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I've mentioned before that I stop and pick up discarded / abandoned / unwanted things that people set out by the road. A couple of days ago, I ran across this item:

PB070917.JPG

It looks like a lawnmower but it isn't. It's a Craftsman 247.770100 lawn vacuum. Basically, it's an gasoline powered outdoor vacuum cleaner. I doesn't just vacuum up leaves and other material on the ground, it also chips / shreds them. There is a built-in small branch chipping chute on the right side. The bag on the back is huge, and billows way out to hold a lot in operation. The bag is made of some kind of very heavy felt material.

Most of us have an assortment of loose acquaintances that pop up in our lives occasionally. Not exactly friends, but people we know from one connection or other. One such person I kinda /sorta know had this thing sitting in front of his house. He has a regular table of free stuff he sets out and this machine was sitting with that stuff. I stopped and we talked a while and I decided to take this thing. He'd never run it; someone else had given it to him as a project. It had been sitting outside his place under a pine tree; it still had a healthy layer of pine litter on top of it when I first saw it.

When I got it home, I checked the engine oil, it was off the stick so I installed some. Then I checked the fuel tank, which was dry, so I added some. I removed the spark plug and shot of few squirts of engine oil into the combustion chamber to restore compression. I removed the dirty air filter and shot a bit of engine quick start into the carb. It didn't want to fire. I had the bag off. Then I noticed that there is a safety cut-out switch that grounds the coil when the bag is off. So I put a wire in place to hold the switch down, then after a few pulls the engine started up in a cloud of smoke. Which cleared right up after a minute or so.

Today was the trial run. Autumn is a very good time to have a machine such as this. First, I took it for a spin on my paved driveway, which I normally just blow off. But this thing picks it all up. It's adjustable as to height, and it worked like a charm. Then I raised the adjustment a couple of notches and took it off road to vacuum up some maple leaves, where it also did a fine job.

I'm not sure what vintage this machine is, but I think it's about 25 years old. It's got a Tecumseh 4.5 HP engine which now starts cold on the first pull. With the throttle lever in the correct position, it will start hot on the first pull. Oh, and that Tecumseh engine is pretty thirsty. My only complaint about this machine is that the fuel tank should be about twice as large.
 
My last free thing was a Player Piano that only needed a few small repairs.
I probably have a couple hundred hours in it, and $2000 in parts. all for a free piano! DR
 
Where I used to work, the custodian had a machine called a Billy Goat (that's the brand name) yard vacuum. It was bigger than the craftsman shown above. And I think it cost about a couple of thousand dollars. I believe it was only used two or three times to vacuum the parking lot. The Billy Goat was sent out by the US Government shortly after the terrorist ricin chemical scares. They also sent us a very expensive Nilfisk true HEPA industrial vacuum cleaner. Which also was rarely used. I think the bags cost several dollars each. Shortly after this equipment was received, the government eliminated our custodian position. Instead, we were budgeted a part time, contract cleaner who came around for two hours a day. Which was hardly enough time to take care of a 10,000 sq. ft. building, plus parking lot and grounds. So the Billy Goat and the Nilfisk sat unused in a storage room. I went around to this office years after my retirement, the machines were still sitting there covered with dust. The building has since been torn down and I don't know what happened to all the equipment that was in it. Surplused somewhere, I'd guess.
 
Where I used to work, the custodian had a machine called a Billy Goat (that's the brand name) yard vacuum. It was bigger than the craftsman shown above. And I think it cost about a couple of thousand dollars. I believe it was only used two or three times to vacuum the parking lot. The Billy Goat was sent out by the US Government shortly after the terrorist ricin chemical scares. They also sent us a very expensive Nilfisk true HEPA industrial vacuum cleaner. Which also was rarely used. I think the bags cost several dollars each. Shortly after this equipment was received, the government eliminated our custodian position. Instead, we were budgeted a part time, contract cleaner who came around for two hours a day. Which was hardly enough time to take care of a 10,000 sq. ft. building, plus parking lot and grounds. So the Billy Goat and the Nilfisk sat unused in a storage room. I went around to this office years after my retirement, the machines were still sitting there covered with dust. The building has since been torn down and I don't know what happened to all the equipment that was in it. Surplused somewhere, I'd guess.
Just think of the fate of a lot of government offices when Musk heads up the D.O.G.E.
 
My last free thing was a Player Piano that only needed a few small repairs.
I probably have a couple hundred hours in it, and $2000 in parts. all for a free piano! DR
There is another player piano advertised for free in Estacada right now if you're looking for another one. :)
 
I put an old but working washer on the streets edge with a free sign, it was there almost two weeks. I took off the sign and put a new one that read $50, it was gone some time during the night.:confused:
 
I put an old but working washer on the streets edge with a free sign, it was there almost two weeks. I took off the sign and put a new one that read $50, it was gone some time during the night.:confused:
That's a common trope amonst the internet for a long time - I'm not sure if you're repeating the joke or this actually did happen, but I will say I have a friend who actually did this with a power washer.

Our best guess is when it was free, it was assumed to be broken. Adding a dollar value makes it functional and now valuable.
 
That's a common trope amonst the internet for a long time - I'm not sure if you're repeating the joke or this actually did happen, but I will say I have a friend who actually did this with a power washer.

Our best guess is when it was free, it was assumed to be broken. Adding a dollar value makes it functional and now valuable.
Actually happened, but wasn't my Idea. It was about 2010 when I put it on the street till I could find someone to take it away, Junker Jim, who travels to Portland From North Powder about every three months to pick up my scrap from work and a few other business in the area had just recently been here, so it would be a while before he returned. at the time, I had seen a guy wandering the Beaverton area in a beater truck picking up scrap metal so hoped he would claim it and was why it was on the street. I was lamenting to a fellow at work about missing Jim's visit when he suggested I try giving it a price (he mimicked your opine on adding value but had added a few expletive's and derogatory comments of the ethnic sort that might not resist it) and low and behold! maybe he got it off the net, maybe not, I didn't ask, except for this forum, or ordering things, I don't spend much time on it, but if it is an urban myth, it has some credulity for me.
 
I've mentioned before that I stop and pick up discarded / abandoned / unwanted things that people set out by the road. A couple of days ago, I ran across this item:

View attachment 1980683

It looks like a lawnmower but it isn't. It's a Craftsman 247.770100 lawn vacuum. Basically, it's an gasoline powered outdoor vacuum cleaner. I doesn't just vacuum up leaves and other material on the ground, it also chips / shreds them. There is a built-in small branch chipping chute on the right side. The bag on the back is huge, and billows way out to hold a lot in operation. The bag is made of some kind of very heavy felt material.

Most of us have an assortment of loose acquaintances that pop up in our lives occasionally. Not exactly friends, but people we know from one connection or other. One such person I kinda /sorta know had this thing sitting in front of his house. He has a regular table of free stuff he sets out and this machine was sitting with that stuff. I stopped and we talked a while and I decided to take this thing. He'd never run it; someone else had given it to him as a project. It had been sitting outside his place under a pine tree; it still had a healthy layer of pine litter on top of it when I first saw it.

When I got it home, I checked the engine oil, it was off the stick so I installed some. Then I checked the fuel tank, which was dry, so I added some. I removed the spark plug and shot of few squirts of engine oil into the combustion chamber to restore compression. I removed the dirty air filter and shot a bit of engine quick start into the carb. It didn't want to fire. I had the bag off. Then I noticed that there is a safety cut-out switch that grounds the coil when the bag is off. So I put a wire in place to hold the switch down, then after a few pulls the engine started up in a cloud of smoke. Which cleared right up after a minute or so.

Today was the trial run. Autumn is a very good time to have a machine such as this. First, I took it for a spin on my paved driveway, which I normally just blow off. But this thing picks it all up. It's adjustable as to height, and it worked like a charm. Then I raised the adjustment a couple of notches and took it off road to vacuum up some maple leaves, where it also did a fine job.

I'm not sure what vintage this machine is, but I think it's about 25 years old. It's got a Tecumseh 4.5 HP engine which now starts cold on the first pull. With the throttle lever in the correct position, it will start hot on the first pull. Oh, and that Tecumseh engine is pretty thirsty. My only complaint about this machine is that the fuel tank should be about twice as large.
I have a slightly different model of this Craftsman machine. It also has a chute that can be used instead of the bag. I've used it a bunch for many years. It is useful and powerful. But, it has required a ton of repairs. Once the vacuum impeller is deformed in any way, the vibration is tremendous and it shakes itself apart. I have straightened these impeller blades many times, and have welded this impeller as well as the branch grinder multiple times. I like it so well, I would buy another more modern version if I could find one.
 
It also has a chute that can be used instead of the bag.
Once I started looking at parts diagrams, I noticed the discharge chute to be used vice the bag. This one didn't come with that component. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the chute just blows the mulched material out to the side, correct? That wouldn't do me much good even if I had the part, because my goal is to pick the stuff up and dispose of it.

In the parts lists, that chute costs about $100. To replace the bag costs about $300.

Since I got this machine for free, my commitment to repairs isn't deep. I'll see how things go. I've been able to live life without it so far.
 
Once I started looking at parts diagrams, I noticed the discharge chute to be used vice the bag. This one didn't come with that component. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the chute just blows the mulched material out to the side, correct? That wouldn't do me much good even if I had the part, because my goal is to pick the stuff up and dispose of it.

In the parts lists, that chute costs about $100. To replace the bag costs about $300.

Since I got this machine for free, my commitment to repairs isn't deep. I'll see how things go. I've been able to live life without it so far.
Yes, the chute just blows to one side. I can use it as a blower on the sidewalk, or I can vacuum, mulch, and blow debris into my planting areas.

No matter what, the chute wouldn't be worth a hundred bucks to replace.

My whole unit is pretty worn out, but I keep repairing it while it costs little to no money for the repairs.. If it was something big, I'd likely dispose of it.





.
 
Last Edited:
Once I started looking at parts diagrams, I noticed the discharge chute to be used vice the bag. This one didn't come with that component. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the chute just blows the mulched material out to the side, correct? That wouldn't do me much good even if I had the part, because my goal is to pick the stuff up and dispose of it.

In the parts lists, that chute costs about $100. To replace the bag costs about $300.

Since I got this machine for free, my commitment to repairs isn't deep. I'll see how things go. I've been able to live life without it so far.
I think the top chute is for limbs. Jam a stick in it and see what happens.
 
Yes the top chute is for small limbs or branches.. I am talking about the discharge chute that can be used in lieu of bagging.




.
 
Last Edited:
I've mentioned before that I stop and pick up discarded / abandoned / unwanted things that people set out by the road. A couple of days ago, I ran across this item:

View attachment 1980683

It looks like a lawnmower but it isn't. It's a Craftsman 247.770100 lawn vacuum. Basically, it's an gasoline powered outdoor vacuum cleaner. I doesn't just vacuum up leaves and other material on the ground, it also chips / shreds them. There is a built-in small branch chipping chute on the right side. The bag on the back is huge, and billows way out to hold a lot in operation. The bag is made of some kind of very heavy felt material.

Most of us have an assortment of loose acquaintances that pop up in our lives occasionally. Not exactly friends, but people we know from one connection or other. One such person I kinda /sorta know had this thing sitting in front of his house. He has a regular table of free stuff he sets out and this machine was sitting with that stuff. I stopped and we talked a while and I decided to take this thing. He'd never run it; someone else had given it to him as a project. It had been sitting outside his place under a pine tree; it still had a healthy layer of pine litter on top of it when I first saw it.

When I got it home, I checked the engine oil, it was off the stick so I installed some. Then I checked the fuel tank, which was dry, so I added some. I removed the spark plug and shot of few squirts of engine oil into the combustion chamber to restore compression. I removed the dirty air filter and shot a bit of engine quick start into the carb. It didn't want to fire. I had the bag off. Then I noticed that there is a safety cut-out switch that grounds the coil when the bag is off. So I put a wire in place to hold the switch down, then after a few pulls the engine started up in a cloud of smoke. Which cleared right up after a minute or so.

Today was the trial run. Autumn is a very good time to have a machine such as this. First, I took it for a spin on my paved driveway, which I normally just blow off. But this thing picks it all up. It's adjustable as to height, and it worked like a charm. Then I raised the adjustment a couple of notches and took it off road to vacuum up some maple leaves, where it also did a fine job.

I'm not sure what vintage this machine is, but I think it's about 25 years old. It's got a Tecumseh 4.5 HP engine which now starts cold on the first pull. With the throttle lever in the correct position, it will start hot on the first pull. Oh, and that Tecumseh engine is pretty thirsty. My only complaint about this machine is that the fuel tank should be about twice as large.
You'll have to watch yourself that you don't circle on by the find site inexplicably, much like generations of coyotes do over a long gone mega carcass.
 
You'll have to watch yourself that you don't circle on by the find site inexplicably, much like generations of coyotes do over a long gone mega carcass.
I did that yesterday, looking for the 75% off popcorn balls at Walmart. Left over from Halloween. They were there Wednesday, gone yesterday. Now Mrs.Merkt is going to make me some Jello popcorn balls. Her recipe books shows she hasn't done those for 21 years.
 
I dumpster dived a gas fire pit. I took it home, hosed it off, adjusted the air fuel mixture valve that was wide open and recorded a video of it working. Uploaded that on the internet and I had $60 in my pocket later that evening. I wish I could do that every day! I didn't end up getting to keep the $60, but I was able to help a couple other people so it was a win win.
 
I think it's great that people are saving items from filling up the landfills. Our nation has become spoiled when it comes to the ease of discarding stuff and easily replacing it.
 

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