Dont buy it until you have a job for it?

[Aaron_W]

I don't buy just because I can but I'm always watching for a deal on something I want. Used even lightly is much cheaper than buying new, so that is my excuse. I got a nice Taiwan made 6" rotary table for $150 which was less than a lot of the cheap ebay 4" rotary tables.

I have a small machine shop in the basement and a large garden in back. All set, you say? BUT I wouldn't want to prepare the soil without the small diesel tractor.....always some fly in the ointment. Biodiesel, anyone? .

Convert it to run on wood chips. Do it now while you can still order everything online.

https://makezine.com/2010/06/24/lost-knowledge-wood-gas-vehicles/

 

[JPMacG]

As purely a hobbyist, I purchase only those things I need at the moment. If I were to stock up on supplies for each of my half dozen various hobbies I would need a storage building. When I was working for a large aerospace company we assigned a yearly cost for storage. Generally if parts/supplies/insturments were not needed for an known upcoming program they would be trashed, as it was more costly to keep them than to replace them.

 

[woodchucker]

As purely a hobbyist, I purchase only those things I need at the moment. If I were to stock up on supplies for each of my half dozen various hobbies I would need a storage building. When I was working for a large aerospace company we assigned a yearly cost for storage. Generally if parts/supplies/insturments were not needed for an known upcoming program they would be trashed, as it was more costly to keep them than to replace them.

did they allow you to pick the trash? Or were they one of those companies that had a hard line on that.

 

[JPMacG]

LOL... no. It went to a bonded surplus company for pennies on the dollar. At one time direct employee sales were allowed but then management became concerned with liability.

 

[woodchucker]

LOL... no. It went to a bonded surplus company for pennies on the dollar. At one time direct employee sales were allowed but then management became concerned with liability.

A** hats. I guess they don't know the good will / morale it creates to allow employees to be able to buy it on the cheap.

 

[Ischgl99]

It’s also an accounting issue. If they throw it out, they write off the value of the stock on their books. If they sell it to employees, they have to track how much and what it was sold for and can only write off the difference, what the employees paid becomes revenue. Most companies don’t want to go through that effort and prefer to either throw it out completely, or sell to a single company to keep the accounting simple.

 

[Bi11Hudson]

Convert it to run on wood chips. Do it now while you can still order everything online.

I'm not sure how "producer gas" could be used in a diesel engine. I know it works (well sorta) in a gasoline engine. Anything carburated?. . . For those that don't know, producer gas is the colloquial term for carbon monoxide, which is indeed flammable in the proper conditions. Which is another unstated reason to have a detector (or three) in your residence. A gasoline engine will run at around 60% capacity on producer gas. But to convert a diesel? ? ? ? A valid premise nonetheless.

.

 

[Superburban]

I think one of our problems that is starting to come to light, is we drifted away from commonality in parts.

When I joined the Military back in 1981, the stock of spare parts for the transportation company would fit in the back of a 2&1/2 ton truck. When I got out in 2004, the parts for the same transportation company took over two tractor trailers. In 81, the trucks and trailers took a lot of the same parts. by 2004, the tractors took different tires and rims then the trailers. Both had different tail lights that needed the whole assembly swapped, not just drop in a new bulb. some trucks now have radios, so they have a different alternator then the others.

Same thing with cars now days. Back in the 80's, many parts were the same, for the manufacturer, and used for many years. Alternators, Dodge used the same few models from the early 70's, to the late 80's. by 2006, they were pretty much model, and year specific. Now so much is computerized, if you do not have the right part, forget it. Think you are going to fix it yourself? forget it. Replace many parts, and you have to access the computer to let it know.

Seems like half the time I go to Orileys, I get the same answer, We will order it, it will be in tomorrow.

 

[jwmay]

Having to do with the previous posters thought: I've often wished I could replace my current car with the exact same car with fewer miles. I hate having to learn everything all over again every time I buy a new old car. Lol

 

[Batmanacw]

Last night I was lamenting the fact that I don't have a transfer punch set so I went looking.... There is no quality step between $15 Chinese crap and extremely expensive $90 American made. I bought the American made set but damn that hurt... what the heck?

I want to buy a metric set but American made is way more money than the Standard set.