EDIT: Just to clarify here. This thread and doing what I'm doing in it highly frustrates me. I hate it, in fact. But it is for the sake of family who need help, so I do it. Please don't hold it against me 
EDIT2: see end of thread. Possibily of a "picking party" coming up....a kind of "pay what you want to pay"
So as I do every so often, frustratingly trying to help my ultra-hoarding great uncle sell off some of the big stuff on his property that he's accumulated over the years. My main problem is that he usually doesn't really talk about prices,....he just photographically recounts "what he bought it for" xxx years ago. So once again, would appreciate some consult on values of things as I'm trying to help him sell this stuff - and also feel free to contact me directly if you see something that you want. I'll post stuff up on CL once I get some prices established and verify actual condition on any items that look promising., hopefully. We'll see.....
What I took pics of is a drop in the bucket of what he has at the 10-acre farm, but they are things I think he can get some value from (or at least that someone might just want for a cheap/free project) that I can help him with (there is a ton of newer/better condition stuff that I can determine the value on pretty easily) So, please comment on what you see and/or my comments on what he can reasonably ask for this stuff
First we have a big old '74 Dodge 1 1/2 ton RV. It was driven to where it sits now. The interior seems mostly intact, though it is jammed full of hundreds of old golf clubs and other "sports" gear.....The front tires are dry-rotted but the rears look ok (they still have their new stickers on the tread, since they were replaced a few years ago, supposedly. Supposedly "runs" but then again so does everything on the farm, according to Uncle. I don't figure it's worth anything, but maybe something that someone just wants to take away to do something with......
Next we have a 22-foot Econoline gooseneck trailer. He bought it new years ago to haul some stuff and just put it in the yard and left it. The paint/powdercoat looks surprisingly good on most of the trailer and I don't see any notable rust. The wooden deck is totally rotted, of course. It's a ducktail, heavy-duty job with a lot of tires, fold-down ramps, and in addition to the gooseneck it looks to be setup for a low-tow rig as well. I looked these up and they go for $7k or so new. I think he said something about selling this one for $4k. I was thinking $2k in its current state (with all the crap taken off of it).
Sorry, it has all kinds of stuff on it, including some giant steel presses and random other things....
ok, some more stuff.
Pullman Pullmax steel nibbler. He has a bunch of dies for it as well. No idea what these things are worth, but they certainly look freaking heavy....The dies (which are in a barn) are actually what is probably worth the real money there, moreso than the machine itself.
This is some kind of steel punching tool? Bueller? Bueller? Not that it's worth anything....I'm just curious as to what it is.
So here's an interesting one. A forklift on a trailer. The trailer has a hydraulic lift setup to pick the forklift up and put it down. I've never seen one before....again, probably worth nothing, but who knows?
No offense, but other than the gooseneck trailer... if the salvage guys will come get it I'd let them have at it for what it weighs.
ok, he has three of these, all of which supposedly "work." He said $400 each which of course makes me think $200 each, lol. IDK, I've actually seen him use a couple of these welders over the last year, so I know at least some of them are functional, cosmetic appearance notwithstanding.
another one, painted red.
another work trailer, with another trailer on it. 
So this is sitting inside one of the vans. I think he said $1500 for this, which I personally think is a fair deal if it works. Any thoughts? These seem to go for $6-7K new, and this one appears to be in pretty good shape and has been sitting inside the van since new and not in the elements.
ok, there's a crapload of other stuff (old work trucks, old vans, a giant old Cadillac, tons of other large tools, welders, generators, etc) but figured I'd see if some of you guys can give me some ballparks or let me know if I'm on the right track with pricing, or if I should just throw my hands up in the air and yell very loudly realizing I'm wasting my effort in the name of "helping family".....before I bother digging out other things....
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
No offense, but other than the gooseneck trailer... if the salvage guys will come get it I'd let them have at it for what it weighs.
trust me, no offense taken. They already had the scrap guys come, who ended up taking advantage of them basically......e.g. "we'll give you $5000 for the scrap value, but we're going to charge you $7500 for the labor to remove it" kind of stuff.
Really I'm trying to find "diamonds in the rough" here as there are a billion other things that are definitely only worth scrap value if that....lol.
Those prices are nuts! Cleaned up, documented, and proven functional, that stuff is worth real money. Goosenecks with rotten decks, broken gas powered welders, and rusted to the point of useless 80 year old sheetmetal machines are worth roughly their weight in scrap.
93gsxturbo wrote:
Those prices are nuts! Cleaned up, documented, and proven functional, that stuff is worth real money. Goosenecks with rotten decks, broken gas powered welders, and rusted to the point of useless 80 year old sheetmetal machines are worth roughly their weight in scrap.
Trust me....they're not "my" prices....this thread is being used as ammo to convince Uncle that his stuff isn't worth what he thinks it is. I'm sure you've dealt with people who think their stuff is worth way more than it is. He is family and I live close, so I'm trying to help out. You can't even imagine my frustration at seeing so much stuff that SHOULD be good just sitting out there rusting and going to hell. I am such a freak about keeping all my tools and gear inside (hell, I put a cover on my POS e30 rallycross car in the winter!), it drives me nuts. But family is family, so I'll give it a college try.
Anything that I myself look to sell for him will be cleaned up and tested (by me personally) before I sell them as such. So when I'm looking for pricing, I'm looking with the assumption that such items will ONLY be listed if they are indeed working. I have no intention of "fixing" anything.....broken stuff can go to scrap for all I care. I don't have time or will to deal with that. That said, I've personally seen him welding with at least two of those welders in the last year. They look shabby as hell, but he keeps them functional (through either mechanical genius or pure black magic, I'm not sure which).
The barn there is full of other machines (which have always been indoors and have little to no rust), but it was too dark in there today to take any photos. IDK and I don't really care about old metalworking machines, but I know guys who are really into that kind of stuff (the way people here are into old British cars that are, likewise, almost always rustbuckets) :)
Gooseneck decking I wouldn't think is a big issue as long as the chassis is sound. Wood is comparatively cheap next to the trailer/frame, wouldn't you say?
wish i could help more but keep updating this. if one of us is interested im sure they'll buy
The Bobcat 225G, if working could be worth some cash. Maybe 2G's....
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:
The Bobcat 225G, if working could be worth some cash. Maybe 2G's....
I'm going to fire it up next time I'm there, but I'm almost positive it works. I was thinking $1500 myself on that if it works, so any diamonds I can find would be good.
Even stuff like this: In the back of an old rusty International Scout there are about a half dozen old jerry cans. From my days jeeping I know guys will pay $20-25 for vintage cans to put on their roof racks or whatever. Stuff like this I can clean up and move....it's the big heavy crap I know nothing about..
CarKid1989 wrote:
wish i could help more but keep updating this. if one of us is interested im sure they'll buy
I could update this thread to 1000 posts with pictures and not get half of what he has in this place. There is an entire barn, chock full on both levels, with tools, machines, argon tanks, and other stuff that I'm positive is worth money.
Actually, my "payment" for helping out on this is to basically take anything that I want when I leave (of course, being family, I'm not going to take anything that could actually be worth good money to them). I'm getting a lot of scrap metal for projects, got a new-in-box 10gallon air compressor last time over there, and a couple of those jerry cans for myself, plus an industrial quality 6x4 stainless countertop that is now on my workbench in the garage :)
irish44j wrote:
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:
The Bobcat 225G, if working could be worth some cash. Maybe 2G's....
I'm going to fire it up next time I'm there, but I'm almost positive it works. I was thinking $1500 myself on that if it works, so any diamonds I can find would be good.
Yeah.. They are $3500-$4K new..
If the Bobcat welder runs, $1500 is probably pretty realistic for it. $400 for the other welders would be a starting point but be prepared to come down on the price.
The goose neck you will probably be lucky to get $2500 for. If it's been sitting for so long that the deck has collapsed, then it's going to need tires as well. On a trailer that size, that's big money. The other trailers will have the same problem. I paid $200 for my 16' because it needed a deck and tires.
The RV is going to be a tough one. If it has a big block under the hood, all your money is in it. I've seen 440s go for $1000 by themselves. Selling the whole thing is a crap shoot. I'd put $3000 on it and hope you can get half that.
Realistically the machines and forklift are probably worth scrap value unless the forklift runs. If so you might get more. If the cylinders rods are rusted, then it doesn't matter if it runs or not. It would cost so much to repair, it's scrap.
Ask him if he has any antique farm engines or tractors. If so, I might be interested.
Vigo
UltraDork
5/6/13 7:57 p.m.
I do not count myself among the downers in this thread. I am MAD JEALOUS that he is not my uncle and magically also a more generous person. I would love to to have half of the stuff pictured. Is that so wrong?
Im actually fairly curious about that RV, havent seen one like it before.
Toyman01 wrote:
If the Bobcat welder runs, $1500 is probably pretty realistic for it. $400 for the other welders would be a starting point but be prepared to come down on the price.
The goose neck you will probably be lucky to get $2500 for. If it's been sitting for so long that the deck has collapsed, then it's going to need tires as well. On a trailer that size, that's big money. The other trailers will have the same problem. I paid $200 for my 16' because it needed a deck and tires.
The RV is going to be a tough one. If it has a big block under the hood, all your money is in it. I've seen 440s go for $1000 by themselves. Selling the whole thing is a crap shoot. I'd put $3000 on it and hope you can get half that.
Realistically the machines and forklift are probably worth scrap value unless the forklift runs. If so you might get more. If the cylinders rods are rusted, then it doesn't matter if it runs or not. It would cost so much to repair, it's scrap.
Ask him if he has any antique farm engines or tractors. If so, I might be interested.
will do. I think the only antique tractor he had was already sold, but who knows.
it's all a crapshoot. If this stuff all came to me in a will or something, it would just be "come take what you want, leave however much cash you want to leave, etc." But hoarders are an odd bunch in that all their stuff has "meaning' to them so they overprice it as an excuse not to be able to sell it or get rid of it............this is my major frustration. Aside from going over there to take some pics and ending up listening to old family stories for 2 hours
Vigo wrote:
I do not count myself among the downers in this thread. I am MAD JEALOUS that he is not my uncle and magically also a more generous person. I would love to to have half of the stuff pictured. Is that so wrong?
Im actually fairly curious about that RV, havent seen one like it before.
lol....it's not that he's not generous. He'll give or "indefinitely loan" stuff to family or people he thinks are "good people" without batting an eyelash. My dad has a huge trailer-mounted generator/welder that was "loaned" to him a decade ago (and works perfectly) and never asked for back. When I go over just to visit he always wants me to take giant things home with me (invariably when I'm driving the GT6 or e30 and can't).....
But this stuff is like his "family" to him so I don't think he likes the idea of selling it.....though he doesn't mind doing so if he thinks its "going to a good home" if you know what I mean.
I can find out more about the RV. He could furnish a 1970s YMCA with all the old sports equipment that's inside, lol.......
Here's some other pics that I took last year of some other stuff....I'm just gonna keep posting pics here in the hopes that something I post up someone will say "whoa, that's a super-rare bezerkle-dongle-machine that's worth a mint" lol.....
there's this (it actually does run and was registered as recently as last year)
irish44j wrote:
Aside from going over there to take some pics and ending up listening to old family stories for 2 hours
This right here might be the entire reason he is talking about selling anything. People love to talk about their junk. Including me. His yard looks like my shop. 
I love places like that. I could literally spend days wandering through there looking under and through things. Every few minutes you would hear, "Oh, cool..."
Toyman01 wrote:
irish44j wrote:
Aside from going over there to take some pics and ending up listening to old family stories for 2 hours
This right here might be the entire reason he is talking about selling anything. People love to talk about their junk. Including me. His yard looks like my shop.
I love places like that. I could literally spend days wandering through there looking under and through things. Every few minutes you would hear, "Oh, cool..."
I mean, I'm the same way when I go there. It's a mix of "wow there is some cool stuff here" and "wow this has a lot of promise if I had time and money" and "wow it is so sad that this 10 acre field and barn is a microcosm of a 45 years of someone's life that if moving to its failing end"
Vigo wrote:
I do not count myself among the downers in this thread. I am MAD JEALOUS that he is not my uncle and magically also a more generous person. I would love to to have half of the stuff pictured. Is that so wrong?
Im actually fairly curious about that RV, havent seen one like it before.
You and me both. I've already thought about driving up there, buying the goose neck, loading the RV on it and hauling it all back the Charleston. My wife would have heart failure.
I'm not buying anything else this year that has tires on it.
I'm not buying anything else this year that has tires on it.
I'm not buying anything else this year that has tires on it.
I'm not buying anything else this year that has tires on it.
I'm not buying anything else this year that has tires on it.
I'm not buying anything else this year that has tires on it.
I'm not buying anything else this year that has tires on it.
Except maybe a lawn mower.
I'd guess the RV is a 413 chrysler industrial engine. They aren't the same as the 413 wedge used in cars.
If his prices were more reasonable, I'd load up my van & trailer, my pockets full of cash(well, loose change and lint ) and head the ~700-miles out there and pack up as much as I could haul!
petegossett wrote:
If his prices were more reasonable, I'd load up my van & trailer, my pockets full of cash(well, loose change and lint ) and head the ~700-miles out there and pack up as much as I could haul!
I'm working on it....these were just numbers he was throwing out as we were walking around today. If there are things you want, email me what you think they're worth and we can see how much he'll budge on things. It's baby steps here. A month ago half the stuff I posted up today he "wasn't interested in selling" so I just have to keep working him.
The forklift should have been scrap metal at least 30 years ago. That is my professional opinion.
