Bargain thrift Store, yard sale & dumpster diving treasu

[48Rob]

They ARE heavy!

I put wheels on a couple of mine that I've had for awhile...

Besides bragging about what a great deal I found... I'm posting this because so few people realize what great inexpensive tool boxes they make.
Any decent tool box will set you back a lot of money, and most don't come anywhere close to the quality of these card files.
Map drawers/flat files also make great tool and parts storage.

In the parking lot ready to load


Here they are on the trailer


And in the new shop in the parts room


This picture is of some of the ones I have at home; 28" deep, full extension slides!


Rob

[wagondude]

Heck, those 28" full extension slides are worth about $80 each. That is an awesome deal.

[lrrowe]

They sure do look much better then my low end Cratsman tool cabinets. Good find.

[rowerwet]

After 20 years as an airplane mechanic my tool collection is too heavy for a cheap tool box, the large chinese one I had was falling apart, this was after out growing a small craftsman, and wearing out a large craftsman.
after more than one visit to a seller that didn't know what size toolbox they were selling. I finally found a 29" deep snap on roll away. I wondered if it was stollen or something, turned out the guys friend gave it as colateral for a loan and never paid up. If I bought it off the truck it was 6k, I paid less than 2. The only down side for me, its a Harley davidson edition... If I can't sell it I expect it to last the rest of my life.

[robfisher]

My best bargain this year came from the local auction yard that has a sale about every 6 weeks. In the August auction was a pallet of snowmobile gear. 2 helmets, goggles, snowboots, some other stuff useless to me. But there was also a Bivouac Buddy Solar Shower. I bought the whole pile for $35.00, waited for the December auction and took everything else back. It sold for $120.00. An $85.00 profit and a free solar shower.

[Redneck Teepee]

My best bargain this year came from the local auction yard that has a sale about every 6 weeks. In the August auction was a pallet of snowmobile gear. 2 helmets, goggles, snowboots, some other stuff useless to me. But there was also a Bivouac Buddy Solar Shower. I bought the whole pile for $35.00, waited for the December auction and took everything else back. It sold for $120.00. An $85.00 profit and a free solar shower.

That beats buying high and selling low...like I normally do.

[48Rob]

That sure is the way to buy and sell!

[D.J.]

I am a Canadian, wintering in Arizona. When I see a thrift shop, I usually stop in to take a look. This shop had mostly baby clothes and action figures. Outside there was a nice three wheeled mobility scooter. I thought to myself that it would be extremely expensive and out of my price range. On the way out of the store, I asked the owner how much he wanted for the chair. To my surprise, he said $100.00 . He didn't know if it worked of not. He couldn't get it to run. I thought it over for about 15 minutes and went back and bought the chair. I thought that even if it didn't work that It could be converted to gas, using a pocket bike engine. I even convinced the owner to deliver it for free. It looked new and didn't have a scratch on it. The key was missing. I went to an electronics store, with the old keyed switch. When checking for size, I found out that the key for the new switch actually worked in the old switch. I put everything back together with the old switch and charged the batteries. I could not get it to work. After troubleshooting for a while (hours) I saw a linkage that seemed to have no purpose. I tracked it to a hidden switch that turned on the drive system. I pulled the hidden switch and the mobility scooter came to life. The large wheels are great for off-road use and it has a range of 25 miles. It even has turn signals and 4 way flashers. The scooter is close to $4000.00 new. I am the envy of my 55 plus trailer park.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn4yOZ6789s

[48Rob]

Great score!

I keep medical equipment that I find when cleaning out trade in and repo homes, sheds, etc, like wheel chairs, walkers, crutches and the like.
I figure someday I might have need for them, or my family, or someone I know.
Never priced a wheelchair, but they can't be cheap...

Your scooter is a great find, and a keeper for sure!

Rob

[Cliffmeister2000]

Awesome find! What part of Arizona are you wintering in?

[D.J.]

I am in Tucson. I first looked at Phoenix and thought that It was just too big for me. The prices on mobile homes were also lower in Tucson. I am enjoying my stay. I am off to the swap meets now.

[martymcfly]

I just bought a vanson boat trailer off of Craigslist for $125. Six feet wide, It has decent tires and lights, but It needs paint. I am going to put a deck on it and use it as an atv trailer. The axle, springs and fenders are a seperate piece that is bolted to the frame, so it can be moved or I can make a frame to fit my needs and bolt it together.

[bobhenry]

Well I cheated the trash man last evening. On the way home I took the road less traveled and waiting at the side of the road in a garbage pile was my score. It contained 2 wall cabinets 12" wide 36" tall and just 3" deep. Looks like I will have a couple new additions to my builds. Medicine cabinet? spice cabinet? or maybe one of each. Honey oak stained with beveled mirror doors they are very well made. Also while stopped I tossed in the 2 leaf blowers that were setting there waiting for the trash man.

I love free !

[bobhenry]

Goodwill loves me !

Well I almost didn't bother stopping today........ HOWEVER >>>>>>

I did !

A 22" original weber grill (retail new is now $99.00)

It was marked $5.99 ! after adding the 42 cents for the governor it was $6.41

I had the Suzuki and had to disassemble the legs bowl and lid to get

it onboard and inside was a weber charcoal starter chimney


that's another $17.95 retail item so $125.13 worth of goodies with tax

for only $6.41 a 95% discount

God and Goodwill loves me !

[Wolfpack]

I've been thinking lately how nice it would be to have a shop vac, but I didnt want to spend lots of money to buy one.
As it happens while I was out walking my Dog this morning, I noticed someone had left a 16 gallon Ridgid wet/dry vac in the gutter with their trash; so I came back shortly after with the car to pick it up.
I found it works perfectly, gave it a good clean with hot soapy water and a brush, and rinsed out the filter; now it's as good as new. The only damage to it is 2 broken caster wheels, which I found on ebay for $5 each.