

Sigh..in my part of California..such a "put n take" area is unheard
of. The lawyers have won.

Gunner

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's
cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays
there.
- George Orwell

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 01:52:20 -0500, "Tim Williams"
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Alllways wondered about that name...


And there, just after the definition I checked out on the web was :

"HAINES BOROUGH ASSEMBLY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 21, 2003...
Assembly Member HARRELL said she inspected the property and there is a
huge amount of junk on it, including a smashed trailer and an old
reefer box. ...
www.hainesborough.us/minutes3/min12103.htm - 29k - Cached - Similar
pages
"

hmmmmm....G

The "reefer box" part BG

Tim

can't pass up usefull trash
 

Old Nick wrote:
snip
Oh yea that doesn't include the piles which are in the other end of
the mobile home which is tacked on the back of my house. This end is
my office and the kitchen is here while the rest is just storage.

Then there's the piles along the cliff behind the house, the piles
on the south side of the house, the piles along the north side of the
shop, the piles in front of the shop, the..... well you get the idea.
:-)


Married?

This reminds me of the sig line I saw on a pro audio newsgroup; It aplies
to recording studios but the idea is the same:

"Some people have a studio in their bedroom. I have a bed in my studio.
As my tech said when he first came round "Well, I can see right away
you're not married"


Hans




--
===========================

"This is a non-profit organisation
We didn't plan it that way, but it is."

(remove uppercase trap and double the number to reply)

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"Glenn Lyford" wrote in message
.. .
I have a hard time driving by the industrial section of my
little town, 'cause there is a metal shop there that throws
away some good stuff that I've dragged home.

And this town would be...? :^)
--Glenn Lyford

I'll bet we've got zero chance of getting an answer.

Garrett Fulton




-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"Wayne Cook" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 15:31:59 -0400, "wallster"
wrote:


You know it's bad when a complete stranger comes by trying to find a
magneto. I actually had one which I was just going to give to him but
he insisted on paying. After looking around my place a little he then
pops off saying to come by his place and he'll give me a bunch of
stuff. Some of the things he mentioned was a steamer, light plants,
plows, etc. Then it got worse. I made a appointment with him for
tomorrow. :-)

Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook

wayne, i've visited your shop via your website and you my friend have got
some freakin cool **** in there!
you're the exact kind of person i was thinking of when i posted this
question.


Thanks (I think) :-)

Actually I definitely don't take pictures of the vast majority of my
junk. It's piled everywhere including two 8'x14' truck boxes, one
store bought 8x10' shed, one 10'x30' shed (built by tearing down a old
hay barn and reusing the pieces), a 8'x40' insulated reefer box (this
was my electronics workroom but is more of a junk room now), and of
course any nook and cranny of my 36' x 40' shop which was built from
the remains of a old Chevron station building which was blown off it's
skids while it was waiting to be moved.

Oh yea that doesn't include the piles which are in the other end of
the mobile home which is tacked on the back of my house. This end is
my office and the kitchen is here while the rest is just storage.

Then there's the piles along the cliff behind the house, the piles
on the south side of the house, the piles along the north side of the
shop, the piles in front of the shop, the..... well you get the idea.
:-)




Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook

wayne, you're too much!! (that's meant as a COMPLIMENT!) dont you ever
stand there scratching your head going "damn it... i know i saw that damn
thing somewhere... but where?" i'm an ameteur "pile collector" compared to
you and i can never remember where the hell i put **** i need at the time!

walt

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"Old Nick" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 01:52:20 -0500, "Tim Williams"
vaguely proposed a theory
......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Alllways wondered about that name...


And there, just after the definition I checked out on the web was :

"HAINES BOROUGH ASSEMBLY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 21, 2003...
Assembly Member HARRELL said she inspected the property and there is a
huge amount of junk on it, including a smashed trailer and an old
reefer box. ...
www.hainesborough.us/minutes3/min12103.htm - 29k - Cached - Similar
pages
"

hmmmmm....G

The "reefer box" part BG

Tim

there was a part in there that read: "She never heard of junk being
"grandfathered". Wait until she needs a back window knob from a 1947
DeSoto!! That bitch wont be calling it junk then!!! g
actually, most people who own actual "junk yards" or auto recycling centers
are millionaires.

walt

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"Wayne Cook" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 22:07:43 -0500, "Greg O"

snipped, copied and pasted"
work. I can't say that there's not been any hard times but I'm
definitely bringing in more money now than when I worked for them.

This is the reason why I won't turn away small engine work. It's
saved me to many times in the past. It's not the most profitable part
of my current business but it's still a part of it and will probably
always be a part of it.

Wow. I didn't mean to get that carried away. Hopefully not to many
fell asleep during that out burst. :-)

Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook

Wayne that's a great story. I copied it and pasted it to a word document
because my nephew is one lazy little *******. He needs to read a story like
yours and be shown that hard work and dedication to your beliefs pays off.
Your persistance speaks volumes about you,
nice job.

walt

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 17:41:33 -0400, "wallster"
wrote:


sniipedJeff Wisnia wrote in message
news:D5idnfDe8ITYZHPdRVn-
Some of the town "refuse collection stations" (That's PC newspeak for
"dump")around here have "put 'n take" tables.

It's amazing the kind of good stuff lots of technologically deprived
folks leave there (particularly in upper middle class towns.) Much of it
snip
Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying."


I think the major reason people chuck stuff is that we take for granted that
everyone can fix stuff. My brother is helpless when it comes to any type of
repair.
snip
I picked up a lawnmower yesterday that was blowing oil. Turns out it had too
much oil in it so it was spewing oil out of the exhaust valve. I cleaned her
up, changed the oil and the plug, now it runs like a top.
That's a lawnmower, try to find anyone willing to try to fix half the stuff
out there. It may be shot... or it may be a fuse or loose wire.

walt

On heavy trash day, I set stuff out we don't want or need, expecting
it to get picked up. The last time, I set out about 10-15 huge plant
pots and a big bell (~8" dia.) left by the last homeowners, some worn
out snow shovels with the edges gone, and one of those tv-vcr's my
oldest son nearly wore out (he's 22, moderately mentally retarded, and
likes to push buttons and watch videos, and about my favorite person
on the planet). The vcr part was giving him trouble and most of the
buttons didn't work. All of that stuff was gone within hours. I like
seeing it get picked up by folks that will use it, instead of it going
to the landfill, and I like the extra room in my garage.

I'd don't accumulate much "stock". One reason is I live in town, and
don't have the room. A bigger reason is I expect to load up and move
back to Texas in 5 or 10 years when we retire.

Pete Keillor

can't pass up usefull trash
 

wallster wrote in message ...
there was a part in there that read: "She never heard of junk being
"grandfathered". Wait until she needs a back window knob from a 1947
DeSoto!! That bitch wont be calling it junk then!!! g
actually, most people who own actual "junk yards" or auto recycling centers
are millionaires.

walt


Many years ago, a friend of mine was in a "The world is going to hell in a
handbasket and I have to get ready for Armageddon." state of mind, and he
asked me about buying gold.

I said;
" Gold is the worlds most useless metal. Like paper money, it only has the
value we place on it. If you want to stockpile something, it should be
something useful, like truck parts and car batteries."

He promptly started filling his yard with rubbish and spent most of his time
fighting with "Code enforcement".

He never became a millionaire though.

Paul K. Dickman

can't pass up usefull trash
 

In article , Gunner says...

Sigh..in my part of California..such a "put n take" area is unheard
of. The lawyers have won.

Put-n-take area? We have municiple trash pickup once a month.
So that stuff all goes out on the curb. Great night to walk
through the neighborhood.

Er... NeighborhoodS.

Jim

==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

can't pass up usefull trash
 

In article , Paul K. Dickman says...

" Gold is the worlds most useless metal. Like paper money, it only has the
value we place on it.

I agree 100%. I think the US should change over from the gold
standard - to the cast iron standard!!

:)

Jim

==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

can't pass up usefull trash
 

In article , Gunner says...

If they dont, we pull their membership cards.

Wait-a-minute! I never *got* one of those....!

Jim

==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

can't pass up usefull trash
 

Jim, I can send you one...Visa#?


"jim rozen" wrote in message
...
In article , Gunner says...

If they dont, we pull their membership cards.

Wait-a-minute! I never *got* one of those....!

Jim

==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On 10 Jul 2004 07:21:48 -0700, jim rozen
calmly ranted:

In article , Gunner says...

Sigh..in my part of California..such a "put n take" area is unheard
of. The lawyers have won.

Put-n-take area? We have municiple trash pickup once a month.
So that stuff all goes out on the curb. Great night to walk
through the neighborhood.

Er... NeighborhoodS.

You meant "drive the large-bed truck" vs. walk, right?

When I was growing up on LRAFB, Air Force families would be
moving every year. I'd go out on trash day and find entire
bedroom sets by the curb sometimes. I took large brass objects
(candelabras, candlesticks, bells, gongs, serving trays from
all over the Middle East and Asia) to my mother since the AF
would put weight limits on what the families could move.

The little china teaset for dolls was a treasure I took to my
sister, but it almost didn't get to her. The teapot had a nice
angry yellow jacket in it who came out after getting put in
my pocket. He stung me 4 times under the arm and 5 times on
the inner arm. When I got home, Mom rushed me to the hospital
in case I was allergic to yellow jackets and they packed me in
an ICE BATH and shot me full of adrenaline. I wasn't allergic
and if I hadn't been 8 years old, I would have kicked the
absolute sh*t out of those airmen who held me in that ice bath.
That hurt more than anything I have experienced in this lifetime,
and I have had back trouble since then which didn't compare.

What I don't recall seeing at curbside were any (decent) tools
or machines. I guess they gave them to their buddies instead.

The dump personnel here in Oregon won't let you salvage, either,
but the old dump in SoCal would if you didn't get in the way of
their machines, and only the stuff on top of the pile, before it
was shoved into the trench. I picked up half a dozen bicycles,
free weights, metal pipe, washers, dryers, and other appliances
there, many of which were in proper working order.

It's a crime how much good, usable stuff is tossed into the dumps
instead of being left on the curb to be recycled. People pay good
money to throw usable things away, too. Go figure!


--------------------------------------------
-- I'm in touch with my Inner Curmudgeon. --
http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development
================================================== ==========

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"Wayne Cook" wrote in message
...
You definitely have to other things as well. Just fixing mowers
won't cut the mustard.



Yup! Just mowers will kill you quick, certainly around here! I did do pretty
much anything I could to make a buck! The winters here are hard on a small
shop with limited equipment. I would go from haveing two or three guys
working for me in the summer, to having zero work to do in the winter. I did
some welding and metal fabricating but it seemed that work also followed the
seasons.
Also the area I live in is heavily zoned. You don't just open a repair shop
in your back yard, not one of any size anyway. I do some repairs in my shop
in the evenings and weekends, but I need to keep it low key. My neighbor was
turned into the city for working an cars in his garage, and so have I. The
funny thing was when I was turned in I was not working on other peoples
stuff, just my own, which the city can do nothering about! I spent the
better part of the summer getting my grandpa's old John Deere restored for a
antuque equipment show. Check out http://myweb.cableone.net/goo1959/jd.htm#a
for a couple of pics. The day the inspector stopped by I had the tractor on
a trailer, hooked up to a motor home, all ready to leave for the show. I was
at work, but he mailed a letter and I talked to him on the phone later. He
just laughed it off, said he knew what I was doing!
Greg

can't pass up usefull trash
 

My wife has to practically get me in a headlock to stop me .... unless
she isn't there :-)

--George

On 09 Jul 2004 18:27:34 GMT, (JMartin957) wrote:


How many other people in this newsgroup stop and pick up discarded stuff?

ALL


Tom is right. You should be asking if there is anyone here who doesn't
stop.....

John Martin

can't pass up usefull trash
 

Greg O wrote in message
...

"Wayne Cook" wrote in message
...
You definitely have to other things as well. Just fixing mowers
won't cut the mustard.



Yup! Just mowers will kill you quick, certainly around here! I did do
pretty
much anything I could to make a buck! The winters here are hard on a small
shop with limited equipment. I would go from haveing two or three guys
working for me in the summer, to having zero work to do in the winter. I
did
some welding and metal fabricating but it seemed that work also followed
the
seasons.
Also the area I live in is heavily zoned. You don't just open a repair
shop
in your back yard, not one of any size anyway. I do some repairs in my
shop
in the evenings and weekends, but I need to keep it low key. My neighbor
was
turned into the city for working an cars in his garage, and so have I. The
funny thing was when I was turned in I was not working on other peoples
stuff, just my own, which the city can do nothering about! I spent the
better part of the summer getting my grandpa's old John Deere restored for
a
antuque equipment show. Check out
http://myweb.cableone.net/goo1959/jd.htm#a
for a couple of pics. The day the inspector stopped by I had the tractor
on
a trailer, hooked up to a motor home, all ready to leave for the show. I
was
at work, but he mailed a letter and I talked to him on the phone later. He
just laughed it off, said he knew what I was doing!
Greg


if i lived in a real nice manicured neighborhood and my next door neighbor
had **** all over the place and was making racket all night i would still
walk over and talk to him before i called the zoning dept. hey, rules are
rules i guess, but sometimes just talking to someone can set the record
straight. Nice tractor... i love the wheels!

walt

can't pass up usefull trash
 

I was making my weekly visit to our local dump/recycling center when I noticed
a box of old magazines. Too bad, it was only a collection of Mechanix
Illustrated, Popular Mechanics and a few Popular Science and special issues
from 1941 through 1949. I already have quite a few of these, but some fill some
holes in the collection.

Good stuff to the right person!

Appreciative of the supportive people at the Mont Vernon dump.

Earle Rich
Mont Vernon, NH

can't pass up usefull trash
 

SteveB wrote in message
news:ToLHc.29648$Ch.21413@okepread04...

"Lou" wrote in message
news:jHIHc.50672$a24.21366@attbi_s03...
I'm with Roy on this one.

They like to charge 25 cents for a bolt, 75 cents for a washer, $1.50
for
a
half dozen nuts, etc. I've got BOXES of exotic hardware for free from
disassembling things - and I use it constantly to build new stuff.


I have a five gallon bucket full of nuts, bolts, screws, widgets that I
need
to sort one of these days, and put them into the umpteen thousand little
clear plastic drawers I have for them. Many is the time those things have
saved me a trip to the hardware store, and a couple of bucks. Where I
work,
I can always pick up hardware that is left for the garbage crew. And I
do.

We did an indoor self-storage business convention. They made several
mockups of storage units, then walked away from them rather than
disassemble
and ship back. I got two full bags of 1,000 5/16" head, self tappers with
neoprene sealers used to fasten sheet roofing, and 1,000 "stitcher" self
tappers designed to join two pieces of sheeting together. I used to have
to
buy these when I had a welding business that serviced carports. That was
1994, and back then, they were seven cents apiece. $140 laying on the
floor........... Plus lots and lots of lags, bolts, nuts, corner
brackets,
gate handles, hasps ............. I get a lot of great stuff from the
conventions.

Steve


i know a guy who has worked on cars and trucks for years. If he has an old
car that's gonna go to scrap, he takes as many nuts, bolts, clips or
fasteners he can find off. It's real nice having jars full of these things,
hardware can add up. Now, whenever i see something like a bike or equipment
laying out for trash, i do the same thing, having hardware on hand is also a
huge time saver.
I like watching guys garbage pick my garbage picked stuff... they look so di
ssapointed when all the usefull craps gone! g

walt

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On 10 Jul 2004 07:36:12 -0700, jim rozen
wrote:

In article , Gunner says...

If they dont, we pull their membership cards.

Wait-a-minute! I never *got* one of those....!

Jim

oooops...

================================================= =
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
================================================= =

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's
cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays
there.
- George Orwell

can't pass up usefull trash
 

Walt said brilliantly:

I like watching guys garbage pick my garbage picked stuff... they look so di
ssapointed when all the usefull craps gone! g

snip

Thats funny as hell !!

I think i've had that look a few times....

This is one of the most entertaining threads I've ever read, and all too
true.

The amount of stuff that goes into landfill is criminal !!! I do commercial
office remodeling and what gets dumped is amazing. The biggest I can
remember was a real large moving file system...had to be worth $50,000 at
least...taken apart and tossed into dumpsters...damn near killed me !!

I have rescued bunches of networking equipment and made some tidy money
selling it off on Ebay, and the buyers got REAL good deals also.

I scored a big Bosch Electric Demo Hammer with case that was on its way to
the dumpster. It needed one of the brushes popped back into place !!! Works
Perfect!!

OK Now......

Vent On

These A**holes that guard the garbage dumps should be run out of
town....along with the ones that come up with such STUPID legislation.
Hearing things like this makes me wonder what the f*** are they thinking ???
We need More garbage, or what...Useless Know Nothing *******s !!

Vent Off

Ahh, that feels better now, thanks....

Jeff

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"wallster" wrote in message
...

if i lived in a real nice manicured neighborhood and my next door neighbor
had **** all over the place and was making racket all night i would still
walk over and talk to him before i called the zoning dept. hey, rules are
rules i guess, but sometimes just talking to someone can set the record
straight. Nice tractor... i love the wheels!

walt



I agree.
I keep the yard clean. I have my boat and a small trailer parked in the yard
back behind the garage, thats all. I keep my work hours in the garage during
day light hours for the most part, and often keep the shop door closed for
noise. My other neighbor that was turned in has nothing outside either,
keeps pretty low key also. We are pretty sure the person that turned us in
moved out, we both get along well with all the neighbors, do a little work
for them time to time to. I try to keep my neighbors happy, if they need a
small job done it often gets done for free.
Greg

can't pass up usefull trash
 

In article ,
Tim Williams wrote:
"Old Nick" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 02:31:44 GMT, Lewis Hartswick
vaguely proposed a theory
......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I haven't, but yer...so what? What made you feel you needed to make
any one of us guys believe him? G

The "reefer box" part BG

You're thinking that he is referring to Marijuanna?

It is the box part of a tractor-trailer rig equipped with a
built-in refrigerator compressor used for transporting food. Over the
years, they degrade, the compressor and other refrigeration parts get
closer to end-of-life, and perhaps the insulation degrades. (The
refrigerator part normally runs from a matching size internal combustion
engine, so it does not require power from the tractor part of the rig.

At this point, they sell them for what they can get for them,
and replace them with new.

You can also get containerized cargo boxes (TEUs and FEUs --
Twenty-foot Equivalent Units and Forty-foot Equivalent Units). Good
storage at the least, but the reefers already have electrics at least
partially built in, so the conversion to an electronics workshop is a
bit easier. Just take it off the removable wheel assemblies, plop it on
a foundation, and wire it up. :-) You can even use the refrigeration for
super air conditioning (add an electric motor if necessary to replace
the IC one) -- a *major* benefit in the hotter parts of Texas,
Arizona, and New Mexico where a black iron tool left outside in the sun
cannot be picked up without insulating gloves. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

can't pass up usefull trash
 

Gunner wrote:

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 16:35:18 -0400, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:


Jeff Wisnia wrote:

Some of the town "refuse collection stations" (That's PC newspeak for
"dump")around here have "put 'n take" tables.

It's amazing the kind of good stuff lots of technologically deprived
folks leave there ...

I am posting this using a beautiful 21" (!) monitor that someone left at
our "put 'n take", aka "swap shed".


Sigh..in my part of California..such a "put n take" area is unheard
of. The lawyers have won.

Not all of California. My county actually has
a "hazardous waste pickup day". One week after
the "hazardous waste dropoff day" you can go to
the dump and pick through the (screened) stuff
that was dropped off.

There's a whole crew of regulars that go through
the metals scrap bins at the recycling center.
It's amazing to watch the "churn" over the weekend.

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
The "reefer box" part BG

You're thinking that he is referring to Marijuanna?

Hehe, hey if it's well lit it could make a nice greenhouse. ;-)

It is the box part of a tractor-trailer rig equipped with a
built-in refrigerator compressor used for transporting food.

Ah, a _reefer_igeration box..

Tim

--
"I've got more trophies than Wayne Gretsky and the Pope combined!"
- Homer Simpson
Website @ http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 07:09:48 -0400, "Garrett Fulton"
wrote:

===
==="Glenn Lyford" wrote in message
6.16...
=== I have a hard time driving by the industrial section of my
=== little town, 'cause there is a metal shop there that throws
=== away some good stuff that I've dragged home.
===
=== And this town would be...? :^)
=== --Glenn Lyford
===
===I'll bet we've got zero chance of getting an answer.
===
===Garrett Fulton
===
===
===
===
===-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
===http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
===-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----


Ain't that the truth....its like giving up the co-ordinates to a
fishing hole that produces world record size lunkers!
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

can't pass up usefull trash
 

"Wayne Cook" wrote in message
...

That's for sure. A long time ago mowers was my main business. Back
when I started out my fixit shop I did a lot of mowers and managed to
make a living as a bachelor. I still do mowers though it's definitely
the low priority part of my business. The fact is about 3/4 of the
time it's possible to make some money on a mower. The problem is that
the other 25% cause such a loss that they eat into the profits of the
good ones real fast.


My dad used to sell mowers, and had to carry out warranty repairs and
otherwise help the customers service the things. I was (and am still, for
old customers) often given the task of fixing mowers that the customers
couldn't get to run properly. What we've observed is that the amount people
are willing to spend on a mower is inversely proportional to the size of
their lawn and the difficulty of mowing it. For some reason, those who have
small, tidy, flat-as-a-billiard-table gardens buy the expensive
self-propelled mowers that never develop any problems, while those that have
large and bumby lawns buy the cheapest mowers available. And damned near all
lawnmower buyers are useless bloody morons who should not be allowed to own
anything more advanced than a scythe ;-)

The ones with small lawns and expensive mowers call in every summer
complaining the mower won't start, and every time it turns out to be
something silly like forgetting to put fuel in the tank or opening the
stopcock. We have one repeat complaining customer who can never get her
mower to start, and every time I try it starts on the first pull. It turns
out that she's so afraid of somehow hurting herself or damaging the mower
that she doesn't dare to pull the cord with any real force- but no way will
she buy one with an electrical starter.
The ones with large, bumpy lawns and cheap mowers have no problem getting
the things to run, but _always_ set their mowers to the lowest setting so
that they either hit rocks or overload them trying to cut 2' of grass down
to 0.5" in one go. These people keep complaining that their
cheaper-than-dog**** electric mowers burn out the motor windings or bend the
driveshaft, and demand that it be fixed under warranty. Those few in this
category who buy gas powered mowers tend to be hobby mechanics who mess the
things up and return them for "warranty repair" with half the parts missing;
the rest are incapable of following simple instructions and always tip their
mowers toward the carb side when cleaning out grass and gunk from the
underside. Most inexpensive mowers get oil in the carb if tipped to this
side, and stop working as a result. Oh, and don't even mention those who put
too much oil in the crankcase.

Long story made reasonably short: about half of all lawnmower repairs are
laughably simple, but take so little time to accomplish that I can't with a
good conscience charge much money for them. The rest would be more expensive
than buying a new mower, and preferally one that is actually capable of
mowing the customer's lawn without breaking. Since I can't/won't charge
money for the "repairs" that are worthwile and won't do repairs that aren't,
there's no money to be made from this whatsoever.

--
Aamund Breivik

can't pass up usefull trash
 

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 04:08:55 +0200, "Åmund Breivik"
wrote:


The ones with large, bumpy lawns and cheap mowers have no problem getting
the things to run, but _always_ set their mowers to the lowest setting so
that they either hit rocks or overload them trying to cut 2' of grass down
to 0.5" in one go. These people keep complaining that their
cheaper-than-dog**** electric mowers burn out the motor windings or bend the
driveshaft, and demand that it be fixed under warranty. Those few in this
category who buy gas powered mowers tend to be hobby mechanics who mess the
things up and return them for "warranty repair" with half the parts missing;
the rest are incapable of following simple instructions and always tip their
mowers toward the carb side when cleaning out grass and gunk from the
underside. Most inexpensive mowers get oil in the carb if tipped to this
side, and stop working as a result. Oh, and don't even mention those who put
too much oil in the crankcase.

Guy across the street has an interesting approach to mowing. He waits
till the grass is about 8-10 inches high and it is raining lightly, he
starts the mower and proceeds to cut in a clockwise pattern such that
the discharge is directed toward the uncut grass. When the shroud
fills up and stalls the engine, he tries to re-start it several times
with the recoil starter, then takes it over to the driveway and
bounces it off the concrete until enough grass falls out to allow the
engine to run for a couple more rounds of the forty foot square lawn.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada