Have to admit I'm a dumpster diver and often bring more home then I drop off. Usually it's scrap iron and lumber that I use for projects. But who throws something like this away? They must have taken the tires and cord off and trashed the rest. Brought it home, put a new cord on and found out it only had a small rub through on the outlet tube. Put a sleeve of old air hose over the tube and clamped it down, works perfect!
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Scrounge of the day
- Thread starter rwhite
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Jan Pijpelink
Minister of Fire
jatoxico
Minister of Fire
Nice find. Just finished repairing a back pack blower that was curb side. Troy Bilt (MTD), not a commercial quality product or anything but after futzing w/ it and finally getting the right parts, not bad for $18.
Hate to see stuff like this end up in the land fill but no one wants to repair anything anymore, even repair shops. Online parts supply diagrams weren't matching up with my model. Called MTD and their crack technical staff don't even know they obsoleted the old carb so getting the right rebuild kit went nowhere. Finally was able to piece the story together and get the parts but they pretty much want you to throw it away and buy another.
Hate to see stuff like this end up in the land fill but no one wants to repair anything anymore, even repair shops. Online parts supply diagrams weren't matching up with my model. Called MTD and their crack technical staff don't even know they obsoleted the old carb so getting the right rebuild kit went nowhere. Finally was able to piece the story together and get the parts but they pretty much want you to throw it away and buy another.
I've drug a few things home that probably should have stayed in the trash! But more often than not it's something simple: bad gas, loose wire, poor maintenance etc. I enjoy tinkering with junk
jatoxico
Minister of Fire
Yup gas/carb more often than not. I don't grab stuff I don't need (don[t have the storage space) but I've seen some pretty clean and pricey lawn mowers at the street this year that tempted me.
Jon1270
Minister of Fire
I've succumbed to the urge to save lower-end saws from the landfill, and regretted it. I got an older (but not old enough to be any good) Poulan thrown in for free when I bought a couple of other projects. Rather than putting it straight into a dumpster, I started tinkering. First it was just fuel lines and a starter handle and rope, which might've been worth the trouble, but then I realized I'd overlooked the missing chain tensioner, and the reason it was missing was that the clutch cover was damaged where the tensioner fits... another trip to eBay! The gas cap leaked, and a whole new cap was cheaper than the o-ring. The operator presence lever was broken, so that got replaced too. I put a new chain on it from a roll I already had, thinking I was about done, only to find that the oiler wasn't working. So, pull the top cover again, plug out, piston stop, spin the clutch off and install a new pump. That finally did it, and I tuned it up, took pictures and sold it on CL for all of $60.
I've been working at a trash to energy facility since mid '99. We burn roughly 550 tons per day, 24/7. The stuff that people throw away everyday is absolutely horrendous.
Most of our "fuel" comes in via local garbage trucks or tractor trailers from the regional transfer stations & recycling / sorting facilities. We also have a dumpster on site for town residents to dispose of their stuff for free.
The number of times that you have to tell folks to obey the rules (mandatory recyclables, unauthorized items, etc) it utterly amazing. Then they get upset when you tell them that items like bulk cardboard, car batteries, pressure treated lumber, shingles, etc have to be taken to another place and you have to PAY to dispose of it them, they get all up in arms.
2 summers ago our Saturday scale operator was mowing & trimming during his shift. He left the push mower and big box store string trimmer about 10 feet away from the dumpster so he could attend to an issue at the scale house. 5 minutes later the mower and trimmer were gone. Some resident came in to dump their stuff and threw our power tools in the car and bailed.
Our facility is at the dead end of a 1.5 mile long access road. Time and again you tell someone "NO (fill in the blank)" and then after shift you see the pile of it lying in the ditch 1/2 way down the access road. Then we have to go pick it up and make arrangements to have it properly disposed of.
Most of our "fuel" comes in via local garbage trucks or tractor trailers from the regional transfer stations & recycling / sorting facilities. We also have a dumpster on site for town residents to dispose of their stuff for free.
The number of times that you have to tell folks to obey the rules (mandatory recyclables, unauthorized items, etc) it utterly amazing. Then they get upset when you tell them that items like bulk cardboard, car batteries, pressure treated lumber, shingles, etc have to be taken to another place and you have to PAY to dispose of it them, they get all up in arms.
2 summers ago our Saturday scale operator was mowing & trimming during his shift. He left the push mower and big box store string trimmer about 10 feet away from the dumpster so he could attend to an issue at the scale house. 5 minutes later the mower and trimmer were gone. Some resident came in to dump their stuff and threw our power tools in the car and bailed.
Our facility is at the dead end of a 1.5 mile long access road. Time and again you tell someone "NO (fill in the blank)" and then after shift you see the pile of it lying in the ditch 1/2 way down the access road. Then we have to go pick it up and make arrangements to have it properly disposed of.
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Doesn't surprise me. I work for a land management agency. The county I used to live in charged $5 for appliance disposal. I would find washing machines out in the desert that I know took $10 in gas to get there.
Most of my house has been salvaged or diverted from the landfill.
Almost new stainless steel flattop range,needed a $70 part,$1200 range new.
HRV system,again almost new,over $5000 to replace.
Cast iron Rads over 24 of them
Fir flooring for the complete house,cut from old bridge timbers
Fir beams for top floor,salvage from an apartment building that was demo'ed
3/8 Steel for hangers for the top floor,old fuel tank from the towns aux generator.
Framing wood and sheeting for gable ends and interior walls,95% reused
Interior doors from 1940's federal buildings,all fir 5 panel doors
95 sheets 5/8 x12' fireguard drywall,leftovers from a big building that was built in town,some had edge damage and wasn't covered good enough to return,$5.00 per sheet,loaded on my trailer. When they set the second lift on the first one of my shackles let loose with a bang,i knew it was close to wore out.They were concerned to much weight but i only needed to go a couple of blocks so i wasn't about to leave any behind at that price.
Almost new stainless steel flattop range,needed a $70 part,$1200 range new.
HRV system,again almost new,over $5000 to replace.
Cast iron Rads over 24 of them
Fir flooring for the complete house,cut from old bridge timbers
Fir beams for top floor,salvage from an apartment building that was demo'ed
3/8 Steel for hangers for the top floor,old fuel tank from the towns aux generator.
Framing wood and sheeting for gable ends and interior walls,95% reused
Interior doors from 1940's federal buildings,all fir 5 panel doors
95 sheets 5/8 x12' fireguard drywall,leftovers from a big building that was built in town,some had edge damage and wasn't covered good enough to return,$5.00 per sheet,loaded on my trailer. When they set the second lift on the first one of my shackles let loose with a bang,i knew it was close to wore out.They were concerned to much weight but i only needed to go a couple of blocks so i wasn't about to leave any behind at that price.
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