Best scavenged items

[smiley]

I just got a few wooden crate pallets for free today from a neighbor who is having tile laid in the kitchen. The base is solid thick boards and strong. All looking new. Going to take the sides off for the platform. Then use outdoor porch epoxy paint to them. These will do well for keeping the 3pt hay spear nice off the ground in the barn.

One of my brother in laws in Canada worked where they threw out several pallets a day. After work he would knock them apart and put them in the trunk of his car. On weekends they took them to a lot in the woods they had bought. They'd scab the 2x4 side rails into 4x4's for floor joists and studs and the 3/4 tops became flooring and siding. About the only lumber they bought was for rafters and plywood for the roof. Most of the doors and windows were scavenged on trash days. By the end of the second summer, they had a pretty decent little camp. After a few years they vinyl sided it and sold it at good profit.

 

[STROIL]

I've found that it really pays to just be aware of what you see lying along the roads you drive on. If I can see close enough and just recognize what it is I'm seeing as I'm going by, I ofter go back and take a look. I sure am not too proud to go back and get out and look at something. Understand, I don't do this on the highway, and I find a place near the item to park that is both safe and not interfering with other traffic on the road. I've picked up too many useful things to mention, but the two best I remember from recently are a fantastic pintle hitch, fully height adjustable and extremely heavy duty. The 2.5" receiver is solid steel (not even a really heavy square tube, but solid steel) the thing weighs like 40 lbs. It was laying near the curb on a neighborhood street about 20 yards from a railroad crossing. It had likely just rattled off the back of a flatbed truck or something like that. The other was a good old fashined trash picking. It is a wrought-iron loveseat that just happens to match the style of a patio set of furniture that we have in our back yard. It's one of those that "glides". One of the 4 hangers busted where it was welded to the frame. It literally took me 15 minutes to grind it clean, weld it and paint the new weld. Presto. One free great loveseat that matches our set. Keep them eyes open!

 

[not2old]

Before I retired, I ran a handyman service, specializing in repairing condos. I used to get paid to haul away stuff left in the garbage rooms. My best score was a set of four Blizzak 16" snow tires at 80% left. They were the right size for the toyota my wife had just inherited from her Dad. My stepson now has that car and is still using those winters four years later.

 

[RitchElbe]

Had a great haul today!! Hauled off scrap metal. Used funds paid to get this from scrap yard Tiller, chipper, 22ft werner ladder , 8 tpost
They paid $130 for my scrap, I paid $80 for the items listed and 4 batteries that were worthless. Which I sold to the local battery guy for $28! yep I can out ahead

 

[RitchElbe]

now why did it do the image twice...lol

 

[stingray1]

Awesome Buddy... have you seen this Awesome Pallet House Built For $500

Looks a lot better than I expected.

 

[RitchElbe]

Yes'sir..via GRIT magazine online

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Not so much a scavange but a similar score happened to me about 15 yrs ago. I got a call at work from a buddy telling me to go to his house after work and make sure my truck was empty. A friend of his mother was trying to get her house ready for sale to join her husband who had already moved to Houston and needed the garage emptied.

Turned out that the guy used to work at the local Boeing factory. I left with the back of my truck literally heaped full of tools and equipment. Snap-on and Craftsman wrenches, Devilbis air tools, boxes of drill bits including Snap-on number and letter size, air fittings, hydraulic fittings, extension cords, a pail full of new milling bits (so I'm guessing) and a whole bunch of random assorted hand tools. Didn't cost me a dime, the lady was thrilled to bits to have them gone that she didn't have to deal with it.

 

[RitchElbe]

that's not a score.. THAT'S THE MOTHER LOAD!! reminds me of all Pops got his (our) shop started..Upon retirement from a certain uniformed service...They owed him a ton of back pay...said it would be a year or so before getting it. That pissed his Captain off..he said back in the motor pool and take whatever you want.. our records are so screwed that will never know... He spent the whole 4 day pass doing just that!!

 

[Travelover]

Nice find today. I saw a strip of metal laying by the side of our gravel road. On closer examination, it was about 7 feet of grader blade wear bar that had broken off a county maintenance truck. Amazingly to me, the mounting holes aligned perfectly with the wear bar on my cheapo no-brand rear blade. (I guess this must be standardized). I cut off the broken ends with my chop saw and bolted it up. This heavy duty wear bar will outlast me. :thumbsup: