Question for retired mechanics

[wornout wrench]

Hey Brothers

Retirement is looming, 240 days until lift off. (I'm not counting )

What have all you old retired guys done with all of the thousands of pounds of tools that you managed to accumulate over the years.

I am going to keep the basics, pick one tool box and move what I need into it.

But what about things like the 1" impact and sockets, the hyd test kit, the 3/4 drive set (SAE and Metric) and all of the specialty stuff that I have gathered up over the years.

I gave my son (the welder) all of my welding stuff a few years ago, all of my come-a-longs and chain falls, air chippers, scalers and such. Just kept my old crap helmet and a chipping hammer.

I have some more stuff for him but he is not interested in the other stuff the he would probably never use.

Do you guys sell it off or give it away.

I have a couple of young guys in the shop that I think will be really good mechanics once they get a few more years under their belts. The thought has occurred to me to give them some of my leftovers, how do you divide up the loot?

 

[hosspuller]

Gifts at your old shop could cause hard feelings among the crew, better to avoid that.

The young guys need a mentor more than stuff. Volunteer at a tech school and pass on your skills. When you come across a deserving person give him a few hardware gifts. They'll appreciate it more.

 

[Junkyard]

Sell it at a very reasonable price. A lot of my stuff came from guys that retired around the time I started. I have a somewhat sentimental attachment to that stuff. Heck the stuff I got from DMiller a few months ago will most likely never leave the family. I enjoy getting tools from somebody who's been in the business a long time, hear the story behind why he bought this or that, why he made a special tool etc.

If freight wasn't so high I'd be makin an offer!

 

[DMiller]

I sold some of mine to Junkyard, have a few guys call and ask but no $$ signs as yet, they say I am too proud of my stuff so I told them go find and buy new! I still have a need for some old stuff, the old AC crawler needs a lot of heavy tooling some days!

 

[check]

Three years after I retired I got so fed up with my projects and decided I would play instead of work. Sold most of my 25 years accumulation of US made tools to some fool for a song and played a couple years. Fast forward 10 years I have a full chest of tools again, but much of it is Chinese junk and a yard full of old yellow iron to work on. I sure wish I had the tools I sold.

 

[Hobbytime]

Hey Brothers

Retirement is looming, 240 days until lift off. (I'm not counting )

What have all you old retired guys done with all of the thousands of pounds of tools that you managed to accumulate over the years.

I am going to keep the basics, pick one tool box and move what I need into it.

But what about things like the 1" impact and sockets, the hyd test kit, the 3/4 drive set (SAE and Metric) and all of the specialty stuff that I have gathered up over the years.

I gave my son (the welder) all of my welding stuff a few years ago, all of my come-a-longs and chain falls, air chippers, scalers and such. Just kept my old crap helmet and a chipping hammer.

I have some more stuff for him but he is not interested in the other stuff the he would probably never use.

Do you guys sell it off or give it away.

I have a couple of young guys in the shop that I think will be really good mechanics once they get a few more years under their belts. The thought has occurred to me to give them some of my leftovers, how do you divide up the loot?

Im not a mechanic by profession, but semi retired and still have my own business in a trade... best advice is if you dont need the money KEEP THEM......many people that retire in a short time become board as crap if they didnt have an good plan before retiring on what todo with all your time...you can always sell them off down the road, settle into your new routine and see how it goes..dont be in a rush to get rid of anything useful..

 

[hosspuller]

Check & Hobbytime have a good point. When you don't have a boss and a clock over your shoulder, what used to be work is a lot more fun.

I spent two weeks on a lawn mower transmission that would have taken a shop a day. But, I got a daily afternoon nap and cool drinks in too.

A lifetime of skill and tools can be a blessing to share.

 

[kshansen]

Check & Hobbytime have a good point. When you don't have a boss and a clock over your shoulder, what used to be work is a lot more fun.

I spent two weeks on a lawn mower transmission that would have taken a shop a day. But, I got a daily afternoon nap and cool drinks in too.

A lifetime of skill and tools can be a blessing to share.

Problem I have is she who must be obeyed can't understand why I want to fix somethings.
Like the old chain saws I have, one needed a new chain and drive sprocket, about $35-$40 dollars on ebay. She thought I should just go out and buy a new saw. Now if I was cutting wood for a living I would probably get that new Stihl but for the amount I use this old Homelite why should I spend $280 or so on a new saw?

Same for a few other old things like lawn mowers or snow blowers. Did buy a new Simplicity Zero Turn, now she mows three times the lawn she did with the old Scott rider!

She like playing online games and doing Sudoku numbers games, I keep telling her fixing old things are my "games" to keep my brain fresh, she does kind of accept that!

 

[Hobbytime]

Problem I have is she who must be obeyed can't understand why I want to fix somethings.
Like the old chain saws I have, one needed a new chain and drive sprocket, about $35-$40 dollars on ebay. She thought I should just go out and buy a new saw. Now if I was cutting wood for a living I would probably get that new Stihl but for the amount I use this old Homelite why should I spend $280 or so on a new saw?

Same for a few other old things like lawn mowers or snow blowers. Did buy a new Simplicity Zero Turn, now she mows three times the lawn she did with the old Scott rider!

She like playing online games and doing Sudoku numbers games, I keep telling her fixing old things are my "games" to keep my brain fresh, she does kind of accept that!

more times than not its the challenge to fix it more than it has todo with saving $$, but doing both is nice..and like you said, it keeps your skills sharp... how far are you from cooperstown?

 

[excavator]

Lots of options. Maybe keep what you need and then sell the rest to a younger mechanic who is in need of them, at a very fair price. But whether you keep them or get rid of them, make sure you mark any specialty tools, especially if you built them yourself. I've been to many auctions where the old fella had passed away and there always seems to be a pile of special built tools that no one has a clue as to what they're for. Scrap iron.

 

[hosspuller]

...(Snip). But whether you keep them or get rid of them, make sure you mark any specialty tools, especially if you built them yourself. I've been to many auctions where the old fella had passed away and there always seems to be a pile of special built tools that no one has a clue as to what they're for. Scrap iron.

I remember a thread here, that finally identified the tool as a special to remove Euclid axle nuts.

 

[check]

She thought I should just go out and buy a new saw.

I was making money hand over fist trading land when I sold my tools and thought I'd just buy everything new from then on. But I found that everything I bought new was inferior to the old stuff I as replacing. My strategy had failed and I decided to buy more tools and keep the older stuff.

 

[thepumpguysc]

I WISH we were closer.. I too have a customer who "collects" tools.. His shop is SO FULL of NEW TOOLS he built another shop.. & works outside.. There are literally boxes & boxes of snap-on tools stacked everywhere.. & he wont let go of a single one.. I did manage to pry a 3/8 air gun outta his hands for 80.00 used.. He had 8 new in the package.. it was like pulling teeth..
EVERYTIME he needs a wrench & cant find the 50 or so he has scattered, he opens a new package, grabs the wrench & drops the rest on the floor.. UN-belivable..
I know for a fact he has 3 snap-on air compressors NIB NOT hooked up.. WHY?? if your not gonna sell them.
He told me one time, he buys out snap-on dealer francises..??[tool truck]
I LIKE the idea of passing them on for a small fee to the younger guys at work.. the hell w/ the guys that take offense.. their money spends just like everyone elses.. BESIDES, your not gonna be there anyway..
80% of my tools are over 30 years old so I know whatcha mean..
All it takes is for 1 guy to come over.. SEE whatcha got & spread the word.. I'll BET they wont last to long if you contact the right person.. say like a mechanic at the cat dealership.?? & he goes back & tells the other 10 mechanics about THE KOOL TOOLS this guys got..
Good luck..

 

[kshansen]

more times than not its the challenge to fix it more than it has todo with saving $$, but doing both is nice..and like you said, it keeps your skills sharp... how far are you from cooperstown?

About 100 miles, was there a few weeks back stopped at Ommegang for food and "beverage".

 

[kshansen]

I remember a thread here, that finally identified the tool as a special to remove Euclid axle nuts.

That would be my "fish tail wrench" have two different versions hanging on the display board in garage!

 

[kshansen]

Lots of options. Maybe keep what you need and then sell the rest to a younger mechanic who is in need of them, at a very fair price.

That's more or less what I did with several of my "excess" tools when I retired. Sorted through the "work tools" and the "home tools" and most of the duplicates I sold to the guy who was more or less taking my place at the quarry. He actually had a problem with my asking price, said I was too low!

 

[wornout wrench]

Lots of good ideas here.

Right now I am so pi$$ed off at work, I just can't wait to retire and get out of it.

But

As someone stated, after a few months, I will probably get bored.
The blown out back will limit what I can do, but there will be something.

The thought crossed my mind last night to let a few of the guys have some of the stuff on a "long term lease"
meaning that they can have it but if I suddenly come up with a need for it, I can have it back.
And then when I am totally done, just sell the whole darn works off to the highest bidder

 

[crane operator]

The thought crossed my mind last night to let a few of the guys have some of the stuff on a "long term lease"

I'll throw my 2 cents in on just that thought (and my opinions are only worth that, maybe less). I don't like borrowing tools that stay in my shop. If I really need a tool and its a one time thing, I would like to come borrow it, and bring it back when I'm done. If I really need it more than that, I either want to buy it from you, or buy one like it.

I've got a old guy that works for me. We we're fabbing up some stuff, so he brings in his chop saw from home. 2 weeks later in the shop, the saw has fallen off the bench, busting the handle and trigger, of course no one has any idea what happened. So now do I not only have to fix his saw, (which I gladly did) but I get to buy my own too. If I just buy it, I only have to buy it once, and I don't have to worry about something of someone else's growing legs and walking off either.

In my area, a auction of quality tool truck tools, most tools will bring 75% of new price, sometimes even more than new price, on the right day. Then you don't have to worry about playing favorites, if they want it, they better buy it. Let them all know about it before hand (your friends) and then you have no worries about anyone complaining about "sweetheart" deals or pricing structures.

Me personally, they can sell all my stuff when I'm gone, I won't have to worry about something selling too cheap, or remember what I paid for it.

 

[old-iron-habit]

I used to lend out a fair amount of tools and most anything else I had to good friends. Most of the time I had to go get them back when I needed them. Now I still lend them, but their name is on a list and a cash deposit is held that is 100% returned when the tool comes back. The deposit that is usually close to or at the tool value gets the borrowed tool back quickly. I have had no one complain about doing it that way either. I started doing this about 5 years ago after a relative(?) borrowed my 1939 Model 11 twelve gauge because other relatives were coming to go bird hunting. I lend guns to very few people so the list is short, but I can't remember whom I lent it to. The ones I have asked have no clue. Maybe it will come back some day. If my wife is home she knows to give nothing out without talking to me. Old age and short term memory retention is the sh*ts.

 

[DMiller]

Neighbor asked to borrow the Disc plow I had, just the year before rebuilt the entire machine. I said fine, remember to grease the discs, or oil them and set the hitch pin on my tractor when done. Took a week to get the mud off the discs and cleaning rakes straightened, had a flat he said must have been a rock cut(was a bolt) and had to search his truck to get my Massey 'L' pin back, never so much as offered any money or even waste oil to put on the discs. He calls now and isn't for loan anymore. If I have to fix it when it comes back and the borrower isn't in the mood to pay or support time to repair not worth my effort to let them borrow.