Dumpster diving finds - let's see yours

[japody]

Found this paddle boat at the dumpster today. Needs a little clean up. I can use it on the pond. Neat!

 

[lsgreg]

This is my best ever. It still had the price tags on it, and works flawlessly.

Not a dumpster, but at the dump.

 

[Oaktree]

I don't know where people are finding these dumpsters with good stuff in them, nothing of value in any I've checked out. Like lsgreg I HAVE gotten some good stuff at the dump. Found an almost new wheelbarrow once. I'm guessing someone had some junk in it, emptied it at the dump and forgot to load it back in his truck. His loss, my gain...still have it.

Not as much fun these days where there are just transfer stations, but still some good finds. I'll often joke to my wife "I'm going to the dump, need anything?"

 

[not2old]

When I first met my wife, she had been a single mother for more than a dozen years. Along with a couple of other ladies, she supplemented her income by scrounging things from the numerous vacant houses in the neighbourhood that were slated for demolition. I impressed her when I bought home numerous valuable items, and specifically four almost new snow tires that fit her car. She asked me where I got this good stuff and I told her a condo paid me money to haul it away. I was then forbidden to take anything to the dump without bringing it home first so she could look it over.

 

[KennyG]

When I'm throwing things away I never mention it to my wife. She's always convinced anything can be fixed or used for something. The catch is that I will have to do it and I don't have the time or interest in most of that.

 

[wolc123]

This fiberglass 8 ft truck cap was probably my best. It fits my old pickup truck perfect. It was a faded forest green color. I bought a quart of Rustoleum hammered black paint for about $ 8 and painted it with that.

This 3200 psi pressure washer was my 2nd best. All it needed was a new nozzle (my brother gave me a spare that he had), and an air cleaner. It has worked great almost 10 years now.

I found this dining room china cabinet on the next crossroad behind our place. It makes a great cabinet for my power tools. I can see where everything is with those glass doors. The light even works inside it.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

I'm not allowed to go to the dump anymore.....

I usually come back with more than I took!

I do amaze the family when something is needing to be fixed..... I say "wait a minute".... go out to the shop, come back with whatever is needed for the repair out of my "junk collection" as they call it.
Then they say: "of course dad had one..."

 

[Alan W.]

Wife calls my treasured possessions junk
But if I throw something away I need it shortly thereafter.
No dumpsters but.
My cousin was cleaning out his garage and asked me to come up and see if there was anything I wanted.
Wife told me I couldn’t bring anything back with me.
So my cousin said he would bring it down for me.
Got a spare trans for my ranger.
Three point finish mower.
Dump hoist and pto pump to put on the F700
Canister style air cleaner to go on my zero turn Kawasaki motor.

 

[Oaktree]

Not a dump/dumpster find, but maybe 20 years ago I got an 8 year old Grand Cherokee for free. Supposedly the transmission was bad, and the owner had been quoted $5k for repair. Yeah, it did shift kind of funky. Turned out that the kickdown linkage was mis-adjusted. Drove it for about 12 years.
Had to put ~$1500 into it right away, mostly because it had been sitting for a year+, couple brake calipers were frozen, belts/hoses/wiper blades/battery, etc. Oh yeah, a can of wasp spray...pretty good hornets nest in one of the fenders.

 

[MossRoad]

My sister in-law drives through wealthy neighborhoods on trash days. Some of the things she has found:
Gas powered snow blower.
Lots of perfectly good furniture.
Bicycles.
Treadmills (note the S on treadmillS. People give up on those a lot)
Picture frames.
Mini fridges (college housing areas at move out).
Hand tools.
Yard tools.

She mostly sells them on e-bay or FB marketplace.