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The Local Gardener
28-06-2009, 10:07 PM
The good old saying.... One mans trash is another mans treasure.. :russ:

Just want to know if anyone has come across any exciting items which you have used in your own garden, which were given to you by your clients? :cheer:

Over the years I have been given.. :)

4 rusted old wheel barrows, 2 with bases (great for garden ornament/pot planter, a white 3 piece wrought iron garden setting with table and 2 chairs. Couple of hand saws, a spirit level, a desk, an old sander and as of late a penny farthing green wrought iron garden pot planter which is around 4 ft tall. :russ: :clap: :wave-hi:

Anyone else have a similar story?? :i dunno:

administrator
29-06-2009, 08:33 AM
Actually there are alot of stories like that guys buying near new HRU216 s anywhere from 250 -600 dollars shed full of tools etc people just throwing away things it is amazing on some peoples perception as to value on second hand gear .

I diid a job for a lady just the other day mowing her lawn she wanted a freezer yes working good condition asked me how much would it be to take it to the tip i told her about 70 bucks i got the job it didnt go to the tip found a new home .

I didnt charge her for the tip fee said i was going there anyway she was happy wife was stoked . :who-knows

Stripes
29-06-2009, 08:57 AM
I went to mow one of my jobs years ago now, and there was some stuff on his nature strip to be thrown away. In it included a not that old Victa 2 stroke mower, sacks of assorted nuts and bolts in smaller bags(thousands of them). The client came out and apologised for putting it out before I did the mowing and then said take whatever I want. I asked what was wrong with the mower, he said nothing he just doesnt need it as he has me to do his lawns. I looked in the fuel tank and saw that it had fuel, gave it a prime and started it first pull. A relo had just bought a house so I threw it on the ute and gave it to him. He still has it today and I think that was in about 2001. My Dad took all the bolts and reckons there was a few hundred dollars worth.

Another client gave me a bench grinder, and another gave heaps of engineering stuff like micrometers, files etc and a friend scored stacks of stuff from her worth at least a couple of thousand dollars including a huge lathe.

Mrs HMS
06-07-2009, 08:02 PM
One of our regular jobs was moving house...shed like aladdins cave. Paid us to clean it out and said take whatever you want and send the rest to the tip. We got loads of stuff.

Washing machine, trampoline, timber outdoor setting, weight bench and weights some of which were rare as rocking horse poop (very large weights), canoe, loads of antique woodworking tools which we sold to a collector, 3 kids and 2 adult bikes all in excellent condition, 5 drawer filing cabinet and boxes and boxes of kids toys and books.

Nothing went to the tip until after we had a mother of a garage sale....kept heaps and still made about $2K over the price he paid us to clean out his garage.

The Local Gardener
06-07-2009, 08:07 PM
My goodness me, you most certainly cleaned up.. :wave-hi:

Bluey
07-07-2009, 08:17 AM
3 kids and 2 adult bikes all in excellent condition


Lol.....fancy leaving your kids in a shed like that and moving. What did you end up doing with them :bike:

Redeye
07-07-2009, 08:44 PM
I always keep an eye out for old unloved plants that could become bonsai

Mrs HMS
10-07-2009, 07:18 PM
Lol.....fancy leaving your kids in a shed like that and moving. What did you end up doing with them :bike:


Ebay is my friend

Redeye
10-07-2009, 07:46 PM
I think I might need ebay rehab...10 guitars this year so far

big_ed92
20-07-2009, 05:33 PM
well i found a brand new makita planer and used woodworkiong tools a rover 20 inch mower and a sthill wippy on hard rubish


also i think i might need ebay rehab aswell love the bargains that you can buy like a fairway mower in exelent condition for $300 best buy i have ever made

Andy B
20-07-2009, 08:57 PM
Love a good trash and treasure story, had a mate who worked for council doing kerbside collection, he made friends on his first day by taking a set of golf clubs to cash converters and buying his new crew a carton of beer.

My greatest in the last couple of years was an old roadmaster push bike, has just about every accessory a bike can have including lights that use a little wheel driven generator. All working!

Also met a guy who makes a living up here from kerbside collections, he sells the stuff on ebay and at an auction place closer to brisbane. He drives 600-1000km a week, but supports his wife and 2 kids. I bought a 1950's malvernstar off him. He got $20 bucks from me.

Keep your eyes open, but don't fill your back yard. ;)

Elitemow
21-07-2009, 10:02 PM
Love a good trash and treasure story, had a mate who worked for council doing kerbside collection, he made friends on his first day by taking a set of golf clubs to cash converters and buying his new crew a carton of beer.

My greatest in the last couple of years was an old roadmaster push bike, has just about every accessory a bike can have including lights that use a little wheel driven generator. All working!

Also met a guy who makes a living up here from kerbside collections, he sells the stuff on ebay and at an auction place closer to brisbane. He drives 600-1000km a week, but supports his wife and 2 kids. I bought a 1950's malvernstar off him. He got $20 bucks from me.

Keep your eyes open, but don't fill your back yard. ;)

If ya get caught down here taking stuff from a kerbside collection the council will have ya guts for garters....Just toooo politically correct and over governed...
Cheers :aus-flag:

Bluey
21-07-2009, 10:47 PM
When I worked for a Council we sought legal advice on this as the bins scabs were a real big problem. People put their gear out all nice and neat and these fleas would come through and scatter it hell west and crooked to pick out what they wanted then take off. Caused a real big problem because people were tripping over crap and injuring themselves plus it looked unsightly

The legal advice was it was not Councils property until we picked it up and it still belonged to the householder. Coppers didn't want a bar of it so we addressed the problem by knocking off the fleas for $315 for littering when they threw the unwanted stuff back on the footpath. If they stopped twice the got 2 fines and so on. Stopped them in their tracks.

Personally I cannot stand these guys as they do cause a serious problem that not many people are aware of. Profiteers looking for easy money. Fleas.

geoff1969
21-07-2009, 11:27 PM
its not just the fleas who chuck the crap every where bluey its also the house holders , i can understand exactly what your saying i done hard garbage collection for a while for a few extra dollars , trust me those blokes who pick that crap up work bloody hard and deserve there pay . i used to have problems with the old bloke down the back he has dual road drive ways and all ways dumps it at our side street and has attitude once on nature strip not his problem then every day i have to move his crap to get out , mean while he uses his other drive way that suprisingly dosnt have a rubbish pile , after about 12 collection and having to clean up his crap every day contacted the council there attitude its not ours until we pick it up and we cant do nothing unless it can be proved its his ;dealers;
well got home one day saw the truck coming so thought well ive moved it 100 times proberly over the last ten years of collection once more wont hurt so picked most of it up and threw it back over his gate before the truck got there :laughing: made the collectors work easier thay only had to pick up half of his crap :laughing: but he wasnt happy with me ;dealers; strange thing is he dont do it any more leaves at the other entrence now :laughing:

Bluey
22-07-2009, 07:15 AM
Yeah your right on that too mate. The kerbside collection causes more problems than it is worth. My Council tried putting out big skips at various locations but this got abused as well. I put together a proposal to give every rate payer a free dumping voucher twice a year but they wouldn't go for that. Rather spend millions on a kerbside collection and have the streets look like Beirut. If they didn't charge so much for dumping fees people would get rid of more but it all costs money I guess.

My mates local Council gives them one free green waste dump at the tip a month on top of them having a green waste bin. My Council here at home does a hard waste collection once a year but you have to book in and you can only put it out the day before collection.

Maybe the way to do it is is to have the fleas pay for a permit from Council to go door to door to collect the hard waste. They get the good stuff but have to take the crap as well. Would probably be worth their while.

Mrs HMS
24-07-2009, 07:31 PM
Our council has a new theory this year. You get 2 collections each year and you have to call and book it for a date that suits you. They send you a fluro pink sticker that says "booked" which you are supposed to stick on your pile of junk somewhere. The collectors won't take it unless you have the sticker.... they can also take weeks to come collect your junk.

Problem in the scavengers drive around constantly now instead of just 2 weeks a year and half the time they take whatever it is you stuck the sticker on and now the street always has someone's crap on a naturestrip.

I didn't mind the scavengers - recycling is a good thing in my opinion. I can appreciate that it's a PITA for the collectors though.

big_ed92
24-07-2009, 08:56 PM
Our council has a new theory this year. You get 2 collections each year and you have to call and book it for a date that suits you. They send you a fluro pink sticker that says "booked" which you are supposed to stick on your pile of junk somewhere. The collectors won't take it unless you have the sticker.... they can also take weeks to come collect your junk.

Problem in the scavengers drive around constantly now instead of just 2 weeks a year and half the time they take whatever it is you stuck the sticker on and now the street always has someone's crap on a naturestrip.

I didn't mind the scavengers - recycling is a good thing in my opinion. I can appreciate that it's a PITA for the collectors though.
are we talking about maroondah council??? because if we are i recon its a stupid idea!!!! and alos it makes the streat very unsightly haveing rubbish all the time out instead of just twice a year

Mrs HMS
24-07-2009, 09:46 PM
We sure are....sucks doesn't it. The entire area just looks scruffy all the time now.

The Local Gardener
24-07-2009, 09:58 PM
We sure are....sucks doesn't it. The entire area just looks scruffy all the time now.

Hi Joanne, I live in Knox and am worried about this "sticker". We have a lovely street appeal and I would want to keep it that way. :who-knows

Andy B
25-07-2009, 12:21 AM
Has any one heard the story about "EP33"???

Well as the story goes... once upon a time etc.

A fellow's Grandfather passed away a few years back and left him a motor bike. So when he had some time he ventured out to the outback property to see what was left for him. It had been sitting in the old fella's shed untouched for years. He got out there and it was a Harley. Pretty lucky hey? Well read on. He sussed it out a bit further and quickly realised it wasn't coming home with him on this trip. When he got back to Brisbane he contacted our 'numero uno' Harley dealer (who will remain nameless and you will soon understand why.) He told them he had been left a harley in a will and wanted to get it going. They discussed some parts for it and soon the dealer asked for the vin/chassis number. He said he didn't know. Realising he was up for long trip back just to get it, asked where on the bike he would find it. They advised him that if he lifted up the seat he would find it there.

When he next had a few days off he headed all the way out to the property again just to get the bloody vin/chassis number. He got back and rang the dealer with it. They said it wasn't right it didn't have enough numbers. He insisted that the only identification the bike had there was "EP33". The dealer and he both got a bit frustrated with eachother and the dealer agreed to look into it and ring him back. Yeah right he thought. Some time later the dealer rang him back and asked if he still wanted to repair the bike? he said yeah. The dealer asked he would rather $20,000 for it instead. He said no it was left to me in a will I'd like to repair it myself. The dealer offered him more money for it and the conversation turned sour when the dealer offered $50,000 and suggesting he think about it some more. Well think about it some more he did, (strange to jump $30,000 in one conversation???) he contacted Harley Davidson directly in America. When he eventually had a conversation with someone over there in the states, the fella told him "Elvis Presley had 5 harley davidsons made especially for him, EP11, EP22, and so on." So we guess you've got EP33. The Americans bought it off him for a whole lot more than the local dealer offered him, needless to say he is now well and truly a millionaire!

Apparently Elvis was planning a trip out here and sent a few vehicles out to travel around in. I've also heard a story about gold Cadillac of his that was in an accident and repaired at mates fathers panel shop.

True or not?? I don't know but like I said in last post, I love a good trash and treasure story. Imagine a dirty old motor bike resting against the wall in a barn for years and then being worth more than it's weight in gold.

ian
25-07-2009, 08:36 PM
sorry andy it's an urban myth elvis motorbike (www.snopes.com/autos/dream/elvis.asp)

Wattle GC
27-07-2009, 09:22 AM
I recently went to an antique auction and under a pile of junk was a personally autographed picture by Allan Moffet of his bathurst winning GTHO XY Falcon from 1973 or so...On the back of the picture it says 2 of 5..I payed 20 bucks for this pile of crap in which i made sure no-one found this picture at the bottom of the box..
I mentioned this to a Ford car nut and he offered me $500.00 instantly .so it looks like this will end up on E-bay i reckon to see how lucky this find is..

Bluey
27-07-2009, 06:01 PM
Did a quote on an overgrown lawn this arvo. Pretty bad but a pretty small block. I quoted $350 to do the job. Bloke told me local Jim had quoted $850.

It was a rental and this bloke is the owner and old tenants bolted and left a heap of gear there. Mainly junk. I was angling for the clean up but he said he was going to put it all out the front and give it away so I had a good look through. The only thing of value was a near new mountain bike with a flat tyre so I grabbed that for nothing and he gave me the job. The offsider now has an almost brand new mountain bike. Gave it to him as a bonus because he lost his license and rides everywhere for the next 4 months.

geoff1969
27-07-2009, 06:41 PM
hey bluey
say thats a huge diffrence in price mate , did the jims bloke
include disposing of all the junk as well ?
cheers geoff

Andy B
27-07-2009, 08:05 PM
sorry andy it's an urban myth elvis motorbike (www.snopes.com/autos/dream/elvis.asp)


I'm crushed :laughing:

Bluey
27-07-2009, 08:09 PM
hey bluey
say thats a huge diffrence in price mate , did the jims bloke
include disposing of all the junk as well ?
cheers geoff
No mate I asked that too. It was just the lawns. i thought mine was a fair price because it was pretty overgrown but $850 for probably 3 hrs work max is bit much. Must not have wanted the quote so over quoted.

holdenhead
27-07-2009, 09:54 PM
I recently went to an antique auction and under a pile of junk was a personally autographed picture by Allan Moffet of his bathurst winning GTHO XY Falcon from 1973 or so...On the back of the picture it says 2 of 5..I payed 20 bucks for this pile of crap in which i made sure no-one found this picture at the bottom of the box..
I mentioned this to a Ford car nut and he offered me $500.00 instantly .so it looks like this will end up on E-bay i reckon to see how lucky this find is..

Hi all, Following this theme a fencing mate of mine dragged a overturned xy Falcon out of a creek up Bendigo way quite a few years back. It had been there for years. Turns out it is Fred Gibson's (Moffet's team car). Still had original engine, roll cage, dash, tank and wheels. Was restored over a few years, back to original race specs. It lives up in bendigo where this guy is from and is taken out on the track on club days at Winton and Sandown. Not sure what it is really worth and neither is my mate but maybe $1M?? He gives this car heaps when he drives it, there's no holding back. Most people who see it think it is a replica until they have a good look at the papers and numbers. Check your local creek!!!

Cheers Rick

Bgs
28-07-2009, 08:00 AM
Hi all, Following this theme a fencing mate of mine dragged a overturned xy Falcon out of a creek up Bendigo way quite a few years back. It had been there for years. Turns out it is Fred Gibson's (Moffet's team car). Still had original engine, roll cage, dash, tank and wheels. Was restored over a few years, back to original race specs. It lives up in bendigo where this guy is from and is taken out on the track on club days at Winton and Sandown. Not sure what it is really worth and neither is my mate but maybe $1M?? He gives this car heaps when he drives it, there's no holding back. Most people who see it think it is a replica until they have a good look at the papers and numbers. Check your local creek!!!

Cheers Rick

just out of curiosity how to you claim ownership of a car that you pull out of a creek, surely it was owned by some one and maybe stolen and dumped there?

Nice find by the way :wave-hi:

Wattle GC
28-07-2009, 09:31 AM
Did a quote on an overgrown lawn this arvo. Pretty bad but a pretty small block. I quoted $350 to do the job. Bloke told me local Jim had quoted $850.

It was a rental and this bloke is the owner and old tenants bolted and left a heap of gear there. Mainly junk. I was angling for the clean up but he said he was going to put it all out the front and give it away so I had a good look through. The only thing of value was a near new mountain bike with a flat tyre so I grabbed that for nothing and he gave me the job. The offsider now has an almost brand new mountain bike. Gave it to him as a bonus because he lost his license and rides everywhere for the next 4 months.

Ha good one Bluey..For the record ,I've never lost a quote against Jim's.. Time the poor bugger pays his franchise fees he would have only come out with a six pack and a pizza anyway..

TOO EASY YARD CARE
28-07-2009, 08:20 PM
Ha good one Bluey..For the record ,I've never lost a quote against Jim's.. Time the poor bugger pays his franchise fees he would have only come out with a six pack and a pizza anyway..

and he only could aford the pizza on cheap tuesday anyways :laughing:

holdenhead
28-07-2009, 11:43 PM
This car has never been a road registered car. It has always been a race car. After it retired from track racing it was used for rally's. then I think it was used as a paddock car for a while. The bloke who's land the creek ran though was contacted and he was happy for my mate to remove it obvously not knowing what it was. My mate didn't know what it was at that stage either. It had been sitting in this creek for a couple of years. I'm thinking thank god for the drought.

Cheers Rick

Cranbourne Lawnmowing
02-08-2009, 08:51 PM
We have had a hard rubbish collection in the casey area lately and I pulled a Victa rapier 2 stroke out of a neighbours rubbish. Ended up spending $10 on a new fuel tap and some seals now runs beautifully.
Just needs a new set of blades and new bolts for the handle and I've got myself a backup lawnmower. :russ:

holdenhead
02-08-2009, 10:53 PM
I do a bit of home brew. I found a 50L keg in someones hard rubbish a couple of weeks ago. I do try not to look when it's rubbish collection time coz people throw out some good stuff.

ian
04-08-2009, 12:20 AM
i got a coffee table a couple of weeks ago now hoping on some lamp tables to match am going to have to sand and restain but think it should come up great

simo
06-08-2009, 05:56 PM
A few years ago I worked in a vending machine factory parttime ,we just got in a used machine to repair/repaint ect we were sanding back the door when we heard the sound of coins rattling cha ching we pulled the door apart to find $240 in change had fallen into the door unaware of the previous owner we had a big night at the pub free beer for a couple of mates till it ran dry.. :laughing:

danz
10-08-2009, 10:23 PM
haha thats a good one,, that sound wouldve been nice

Andy B
11-08-2009, 08:06 AM
Found a sandpit, swimming pool, table and chairs in an overground back yard last weekend. :laughing: :laughing:

danz
13-08-2009, 12:42 AM
please tell me it wasnt a in ground pool lol that would be a bigfall with the mower,

glassngrass
13-08-2009, 07:15 AM
Did a clean up for a lady - run down yard. Took loads of timbers, rusty tin sheets, etc....to tip.
I had asked if there was anything that she wanted to keep
No...it's all rubbish...
Came across 4 x 3 meter lengths of 100mm square steel tubing - the strong stuff!
I asked her again, said these were pretty good to be throwing out
No...it's all rubbish...
I dropped the poles off at home and the rubbish to tip.

Got a very angry call from the lady's father the next day.
He had his eyes on that tubing and wanted them.
"Only an idiot would take to tip"...etc...
Every time I tried to say I have them aside and he is welcome to pick them up, he abused me .

I end up hanging up on him.

A year later they form part of a very strong carport.

Hugh Jarss
19-08-2009, 05:29 PM
When I worked for a Council we sought legal advice on this as the bins scabs were a real big problem. People put their gear out all nice and neat and these fleas would come through and scatter it hell west and crooked to pick out what they wanted then take off. Caused a real big problem because people were tripping over crap and injuring themselves plus it looked unsightly

The legal advice was it was not Councils property until we picked it up and it still belonged to the householder. Coppers didn't want a bar of it so we addressed the problem by knocking off the fleas for $315 for littering when they threw the unwanted stuff back on the footpath. If they stopped twice the got 2 fines and so on. Stopped them in their tracks.

Personally I cannot stand these guys as they do cause a serious problem that not many people are aware of. Profiteers looking for easy money. Fleas.

You know Bluey, it's not nice calling people fleas just because you don't like what they're doing.
Perhaps you could look at the positive side of what they're doing, which is RECYCLING, everything they pick up and reuse or sell to someone else to reuse is not going into landfill, and the world's precious resources aren't being wasted to satisfy consumers who want new everything all the time.
Also, you call them "profiteers looking for easy money".
Does it look easy to you, driving around all those miles, going through stuff, deciding what to pick up and what to leave, then finding a place to sell it and dealing with the prospective buyers ?

And they're NOT profiteers.
A profiteer is a person who makes excessive profits, especially by charging exorbitant prices for goods in short supply.
These are not goods in short supply, and these guys are certainly not making huge profits.

And what I've noticed, in my area at least, is that the guys who do work hard to earn a living from recycling stuff they find on council cleanups always seem to leave the pile at least as neat and tidy as they found it.

Fair dinkum, you wouldn't like it if someone said lawn guys were profiteers looking for easy money, and it's the same thing really.... blokes working hard at feeding their families however they can..... these guys are making less than you, and they're doing something for the planet too instead of letting good stuff go to landfill.... when your precious council starts being responsible and recycling everything they can then maybe you'd have some sort of a case.

And if these guys are fleas what would you call a council that fines them hundreds of dollars for trying to recycle some good stuff instead of letting it go to landfill ?
Ticks perhaps.... deadly poisonous ticks.... much more dangerous than a few annoying fleas.

Cranbourne Lawnmowing
19-08-2009, 06:46 PM
I used to live in an area heavily populated with (I'm not being racist) Asians. They loved hard rubbish collection time and I have no problem with them taking stuff out of my rubbish. But when they constantly did the rounds at 2.00am in the morning and parking so that their headlights would shine on the stuff I've put out that would really p*** me off. Inside my house would be lit up like a bloody christmas tree. Not good when this would happen a couple of times a night and I have to get up at 5.30 in the morning :dean:

Bluey
19-08-2009, 06:53 PM
Well Hugh Jarss there are always two sides to a coin and I think you are not looking at the other side. In my position at the Council when I worked there it fell to me to take the complaints of the rate payers about these people and thier activities.

There were a great many of them I can tell you and I know from first hand experience these people do not pack the stuff back neatly away as they found it. They pick through it taking out the best pickings and scatter the rest all over the place. They park illegally and dangerously in many case causing traffic problems.

We had complaints from people who had been injured from these items and when we investigated it we found the householder had done the responsible thing but these guys picking through it had caused the problem.

You have to consider the cost to the Council and ultimately the rate payer of these rubbish cleanups. It is very expensive for a Council to do it and some of the costs are recovered by selling what they can so when to have these people coming in and ripping the guts out of the pile it takes away from the costs recovered.

Once these "fleas" (and yes I will continue to call them that because that is what they are in my opinion) have gone through have you stopped to consider what happens for the crews who have to come in and clean up the resultant mess. Probably not. What about the car driving past that gets a piece of sheet iron across the windscreen because these guys undid the pile to get at something better.

An alternative definition of of profiteer is someone who makes a profit by unethical means and in my opinion what these guys do is unethical. I would have no problem if they went around and canvassed householders to take away the rubbish and took what they could to sell from it. But they don't they wait for Council to do the hard work and then pick out anything attractive or worth a dollar from it. They don't recycle what they cannot sell.

From some of the set ups I have seen these guys use they are far from poor and many of them make a hell of a lot of money from it.
At the end of the day it is not theirs to take.

To compare these guys to lawnies is ridiculous. Lawnies supply a service to the householder at an agreed rate. The householder knows what they are going to receive and how much they are going to pay for the service. On the other hand these guys have no arrangement with the householder or the Council they just take what they want and they don't care how they do it.

Yes we fined them but only after we warned them off and they ignored us. The Council I worked for was being responsible. They didn't have to do these clean ups. The householder could easily take their stuff to the dump. The programs come at a huge cost.

I even suggested to some of these guys they should start a business doing cleanups but that was all to hard for them. They wanted the cream without the crap.

Andy B
10-05-2010, 10:49 AM
Picked up and old 14 inch reel mower on Saturday. Did my own place with it yesterday, before I started only one wheel was driving the reel but soon the second one started working. Gave it a bit of spray on all the nuts, bolts and blades and she's an old beauty. Brought back memories of mowing my grandma's place about 30 years ago.

NLALM
10-05-2010, 03:33 PM
Andy give it a real good spray in the middle of the rear roller and through the holes on the sides of the rear roller. Not driving and then working means the pauls were probably rusted up a bit no big deal. They are great little mowers I have 2 old ones in the shed I am going to do em up this winter and sell them cause Iv'e got a shiny new one that I use on my mums place it's the only job I use a reel mower on.