is a pile of stuff a tool?

larry@stinescorner

Well-known Member
A nice pile of stuff,lots of projects or repair parts could be found in a pile like this
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In my experience - not stuff that looks like that. More trouble finding something you can use than it's worth. I really should clean up my pile of spare parts...
 
Larry,
I too have a metal pile hidden behind a privacy fence. I also have a trash can in my garages and pole barn that everything of scrap value is pitched. Yesterday I got the urge to take a pickup load of copper, wire, pop cans, brass and aluminum to the recylers and came home $83.25. On Friday, I plan to take a another load of rust and tin. I still keep the good stuff for welding projects.

Not that I'm cheap, but nothing feels better than making something out of rust or used lumber.
Add to that list making good compost. Plan to get my shipment of spring horse poo tomorrow. Sounds like I'll get 4 dump trailer loads, about 25 cubic yards. That means I get some tractor therapy blending in the poo with compost pile.
geo
 
What awesome inventory I could use several pieces on projects in the shop right now! I wonder how many designs have been rethought over and over based on what was available for material and not on what would have worked best? Happens all the time around here.

My current scrap find is those wheel bearing units from the front of today's pickups. Even when worn they make great pivots and roller supports for lots of projects.
 
It's all in the perspective...

Treasure, trash.

Solutions, problems.

Time wasted, time saved.

Wish I'd saved that, glad it's gone.

Famine, feast.

Good memories, miserable failures.

Art, ugly.

Rusty, patina.

Leftovers, barely enough.

Plenty, not enough.

Junk, priceless!
Hank Williams Said It Best
 
That looks sort of like the accumulation of manufacturing material (AKA "junk metal") I've accumulated behind one of my sheds. Some of it I've had for more than 30 years and even hauled from one state to another when I moved back in the mid-'80s. It comes in handy. I used to have a scrap-metal yard less than two miles from my place, and the owner let me wander the yard at will, buying anything I found at 10 cents a pound, including parts off of scrapped cars (bulbs, radios, distributors, wiper motors, etc.). I once found a close-ratio Muncie 4-speed in the aluminum dumpster; it had three broken ears, but the gears were perfect; cost me about $12. The owner used to get in great stuff from a big equipment manufacturer in the community. If I had a specific project in mind, I could often find pieces that didn't even require cutting to fit. But then some dope managed to get himself hit in the head with some scrap, the insurance company stepped in, and no more scrounging for metal, etc. If I had known then what I know now, I would have bought 10 times as much as I did.
 
All I can say is, I wish I had a pile of my own. What little I used to have went to the scrap yard a few years back as most was nothing I could work with. However, there's still a few pieces of old relics out in the woods - some of which will be coming in handy very soon - or rather, when the ground thaws!
 
I have 3 piles of remnants. I even amaze myself how much can be built from accumulated scraps. As a result, I save a lot of scraps.
 

The only steel that gets tossed at my place are those pieces that too small to hold while attempting to weld another piece to it. And even then, I usually have to try it at least once.
 
If the piles of stuff in your yard cause the authorities to lower your property value (and thus your tax bill) then the pile is a tool that saves money.
 
Tools? yes, also supplies. I have a couple steel piles, they are getting picked over and the best has been used. I don't seem to find as much laying around since scrap was so high.
 

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