Ever left or lost tools at the junkyard?

[Borrego]

Personally, no. But I sure as heck remember when I left a Craftsman 1/4 ratchet and extension in a Datsun 280Z once. Only left it there 5 minutes, but ran like the dickens back to get it. Was still there.
Also, there was the time I got to the junkyard and couldn't find my tool pouch in the car. Then I remembered I left it on the roof before I got in the car. Thankfully, there was only a ratchet, a few sockets and a couple of screwdrivers in it.
Found a few tools there, though. Found a SK 1/2 ratchet with the head snapped off it on a rear bumper not too long ago. Someone must have thought it was made in China or something. Picked both pieces up and will some day be returning it to an authorized service center.

 

[boostedgt]

the one time i brought a snap on tool (my beloved 3/8 flex head bent handle) i walked out without it. went rushing back 15min later and there it was gleaming in the sun on the core support of an ******. thank god nobody saw it.

 

[DrkMtnDew]

luckily i've never left anything good. matter of fact if someone did find them, they probably left them too.

 

[Red Green]

I have found two Snap-on picks and a Snap-on 3/8 ratchet. Those are the best items. I have found a bucket worth of China and Taiwan stuff. And a couple handfuls of C-man.

 

[Malaga]

1. Left an 10" or 12" Facom crescent on a vehicle (easy to spot) but fortunately at closing time. I went back the next morning and realized I had lost it as I came in the yard. After a few minutes looking, it was right where I left it.
2. Left a super big Craftsman screwdriver (the kind most use as a pry bar) under a car after taking out a transmission. Someone has their own story for this thread.
3. Found Husky 16mm black chrome wrench and a couple of other miscellaneous tools, obviously nothing worth remembering!

 

[g0ldfing3r]

Craftsman screwdriver. Never found it, after that I put together a HF toolset for me to bring to junkyards.

 

[Ign]

I found a really nice 10?-in-1 Klein screwdriver years ago in a car at a yard. Still use it today whenever I do electrical work.

 

[emeraldcoupe]

i've lost tools at the yard before, but my junkyard box is full of stanley and other offshore ****. if i lose anything no big deal.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I have a small tool bag that I take into the yard. It's the same bag that I keep in the truck. I try to make a effort to remember the tools as I take them out/put back in.

I have found a couple of china sockets in the yard, nothing much.

 

[Daddy_Rabbit]

never lost any (that I can recall) but have found quite a few "truck brand" tools ... turn 'em in on warranty claims. Badda-boom Badda-bing i gots a new tool along with the satisfaction of sticking to the local jackass who drives the truck

 

[jjjrmx5]

A little off topic---While I do most of my automotive repair and maintenance, I have taken my cars in for warranty work or things that I do not care to fix to local mechanics and have had them leave their tools either under the hood, in the cowl rain tray or up inside the passenger footwell inside the car.

I always return the tools and ask coyingly, "I assume these are your tools?"

I know my mechanics well, but the first time I returned tool back to them, they were suprised anyone would return them. All I said was "Hey, they're not mine and you need them to make a living with. If I come back to you and you don't have the correct tools to fix my car, I just screwed myself, didn't I?"

LOL.

jjjrmx5

 

[70chevellegsp]

Funny, I was just talking to my dad about this yesterday. I found that I had a Harbor Freight near me, and decided to stop in and take a look. I was telling my dad that I remember leaving an ammo box with my 'travel' tools at a 'pick a part' when I was in high school. Don't remember exactly what I lost, but it had to be a small socket set, a couple wrenches and pliers. Might have been a few craftsman pieces, but it was 25 years ago. Anyway, I was complaining that over the years I've lost a few things. A couple universal joints and some adapters (1/2" - 3/8", etc) So, while I was at HF yesterday, I picked up a set of u-joints and adapters for $6 a set. Got home and started to put them on my socket racks, and low and behold, my u-joints and adapters were already there??? (And I know I didn't replace them since they were mostly Powr-Kraft from Wards) I just re-organized my 3 toolboxes and was certain they were missing. So I got to experience HF and pick up a few duplicate pieces. I've also added a few pieces to my tool boxes over the years after purchasing used vehicles and working on friends vehicles. I have a few snapon combo wrenches, a snapon prybar, and also came up with a few craftsman pieces over the years.

 

[red97k1500]

A few months ago i left my Matco 3/8s sae standard length sockets on the counter at the local pick and pull,I thought i must have left them somewhere in the yard, and walked all over the place looking for them.I gave up and walked inside and asked the girl behind the counter if she had seen them.I could'nt beleive it when she was like what do they look like,what color are they?She had them behinde the counter, I was so happy to get them back!

 

[NOTABLAZER]

I used to have a nice 3/8 drive matco ratchet with a "hard handle" grip,like on a prybar,that I'm pretty sure i left behind at a JY. But all in all,I've had some decent luck finding stuff at junkyards

-craftsman 3/8 extension,probably 2ft long just laying on the hood of an older malibu
-sk 1/2" ratchet with an off-brand 1/2f to 3/8m adapter attached
-brand new in the package feeler gauge under the seat of a ramcharger
-matco 13mm wrench wedged in between the fender and core support of a truck I was removing the fender from
-various craftsman wrenches

 

[Wrenchette]

Yes...A 31" Matco prybar...I was having heat stroke at the time.

But I wasn't too sad about it....It was a "gift" from a friend that liberated it from another salvage yard.

 

[kc-steve]

They still have junkyards where you have to remove the parts yourself? I thought those were a thing of the past.

Last time I bought anything from one of those type junkyards was a 1950's DeSoto 331 ci hemi engine in 1970 and luckily didn't have to pull it out of the car.

Steve

 

[willy3486]

I try not to loose stuff but this is more about what I have found in front of my house. I live on a main road and I have found a lot of good stuff.Due to the way the road is and the speed people drive they tend to loose stuff. I found a few sockets and once I found a really nice set of klein pliers. The FIL found a xrated tape once. I even had a spare tire come up into my yard from a wreck. They are widening the road so some of those people will go faster and hopefully will help to add to my tools. I do look out at junkyards for tools left. I haven't found any that I remember. I did find some really nice hold down clamps on a piece of old machinery years ago. I didn't think I would use them but now I could kick myself for not getting them. One time at a place I worked they had some C clamps they had cut into and made extended C clamps. The guy over the department one day threw them into the scrap bin. You could buy scrap there at a little more than scrap value. I bought them all for less than a buck,took them home,cut the extra out, then rewelded them back together. I still use them and they work great.

 

[GTVi]

I've been lucky enough to find tools at the junkyard, left behind by the previous person...someones elses loss, my gain. Its the law of equilibrium

 

[kc-steve]

Oh well, I guess no one ever reads this far down to ask a question.

Steve

 

[Wrenchette]

Oh well, I guess no one ever reads this far down to ask a question.

Steve

A friend of mine from KC was complaining about the lack of self-serve yards local to him.

There's a couple in town here but their prices make going an hour away to Budget Wrench in Temple (we're regulars there) and the pick-n-pulls in San Antonio.