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West of Broken Bow | Started clearing out things in storage while the rain is falling and it just makes me wonder why I saved certain things. Stacks and stacks of heavy boxes filled with books. Why I spent all that effort and time to haul them before and then store them just to have to deal with it all again later makes me shake my head. All the books and papers from college were there as well. The piles of tractor parts and old tools can be justified though. Can't say the same for most of it. This is on a secondary property that's used for storage. There were long periods of time when I was working and living in another state part of the year. Didn't have time for much of anything except work.
I'm trying to donate as much of the books and other items as possible, but that takes time to haul it to places. Never again will I make the mistake storing things like that in such an excessive way. It's going to take a while to finish clearing it all out. Thankfully have some help.
The thread about garages reminded me that I don't get to use mine as intended. Instead, they are full of tractors, tools, and machinery. LOL
Are you a pack rat?
Edited by TractorAddict 5/27/2016 09:45
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S.E. Sask. | Definitely I could be described as a pack rat (or hoarder) and have no regrets or apologies. I love all the junk I have saved for years. If I don't need it today or tomorrow I might need it next year. I have more regrets about stuff I have thrown away than I do about things I've saved. |
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SE SD | I take the 5th.
IMO I am not a pack rat, my wife would have a different story :)
I consider myself a "collector". :)
Edited by povertypoint 5/27/2016 09:56
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southern MN | As I've said before, I'm third generation pack rat on same farm.
What cha gonna do.
Paul |
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North End I-15 | i let a scrapper in to my hoarding piles 1/2 mile from the house. i keep my yard clean but had rows and piles ''over the hill''.
its a bitter sweet sort of thing. the money was ok but i sure miss my treasures.
buying new iron for projects is a 110 mile one way drive.
one finger typing, had rotor cuff surgery tues. |
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Dearfield Co. | I have "collected" things all my life with no general direction to my collections------------I had a 30x40 building full of early 60s cummins parts that went back to the 30s. I saved them in case I ever needed them and then one day I went in to look for something and realized I could never find it if I did need it so I cataloged it all . IT started with the sale of some early 2 valve heads to a local grain/feed elevator for the track mule and word got out. I pretty much cleaned the place out to old truck restorers as well as generated lots of work building engines for some of them. It just sucks when you wake up to the fact you are old and your particular line of expertise is only desired by collectors. But I still have other sheds with other parts even though I have thinned the herd and started with stuff from the 70s thru the 90s as my main line of collections.
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| "been" NO way |
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| We had a welder who did a lot of work for us who used to say, "You farmers never throw anything away", after Dad would pull something off the iron pile. |
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Serena Il, Center of the Universe | Yes and I am doing the annual shop cleaning and toss out. |
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North Central Illinois | No, I am not a pack rat. Clutter drives me crazy. There are exceptions that make sense. An iron pile is useful to a point in that you can use the iron in projects and for repairs. When scrapping something I prefer to strip it down and save what might be useful on racks or in a shed and send the rest to the scrap yard. Another exception is the example A4T-1600 gave. He had a shed full of useable truck parts that pertained to his line of work and had value. When guys start saving worn out belts and roller chains and boxes and other worn out junk that is what drives me crazy. Walking into a shop or shed and wondering how many rats and mice live there is never a good thing. |
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SE NE | Yep going through the shop tossing all the junk out that I thought I would have time to fix but never do. |
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WI | I have to agree with Steve. I couldn't stand saving a bunch of old bearings, belts, roller chains, bolts, ect. I know I'll never use it. I could never see the point of having a shop or, storage building with barely enough room for a lawnmower. |
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NE | I try to keep things uncluttered but what I always seem to do is throw away what I later wish I would have kept and I keep the stuff I never will use. |
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S.E. Sask. | If anybody needs any used roller chain, belts,bearings, brake cylinders, tires, etc. and etc. just call me. :-) They have kept me rolling and on rare occasions a neighbour too . |
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Dearfield Co. | I am a little different than most I think though. I kind of collected what others wouldn't because thats all my hoarding fund would allow. Over the years though I have over paid out the rear for certain items but after storing them the interest was better than any investment. |
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North Central Illinois | Well there ya go. Whatever works for you. Everyone is different. |
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Sw. Ill | If you dont hoard or collect something then you have no soul lol.
My dad got on me once about having too many vehicles.. ok a bunch of times. His argument was that since I had them nobody else could have them who really needed a vehicle. Well yes he has a point. However these are all junkers and in reality theres not many people around anymore that can keep something old running. If I gave away a car it would likley be headed to a junk yard in a week. I may be able to keep er going several years. So what good does that do to be charitable
I have regretted selling things never regretted keeping them.
When it came time to start farming and working with the FSA I was sure glad to have all these "assets". Without them I would not of recieved a loan. |
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| Yea, getting close to 60 and wondering how to clean up and what to clean up. I run older stuff and them old bearings and chain got me by on a Friday night long weekend. Once I had my Vermeer 605c round baler apart and had a brainwave to change roller bearings in the belt tensioner whether it needed or not cause it's a pain to get to. Well some of the new bearings went bad quickly and I went to the scrap pile for the old bearings and put them back in. Baler works and some bearings are original(1972). So I guess I'm a packrat cause I believe a guy always needs steel. And I still got school books but why, cause google took over. |
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45 miles south spingfield il. | I'm the guy who buys "the rest of the wagon" When I started farming I needed everything and couldn't find the money to buy. Well today if need be I can make do with what is in the sheds. And some of the "junk" is getting kinda hard to find. Neighbors say they will not set things on wagons when I die, just hand it out of shed and let people bid. When I asked why he stated there isn't enough wagons around to hold it. |
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53590 | I am always accused of the opposite. Sometimes it does come back to bite me in the tail. I think I spent too many younger days pulling nails/ straightening nails, "saving" tin chalking holes shut on repurposed tin!!! If it's burnable it gets burned if not on the steel wagon it goes. |
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| I've come to the conclusion that if I havnt touched it in the last five years, I'll probably never touch it again, and can live without it. It's a work in progress, and have some more to go. I've got a shed I need to clean out and nowhere to put the stuff, so I'll prolly just dig a hole and bury it. |
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Minnesota | I now live by the 5 year rule also, between e-bay and online auctions, burning, scrapping, I have made significant progress! I won't bury anymore as its always "with you", roll off dumpsters work well for the rest. |
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Highland Center, in Southeast Iowa | Trying to overcome. I have hoarder moments, but am trying to reform myself. It kind of gives me chills thinking about the kids having to sort thru all my "treasures" one day when I'm not here to supervise. Have one son who has hoarder tendencies, and one who thinks if you haven't used it in the past 2 days, it needs pitched. It does get interesting around the farm some days. |
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West of Broken Bow | What's kind of hard is when you also have to sort through decades of things at a relative's place and they are no longer alive. All those memories come flooding back as you work in silence. There's an emotional attachment to some items, yet a person needs to find a way to let certain things go.
I sure don't want to be too quick and toss things out that will result in a regret later. |
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| Amen. I've finally made enough trips to the scrapyard that most of the stuff which had never moved or been used in my entire lifetime is gone, now maybe I'll start on the 10 or 5 year stuff. I guess at least I've gotten a little beer money out of the crap somebody just thought they had to keep. |
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Have you ever been a pack rat?
