To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Above 1200 Sq/FT The Salvage Garage

Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
OP
S

Strouty

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
38,218
Location
Southern Maine
I have tried a lot of things, draining off the bottom can be the worst, you can end up dumping in some serious ****, I knew where this oil came from, so not as big of a risk. As far as making a mess, I would say that there is no clean way to do it, unless you have someone else do it. Originally I was getting oil in drums and there was no bottom drain, the valves on the IBC totes are decent, but if you got sludge stuck in them, they don’t always close all the way. I figure pumping it means I am able to handle any type of storage tank with minimal adjustments.
 
OP
S

Strouty

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
38,218
Location
Southern Maine
Water, antifreeze, and sludge all settle to the bottom. I usually pump from the top because of bad experiences from the drums. The IBC totes are much better, but not perfect. Ideally I should setup some tanks that use air pressure to transfer the oil, but for now the totes are my easiest option.
 

kent_323is

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 13, 2009
Messages
274
Location
South Dakota
It seems like you have a workable solution with the pump and totes. I'm assuming the pump pickup has something that keeps it off the bottom of the tote so it doesn't pick up the sludge and ****. Since you don't pump oil very often, no sense in re-inventing the wheel. Run with what you have and keeping working on more important things.
It's great to see the army forklift making a contribution, that's got to be satisfying!
 
OP
S

Strouty

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
38,218
Location
Southern Maine
When I realized I could do that, it was a very cool moment. Just dropped off the scrap I prepped, $623, no too bad, not great, but GONE!

I have a few things to do before I head over to the Salvage Garage, unfortunately for me, I think I may have sprained my hip, Chiropractor said it was a pretty common thing and I have all the signs of it. :( It hurts.
 

Prospecter

Well-known member
Joined
May 16, 2015
Messages
2,432
Location
Maine
When I realized I could do that, it was a very cool moment. Just dropped off the scrap I prepped, $623, no too bad, not great, but GONE!

I have a few things to do before I head over to the Salvage Garage, unfortunately for me, I think I may have sprained my hip, Chiropractor said it was a pretty common thing and I have all the signs of it. :( It hurts.
Nothing like being paid for new rent free work/storage space!
 
OP
S

Strouty

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
38,218
Location
Southern Maine
I am working on a plan of attack, trying to be realistic on current and future endeavors.

Priority one is to get an official daily driver:

The 3500 is my first choice at this point, but it will take a few rounds of work to make it up to the task. It needs all new glow plugs, the block heater isn't functioning, the crossover exhaust pipe will need to be replaced, front brakes, shocks, and wheel bearings are toast. The bed is barely mounted to the truck, I bought the rebuild parts, it also needs two fenders (probably inners too), and the cab corners are going, going, gone. I would tackle the block heater and easy glow plugs first, then the front end would be done all together. The exhaust crossover pipe will need the exhaust manifolds removed, same with the two worst glow plugs, I figure all this would be done in conjunction with the fender replacement. I am also going to replace the brake lines with all new stainless ones in the front, the rear is fine as it was rebuilt with nicop recently. The bed and the cab corners are for when I have a dependable secondary vehicle as I really do not need to haul anything heavy in the bed. I would also have to add a brake controller and wiring for my trailers. Other things would be stereo and speakers, keyless entry repaired, and replace driver's side window (scratched very badly) and the windshield due to pits and probable leaks.

Second choice is the Volvo, it will not have all wheel drive to start with and that is my hangup on it, I am going to try and get it functioning with just front wheel drive and see if there are any other major issues, it will need a new pump for the all wheel drive at a minimum, then needs exhaust work and a set of four new tires. These are the known issues.

I may be able to nurse both vehicles at once, swapping between the two as I do repairs. The 3500 has all the parts already purchased except the cab corners. The Volvo will need a couple grand worth of parts to get it up to par.

Then I have the white diesel suburban that in theory just needs an engine to be close to 100%, so who knows, that may be the better choice overall. I am using the 3500 right now, I just can't start it if it is below 40 since it has no glow plugs or way to preheat the engine. I have just been using it during the day, then putting it back in the heated shop at night. Luckily I can drive the Ford plow truck, but it isn't ideal for anything except plowing and sanding.
 

F451

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 18, 2010
Messages
991
Location
WA State, USA
Go to your local GMC/Chevy dealer and buy a new 1500 work truck to drive around in. GM Financing is offering 1.9% for a 36 month lease.

If you hate the truck, sell it when you finished making one of your projects reliable.
Please do this. Or buy a 1 or 2 year old used rig of your choice. You could be rolling in your new rig today, easy peasy.

If/when it needs service, drop it off at your favorite shop and have them do it. Since my late 20's when I could finally afford a decent, reliable, safe rig, hop in it any time, go anywhere in it, worry free. Life changing. Are those complete sentences? I know not.

Time is money. And less aggravation is more time/energy for more important/fun things.
 

F451

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 18, 2010
Messages
991
Location
WA State, USA
If picking up a rig at your local dealership is too easy, or buying used local is not enough of a challenge, take a week or two off and fly out west with your girl and pick up a nice rust free rig out here. We have all kinds out here up and down the coast. AZ and NM too.

Drive it back home and do some sight seeing on the way.

When was the last time you went on a trip with your girl?

I flew out from WA State to NJ to pick up an old Porsche years ago, bought it, drove it 4,000 miles home, best trip ever, Lol.

And oh yeah, it was January, the Porsche had old hard tires and paper thin brake pads. I took the southern route home and Texas and Oklahoma decided to have snow and ice storms, people were dying!
 
Last edited:
OP
S

Strouty

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
38,218
Location
Southern Maine
A lot of people have some great ideas, but none of them are happening. While time is money people seem to forget that Money is Money too and that complicates things. I am not going to buy anymore vehicles new or used, I am going to finish fixing things that I own. I know there are a lot of people that won't or can't understand this attitude, get over it.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
OP
S

Strouty

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
38,218
Location
Southern Maine
I am over at the Salvage Garage, I wanted to get the snow cleaned a bit more so that it melts enough to get a couple pieces of equipment out. I really want to get the tilt rams of the BFF so that I can get them to the repair shop ASAP. I would really like to have that up and running so that I can actually use it to do my Spring cleanup. Plenty of other things to do, but the weather is going to be pretty nice for the next few days.

I am going to hang out here and try to get as much prepped as I can, yesterday wasn't super productive as far as what my overall plan was. I am trying to more or less go with the flow and just start cleaning up ADHD style...
 

Spareparts

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
2,045
Location
Lansing Ks.
Do you have a power cutter for the bigger wire to strip the insulation off
talked to a friend of mine this morning and he salvaged all of the wire from the
Co. I worked for, one of the larger Line Builders and Electrical Contractors in
this area, anyway he built several of these cutters just to do this. If interested
I can give you a call and discuss it. Of course in your FREE TIME. Get Well we miss
your posts to get us thru our day
 
OP
S

Strouty

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
38,218
Location
Southern Maine
I have a small one that will do the wire, just won't be super fast and I will not be able to do long lengths. I have looked at a few different ones, I saw one on YouTube years ago that didn't cut the jacket, it smooshed the wire and the copper came out separated from the jacket. It was a neat design. I also looked into a shredder, thinking it might be worth the time to actually buy the wire from local contractors. At that point it was a pretty good spread between the bare wire and the jacketed wire. Before I go crazy, I will bring ten pounds of both bare and jacketed to see if it is even worth the effort to strip it. From that last load it was about a $1 per pound more for the bare wire, although this stuff would probably be worth more as it will be bare bright once the jacket is off. It is probably a couple hundred pounds worth of wire, some is 2/0 and some is 4/0. The pictures shows some other **** as well, that stuff isn't worth as much, but it all adds up. I have a decent amount of stainless that needs to go as well, probably could even get more if I accept the fact that it isn't something I am really going to use again.

IMG_0113.jpeg

IMG_0115.jpeg
 

rvieceli

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
779
Location
Illinois
Strouty on your stainless stash, just go ahead and take it ALL. If you keep some, you'll probably NEVER need any of it. If you get rid of it all, I can almost guarantee that something will come along that you will need a piece that you know you had, but it would have been at the back of your stash and buried under a **** load of other stuff. Plus in order to actually get it to work you would have to drastically modify it.
After selling everything you could now go and buy the piece you need and just use it. :lol_hitti

Ron
 
OP
S

Strouty

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
38,218
Location
Southern Maine
Ron, the stainless is all tower clamps and hardware, things have changed in the industry, so there is a lot of it that while still used in some applications, it is essentially obsolete. I do need to keep some as I have a couple towers that would benefit from the hardware eventually. It might be that I make a storage solution at the tower site itself for this particular hardware. That would free up some space for other things that are more useful.

I shuffled a couple things around in the storage boxes, now I am breaking down some cardboard boxes I was storing for possible future use, they are going to be recycled, I saved two of the best boxes (they are specialized for some of my many computers). My plan is to keep picking at things, I am trying to not only organize things better, but also free up some containers to put the auction items in, that way they are ready to go.
 
OP
S

Strouty

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
38,218
Location
Southern Maine
Today is supposed to start the warming trend, looks like it will be about 40, then get warmer through the weekend, Saturday is supposed to be in the 50s. I can live with that.

Working in the morning on office stuff is not too bad, it lets things warm up outside a bit before diving into the rest of the day. Been trying to figure out a decent schedule so that I can have a dedicated day int he office each week, the rest of the time would be scattered throughout the days so I can maximize my own time. So far it is looking like Thursdays might be the office day, the biggest issue in my mind about just scheduling a day is that if that particular day turns out to be the nicest day of the week, I am going to want to change the day. As soon as I start doing that, then I don't have a schedule anymore and everything becomes random.
 

kaymccampbell

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
29,563
Location
Upstate New York
Today is supposed to start the warming trend, looks like it will be about 40, then get warmer through the weekend, Saturday is supposed to be in the 50s. I can live with that.

Working in the morning on office stuff is not too bad, it lets things warm up outside a bit before diving into the rest of the day. Been trying to figure out a decent schedule so that I can have a dedicated day int he office each week, the rest of the time would be scattered throughout the days so I can maximize my own time. So far it is looking like Thursdays might be the office day, the biggest issue in my mind about just scheduling a day is that if that particular day turns out to be the nicest day of the week, I am going to want to change the day. As soon as I start doing that, then I don't have a schedule anymore and everything becomes random.
So? Then relegate office work to the first couple hours every morning, without fail. You'll get the day's time over the course of the week.
 

bimmer1980

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
2,104
Location
York, PA
At least you have the flexibility.... A lot of us are stuck in an office no matter how nice the day is!!!

Granted, I can schedule some PTO, or duck out for a little bit, but the email and the phone calls don't stop either way....

Regardless, having a plan of action and knowing the key items that you need to get done helps. Also, if its a nice day and you're stuck in the office, all of a sudden, a guy gets pretty productive to get things done and step away. It also forces you to make priority decisions on what you really want (need) to do when you do have a nice day...

I will say, I'm not sure how you and '86 continue to fight the daily driver ****. I get how a person can end up in that situation, but that's a burden of stress to carry that is not good for your health - physical and mental. I get there's a variety of solutions, but figuring out how to get that behind you would be key, in my priority list at least.... Your mileage will vary... Lol
 

xtremek

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
11,603
Location
St. Johns, Mi
...........I do need to keep some as I have a couple towers that would benefit from the hardware eventually. It might be that I make a storage solution at the tower site itself for this particular hardware. That would free up some space for other things that are more useful...........
I love this idea. It would also mean you won't have to go digging for it when you need it, or have to go get it. Right where you need it, when you need it, all the time, every time.
So? Then relegate office work to the first couple hours every morning, without fail. You'll get the day's time over the course of the week.
What she said!! Might work better for you on the days the GF's schedule messes with yours. Let her do her thing while you start your office stuff, then go do your 3 S's.
 
OP
S

Strouty

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
38,218
Location
Southern Maine
When it comes to a daily driver I honestly don't know any other way, I have owned new vehicles before, not too keen on owning another one. Between the hit you take driving off the lot, the insurance premiums, the registration costs, and the fact that even a new vehicle would need to be "customized" in some ways, it just isn't for me. As much as I ***** and stress, I do enjoy the actual game, and it is a game to some of us.

As for the schedule, I have too many tasks to EVER be "done" and get out early. I also have found that a lot of the tasks that could normally be completed in a day end up dragging on for many days if I try and just do part of them one day and part of them the next day, always seems like when I am available the person I need to deal with isn't, so if I set up a full scheduled day, it is more likely to get done that day. I know there are plenty of tasks that will stretch over many days or even weeks, but they would do that if I was in the office full time as well. The balancing act is to plan the tasks appropriately for the time I have. I have been deliberate about what I try and do for the last couple weeks, some things have worked, some things haven't. I am also starting to figure out that my brain doesn't like the normal way to do just about anything, that makes things more interesting.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom