What Was YOUR First Tool Set?


Just keep it clean please....

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 8937

Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:45 pm

Location: Canada's left Coast

Post Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:13 pm

Re: What Was YOUR First Tool Set?

My Dad was a big man at six foot six inches and just under 300 pounds. He had two friends who were brothers. These guys were six foot 10 inches and well over 300 pounds. I am 6' 4" and 300#. There are very few persons that I have to look upward to.
These guys bought and repurposed oversized oilfield service trucks and used the trucks to move oversize and extremely heavy anything. It was not uncommon for the Ledbetter Brothers to move am out-of-service grain elevator.
On one of my random trips to Alberta I wandered into a very large equipment storage yard. There was about 6 of these big flat-deck trucks with up to five driven axles and big winches with cable bigger than an inch diameter. If I recall, the power was Detroit V12 driving Allison.
I knocked on the office door to let someone know why I was there and this huge man filled to door frame and eclipsed the light. In a deep booming voice that could crack the ice on a back-yard rink, He asked how he might help. I said I was looking for some old hit and miss engines. The big man said they had two for sale and I was offered both engines for $10. I was asked who I was, this is when the connection to my Dad was made. The giant insisted that we have beer first and talk. He got two beer out of his 'fridge and gave them to me while explaining this is how he and his brother "do it." The bottle of Molson's Canadian looked like a shot-glass in his hand.
These big men were my Dad's friends and about Dad's age. If they were alive, today, this would put them around 100 year old.
The situation was, the local creek had changed course and the engines were 75% buried in the water and mud. For the $10, I had to figure out how to get the engines out of the creek and into my R120. The big man pointed at the yard and said, "Help yourself to what you need." I borrowed some long rope and used the R120 to gently tug the engines out of the creek. A couple of wet 2" by 12" planks made a good ramp to slide the engines into the R120. The one engine is a Nelsen Brother Little Jumbo 2 1/2 horsepower and the other engine is a Waterloo Boy 5 horsepower kerosene. I sold the Little Jumbo.
The attached video link is of a heavy grain elevator move. I do not think this is the Ledbetter Brothers Moving. https://youtu.be/x4PKFFY2lc8
What I miss the most from my youth in Alberta is characters like the Ledbetter Brothers and my Dad. These guys were born into hard times. It was the hard times that made tough men out of them and inspired ingenuity and the get-it-done way of thinking. I learned from these guys and often find myself in conflict with the new generation of "softies" who out of frustration with all they do not know manage to arrive at their final solution by telling someone to walk off the end of a dock.
I would rather have tools I do not need than to need tools I do not have
Thinking risks being controversial and possibly being offensive

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 5170

Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:28 pm

Location: Lyman, IA

Post Mon Oct 16, 2017 3:05 pm

Re: What Was YOUR First Tool Set?

Barnhart Crane and Rigging, started the same way. They never turn down a job, (as long as you have the money to pay) and have the resources to do almost anything. While others may have similar equipment, very few can match their "credit rating". On many of these big, heavy moves the thing that keeps most out of doing it, is the performance bond that many states require, 100M isn't uncommon, being able to walk into a bank, and come out with a bond of that magnitude is not an everyday affair.
They post some of their more interesting move on their website.
Nikki, you and I are not religious, at least in the normal sense, these guys tithed a large portion of company profits, back when I hauled for them, and now they have turned the whole company over to their church's "do good works" charity. I guess they mainly build wells, and schools in the 3rd world.

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 2028

Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2016 4:52 pm

Post Mon Oct 16, 2017 3:12 pm

Re: What Was YOUR First Tool Set?

You tell a great story, Nikki!
Tithing is a big deal here amongst the Mennonites. Giving the business to the church is remarkable, though.

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 8937

Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:45 pm

Location: Canada's left Coast

Post Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:58 pm

Re: What Was YOUR First Tool Set?

I have this notion that a choir of angles would sound like a bunch of "B" series Cummins under load.
My wife and I have been disappointed by the shenanigans that go on all too often in churches, so we focus our giving on to The Children's Hospital, Cancer research and a the Union Gospel Mission who feed the homeless and build second chances.
Speaking of Mennonites, the Mennonite couple across the lane put their old mattresses out for city pickup. The guy next door told me, just like a seashell, when he put the shell to his ear, he can hear the ocean. The neighbour also told me that it was obvious the mattresses were owned by church persons. When he put his ear to one mattress he could hear the plaintive call of a female voice calling out OMG, OMG. If it were not for the monsoon I would go check it out for myself.
I would rather have tools I do not need than to need tools I do not have
Thinking risks being controversial and possibly being offensive

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 2028

Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2016 4:52 pm

Post Thu Oct 19, 2017 1:26 pm

Re: What Was YOUR First Tool Set?

Ford Dealership (?) KR Wilson hydraulic press for sale on Ebay.
I'm in lust with it. We just don't make industrial things so purpose-looking, anymore.
Attachments
image.jpg
image.jpg

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 8937

Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:45 pm

Location: Canada's left Coast

Post Thu Oct 19, 2017 2:15 pm

Re: What Was YOUR First Tool Set?

Baileigh make great Machinery in USA.
I would rather have tools I do not need than to need tools I do not have
Thinking risks being controversial and possibly being offensive

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 8937

Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:45 pm

Location: Canada's left Coast

Post Tue Oct 24, 2017 3:33 pm

KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS

There were several tool trucks that came by the large company shop where I worked. I bought a new upper and lower box from the truck and put it on my VISA. Something I did not know was the truck dealer opened a tool account in my name and applied the toolbox to this account. After a year the tool company started calling and sending emails and letters asking for payment. Keep your receipt. My wife had the receipt and we forwarded a copy to the tool company. After a month or longer of confusion it was determined that the account was generated by the truck dealer, not by me. The tool company went on to tell me they had this situation happen more than a few times with this truck dealer. When confronted, by the tool company, the truck dealer left Canada and returned to the country where he was born, possibly to never return to Canada.
This is where this event gets really stupid. After months of dealing with aggressive tool company account collectors, there was suddenly a total 180 degree turn around. Now the tool company said there was an overpayment of thousands of dollars on my account and they wanted to sent the money to my bank account. I did not trust the tool company, so I suggested they refund the money to my VISA, which they did. This became as difficult to get someone to understand, :THERE IS A MISTAKE". I finally said, do what ever you feel is right for you. I have kept the money in a separate account for more than a decade. (18 years) Fortunately the bank cooperated in transferring funds from my Visa to my account without an additional fee.
BTW, this major tool name toolbox is a POS. Within a year the casters had failed then the lower roller case cracked across the top and is at risk of breaking apart. The only reason I have not aggressively pursued this situation, is, I am retired and the POS toolbox is stationary. I have to keep the top and bottom section locked and I leave the key in the lock. The drawer detents have failed on all but two of the slides and it is common for the drawers to slowly roll open as the box fails. There is the risk of the POS tipping, so I have moved the POS to a place in the shop where the risk of damage is almost zero. I did cable the box to a wall. My son and I are going to add an extra .375" spacer between the casters and the bottom box bottom, at the front, to tip the box back just a little. 15 years ago, when the first casters failed, I discovered the bottom of the roller case has started to break apart, so I made a fitted .250" steel bottom plate to the bottom of the POS.
Just for comparison, I have a similar BEACH tool box from the 1970s. Other than the red turning pink from UV, it is a great toolbox. I have retired the Beach to the basement in the house, where it is half filled with vintage and antique tools.
My best advice is to buy the best toolbox you can afford. The top line boxes are so much better than the $4k box I bought 20 years ago. KEEP THE RECEIPT
I did not and will not mention the tool company name for all of the reasons I have and you can imagine. It is over, for me and I have moved on.
I would rather have tools I do not need than to need tools I do not have
Thinking risks being controversial and possibly being offensive

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 2028

Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2016 4:52 pm

Post Tue Oct 24, 2017 3:51 pm

Re: What Was YOUR First Tool Set?

I have a similar story with one of our "tool truck guys":
1) He likes to sell individual tools out of sets and then sell the remaining "set" as complete.
2) Cash payments are forgotten within a few minutes. This has happened too many times. GET A RECEIPT.
3) Anything that occurs with the tool in question is somehow YOUR FAULT.
4) This is THE top-line tool company truck. Owner-operated, of course.
5) Problem is, professional mechanics just can't use lesser-grade tools for any length of time. We're stuck with the "good stuff".

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 8937

Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:45 pm

Location: Canada's left Coast

Post Tue Oct 24, 2017 4:31 pm

Re: What Was YOUR First Tool Set?

AVE a You Tube Channel has been torque testing tools to destruction on his channel. The good tools always survive or give better performance numbers.
I agree on the good tools performing better and longer. In retirement, I continue to buy, SO, M and SK. Vintage Craftsman is a safe investment.
My retired mechanic /biker friend will not touch any tool except SO or M. I can't get him to sit on my Made in USA Honda . Oh well.
I would rather have tools I do not need than to need tools I do not have
Thinking risks being controversial and possibly being offensive

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 2028

Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2016 4:52 pm

Post Sat Nov 11, 2017 4:42 pm

Re: What Was YOUR First Tool Set?

Today's moment of Nirvana.
I bought the above ancient Williams wrench display (WITH wrenches) to accompany my Williams tool cabinet.
Attachments
image.jpg
PreviousNext

Return to Non-IH discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests

cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
Designed by ST Software for PTF.