salvaged a Clark forklift...

[tc429]

Mine stays under the extended roof of the shop, it stays dry and it's on gravel, no issues there but I did get it stuck in the lawn once when it hadn't dried up enough. Was moving a trailer and it didn't take much.
Now you need some extended forks, I lucked into some 4x8 I beams and a chunk of 9" .250" flat bar for $40 and made me some 8 footers. And of course you need one of the baskets for elevated work platforms.
Here's me slinging a Blazer body off, the back window is on and a board with some rugs at the front door openings avoided any damage. Be pretty difficult to do this without long forks.
View attachment 573549

long forks are great- never thought about pulling a body from behind, lifting by roof, looks like it worked well...

speaking of fork extensions, we just got a 10k cat a few months ago, and they ordered 10' (!!!) forks for it...pain to maneuver, but soooo nice for moving machines. thought about making exensions/boom, maybe someday- likely first will be a man basket, want to put corrugated sheetmetal roof in the big garage, think doing it in 20' sheets could be done with struts out a few feet past a basket for support...

 

[strantor]

kinda neat crossing paths with others having similar passions for old stuff...stuff todays generations typically would toss away without blinking a eye...

Your generalization might be generally accurate, but it is not absolutely accurate. I consider myself part of "today's generations" (turning 33 next week) and I have old men donating old tools to me, because they know that I will actually fix them up and use them.

If we're making generalizations, the stuff that your parents' generation built is worth fixing. The stuff that your generation built, isn't. It was your generation who decided to start making everything out of plastic, in China.

 

[ultrarunner]

^^^ I bought a home recently with a lifetime collection in the basement shop...

The family thought it quite valuable but I have nearly the same already.

They had time after the close of escrow to move/sell... and have been working hard... looks like some will be staying which is fine... I just was not going to pay for it.

The owner was in his early 80's... took a Telco buy out at 52???? with 30 years service, lifetime pension/medical and bridge service for military time...

He was in his shop every morning like clockwork... always active... asked him if he slowed down and he said yes... everyday he would take a half hour nap after lunch and then back to work...

Amazing work he put out and all donated for the most part... glad he can't see everything going... a nephew has taken 4 20' trailers out and is building a shop just for it... so not all is lost.

One of the neighbor kids was given a Honda Trail 90... he helped the kid take it all apart and had it looking and running like new... that was the kind of guy he was...

 

[tc429]

Your generalization might be generally accurate, but it is not absolutely accurate. I consider myself part of "today's generations" (turning 33 next week) and I have old men donating old tools to me, because they know that I will actually fix them up and use them.

If we're making generalizations, the stuff that your parents' generation built is worth fixing. The stuff that your generation built, isn't. It was your generation who decided to start making everything out of plastic, in China.

wasnt trying to offend any age group- shoulda said todays mentality or something- just most people these days dont fix things anymore, as its easier to just go buy new- and that includes folks my parents age too, not so much folks my grandparents age, but not many of those left...

love to see younger folks like you and others that still value old stuff, even if its 'old'... my three oldest sons all rebuilt their first cars(with help) but they got dirty, got learning, and wound up with pretty decent first cars- without going into debt, by doing the work themselves- wound up with cars way better than my first few...

my one old friend Al who we lost to ALS at 70 years young, had a nice set of patternmaker tools that were his Dad's, along with saws, a planer, jointer, etc... his kids started cleaning out his shop, almost threw all that 'old junk' away, but one 18 yr old grandson stopped them, oiled/packed them carefully away as his dream was to build a custom cabinet shop- was so happy to see that, know Al woulda been too...another buddy we lost to cancer a week after his 90th birthday- Don bought a 1968 cub cadet new, we'd helped him rebuild it after it caught fire a decade ago...at his estate sale, I bought it and his jointer, most of his hand tools too- mostly just because they were his, but also, they were all good stuff...cast iron rockwell jointer was only bid on by a scrap guy for 20 bucks, I bid 100 just to get his family something out of it...only used it once, but what a nice machine...

anyways sorry for generalizing a age group- its not any one age, but seems to be growing- its becoming a throw away society, where more often than not, old is seen as bad(sometimes for good reason though)...worse yet, new isnt made to last or be repairable any more

 

[ultrarunner]

Each generation has to make its way...

I had a great great aunt that when the time came to move to a retirement home she was quite beside herself... she did not have a lot but it was still a lifetime of things that were dear to her...

I told her anything she wanted to keep I would store for her in a single detached garage I had... it was a huge relief and made the transition so much easier... except for 1 or 2 things she was pretty content... overtime I would mention to her someone in need... like a family just making it that sure could use a sofa or a dining table... she was more than happy to give it to them... I think for two reasons... one was it was appreciated and two because it was her decision.

As we get older... lots of my friends are in the same boat... one of my older friends has a grandson that is the world to him... he is a smart kid and seeks his grandfathers advice... my friend said he is leaving all his tools and his pickup to him because of the good times they had together in the shop...

Maybe a lesson to be learned... when you invest a little time and effort... whether it be restoring old equipment or respecting elders... the results may just surprise you.

Great Job again on the Forklift... also, a mark of character keeping the boss in the loop.

 

[strantor]

wasnt trying to offend any age group- shoulda said todays mentality or something- just most people these days dont fix things anymore, as its easier to just go buy new- and that includes folks my parents age too, not so much folks my grandparents age, but not many of those left...

love to see younger folks like you and others that still value old stuff, even if its 'old'... my three oldest sons all rebuilt their first cars(with help) but they got dirty, got learning, and wound up with pretty decent first cars- without going into debt, by doing the work themselves- wound up with cars way better than my first few...

my one old friend Al who we lost to ALS at 70 years young, had a nice set of patternmaker tools that were his Dad's, along with saws, a planer, jointer, etc... his kids started cleaning out his shop, almost threw all that 'old junk' away, but one 18 yr old grandson stopped them, oiled/packed them carefully away as his dream was to build a custom cabinet shop- was so happy to see that, know Al woulda been too...another buddy we lost to cancer a week after his 90th birthday- Don bought a 1968 cub cadet new, we'd helped him rebuild it after it caught fire a decade ago...at his estate sale, I bought it and his jointer, most of his hand tools too- mostly just because they were his, but also, they were all good stuff...cast iron rockwell jointer was only bid on by a scrap guy for 20 bucks, I bid 100 just to get his family something out of it...only used it once, but what a nice machine...

anyways sorry for generalizing a age group- its not any one age, but seems to be growing- its becoming a throw away society, where more often than not, old is seen as bad(sometimes for good reason though)...worse yet, new isnt made to last or be repairable any more

Some people need an app on their phone that stops them from texting when they get drunk. I need an app that stops me from posting before 9am. I'm not a morning person. Sorry for that. You're absolutely right. I see it too, and it's depressing. And you were right before before you changed the wording, too. That's probably why in my morning stupor I took it personally. I don't relate to my generation much. I've always felt like I was born a few decades too late. I get tired of being labelled and lumped in with "millenials" or "x-ennials" or whatever the word of the week might be. We aren't all like that, but most of us are, and it's sad. I share all of older people's gripes with my generation.

But the good news is, if you're young and not afraid to get your hands dirty in 2018, the world can be your oyster! That's literally about all it takes to succeed these days. You don't need to be smart (it helps) or educated (it helps); just be a hard worker and it's like shooting fish in a barrel. You will have very little credible competition in the workforce. My message to (other) young people: ditch the mentalities of victimhood and entitlement, go work hard, learn a skill (that doesn't mean wait around for someone else to teach it to you), and conquer the world! Sorry, you probably won't start out at $20/hr.

Anyway. Got to get to bed. Up early tomorrow to hopefully finish the panel I'm building so I have time in the evening to crack open these two welders I bought the other day for scrap price and see if I can make at least one good one out of two broken ones.

 

[tjkubota93]

Your generalization might be generally accurate, but it is not absolutely accurate. I consider myself part of "today's generations" (turning 33 next week) and I have old men donating old tools to me, because they know that I will actually fix them up and use them.

If we're making generalizations, the stuff that your parents' generation built is worth fixing. The stuff that your generation built, isn't. It was your generation who decided to start making everything out of plastic, in China.

I'm 35, despise being associated with an age group with so many idiots and weenies. Its infuriating to talk to the entitled college educated twenty something morons that work in our IT department. I know people in their 50s and 60s that are the same way. Just not near as many of them. And I can talk bad about college kids, I have 2 college degrees and 2 professional trades.

 

[tc429]

But the good news is, if you're young and not afraid to get your hands dirty in 2018, the world can be your oyster! That's literally about all it takes to succeed these days. You don't need to be smart (it helps) or educated (it helps); just be a hard worker and it's like shooting fish in a barrel. You will have very little credible competition in the workforce. My message to (other) young people: ditch the mentalities of victimhood and entitlement, go work hard, learn a skill (that doesn't mean wait around for someone else to teach it to you), and conquer the world! Sorry, you probably won't start out at $20/hr.

^^^love this. folks like you give me hope for the future

I started out at the place i'm still at in highschool...sweeping floors/patching roofs, but read and tore into everything I could...they let me after hours tear apart scrap equipment to see how it worked and use machines, even a computer after the engineering guys went home, learned gcode/cad/pretty much all the machine tools that way, with just time and library books- and was thankful for the opportunity...within a year on maintenance with no training, they had me gut a huge(100' square) Lamb transfer machine- gutted the problematic 1960s 'numa-logic' controls(each 'or', 'and' etc gate was a separate board!) replaced with a early 'mcgill' PLC- they ran it 12 more years... 3 years was retrofitting Fanuc series 6 CNCs on old machines, all seat of the pants...years later wound up in Japan installing automated wheel lines that i was charged with automating, and showing the Japanese guys how to teach the robots...and I aint the sharpest crayon in the box, just wasnt afraid to get dirty, always liked learning, had a knack for tinkering, and took things on as a challenge instead of a chore...never dreamed i'd wind up the guy drawing all the schematics, writing all the ladder logic/interface stuff...and earning a comfortable living to boot if i could do it anyone could... i really hope my kids take a little of that...my 19 yr old just started on maintenance and likes it- of my 4 kids, i really wanted hm to get into engineering/programming, as can just tell hes got the perfect mindset for it, but hes not interested yet...maybe a while 'fixing' things and feeling the satisfaction of seeing it go might light a fire under him to get into the programming aspects, to me thats where the 'fun' always was...but thats gotta be for him to choose.

Anyway. Got to get to bed. Up early tomorrow to hopefully finish the panel I'm building so I have time in the evening to crack open these two welders I bought the other day for scrap price and see if I can make at least one good one out of two broken ones.

so, did the welders work out?

 

[strantor]

^^^love this. folks like you give me hope for the future

I started out at the place i'm still at in highschool...sweeping floors/patching roofs, but read and tore into everything I could...they let me after hours tear apart scrap equipment to see how it worked and use machines, even a computer after the engineering guys went home, learned gcode/cad/pretty much all the machine tools that way, with just time and library books- and was thankful for the opportunity...within a year on maintenance with no training, they had me gut a huge(100' square) Lamb transfer machine- gutted the problematic 1960s 'numa-logic' controls(each 'or', 'and' etc gate was a separate board!) replaced with a early 'mcgill' PLC- they ran it 12 more years... 3 years was retrofitting Fanuc series 6 CNCs on old machines, all seat of the pants...years later wound up in Japan installing automated wheel lines that i was charged with automating, and showing the Japanese guys how to teach the robots...and I aint the sharpest crayon in the box, just wasnt afraid to get dirty, always liked learning, had a knack for tinkering, and took things on as a challenge instead of a chore...never dreamed i'd wind up the guy drawing all the schematics, writing all the ladder logic/interface stuff...and earning a comfortable living to boot if i could do it anyone could... i really hope my kids take a little of that...my 19 yr old just started on maintenance and likes it- of my 4 kids, i really wanted hm to get into engineering/programming, as can just tell hes got the perfect mindset for it, but hes not interested yet...maybe a while 'fixing' things and feeling the satisfaction of seeing it go might light a fire under him to get into the programming aspects, to me thats where the 'fun' always was...but thats gotta be for him to choose.


so, did the welders work out?

Your story is inspiring, and has a lot in common with my own story. Thanks for asking about the MIG welders; I got them both running, as far as I can tell running as they should. I've sank probably $500-$600 into them so far, but most of that was gas bottles, wire, consumables. They required very little repair. On one of them the plastic spooling mechanism is at the end of its life and I'll have to fabricate a new spooling system as the plastic parts are no longer for sale. Don't want to detract any further from your thread, so here's a thread I made about the welders.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/welding/403684-refurbishing-two-old-lincoln-sp.html

 

[strantor]

. bought a brand new fanuc robot module at HGRINC.com for 50 bucks, took the upper two axes off, simply bolting a spindle on it would make a nice, tiny, polar coord milling machine, looks like about a 8" cube could be done with a lot of rigidity...hassle is its got alpha encoders and ive yet to find a way to read them...arduino will handle the 1.024Mbaud rate(77bit stream) but the rotor position inverts at reverse

Sorry- 'alpha' and 'beta' are just family names fanuc used- they are a proprietary serial encoder- outputs the gray code for magnet position. but in a weird serial bit pattern, then theres strings for alarms, velocity, position count since last update, and God knows what else...havent played with it for years, but its a screaming 77 bit pattern of 1's and 0's that sure dont make a lot of sense...

Hey sorry not forklift related but I'm tearing my CNC apart and overhauling it. I found that the X-axis servo (Fanuc) has an alpha encoder. Curious how the last guy made that work, I pulled it apart and found this cute little guy hiding under the red cap. Thought you might find this useful.