Anybody do any good ole american trash picking??

[whyme]

I hate to admit it, but I love finding good items in people's trash. I'm amazed at what people get rid of and why. I also think my geographical area leads to people having more disposable income and less inclination to fix something.
I also have a friend who works in town and is driving around all day with a pick-up. I can usually put an order in with him and he'll find it for me within a month or two. Here's a short list of the great items that came out of someone's trash and what was wrong with them:

-Haro stunt BMX bike....it had two flat tires.

-Redman backpack blowers (2)....clogged filters.

-2 rolling leaf blowers....one had a flat...the other was dirty

-outdoor fireplace.....lubricating oil on the door to get it to open

-tony hawk skateboard....like new

-2 outdoor propane heaters...nothing, need a little rattle can job.

-numerous weber grills usually nothing wrong (all stainless burners-my friend supplied 3 for my church)

-Burton early first ever snowboard....went to e-bay

The list goes on. My friend has probably only bought a couch and mattress and furnished his house from the trash...and I'm talking nice quality furniture that just need a little TLC.

I went to buy an aluminum softball bat for my 8 yr. old....40-50 bucks!! Screw that!! That's my latest order that I put in...

Stupid people amaze me......

 

[Skeeter]

i love to trash pick and when i lived in PA used to do some awesome pickin, i think it was the same reason for you. people didnt fix stuf and threw it out. now that i live in AZ and its more lower middle class/army town no one throws away anything good. ive gotten bmx bikes, push movers, latters, and all kindsa good shit
i miss trach pickin

 

[T-boy]

whyme...were you in my neighborhood last night? I put 2 broken lawn chairs in the trash yesterday, and they were gone this morning.

 

[bluesforchallah]

I spent a lot of time dumpster diving when I was younger. But with all the needles I started finding in the dumpsters, I felt it was getting a little too dangerous.

 

[simpson]

I picked a roof top Saris hard cargo this Spring. I was over the moon....my wife was embarrassed at me.

-simpson

 

[AceT100]

Got a Schwinn cruiser, mid '60's, needed a tire & some oil on the chain...rode it for 6 months, sold it for almost $100

 

[Bonafide]

I like watching American Pickers on TV. I'd really prefer to not dig thru garage myself.

 

[Kirkus51]

On the sad side of picking. My Neighbor's house was foreclosed on. They left with a couple of loads in a U-haul van. Two days later a crew came in and cleaned out the rest of the house. Tons of stuff on the front lawn for about three days. It was amazing how many people came by and picked thru the stuff. It covered their front lawn and by the time the dumpster came by and they started to load it was 1/3rd the size.

 

[wobblygong]

Whyme, it's like the old saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

In our city, the Council have a household trash cleanup every 4 months or so.
They ask you to put out unwanted items on the nature strip in front of your house on the Sunday and Council trucks will collect it during the following week.
I don't have any problems with the "hawks" as we call them, picking through the trash and taking what they can use. What I do object to is when they pull things apart and leave shit all over the place.
Last collection day, I put out a large an oldstyle non-digital TV set. During the night, some thoughtless prick pulled the set apart and scattered all the electrical guts from arsehole to breakfast. They were only looking for one part of the TV apparently. I had to pick up all the bits and pieces because the Council guys refuse to do it (and rightly so IMO).

 

[whyme]

Well, I do have some respect....I'm not digging through cans...just larger items that end up whole by the side of the road I'll grab. Isn't that what pickups are for?? A lot of these places are 1 mil. + plus houses so they have high quality items out. And no, I'm not taking broken lawn chairs!!

My friend got a bronze elk statue in the Spring...about 400 lbs...not on the side of the rode but he told some lady in a house by where he was working that he liked and she said get it out of here, it's yours! He has it in the woods behind his house now...look great!

 

[T-boy]

You can definitely find some good stuff out there if you look for it. I cleaned out my garage the other day & tossed a bamboo fishing rod my great grandfather had given me...probably from the early 1900's. Last night on Pawn Stars they offered a guy $500 for his. Kind of makes me wonder if I made a big mistake.

 

[whyme]

Saw that episode. yup.....you probably did toss something good. Ebay it!!

 

[badda_bing]

Only when I have to clean out my teenage daughters rooms.

 

[DIRK]

the idiots in the apartments behind me throw out lots of good stuff. most of it i take to the local nonprofit for them to sell but i do keep some-things like the 5 propane tanks 2 full. lucky me.

 

[sweatmachine]

I like to play a game where I put something outside and time how long it takes to disappear. Usually by the first time I check it's gone. Fuckers come out of the trees I swear.

 

[whyme]

my friends uncle would buy a new appliance like a microwave and put the old broken one in the new box and lay it out by the road like it fell of a truck.
Got rid of the old one.

Things move quick on the side of the road around me too

 

[Bonafide]

I like to play a game where I put something outside and time how long it takes to disappear. Usually by the first time I check it's gone. Fuckers come out of the trees I swear.

I do the same thing every Friday morning. It's crazy! I take the trashcan to the curb, then some guys in a big green truck show and empty it! Amazing stuff.

:wave:

 

[Kirkus51]

The J.J. Gotrocks my Sister in Law's son works for as a personal chef had a 65 inch flat screen that quit one day. It would have taken three days to get the part to fix it. They didn't want to wait. Had a new 75 inch Tv sent out to the mansion. Sil's son now has a top quality 65 inch home theater for the cost of a $50 part.

DAMN!

 

[Flaco]

I just bought a new fridge and put the old one out front with a sign on it "FREE."
Sat there for three days!
Put a new sign on it "$100.00" and someone stole it within an hour...

 

[ivar]

it's like the old saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

I guess nowadays, ppl simply don't take the time to get rid of stuff which still have some value, much easier to just dump it.
Here in town, there's a small "shop" ran by students, collecting stuff and giving it away for free. I deliver unneeded books/magazines/kitchen utensils etc there. Next time I visit, its usually gone. Nice that it can be put to use instead of filling up landfills.

Couple years ago, I was at the local dump to get rid of some stuff. Then I see something of a certain blue color in the container. A Yamaha 4HP outboard, just missing the cowl. Draggin' it out, putting it in the back of my car.
Finding a suitable bucket of water and it starts on 3rd pull
Still in use on my 8ft inflatable dinghy.

Last year, I was throwing some electrical stuff. Then found a pair of brand name speakers, scratched up but in perfect working condition. Way better than the Creative/logitech PC speaker stuff.