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View Full Version : repurosed products / dumpster diving :)


soundguy
07-05-2012, 11:11 PM
hate to admit it but I'm not to proud to reach into a refuse container if I see soemthing I can repurpose.. :)

good cardboard boxes in small and medium sizes are at the top of the list as i use them to sort brass.

I also will pull out large 1-5g jugs and pails if they are the hd plastic kind.. especially the 1-3 g jugs that cooking products come in to restaurants. I find they make great storage for tumbler media, and great range brass sifters.

I take a suitable jug in the 1-2g size .. a thick one with a good molded handle.. not those thin milk jug types.. but a stiff one. i cut the nose out leaving the handle and a wide opening.. then I drill out the bottom with a 3/16 or similar bit all around.. makes it were sand easilly drains with a shake, but brass won't drop out.. not even 22lr shells.. at the range i can sift and scoop the sand around the bench and shake and come up with good take home brass. I have seent he metal detector type.. but they have holes so big that 45acp cases can fall thru!

anyway.. just sharing my frugalness. :)

gun-nut
07-05-2012, 11:20 PM
:thumbsup: I will be proud to say i do that as well. You find some good stuff from time to time!

cycloneman
07-05-2012, 11:23 PM
I like to dig thru the jobsite dumpsters. I have got many plastic containers for making ice. I got all the plywood for my chicken coops. Pvc pipe, full lengths too. 2x6 and 8's to redo the boards on my trailers. Gas cans, tubes of calk, you name it. Jobsite dumpsters are full of good new stuff the subs dont want to take back to the shop.

Now i dont dive in just any dumpster, just the ones at the jobsites i work at.

1LoneWolf75
07-05-2012, 11:43 PM
Hey free is good and soap n water will clean just bout anythin. I even check the one in my local campground from time to time fer stuff. Just see whats in easy reach and if I think I can use it then I'll grab it.

howlnmad
07-06-2012, 03:30 AM
One mans junk is another mans treasure. I have no problems dumpster diving.

permafrost
07-06-2012, 04:02 AM
I deliver to new construction sites all the time. Its amazing how much good ,new products are wasted ! I do most of my building projects shopping at the dumpsters!:D

soundguy
07-06-2012, 04:46 PM
pallates too. i like the hd kind. I use them to stack hay bales and bagged feed off the ground in my barn.

gdmoody
07-06-2012, 04:48 PM
I have been known to dive into a dumpster or two!!

Deputy Dawg
07-06-2012, 05:58 PM
Been there and done it.

BlackEagle
07-06-2012, 06:06 PM
We found a complete set of towels and wash cloths hardly used in someone's trash; enough for us to have plenty and give some away. That was @ 30 years ago, and we still have some of them. Found a combination humidifier/dehumidifier, great for humid summers and dry winters. It worked for as long as we needed it. Now most of our bargains come from places like Goodwill.

aa1911
07-06-2012, 06:50 PM
one of my favorite past times! hahaa

I've gotten so much free stuff from the contractor dumpsters on ft Lewis where I work;

heavy duty wheelbarrow, $400 worth of unopened bucketes of adhesive, a working backpack garden sprayer, tons of metal pipe and fittings, good electrical wire, another plastic wheel barrow, good bike wheels, and of course lots of pallets and even some decent lumber! that was just one dumpster next to my work when they remodeled the building, hahaha!

I can also be spotted at the skeet range rumaging through every single barrel for good hulls; people actually throw away once fired remington STS's and similar! Tons of federals nowadys....

My dad and I used to drive around the local campus the week school started or let out; tons of bedframes out on the curb on big trash free-bee day, we would cut the rivets and aquired tons of angle iron that way.

We actually built an entire 12x12' shed for $35 using glass company crate lumber, even for making shingles. the most expensive part was the latch/lock.

Dumpster diving rocks! It's like Christmas

soundguy
07-06-2012, 07:14 PM
my buddy live next to a large mattress store. them mattress' come in on huge pallates.. he goes and gets them for free.. lotsa lumber in them..

76Highboy
07-06-2012, 07:20 PM
Did someone mention dumpster diving? I will dive into a dumpster, no problem and I've done it. Also, if I see that someone puts out a nice article by their trash can's for the garbage guy I have no problem taking it. One time I was taking a really nice metal bathroom rack that a resident set out by their trash can and after I drove off I noticed the neighbors looking at me funny. I think we put it in our garage sale and made $20.00 after I repainted it white.

soundguy
07-06-2012, 07:30 PM
our neighbors will set useable but unwanted stuff out a day before trash pickup with a sign that says free on it.

either someone gets it or trash does the next day.

Claudius Valarium
07-06-2012, 09:53 PM
I've been known to get a thing or two out of a dumpster.