Tools you've found

[Blackmarket]

After spotting a screwdriver on the side of the road on the way to work this morning. I was going through my head listing all the tools I've found. Not just on the side of the road but all over. Thought this would be a cool thread.

Multiple screwdrivers, mostly foreign but also 3 nice snap on's
2 4' wrecking bars
25' logging chain and chain binder
32mm 1/2" drive snap on socket
15" (roughly) snap on 3/8" extension
Fair 3/8" Craftsman ratchet
Multiple cheap wrenches
Lufkin tape measure
Stanley tape measure
Boxcutter knife
That's all that I can remember.

 

[rickhigginshtbr]

I think most of my random tools I've found in junkyards... think the only thing notable I've found was a pair of vice grips.

 

[ATC]

Damn...do you follow construction workers just hoping something falls out?

Only thing I can think of, is a Proto 1-1/16 impact socket, a 20' logging chain (which someone borrowed and lost not long after) and a Masterhand nut driver

 

[uniballer]

SO box with tools, beat up on the highway, and a year before that a black plastic craftsman box with some tools(they scattered). My dad live right on 460 four lane highway, he found a senators page cell phone with naughty pics in hot tub. I still have that somewhere, just for keeps sake!

 

[kts]

I found a nice -V- series craftsman 3/8 ratchet at the junkyard along with a few cheap misc sockets.

Found a pair of pliers on the side of the road but otherwise nothing else of note.

 

[4xdog]

Blue Point dead blow hammer (found late 80s, finally bit the dust a couple of years ago as the urethane degraded. Its Snap-on replacement just isn't the same.)
Snap-on 8-inch 3/8 wobble extension
Snap-on TM738 1/4 round head ratchet and a small socket (can't recall which)
Snap-on black handled small screwdriver
Mac TR7023 tie rod tool (found that one last month. What the heck do I need with a tie rod tool?)
numerous Craftsman screwdrivers
numerous Craftsman sockets
no-name 1/4 quick release ratchet. originally black finished. Worn but works well and has turned into a favorite.
no-name 1/2 ratchet, found decades ago and still used from time to time.
large Master combination padlock (set to open, so ready to use)

Probably lots more. Any year I get more than 2000-3000 miles on the road bike I tend to find some interesting things. I've gotten picky and only stop for stuff I can use. If it's junk, leave it for the next guy.

 

[ken w.]

I found a new Mac 3/8" stubby ratchet , a bunch of S/O screwdrivers , a scattered socket set along the expressway - mostly Craftsman. And I found a pair of vise grips inside a door when I worked at a car dealer.

 

[G_P]

S/O 12' or so 3/8 extension
many many various screwdrvers and sockets.
pair of channellocks.
and a "bell system" canvas tool bag.

 

[rusty65]

I found a snap on hard handle screwdriver in a repo house.

 

[amlv20]

A so 1/4 10 mm socket under an intake on a diesel.
A stream light stinger flashlight wedged between ****** and cat in an explorer.

 

[1320stang]

Dunno if this tops it. Last thing I found at the junkyard was a Dewalt 18v impact. It was pretty used, under the battery it had a name that looked like a local fire suppression company. I hung around for 5-10 before I put it in my bag. It was on the counter as I checked out and no one said anything. Thought about calling the company, but it was pretty used and I figure the guy already said it got stolen off a jobsite.

 

[buco]

Everything tool wise I ever found at work I turned in to the boss. A lot of people I worked with took tools they found home, that belonged to other workers or contractors. Industry really opened my eyes as a young man about the type of people in the workplace.

My Mama didn't raise me to do that.

However, one time I was driving and I'm almost certain that I saw a ratchet (3/8 channellock with a socket, 3/4 I think) fall of a guys bumper. I pulled over, picked it up and actually followed the guy home and then the guy says he has no idea what I'm talking about as I'm trying to give him the ratchet. Anyways, ended up giving it to my cousin as the guy wouldn't take it.

 

[ChevyEFI]

I have a Matco red hard square handle phillips. Not sure if it's even a size 0. Works great. It was in between the grille and radiator of a car sitting in the core support.

A 3/8" drive 7/8" impact socket found by Wendys.

More I forget.

 

[blackz26]

My fiance found two kobalt 24" long adjustables. The kind that taper down to line up holes. In the packaging. Gave one to my dad, returned the other for in store credit.

 

[4x4gearhead]

I have found bunches of pliers and vise grips in the various beaters I have bought, my best find was actually a snap on 1/4" ratchet, I believe it was a TM71? Anyways i found it in a load of loam when I worked for my father who is a contractor, for the life of me I couldnt figure out how the hell it got there, or how it ended up on the outside of the pile when we dumped the truck lol. It was rusted up solid so I gave it to my snap on dealer at the time and he handed me a new one. I know this is looked down upon but f it, Ive pulled my weight in paying out the *** for snap on tools, I deserve a freebee

 

[KEH]

15 inch adjustable Crescent wrench. Recently, a SO 1/4 drive 10mm socket and in a different location a pair of Matco pliers. These on the road. I turned down a long log chain because it was on the side of a intersection on a very busy interstate, not worth the danger. Tools, etc, I found in wrecked cars I bouight for parts are mine, no ifs or ands about it. Also found quite a few import tools on the side of the road most of which I gave away.

KEH

 

[jeffmoss26]

I've found many rolls of cross connect wire in telephone closets.
Found a scratch awl in a drop ceiling...glad it did not fall out and get stuck in my head or eye.
Just this past weekend, I was helping a buddy run some MC cable for a couple outlets in his office building. I shined my flashlight to see where the cable was coming through, only to find a pair of Knipex alligator pliers resting comfortably on an I-beam!

 

[Midman914]

Most recent was a 8" 3/8 Crescent socket extension. It was just laying in the middle of a dirt road and it looks like new. In the past I found a large SO flat tip screwdriver. My best finds have been in dumpsters though. The company office was in a business park with hundreds of them. The dumpster nextstore was by far the best. In that one alone I found a Craftsman 1/2" drive socket wrench, tons of CM sockets, Eastwing brick hammer, 3lbs maul, and an Ingersoll Rand 1/2" impact wrench. All only lightly used. In a field nearby I found an pneumatic aircraft drill with a kett swivel head laying in the weeds. Another dumpster find were three panasonic drills, all worked. I found an I-beam aluminum torpedo level in new condition in a construction dumpster. I know there are a lot more that I just can't remember right now. For the ones that are found on the road, I just can't help to feel bad for the guys that lost them. When I was twelve, I was using my Dads tools in his truck box. He drove a 1-ton dually with a flatbed and boxes on the side with flip down doors, and kept his hand tools in a tool box in the front compartment on the passengers side. You had to pull the box out to flip the lid open to get the drawers to open. Well, I'm sure you can guess what happened. He left for work in the morning, took a corner and BAM. Tools everywhere. I heard the phone call with my Mom, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt so bad, and rightly so. I thought I was so dead, but my Dad was so cool about it. I knew I screwed up, he knew I felt terrible, and it would never happen again. It never did. Thanks for listening to me rabble on, but this story has me reliving a moment in time with my Dan that I lost last year to cancer. I love you Dad, and sorry for scattering your tools all over the road.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

A few months back I found a Craftsman pro 25' tape measure on the side of I275....

 

[MPOWERD]

I found an old snap-on screwdriver and some old USA made wooden handled screwdrivers in the wall in my garage a few months ago... Also a very old pipe wrench. Looked like someone forgot to move their tools when the drywall went up.

 

[WQ59B]

I was just thinking about this this weekend, looking over my shop. Tons of stuff over the years, on the road, given to me by others, found in vehicles, etc etc. The majority of what I own/use I didn't pay anything for (tho yes; 'given' isn't the same thing as 'found').
I think my best find was a MAC 3/8-in 17-piece ratchet set, short & long sockets. Was in the back seat of a junkyard Caprice in 1983, still my go-to ratchet.

 

[2010nctaco]

Wow you guys are lucky. I'm out on the side of the road a lot and I never find any thing. Maybe I just don't look hard enough.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[Peoria Man]

I've found a few good things on the road - a couple hammers, and a pair of Diamond Tool Co. adjustables. Big ones, too, one hex and one square.

Its a good feeling to be able to spot these things, turn around and go back and pick them up. My passengers always wonder how I see the stuff in the first place!

 

[jjjrmx5]

40lbs 2 weeks ago in the road.

25 x 12 Plano box 3/4 full.

Put a new USA hickory handle on the hammer last nite.

Also found my neighbor's old and deaf bull terrier in my back yard last night when getting home antagonizing the neighbor's dogs. 65lbs of white fur and people lovin' goodness.

He got all limp when I tried to drag him by the collar away from a neighbor who did not know him and I had to "haul his azz" like a baby in the kitchen by hand. A qucik water bowl and treat and he just sprawled out to cool down and got all comfy on the tile floor.

A quick call to the neighbor's cell via the collar tag and the son was over in 5 minutes.

I wish tools were so easy to return when lost.

 

[Mike14k]

One the way to an Eagles concert, we crossed in a crosswalk and there was a short 9/16" combo Snap-On wrench. People had been stepping over it.

My Mom picked up a very large 18" long clamp-on amp meter, in a leather case years ago. Right in the street in front of the folks house. It hangs in my shop, but I don't regularly test 500A lines.

A 10' long roller assembly by the side of I-35. Tossed it into the van and it became a roller out-feed for my cabinet saw.

And if you live in Wichita Falls, TX and find a very nice Xcelite screwdriver inside the wall at the community theater.... it's mine. Rolled into a rat hole and it fell down inside the wall. I wanted to cut open a small area to get it out, but they refused. Amazing, because the place was a dump.

 

[heavydutyOEX]

I found a Craftsman 1/4" deep drive set in the blow molded case laying on the side of the road about 3 months back. Gave it to my dad.

 

[robe5000]

I work on forklifts, everything I've found over the years has been in the power train bay
-MAC locking pliers
-snap-on screwdriver (new unit all the way from Germany)
-GREY 10,12,13mm wrenches
Those are most of the stand out tools, found lots of **** tools as well, usually don't keep them

 

[km72]

Interesting timing finding this thread. On my way home from work today, I found a Ridgid bag in the middle of the highway. I stopped and picked it up and it had an 18V drill, impact driver, two batteries, charger, and miscellaneous bits - all in near new shape. It also had a Rockwell 12V batter charger but no tool. I ran across this forum trying to find the proper way to reunite the tools with their owner as they are marked, but not with a name/number. I put an ad on craigslist - perhaps someone will see it looking for replacement tools. Unlikely, but worth a shot. If no one contacts me in 30 days or so, I think I'll claim as mine.

 

[Gotmayhem]

Everything tool wise I ever found at work I turned in to the boss. A lot of people I worked with took tools they found home, that belonged to other workers or contractors. Industry really opened my eyes as a young man about the type of people in the workplace.

My Mama didn't raise me to do that.

Good on you man. A "friend" once bragged about a Snap-On 3/8 ratchet (FHF80) that a tech left in his truck at the dealership he gets his stuff serviced at. He was laughing about it and didn't seem to think twice about keeping it for himself. No matter what I said I couldn't convince him that keeping it was dead wrong. I don't talk to him much anymore.

I never find other peoples tools in my car because only my tools get used on my car

 

[ryan t]

Craftsman Robo-Grip in a ditch. That's the only tool I can recall actually finding out somewhere. I have several tools in my set that I can't recall where or how I came about having them, but I don't think I just found them.

 

[billybudge]

Is it just Me being very lucky, but over the last twenty years or so, I have found so many tools I could have opened a tool shop, seriously thousands of items, mostly crappy stuff,some Ive binned,some sold on ebay, and a few bits I have kept,
sockets, extension bars, screwdrivers, ratchets, impacts, torx drivers,hammers,knives, spanners, pry bars, tyre levers,electrical testers, pliers, cutters,all sorts, and brands include, Snap on, Mac, Draper, Wera, to list a few,

Its always nice to find a new shiney thing,

 

[jd_1138]

I found a brand new (still sealed) set of Mac Tools 4 super long screwdrivers on the side of a road by a body shop. I had parked my tow truck off in the adjacent parking lot and was walking over to the body shop. Must have fallen off a Mac truck. I sold them to a co-worker for $25. Wow, looking at the Mac website, it's a $125 set.

 

[woody 73]

Different story: I bought my Brother-in-law a 28 ounce Estwing hammer that he had always wanted and while he was working on a roof he laid the hammer on a beam. Turns out he remembers after a few hours where he put the hammer down and by the time he goes back....Wait for it, wait for it...A new roof was in place over his hammer!

I swear I can hear him crying from 2000 miles away!

 

[jmarkwolf]

All found in the road:

1. Nice Channelock slip joint pliers
2. Husky multi-tool
3. Maul (baby sledge hammer)
4. 24" long Snapon prybar
5. Clawhammer
6. New roll of gaffers tape (high quality duct tape) lasted me 10 years.
7. Grain scoop, still use it for filling the birdfeeder.

 

[Midman914]

Dexter Michigan here. Sounds like I better keep my eyes pealed while traveling through Pinckney.

 

[Caterpillar Cowboy]

Ingersol-Rand 1" drive air gun with extended anvil for truck wheels.

 

[king nero]

SO box with tools, beat up on the highway, and a year before that a black plastic craftsman box with some tools(they scattered). My dad live right on 460 four lane highway, he found a senators page cell phone with naughty pics in hot tub. I still have that somewhere, just for keeps sake!

No MIB on your door yet, now that you've just made that statement?

 

[Mohawk Dave]

Found this at the scrap yard yesterday. Record BB Roller stand, Made in England.

 

[Doug B]

I found a real old 24" Ridgid pipe wrench over 30 years ago...it's in my work truck every day. I found A nice Buck 110 folding knife in a parts vehicle that I bought for $50. All I ever find along the road are busted ratchet straps...

 

[Midman914]

Who I'd like to hear from are the dudes from the lock up/ community service crowd that have to clean up the highway. I bet they have all kinds of cool finds, but probably have to put them in the trash.