Street finds?

[Mike007]

Picked this Snap-On ratchet up in the middle of the street last week. Had a 7/8" Craftsman deep socket on it. A few weeks prior I picked up a Snap-on pry bar in nice shape. I would guess they were most likely left under a hood by a mechanic at some point and fell out. Ever found anything good in the street?

 

[Farma11]

Great find. I've found some good tools over the years. I've found a dewalt drill, 1/2 SK breaker, 1/4 SO ratchet, SK 1" styubby combo, and a ton of chinese tools.

Yours is a great find. That mechanic worked for free that day.

 

[shanker]

that ratchet is a great find.....its worth more than all my finds put together...

I pickup EVERYTHING i see on the road and it drives my wife crazy, she says at 30 i'm acting like an old fart....but hey...maybe one day I'll get lucky.

Whats even funnier is that i'm currently shopping for a good deal on a nice flex head

 

[NOTABLAZER]

I've never found anything in the street before,but once I found a 8mm gearwrench in my gravel driveway,one of the former tenants must have dropped it. I still use it to this day.

 

[GTO]

I found an old Honda Motorcycle Wrench once.

 

[Suprman]

the only thing i found in the street is a cheap gerber knife in front of a police station.

use it almost everyday for something

 

[Big Bad Jon]

I have found a bunch of stuff in the streets over the years. However I found my favorite ratchet, an old flex hard handle short 3/8 ratchet under the hood once. The last service sticker was from a competitor so I kept it.

That is why I hate black hard handles, I bet he looked for hours for the damn thing.

 

[Mike007]

Over the years Ive also found an 18" Reed pipe wrench, a USA made 1/2" breaker bar and a Stanley anti-vibe framers hammer. I'm sure theres some stuff I'm forgetting. On the other hand Ive lost a lot too.

 

[reptilezs]

i found a big mac pry bar. handle has seen better days from hammering.

 

[wrenchr]

Picked this Snap-On ratchet up in the middle of the street last week. Had a 7/8" Craftsman deep socket on it. A few weeks prior I picked up a Snap-on pry bar in nice shape. I would guess they were most likely left under a hood by a mechanic at some point and fell out. Ever found anything good in the street?

Not fair I bought mine for $105.00 off of the truck 5 years ago.

 

[trainwreck]

I saw a fire hydrant wrench tossed into a bush from a bus once. I went back to look for it, but it was gone by then. Would have made a nifty conversation starter. The weird thing is, it was along the side of a parking lot at least a few blocks from any fire hydrant. I can't imagine that it fell off a firetruck.

Then again, maybe it wasn't a fire hydrant wrench. Does anyone know what else uses an adjustable five-sided wrench?

 

[moparmuscle88]

found various sockets at this one intersection where its a hill and a turn, so if something was just resting there, itll likely fall (i found one of my own wrenches that way)

found a 3/8 sk breaker, found an 75' extension cord, leaf blower, some other stuff, but never found any snap on ratchets like some of you guys

 

[Mike007]

Not fair I bought mine for $105.00 off of the truck 5 years ago.

$105? Ouch. Losing this had to hurt. I just can't justify the cost of Snap-On for work. I'm too careless and lose too many tools.

 

[fordbroncodave]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44603

 

[davesnothere]

Found a 13mm impact socket yesterday under the hood of a jag.
Found a hitch with a 2" ball in the street on Tuesday.

 

[OccupantRJ]

that ratchet is a great find.....its worth more than all my finds put together...

I pickup EVERYTHING i see on the road and it drives my wife crazy, she says at 30 i'm acting like an old fart....but hey...maybe one day I'll get lucky.

Whats even funnier is that i'm currently shopping for a good deal on a nice flex head

Be wary of picking up certain things off the street. A guy a few years back picked up a fire extinguisher lying in the street, got into his truck with it. As he got in and hit the seat, the top blew off and hit his wife in the face, breaking her jaw, and knocking out teeth. It apparently had landed on the valve and it was just hanging on before he picked it up.

 

[OccupantRJ]

When I was a broke teenager, my motorcycle quit on the side of a country road one day. While I was sitting on the ground, examining the bike on the shoulder of the road, I noticed something green on the ground near me. It was a $5 bill. Looking further, I found a $10 bill. Fixed the loose wire and left the scene happier than when I arrived.

 

[mrholeshot]

Most of the time I find a tool on the street it's so cheap I think the last owner tossed it out of the window. Ive made a few good finds over the years but nothing as nice as the ratchet in the OP's thread. I've lost way more than I've found

 

[Mike007]

I've lost way more than I've found

Me too. I think thats why it's such a thrill to actually find something.

 

[bonneyman]

I find "street tools" all the time. Among my better finds: a Craftsman 3/8" figure-8 ratchet, a Channelock high-leverage wire cutter, and two 6-in-1 screwdrivers.

 

[oldwino]

I've probably found more SO stuff laying in the street than any other brand. probably half a dozen end wrenches (largest 3/4'), several extensions, SO screwdrivers, etc. Usually leave the cheap stuff in the road.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Years ago I was crossing the a quiet street in the crosswalk and a service pickup truck swings a left turn at a high rate of speed and almost hits me. I jump out of the way and the driver keeps going. But out the back of the truck tumbles a white bucket full of tools. The truck and the bucket had no identification. It had a bunch tubing cutters (up to about 4" diameter), box cutters, drills, and other misc stuff.

 

[RLRRLRLL]

ive never found any tools on the ground......found like 10 bucks once...u guys **** haha.

 

[Zias]

Found a pair of vice grips in the street about a year ago. Also found a flatbed/low-boy tarp on the side of the highway.

 

[willy3486]

I Found a 1/4 socket extension about 20 years ago in the road in front of where I worked. I took it home and found a steel rod about 4 feet I had. I drilled a hole in the center of the rod and slid the socket extension on it. I put a small nail through the hole the socket it had,clipped the end and hammered it down. I made a handle for the other end. I made a 4 feet handle to put sockets on and I still use it. I have found quite a bit being on the main road. I found a nice almost new set of klien linesmans pliers, a large corn scoop, a fiberglas handle shovel,hubcaps just to name a few. My FIL found a ***** tape once. We figured his GF or wife tossed it out going down the road. The thing I found the most of is trash. I clean up the trash when I get the chance. One day I went to the mail box and on the way back I piled up a few cans on MY LAND so I could come back and get them in a bucket. Some yahoo collecting cans beat me to them.

 

[Mr_Rich]

Did any of you find my wife's Eddie Money cassette I chucked out the window of my Bronco back in the 80's? He may have had two tickets to paradise but I had an open rear window.

Rich

 

[WVBrady]

Years ago I was crossing the a quiet street in the crosswalk and a service pickup truck swings a left turn at a high rate of speed and almost hits me. I jump out of the way and the driver keeps going. But out the back of the truck tumbles a white bucket full of tools. The truck and the bucket had no identification. It had a bunch tubing cutters (up to about 4" diameter), box cutters, drills, and other misc stuff.

Poetic justice or karma!

 

[makgreens]

I saw a fire hydrant wrench tossed into a bush from a bus once. I went back to look for it, but it was gone by then. Would have made a nifty conversation starter. The weird thing is, it was along the side of a parking lot at least a few blocks from any fire hydrant. I can't imagine that it fell off a firetruck.

Then again, maybe it wasn't a fire hydrant wrench. Does anyone know what else uses an adjustable five-sided wrench?

not really much use for a hydrant wrench other than turning a hydrant....or a few other things


* hammer
* beatin' stick
* door stop (thats what we use em for when they go south)

 

[Ray-CA]

I found a 100-ft extension cord with a 2-plug outlet box. Replaced the broken out-let and been using it for 10 years now.

Ray

 

[May Pop]

I found a 430 Channel lock on the on ramp to the tollway this morning. I often find stuff on the road. Once I found a 20' aluminum pick. It was hit by a truck or something. So I took it home in my old suburban sticking out the back. I cut it in half,took it to the scrap yard and got 40+ dollars for it.As long as its safe to stop and matbe back up I do.
FREE stuff is the best.
Ron

 

[airdale]

I almost found a 5 gal. metal bucket of tar!

I was driving on a road with a raised center median, I was in the left lane and a roofing truck with a full load was in the right. I was almost even with his back bumper when I saw a tar bucket tumble off the top towards me. There were other cars behind him, but I got real lucky cuz there happened to be a left turn cutout in the median right there. I swerved and locked up the brakes as that bucket sailed past. It would have come right through my windshield. Lots of excitement for the other drivers too, but it stayed in my former lane so nobody got hit. All traffic stopped except for the roofing truck, kept going like nothing happened. It was a full bucket too!

 

[Steevo]

One day I was on the way home from the store, and I see this utility knife lying in the road. I stopped, and picked it up, and although it had been run over and was scratched up, it still worked. I was sliding the blade in and out as I drove home, and then I realized that this was MY utility kinfe! I remembered setting it on the back bumper of my truck a few hours earlier when I was tying up some bundles of limbs I had cut that morning!
DOH!

 

[patrickw10]

i found a snap on 9/16 flank drive plus combo wrench on the side of the interstate a while back.

 

[SCscoutguy]

I found a humongous phillips head screw driver last week. I mean this this is like 30" long and the only writing on it is "Made in the USA" on the handle. I have no idea what the application for it was other that giant phillips head screws obviously. It was sitting on the side of the highway and I thought it was a pry bar before I stopped to pick it up.

 

[NOTABLAZER]

One day I was on the way home from the store, and I see this utility knife lying in the road. I stopped, and picked it up, and although it had been run over and was scratched up, it still worked. I was sliding the blade in and out as I drove home, and then I realized that this was MY utility kinfe! I remembered setting it on the back bumper of my truck a few hours earlier when I was tying up some bundles of limbs I had cut that morning!
DOH!

I think i may have bought my own 7/16 gearwrench back from a guy at work,who found it out on the street not too far from the store I work at. I think I might have dropped it in the engine bay and it must have finally shook it's way out

I gave him $5 for it,way cheaper than a new one.

 

[canuckian]

found an old US made bayonet w/ scabbard on the side of the road years ago. Cool piece but pretty useless for anything besides running through an enemy!

 

[Grogan14]

Last time I went back to my old childhood fishing hole, found a Snap-On bent handle ratchet on the fire road that leads to it, no doubt left by a dirt-biker.

Later that same day, caught a great horned owl, that swooped down on the Mann's Phat Rat that I was dragging across the lily pads. Not once, but on 2 out of 3 casts, no less. Was a good day!