So here’s the deal —
We’re packing up shop and heading to Florida, where I will be working as a framer to begin with, and then as a framing sub once I have completed my Florida license process.
However, for the past 10 years we’ve been running a log home business that covered the whole gamut – from restoration and finish work on multi-million dollar lodges, to additions, new construction – you name it, if it was log, we did it!
I’m one of those type of guys who just likes to buy tools. You know the type. In fact, you probably ARE the type! So I’ve got a whole workshop worth of woodworking machines, various hand tools small machinery etc. Of course, I have all the contractor tools as well as bunches of ladders, blasting equipment etc. etc. We’re thinking of having an auction in late June, and here is my dilemma —
Do I sell everything and head down to Florida with boat loads of cash? Do I take everything down there with me? Do I keep some of the tools I’d need for framing, or just buy brand new stuff when I get down there?
Not enough info for you to make a stab at it? Well, yeah, I know. But throw in your opinions anyway. My mind has been yo-yoing everyday about what I should do! LOML just says – “They are your tools, it’s your decision!” Gee, thanks for the help hon. 🙂
Go for it guys! Lemme have it with both barrels!
Replies
What you don't need sell and what you expect you might need hang on to, you can always sell it later!
I would sell it all on ebay. You will probably get better money listing it all separately. Get a digital camera and start listing. It may seem like a hassle, but it is easier than packing it all up and moving it. Also you will get close to new prices on probably most of it, so you will be able to buy all new tools and end up not spending much. Plus you won't have to pay for a semi to move it all to Florida.
My 2 cents,
Dan
"Life is what happens when you are making other plans." - John Lennon
I'd do a mix of the 2 - Sell some, and keep some.
The stuff to keep would be stuff you just plain LIKE. Maybe a new cordless drill you just bought. Or some favorite hand tools.
The stuff to sell would be ladders and other large stuff that's hard to move anyway. Might be a good time to unload the miter saw that won't square up well anymore. Or the saw you reciprocating saw you bought, then wished you'd bought another brand. Stuff you DON'T like.
.
Whatever you decide to do, I hope it works out well for ya.
If you involved in too many things, the only thing you will excel at is being busy.
Boss... you are prophetic.
>>"Or the reciprocating saw you bought, then wished you'd bought another brand"<<
Curse you. I did buy a recip saw today. And I DO wish I'd bought another brand!
I hold you personally responsible!
I have to agree with the ebay suggestion. The buyers at the traditional auctions are the guys looking for the deals so they can sell it on ebay!!. Also, start now you don't want the hassle of shipping it to Florida.
Peace
Martin
Those tools are your bread and butter. I wouldn't part with anything you think you might need, if you have the room for the stuff when you get there.
Hauling the stuff in a Ryder rental is way cheaper in the winter offseason. Dramatically so.
Central Ohio is not known for being the most conducive area for financial accumulation :) so an auction might be quick but not the best. If a small crowd and after the auctioneers % it might be a bummer.
It's true EBay is the best for smaller size sales if you're willing to mess with paperwork and packaging. The big items might go easier by running an ad in the local paper.
Whatta you want to sell your tools for anyhow? Sure you're moving and it's a big deal but you still gotta have a life once you get down there. I'd think you'd be better with than without and after forced selling, replacing generally cost more unless you already know you're going to buy new.
Well, you asked for opinion and it's cheap...
hey i wonder if you have ever tried to work in florida as far as the heat.If you arent going to live on either or the three coasts its friggin hot.yeah- i know i can deal with it.well i'm tellin you by 11:00 your ready for air conditioning and a place to die.i cant explain to you how hot it is from may till around november.thinkin maqybe you should try to come for a summer just to see bewfore you pack up all your stuff.lol
People got to the hospital regularly from heat exaustion around here specially yankees but whatever hope your not one of them and have a good time here good luck to ya
Yep... the heat and humidity will be the toughest things to overcome.
Although we did spend a 6 month stay down there and I did brick paver driveways for whole housing tracts. whew!
I remember when we first got down there... it felt like my clothes were so heavy, and like I was moving about 1/10 speed. But it was no big deal I guess -- because I seemed to be moving just about as fast as everyone else :)
Things are just a little slower down there!
got anything i can't live without? short on time right now but i could run up mid may and see what you got.
best idea is to give it all to me to store for you until you come back north- i will of course keep it all well oiled and maintained and hardly wear out any of it.
your timing is not so good for me cuz my framer doesn't like doing log homes and i just got two to build- one in apple valley- hello pm's backyard- and one in licking county- hello right next to pm's back yard. very inconsiderate of you...
give me the tools and i will forgive this slight.
hey best of luck in florida
buy a hat with a bigash brim and drink gallons of water and you'll live.
florida ain't hot- texas is hot. a hundred plus for four freakin months- every damn day- no wind- i couldn't hardly golf more than six days a week...
You guys are a riot...
yeah, yeah, that's it... store the stuff for me :)
I would keep everything except for the things youve been trying to find an excuse to get rid of so you could buy a better replacement. If you sell your stuff on ebay, you still have to pack to pack it up and ship it ( not to mention having to list it, deal with questions from buyers, etc.). How much of a hassle or expense would it be to pack it all up yourself and ship it down, or pay someone to pack everything and ship it ( a treat to yourself). If you did sell everything ( most things) then you would have to go through the hassle of buying everything again. May not be able to find everything you want once you get down to the Tampa area.
How much stuff do you have? Here's the excuse to buy that big trailer, load the thing up and drive it down ( you now have your portable shop). If you weren't really that interested in the trailer, you could sell it once you get down there.
Id keep as much as I could. Its taken me a long time to gather all the tools I have.
m2akita
i take it that means no
Ya see rez...
Don't tell anyone, but I have a secret. It's not really a forced sale. My wife and I went to a bunch of auctions last year and the year before and the one thing I noticed at EVERY auction, was that the stuff went for damn close to what you could buy it for new... in some cases, especially for large planers and woodworking machines, the stuff went for more than what you could get it for from Amazon!!!! And Amazon offers free shipping!!!
It's crazy. In fact, I sold my Delta 6" jointer on ebay, and some guy paid me 50 bucks less than what I paid for it brand new 7 years ago, by time you added on shipping, he paid more than a brand spanking new one from Amazon.
I suppose I'd keep a couple things - I've got a brand new compressor and 2 new nail guns, plus all the hand tools I'd need for everyday framing.
Cripes - I have some tools that I've never even used! Like my plate joiner. Never even been outta the case!
Well, I suppose we'll see. Thanks for the input!
With auctions you just never know. I've seen Bridgeport mills go for $750 each. And when I was in the market for a truck, the one I wanted at an auction went for $16k because a couple bozo's got excited and paid that much for a truck that was all beat to crap and blue booked at $6-9k.
Boss Hog has the right idea. Move the stuff you like, sell the rest. But if the decision is hard to make on some items, move them. That way you'll have fewer of those "wish to hell I still had my good old ...." moments.
-- J.S.
Sell the giant tools you won't really need anymore and are too bulky to move.
Rent a giant U-Haul and get half a dozen laborors to help you move it all into the truck and hire more laborors when you arrive in Fla to unload.
Good luck and
BE well
andy
My life is my passion!
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
PS.where in Florida?
My life is my passion!
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Tampa area.. my wife has a sister there.
Petmonkey
A little over a year ago I moved from Iowa to Austin, TX. Thats about the same distance as you are going.
I took every single tool with me, and I had plenty, I wouldnt sell a damn thing unless you just dont want it anymore.
Doug
Sounds like me and my wife , we plan to go to Florida the next few years for a couple of weeks , too short to work but the plan is to go down for longer later. and I dont want to take everything also. but I have a list in my mind of the things I want to have so I can work , electric circ saw, recipro saw , r/o sander,12 in slider chop saw, 10 in table saw, lg 1/2in drill, sm tile saw, jigsaw and router w plunge base and sm router table . and cordless tools 1/2in hammer drill, circ saw, recipro saw and 6ft step ladder and 24ft ex ladder and all my air tools , frammer , finish nailer, pancake comp. with this list I can do almost anything I find for work. make yourself a list and sell the rest
dogboy
keep it all ...
then buy more once you get there.
I'm closer than doug ... I know a short cut from Pittsburgh ...
I'll offer rock bottom pricing on most anything you really really like ...
how about a list in the for sale section?
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
i'll split him with you and rez-
i get the good stuff tho
I'll meet ya there...
Is this to be the great tool hiest # 8???Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
Ha! If I'd known it was going to be this easy to get rid of all my tools for free... I'd have moved to Florida years ago!
hey i do log home restoration work here in S. WV; you never know when you might have to hew a coconut palm down there so keep ur broadaxe and adze.And i reccommend using I-64 to I-77 for the move.Dont tie the stuff down real good and tell me when ur coming..theres some good potholes down here and ill be waiting!
man i cant say this enough times why not north carolina beaatiful place- good work good people and all the rest that goes along with it lived there 10 yrs didnt know how good it was till i moved back to fale.I was born in key west raised in wesy palm beach till i was 15 so its not like the first time ive been here.after about 2 months i have been heard to say ...dont take long to remember why i left.I'm here now and really glad i came cant ya tell?
>>after about 2 months i have been heard to say ...dont take long to remember why i left.<<
I hear ya bud.
My wife asked me the other day... "Honey, why'd we ever leave Florida in the first place?"
My reply... "I don't know, but I'm sure I'll remember when we get there."
Ah well. No matter where you go... there you are.
Ah well. No matter where you go... there you are.
monkeyman
reminds me of a favorite meditation book of mine by Jon Kabbett/Zinn called, "Where ever you go, there you are". You may need it moving into the heat....eeeeeeeeeeee
BE sizzlin'
andy
My life is my passion!
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
You tool mongering sons of stitches!!!!!!
Thanks to everyone for the replies. Before I posted I was pretty sure that I was going to SELL IT ALL!
However, after reading the responses and seriously thinking about the points you guys brought up, I've decided to keep the majority of the stuff.
My favorite response was "Keep it all and buy more when you get down there!"
The tax problem was a helpful hint as well... LOML is checking on the whole depreciation thing.
Besides -- in the last 2 days I spent close to 800 bucks on a new Recip (which I had to have) and a felt button kap nailer (which I really wanted). So it seems kind of silly to consider selling everything since I'll just end up buying it all over again!!! (a couple of you guys made that point)
And since ya just never know what life will throw at ya -- maybe I'd better keep all the stuff just in case the framing thing doesn't work out.
Thanks again guys... and for those of you who had dibs on all my stuff -- yer just gonna hafta hijack the tractor trailer!
uhm- let me suggest a mover- not bonded you unnerstand... but way cheap.
cheap cheap cheap
yer just gonna hafta hijack the tractor trailer!
We'll get right on it....Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
Please drop them off in Cleveland on your way down to Florida. Yeah, I know it's the wrong direction.
hey now, if we are getting into a tool dispersal for ohioians I want in on this deal.
Holy Cow!
Alright, but the next time I'm charging ya.
where are you dude?
central ohio?
if you are going to jlc in the fall we are grilling at my house- my good friends buck and calvin say it is so- so it is so i suppose.
leave yer wallet at home- i understand i'm loaded...
up north on Lake Erie. You talkin' about an Ohio fest?
.
can be.
up to you guys-
i'll grill for one or three hundred-
buck has had my burnt chicken and he didn't die
I'm just trying to help out that bad back of yours ...
I'm convinced the lump under your mattress is too big ...
we gotta make that pile of builder money a little smaller some how ....
JeffBuck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
oh sure- invite everyone to my house and now you tell 'em where the safe is...
you are a good friend
heres a little different angle.remember 5 yrs ago when you bought that 1200.00 contractors saw, one of the excuses you told the wife was you needed the tax write off? if you have a auction, collect the money, go to florida and get a tan, along comes tax time 2004. your tax man is going to ask you what you have done with all your equipment and you say i sold it for xxxx$. uncle sam is going to recoup all that deprication you took and it can be quite a surprise.[ i know i got hung up on this one time] if you get rid of a little every year you can just claim it wore out and you threw it away. now my vote on your question, i'd sort through it and the stuff that is obsolete or wore out i'd leave. you get to florida you may find yourself doing something completely different than framing and you'll kick yourself that you don't still have your old tools. good luck larry
keep your tools...
you can't replace them for what you'll get, why start over.
and on top of that, everytime I personally sell off some POS tool I always regret it for some reason, well minus the PC detail sander, but anyway, I am your type, I buy tools, and even selling the crappy ones bothers me.
When we moved from Maryland to Oregon, I used the 70 cents a pound rule. Anything less than that either got sold at the garage sale or was given to Goodwill. Figure your cost to move something and that should help you decide what to keep.