Losing tools, and my mind

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I have a teenage son. My stuff is usually awol. If I ask him to go get every tool I need for a project my anger stays at bay. He also gets to put them away every time. Good practice in family relations.
I remember well when my boys where teenagers. Back them they would T&S, (tear and scatter), some project and leave a mess behind. They sort of grew out of that. Now they come and borrow something and never bring it back.
 
My dad, brother, and I used to do that as a game. My dad was such a packrat he became the sole occupant of 22 storage units in a building he bought. I had a 3200 sq ft barn and none of us could ever find the stuff we knew we had and just bought what we needed for repairs or tools just to find the last 2 we bought when we were stealing (borrowing) from each other.
 
I have a 3 stall garage at home and the biggest single item in it is a 4 wheeler.

At the cabin I have a single stall garage and a 1700 sf pole building. The single thing larger than a snowblower in it is my boat. Otherwise they are both filled with junk.

As soon as I get my wood put up this spring I'm cleaning. So through with not having storage space.
 
Sounds as though you have storage space, it's just that it is in use.

. Otherwise they are both filled with junk. this spring I'm cleaning. So through with not having storage space.

haha :laughing: took the words right out of my mouth... well, umm... I mean keyboard!

sorry svk, couldn't resist... kind'a a funny comment as mr abbott attests to also.... ;)
 
i have teenage son that has it own tools box. his friend come over and are like wish i had a tools box like that. he like its no big deal i got a tool box so. well when they go to work on there bikes guess whos tools he uses. i understand that i have some tools that he doesn't. he has all the regular tools he need still uses mine. i ever bought him is own snap on ratchet wrenches so he would leave mine alone. but it never fails. several years ago he went to put his bike petal back on and slid the box end of the wrench on the petal not thinking and tighten it down. instead of taking the petal back off and using the open end of the wrench he just cut the wrench off and left the box part of the wrench on the petal lol. i found the snap on wrench in my tool box cut off and was like wtf. let just say he was not happen when i made him pay for the wrench out of his own money
 
p
i have teenage son that has it own tools box. his friend come over and are like wish i had a tools box like that. he like its no big deal i got a tool box so. well when they go to work on there bikes guess whos tools he uses. i understand that i have some tools that he doesn't. he has all the regular tools he need still uses mine. i ever bought him is own snap on ratchet wrenches so he would leave mine alone. but it never fails. several years ago he went to put his bike petal back on and slid the box end of the wrench on the petal not thinking and tighten it down. instead of taking the petal back off and using the open end of the wrench he just cut the wrench off and left the box part of the wrench on the petal lol. i found the snap on wrench in my tool box cut off and was like wtf. let just say he was not happen when i made him pay for the wrench out of his own money

great story!! :)

from: Real Stories of Kids Growing Up
 
Another good one is when I am working on something really small, I wont lay it down because I know I will never find it. I was working on my tiller in the garden, I put the pin out of a small carb needle valve in my mouth so it would be real handy to get. Of course being a snuff dipper, I didnt think about the little pin when I went to spit. I raked the ground for 30 min trying to find that pin. Ended up paying $18 for another kit just to get the pin. This time I took the carb off the tiller and took it back to the shop to work on it. Had a buddy rebuilding a muncie 4speed. Dropped one of those needle bearing in the dirt and a chicken pecked it up and ran off. He followed that chicken around half a day until it took a poop and got the needle bearing back.

the he** you say! crazie story... :dizzy: omg... funny too. omg... and got the needle bearing back. :clap:

rebuilt, repaired plenty muncies in my day... oh no, don't tell me I lost a needle bearing!! :eek: phew, there it is... ;)
 
i have teenage son that has it own tools box. his friend come over and are like wish i had a tools box like that. he like its no big deal i got a tool box so. well when they go to work on there bikes guess whos tools he uses. i understand that i have some tools that he doesn't. he has all the regular tools he need still uses mine. i ever bought him is own snap on ratchet wrenches so he would leave mine alone. but it never fails. several years ago he went to put his bike petal back on and slid the box end of the wrench on the petal not thinking and tighten it down. instead of taking the petal back off and using the open end of the wrench he just cut the wrench off and left the box part of the wrench on the petal lol. i found the snap on wrench in my tool box cut off and was like wtf. let just say he was not happen when i made him pay for the wrench out of his own money
Lock the box. Kids have zero respect for expensive hard earned tools.
 
I like finding my tools in the sandbox rusting or the yard with the lawn mower. I gave my kid lots of tools and a tool cart and he still uses mine instead.
 
I like finding my tools in the sandbox rusting or the yard with the lawn mower. I gave my kid lots of tools and a tool cart and he still uses mine instead.
You know why they do that? Cause they dont even know what they have in their own tool box or where it is. No organizational skills what so ever! Yours is prob an easy target cause they can find what they want.
 
I think boys would fail as dung beetles. Their poop is definitely not rolled into a ball. Scattered everywhere, like their thoughts.image.png
 
Just imagine going to 8-15 houses a day on service calls. Heh, I have my tool pouch/bag pretty organized, but there is still 5 screwdrives, pry bar, plier, putty knife, wire stripper, Klein diagnal cutter, wire crimper, snap ring plier, long nose, extra long - long nose, slip joint plier, avaition snips, sheet metal crimper, 2 Cresent wrenches, folding knifem fluke, cordless impact, bit holder with about 20 size bits, meter, plastic tray with extra screws, wire nuts, connectors, microswitches, 1 15/16" socket with 1/4" drive, rachet, flex driver extension, 3 larger drill bits, chisel, electric tape, 5-10 hose clamps, water test strips, 3/8" wrech, plus extra crap that accumulates. Quick glance and I can see if anything is missing. But, lost a $30 Klein cutter the other day, the cheaper ones suck and got a Dewalt brand and a cheaper one before I said screw it and got a new Klein again.

Workbench in garage is a disaster also. But most tools get put back in their home in one of the 3 rollouts under workbench.

Work van is another story, needed a part for a washer the other day and it was not in the proper tool box. So I start putting stuff away and low and behold 10-15 minutes later, one of the last parts that were out of place was the part needed. I usually stock 300+ parts. It is so nice when you know where everything is. There is times you spend tons of time cleaning stuff up looking for what you want, and you forget what you were doing to begin with.

One of the best things I got is a this:
616%2Bv551eqL._SL1500_.jpg

Save a ton of time switching out bits and the swivel is awesome for hard to reach spaces.

This screwdriver is a handy one to have also:
51j0jZzrwdL.jpg
 
Back
Top