Why Do I Collect All This CRAP?!?!

[Doc Sprocket]

Seriously, I'm sick. I know it.

I was out back of the office/shop yesterday and found this burnt ATV. Next thing I know, I'm talking to the powers that be, making arrangements to haul it away.

I managed to convince myself that I could use some parts off it. Maybe the A-arms, the rims, the cargo rack, maybe more. Maybe just clean and paint the salvageable parts and re-sell them for profit.

Next thing I know, I'm thinking, "What if I can get new bearings, seals, shocks, etc and use all the running gear including diffs to build a 4wd trail beast?" AARGH!

"Hi- My name is Chris, and I'm a junkoholic."

Somebody here's going to want a back story. I work for a contracting company that does restoration work for the insurance industry. Your basement flooded? Your insurance company pays us to fix it. Dryer fire? Yup. Break-and-enter, high wind, trees crashing down on your digs, we do that.

Anyhow, this ATV roasted in a garage fire. The insurance company wrote it off (duh) and one of the guys at work dragged it back to the shop with an eye towards the scrap value. After I explained that scrapping mixed metals like this won't net you squat, he gave it to me.

My real fear is what happens when my wife finds out...

 

[mrfreyguy]

I understand your problem lol. I'm just turning 16 and I have already had at least 20 motorized vehicles pass through my hands, not to mention all of the small engines, bikes, frames, and tires that are hiding in my back yard shed :toetap05: . Somehow I have managed to turn a profit on almost all of them .

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Oh, yeah- Dang, I'd forgotten... While I was talking to da bawse, I took a couple of minutes to try to explain WHY I was interested in this semi-molten lump of snark. I whipped out my Crackberry and showed him a pic of the Green Machine, and explained the whole DIYGK thing. Then he says, "Want a snowblower?". Oops. 5hp Briggs, "Doesn't throw snow for s**t!", he says. So I'll probably pick that up on the weekend...

 

[HellSpawn]

I think collecting things is more of an addiction imo. Atleast for me it is lol. But I see some kind of use or potential in EVERY thing I come across.

 

[landuse]

My real fear is what happens when my wife finds out...

Ha ha. I know what you mean. My wife keeps on making wisecracks about the scrapyard that I am cultivating behind the garage.

 

[Orange Krate]

I wanted to buy this old C600 Ford dump truck. My wife said, "and do what with it." "I don't know, haul in some top soil. Do a bang up landscaping job on the house and then sell it." "HA!" She says, "You never sell anything."

Then it hit me. I'm a collector. Toys, trucks, tractors, go-karts that I never ever get rid of.

So, I made a vow to start collecting money. But so far...dragging home more junk is much easier.

 

[shakey0818]

Looks like a good find to me.Bring home some flowers with it she may soften up,lol

 

[B.M.800]

^^Dont forget the chocolates!

Jus as long as you dont do what my dad does, bring home every lil bit of scrap... honestly, Im sick of it. Its everywhere. Like a mini junk yard. Its horrible.

I dont mind the old trucks he has... that kind of stuff is cool.

Hes got good intentions, making a couple extra $$$ of the stuff. But the same pile has been around as long as I can remember. Its startin to get to me dangit.

One of these days... We will have a yard... a nice one, with no junk anywhere. Oh what a joyous day that will be!

 

[mister twister]

wow i share an addiction.with everybody in this forum
of course i dont have a lady to complain abot my collection.

 

[robbie]

There's a guy who lives a couple of miles from here. I drive past his place whenever I go into town. You wouldn't believe the amount of crap he has. It looks like he's been collecting junk for decades, and he still brings more home from various auctions every weekend. I should take photos and post them. You wouldn't believe it.

The weird thing is that he never uses anything, he just piles it up. And he doesn't seem to care that the furniture and other indoors items are just sitting out in the weather.

 

[landuse]

There's a guy who lives a couple of miles from here. I drive past his place whenever I go into town. You wouldn't believe the amount of crap he has. It looks like he's been collecting junk for decades, and he still brings more home from various auctions every weekend. I should take photos and post them. You wouldn't believe it.

The weird thing is that he never uses anything, he just piles it up. And he doesn't seem to care that the furniture and other indoors items are just sitting out in the weather.

Post some pics for us. I love looking at the crap some hoarders pile up. It makes me feel not so bad.

 

[Orange Krate]

I went back to my childhood farm a 10 years ago. It was bought by a hoarder. The whole 300 ft long barn was packed, from one end to the other, upstairs and down, with junk, not even good junk...all the outbuildings too. As of last year the rooten roof fell in on it all, just a rotten pile of garbage...sad

 

[landuse]

I went back to my childhood farm a 10 years ago. It was bought by a hoarder. The whole 300 ft long barn was packed, from one end to the other, upstairs and down, with junk, not even good junk...all the outbuildings too. As of last year the rooten roof fell in on it all, just a rotten pile of garbage...sad

I cannot understand how people can live like that. You see these houses on TV where people have to climb over things to get in their fromt door or walk down the hallway. There is this American program called Hoarders that we get here every now and again, where people come to help them sort their lives out and clean up. It is amazing what people don't want to get rid of (utter junk) because they think it might come in handy some day.

 

[fowler]

ah sadly when i saw the pic before a read the post my first though was it was it was yours that u lost, then i thought the basic block and interiors of the engine would be ok and a simple rebuild/seal would do
then i saw the cooling fins are stuffed

i like the battery melted on the rear swing arm

i am an organized hoarder of sorts
i only collect mechanical stuff and only stuff that has imediate use (suit current machines/cars). Anything i collect is stipped and labeled for easy use later and anything that wont be used is ditched stuff like the main frame or rusty bits

we have a 35ft harvester comb that we are keeping just as spares for the working 35ft front

id get the quad while your wife is away and strippit
keep the suspension, rims, suspension and shock mount, all the nuts and bolts
and ditch the rest

 

[B.M.800]

Aint nothing wrong with having spare parts, or stuff you know you can use within reason.

 

[bighead]

I got a spot in the sticker bushes behind my house that I hide all new toys like this from the wife.

 

[robbie]

Here are a few photos of the yard with all the crap in it. There are tons of cars, and each one has stuff piled on top. There is furniture, equipment, mowers, trailers, you name it.

By the road you can see the flat bed trailer that came home about 3 weeks ago with a load of junk from an auction, and the other trailer with wooden sides that came home with even more junk a week later.

I told my boys it would be fun to see if he would sell an old car for cheap, so we can fix it up, but I've heard from long-time residents around here that this guy doesn't sell anything for cheap.

These photos really don't show what the place looks like. It's mind boggling. His wife works as the local elementary school librarian. She does some painting from time to time, and we saw a painting of hers on display titled "Home". It was a painting of her yard full of crap. There must be at least 4 acres of this junk, and I know of one other piece of property owned by the same guy. It has a lot of junk parked on it, too, but not quite as much.

Every time we drive by we play I Spy. "I see a wheelchair. Do you see it?"

 

[Doc Sprocket]

then i saw the cooling fins are stuffed

Look more closely- you can actually see the cam gear (and other various internal parts) from outside!!!

i like the battery melted on the rear swing arm

Me, too- I really like the steel cords from the tires wrapped around the rims.

keep the suspension, rims, suspension and shock mount, all the nuts and bolts
and ditch the rest

That's pretty much what I had in mind.

 

[landuse]

Every time we drive by we play I Spy. "I see a wheelchair. Do you see it?"

I FOUND THE WHEELCHAIR!!! PIC 6 IN THE TRAILER. I WIN!!!!



What a load of junk. I am surprised his wife puts up with it. He will never be able to do anything will all that stuff. Classic hoarder.

 

[bighead]

I FOUND THE WHEELCHAIR!!! PIC 6 IN THE TRAILER. I WIN!!!!



What a load of junk. I am surprised his wife puts up with it. He will never be able to do anything will all that stuff. Classic hoarder.

It's not junk. It's rusted gold. If I had the property I would do the same thing. LOL

Having this much rusted gold makes it that much easier to hide new stuff from the wife. Also hoarders like this are doing us a favor. Most this stuff would be scrap if not for this guy. More so old car hoarders. When they pass on the collection is sold to people wanting the cars. If not in this guys yard for 50 years the car would not exist. The flip side is it's not cool to live next door to this type of place for most people. But I can tell you this. If I lived next to this guy I would be scavenging parts all the time if he let me. I love these kind of places. I know a few of them. They all have junk like this outside. But have amazing stuff inside the barns and what not.