MGTOW and Garbage Picking

[mrpropmechParticipant 216]

I work as a mechanic full time on aircraft so I work alot of overtime. As a release from the stress of a job that I love doing, I fix and sell small engine stuff like mowers and lawn equipment on the side as I thoroughly enjoy it and making the money off it is a nice extra. I enjoy learning fix things ive never fixed or worked on before, I’m very mechanically inclined. I do a lot of garbage picking as a hobby where I get most of the stuff I fix and sell, my city does a local cleanup where 2 times a year each neighborhood can throw virtually anything to the curb, its a pickers goldmine if you know what you are doing. Basically the things I come across are lawn mowers, weed eaters, edgers, riding mowers, air compressors, tools, fans and small appliances and etc etc. I honestly love doing it as nearly everytime I go its like christmas. The market for used s~~~ like this is huge where I live, though the drought here in Cali killed alot of my mower sales and findings it is still a good money maker. Doing this has helped me manage stress and anxiety and allow me to concentrate on a hobby. I also have fixed up cars and sold them for profit as well.

How many of you brothers are pickers here?

[Anonymous 42]

Brother we think much alike, I have a 500 gallon fuel tank and pump, the pump stopped working and the manufacturer told me the switch is unavailable and that I’d have to buy a new pump. I used a set of points (ford) to rebuild the switch using a spot weld and some JB weld (epoxy) The $369.00 dollar pump has been working for 15 years FLAWLESSLY! I also have no guilt in trash picking bed frames for usable angle iron, over the years my metal scrapping for usable steel has saved me a small fortune by avoiding my local steel supplier.

When I throw something away, only the smelter has any use for it!

Cool trick, filthy pot metal carburetor bowels clean out nice with sulfuric acid, I had one that where all the oxidation was cleaned out exposing holes clear through to the bottom, being perfectly cleaned of oxidation allowed me to fill the holes with JB weld, that was more than a year ago, no leaks!

My mobile chicken coupe is made from an old trailer frame shrunk down to fit under a fiberglass pickup top, the wood was from a highway project. It looks and functions better than anything you can buy or build with plans.

Keep going brother scrapper, waste not, want not! Except for food, I buy new, or grow/raise my own. I don’t do dumpster food, although if things were bad enough I’d have no problem adjusting to that kind of reality.

[chirParticipant]

You are not a garbage picker.  You are a avid recycler.

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion, it is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning; it is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

[ILiveAgainParticipant]

It’s what men do … we fix and repair …. by doing so we learn … then improve.

We’re awesome like that …. that’s exactly how we landed on the moon …. and brought Apollo 13 back using nothing but stuff …. and men.

You sir are doing a service and should be proud of that.

Men at work is a beautiful thing.

[mrpropmechParticipant 216]

Ya I absolutely love doing it, you guys wouldn’t believe the s~~~ people throw away. Like newer lawnmowers, found a few toros that people paid 3-400 new only a few years old and people just dont realize that you need to drain the carb bowls out before you store your mower, or put stabilizer in which is CHEAP. Regardless I clean the carbs out while I have them pulled off and inspect them throw everything back together and itll run perfectly. And for the ones that don’t I have a mass of parts, motors, and decks that I can pull parts from. Sold many frankensteined mowers for a nice profit that were literally put together from 3 or 4 others.

Anonymous wrote:

Brother we think much alike, I have a 500 gallon fuel tank and pump, the pump stopped working and the manufacturer told me the switch is unavailable and that I’d have to buy a new pump. I used a set of points (ford) to rebuild the switch using a spot weld and some JB weld (epoxy) The $369.00 dollar pump has been working for 15 years…

Hell ya man, gotta love saving money doing this stuff. Its one of the greatest feelings IMO when you fix your own s~~~, especially when you get creative.

[alchemistParticipant 484]

Another fellow picker here 🙂 Although I call myself a salvager. I used to collect scrap metal with my grandad and still use the huge quantity of wire we salvaged, more than 10 years ago, to make my living today. Although the instability in my life makes it too hard to make any real money… 🙁 We used to pick up all sorts: wood, doors, electronics and any old things we’d find thrown away by other people- like a music box in the shape of a windmill!

I’ve only ever paid for very specialist timber, I get most of my wood for free from the side of the road- take a trip around an industrial estate, they throw away a lot of useful things!

 

There’s two or three earlier stages to recycling most people forget, but which have been highlighted here by my fellow enlightened men:

First, repair.

Then re-use.

Then re-purpose.

Finally, recycle.

In my opinion, things should only get recycled when they are totally wrecked and no longer fit to use for anything but driveway gravel. Repair something and re-use something before giving up on it, then re-purpose it. Most things can be used for something they were never originally intended.

[mrpropmechParticipant 216]

alchemist wrote:

Another fellow picker here Although I call myself a salvager. I used to collect scrap metal with my grandad and still use the huge quantity of wire we salvaged, more than 10 years ago, to make my living today. Although the instability in my life makes it too hard to make any real money… We used to pick up all sorts: wood, doors, electronics and any old things we’d find thrown away by other people- like a music box in the shape of a windmill! I’ve only ever paid for very specialist timber, I get most of my wood for free from the side of the road- take a trip around an industrial estate, they throw away a lot of useful things! There’s two or three earlier stages to recycling most people forget, but which have been highlighted here by my fellow enlightened men: First, repair. Then re-use. Then re-purpose. Finally, recycle. In my opinion, things should only get recycled when they are totally wrecked and no longer fit to use for anything but driveway gravel. Repair something and re-use something before giving up on it, then re-purpose it. Most things can be used for something they were never originally intended.

Very true btw I picked up a 300$ air compressor yesterday off the side of the road and all it needs is a new belt!

[Anonymous 42]

My most recent “creative fix” was when I fixed my (plastic) glove box door hinge using steel wool and a soldering iron with a little thermal plastic. I saved the cost of the hinge, and hours in dissemble and assembly of the ENTIRE DASH BOARD, the entire repair took only minutes, and is several times stronger than the original design FLAW!

MGTOW make it faster, stronger, better, and cheaper! We don’t think outside the box, we burnt the f~~~ing box!

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