I am a natural born pack rat, I never throw anything away. I decided to clean up my garage this week and have discovered many things I haven't used in years and had forgotten I had, plus some good stuff. Some examples:
57 screwdrivers; 4 of those little sticks you use to align clutch disks; oil filter for a Ford Fairmont; oil filter for a '60 Triumph; 23 gallon cans of paint (1 with a 1989 label on it); 27 old issues of Truckin Magazine; rear bumper for a '99 Ranger; trays of resistors, capacitors, rectifiers, diodes and other ; scrap lumber; scrap metal; the list goes on. I have decided that if I haven't used something for two years, it is going. Any other packers out there?
Dono

 

I grew up in a "Don't throw that away, we might need it someday" environment. I have to regularly clean out my shop and get rid of bunches of stuff. Surprisingly, I rarely find myself regretting that I did so! Once in a great while I will find that I could use something that I sold/gave away/trashed, but the extra breathing room in the workshop is worth the minor inconvenience of having to go get another.

 

Calling myself a Packrat would be a nice name for it...you can barely walk into my shop, I think I have just about achieved maximum density. There are a few cars under all that, but I suffer from "Flat Surface Syndrome", where any flat surface becomes a place to set more stuff! I even have a fiberglass body for a VW trike hanging from the rafters. I'll need a semi to move! -TD

 

TigerDan; your not alone, I still have the first motor that I blew up in 70 in the garage, 6 FE motors, 9 motorcycles, Tig, Mig, Bridgeport,table saw, radial arm saw, joiner, bike lift, air- raid siren, all in 2 1/2 garage space. HELP, I need more space for more "stuff".

Carl....=o&o>....

 

Well,
Our garage used to be full of useless stuff untill I started working on cars a few years back, now its down to like five boxes of things we acutally need. Now when I mean full Im talking a three car garage full of moving boxes and other junk its only taken me three years but Im almost there, for a change tools and work benches actually out number usless things haha.
-Chris

 

We moved from a 2100 sq ft house to a 2800 sq ft house...and had to rent a 10X30 storage unit. Go figure.

 

im a pack rat, i have 3 motors in a bucket, 4.0 hp briggs racing motor, 6.0 hp tecumseh, and .15 megatech rc motor,
there in parts, i have worn out sprockets and tools in mey shed, we moved from a 1800 sq ft house to a 2200 house, and we have aloft in my shed, and theres crap stacked everywhere in there, everbody has that closet thats got crapped stacked tot he cealing

 

LOL...My husband is a traditional historical bladesmith who uses a coalfired forge and anvil. A good smith never throws away scrap metal as you never know when you might need it.

The shop workbenches are covered with tools, patterns, leather, and other stuff but you dont dare clean it up or move anything. He knows were most everything is if needed.

 

Hello my name is Glenn and I have a problem,I am a pack rat.I have owned a small engine repair shop for the last 10 yrs,mowers,chainsaws,dirt bikes,atvs even bicycles.My shop is 2100 sqft only 300 sqft is useable to work out of the rest of it is full of motorcycles in differant stages of repair, boxs of parts for small engines,chainsaws and bicycles three full sized rollaway tool boxs and ford truck parts,you see my work and hobbies are one in the same and I dont know where to draw the line on what to save and what not too.If I get rid of something I will need it later it never fails.I try not to keep junk just the useable stuff but when am I going to use it I dont know,I might be forced to close my shop this year do to health reasons,I live in a nice neighborhood and dont have a garage so I dont have a clue where I will put it all,wish I had fire insurance it would be so much easier LOL

 

My wife just can't seem to understand my pack-rattish ways. I personally WILL NOT change. For those of you out there who DO want to change, check out Freecycle. Go to Yahoo, then Yahoo Groups, then search for "freecycle". You will need to narrow it down by county or city. I myself belong to 5 different groups. Freecycle allows you to put stuff up for "offer" which means you no longer want it, but don't want it to go to a landfill. You will be pleasantly supprised at how many people will want your stuff! You may also find something from someone else that you can really use. They also allow "wanteds" but read the rules first. I have done quite a bit on these sites, and can proudly say I've helped keep our Country "Green". Help spread the word, and help recycling!

 

I'm tryin', really I am- but it's just not easy! I have prolly hundreds of lbs. of screws, bolts, nails, nuts, washers, etc., in addition to all the aforementioned car parts. I've been dragging an 8BA flathead around for years for that sweet little streetrod I'm gonna build 'someday'. My garage finally reached 'critical mass', so a lot of big stuff is going. I need room to build my project '64, and in my fussy neighborhood, if you do anything more than a brake job in the driveway, they'll call the cops. (You can't have a non-operational vehicle in the driveway) I have a lot of stuff too valuable to throw out, so maybe I'll look at freecycle. One of the problems I encounter when trying to clean up is that they have made it difficult/expensive to dispose of lots of stuff. 'Sides- I LOVE all my stuff!

 

I'm a child of two depression era parents, who NEVER threw anything away if they thought it could be used. I absorbed some of that. But also developed a dislike of too much of it.

A few years back I lived alone in a 2 bedroom house, had it filled...then discovered ocean sailing and with a few passages decided I was going to live at sea on my own.
Got rid of everything so I could live on a boat, was down to renting a bedroom with room to spare, saving dough for the boat. Now that's freedom!

Long story short, got involved with riding horses for a hoot, met my now wife at a ranch, now we have two horses, a kid, a 3 bedroom house with a 1200 sq foot barn, and a old ramshackle 4000 sq foot chicken house which has half of it converted to 19 storage units. As the renters move out over time, guess whose stuff moves in?

Oh yeah, and a 3 car garage, and of course, it's only her car that's garaged. The rest is stuff. Mostly hers. She fancies herself an artist, and we're making art supply people wealthy. Ah well, my truck wouldn't fit anyway.

A pack rats paradise, but a free man's nightmare...you don't own your stuff, it owns you. Sometimes when I go on vacation, I pray for a fire.

Maybe someday I can convince her to have "The Mother of All Garage Sales".

Erik

"So many nights I just dream of the ocean,
God I wish I was sailing again."

--Jimmy Buffet

 

pack rat also,took a dumpster to clean out the garage so i could get the new one in. tool shed can't move .cleaning out the garage i found cylinder heads and 3x2 intake for a 49 to 53 flat eight.

 

I spent the whole weekend trying to clean out the garage. Every square foot of gained space is precious. I feel like the Dutch reclaiming land from the Zuider Zee! I have a couple really big pieces to sell, then I can get to work on the '64.