The Fine Art of Salvage...

[bobhenry]

While talking of salvage what do ya think of

my red neck beverage set ?





A good can opener to remove top and then i used a butchers steel ( knife sharpener) to hone down any rough inside edges and TADAH !

[Wobbly Wheels]

Bob, that's a bit o' genius !
I'm going to try that - a set of insulated holders for them and you're off to the races. Are the cans flimsy at al with the tops removed even though the ring is still there ?
Not that its a problem - I know I have plenty of 'raw materials' to make more while I'm camping...


I figured out the salvage thing when I built my second trailer - I saw an ad (on CL I think) about a guy who had LPG appliances for sale. I guess he had run his late-60's era camper through a low overhead at a drive thru, parking lot, or whatever, and had ripped into the cabover. He had already stripped them out of the camper and cleaned them up and was selling them them for $50. Out of that I got a sink, range hood and stove/oven all enameled an ocean blue, and a three way fridge.
For this build, I bought the tent trailer for $50. I used it once to see if it was worth restoring, but the canvas was too far gone.
I picked up a '70s camper for a case of beer and got the appliances and fixtures I need, plus a bunch of windows I probably won't use because now I think I'm going to go with plastic instead. In both cases, it actually cost me more in dump fees after I was done with them than it did to get them home in the first place !
Trailer body loaded for the dump:


Trailer after:


Camper before (avatar pic):


Camper after:


What came out of it:


It's also getting a VHF, CB, Stereo, and satellite dish for free, though I'll have to pick up some speakers for the stereo. Right now I'm trying to scare up a free/cheap canopy for the truck, preferably one with a boat rack though I can fab that myself. Being comfortable with fiberglassing, I've always been able to get canopies and small boats free (or very nearly) just because they have a crack or some worm gelcoat.

There are deals out there for the person who's willing to wait for them to come around: I've been unknowingly stockpiling parts for this build for a couple years. I just ran across this trailer and the owner said if I could tow it I could have it. The tires are still holding air, it has a 6 cu foot fridge and a full bath. It's too far gone to rebuild it, but it's definitely a sound platform to build up from. Maybe if he's still got it in a year's time...

[bobhenry]

once again the folks at Goodwill smiled on me !

A nice Black and Decker toaster oven marked $5.99 but it was ol' farts day so I got 30% off

So for $4.19 I snagged it up.

[bobhenry]

Driving home from work Friday and passed a large garage with a trailer full of 15 gallon carboys.



I had to swing around and see if I could find the owner. As I came to a stop he stepped out and I inguired if a fella could buy a few. The answer was "SURE" $5.00 each So I grabbed 8 of them. Sold two to one of my coworkers for his hog cooking trailer for fresh and waste water tanks. The caboose will now have the needed tankage for any and all types of liquid storage. I was relieved that the carboys all contained liquid car wash soap so a couple rinses and a light bleaching they should be able to even be used for pottable water without concern .

[bobhenry]

Well I now have a small microwave for the Caboose build......





The yard sale gods were good to me. Despite the $10.00 price tag I got it for $8.00.

[Sonoma ZR2]

Went to Garage Sales this weekend. I found a new in box Fantastic Fan Endless Breeze for $5. A Burley bike trailer for $21 kid carrier. A five foot tool box that will be my front toolbox for $40. And lots of other good things. I also have had lots of luck at work finding good things bring home scrap. As a few coworkers have told me I got it one piece at a time and it didn't cost me a dime.

[bobhenry]

Well it happened again this week.

Starting the build on the live in caboose this week and on the way home with the lumber I ran across some yard sales and just had to stop.

An 18" bifold louvered door $5.00

a 15" bifold louvered door $5.00

a nice maple medicine cabinet with beveled mirror $1.00

Stopped of at a buddys and he handed me some electric remote control heated adjustable automotive extended towing mirrors for free. He said I would need them towing the tiny house.


I love cheap

[shootr]

What can I use old fire extinguishers for? I started working at a fire suppression company and we have hundreds of condemned FX's, gotta be useful somehow!

Big thanks to the poster about the Habitat stores, got one right up the street and never knew it.

Great thread!

Edit: Just hit Craig's list and almost lost my mind! The stuff people are just giving away, my goodness, my weekends are going to be buuuuusy!

[Rigsby]

Shootr, if the fire extinguishers are metal, bring em home, pile em up until you got a load, and go weigh them in for cash. Most of the spends for my build have been raised by weighing in salvaged scrap metal. Anything from drinks cans to cars
Steve

[Woodbutcher]

My scrap guy would not take them unless they were emptied of all the powder first.

[H.A.]

l.

[pmowers]

I can't remember where I saw it, but someone had converted the old style stainless extinguisher into an beer dispenser, I do not think that much in the way of modifications were required. There was a lot of comment at the time from people asking where they could find the extinguishers.

[Wobbly Wheels]

Hmmm...that got me thinking:

Here's the blog

[pmowers]

That's it, Wobbly! The guy's blog is fascinating.

[bobhenry]

Well driving to work yesterday I passed a pile of trash waiting for the trash man. In it was some kind of a broom. So I turned around for a closer inspection there were not one but 2 small nylon bristled brooms. Running my hand over them they were quite soft.

Now you are looking at a man that was in need of a large 4 inch paint brush to put down the black goop on the floor of the caboose. I picked up the brushes in the store twice this week and decided I didn't want to spend $5.00 on a one time throw away brush.

Well long story short I now have a very nice long handled "paint brush" absolutely free and no bending over or down on my knees to paint the floor.


Did I mention I like free !