Did (or does) your tool collection pay for itself?

[ultrarunner]

Most of my tools were either acquired for a specific job or given to me...

The older I get... the more tools I seem to inherit from folks moving or downsizing...

My brother is a 25 year Real Estate Broker and he will call once in awhile needed to get a garage cleared to close escrow... picked up some good items... now, I mostly pass because how many hand tools or drills does a person really need?

I would say without a doubt my tools, including my tractor and dozer, have paid for themselves compared to what it would cost me if I would have hired all the work done.

My Bridgeport and Lathe don't get used much these days... they long ago paid for themselves... I couldn't justify buying based on current usage...

Good tools retain value...

I have no idea what will happen to them once I'm gone... people just don't seem to be interested in repairs and do it yourself much anymore.

Somewhere I read the demand for repair and project books is at an all time low... most toss rather than repair or move, rather than improve...

This is one of the reasons I keep coming back to TBN...

 

[300UGUY]

I don't know. I know I have a lot of stuff. I don't think I'll ask my wife what she thinks about this....

 

[tractchores]

I think mine have paid for themselves or at least come close. I rarely do work for hire, but have done enough jobs myself that I would have had to hire out that I've saved some serious money. A lot of my tools were bought specifically with a job in mind and then have come in handy for many future jobs. It helps that I maintain a few different properties (rentals), so I end up with more 'jobs' (usually in the middle of the night too!). It's going to take a LOT of years to justify my tractor though....

 

[JDgreen227]

I think mine have paid for themselves or at least come close. I rarely do work for hire, but have done enough jobs myself that I would have had to hire out that I've saved some serious money. A lot of my tools were bought specifically with a job in mind and then have come in handy for many future jobs. It helps that I maintain a few different properties (rentals), so I end up with more 'jobs' (usually in the middle of the night too!). It's going to take a LOT of years to justify my tractor though....

Disagree, tools should usually be justified by the payback, but toys, oops, tractors are such a required item I don't think one should even worry about the payback factor. But for me, mine saves at least $1500 per year for not having to hire a lawn care or snow removal service, so it justifies the cost should I want to.

 

[techwrtr2]

You can never have too many tools and I really cannot think of a time when I regretted a tool purchase unless it was sub-standard quality in which case it was the individual product chosen which was flawed rather than the choice to buy the tool.

There also is something to be said for pondering where you put that tool rather than wishing you had purchased it.

Further, quality tools make a massive difference. Even if that tool is a simple screw driver. Having the proper screw driver at one time could have saved me many hours of work.

Purchased the proper set immediately after and never regretted it.

 

[moored4]

I started collecting / obtaining tools when I was about 12yrs old, I think and have been doing it ever since. I learned quality tool help you do quality work. I made my living pulling on wrenches, So yes my tools have provided me with all that I have, they have more than paid for them self痴. :thumbsup:

 

[Pete Judd]

On average, a great big "YUP". The wife has no problem with the purchase of new tools if I have a current use, or future use for them. Even the tractor, for lower fuel costs over a riding mower, and as well pulled her car out of the driveway in the snow a couple of days ago.

 

[raptor749]

The only tool that has not paid for its self yet , is my 6.5' x 14' PJ gooseneck dump trailer . But in time it will !! As for wrenches / hand tools I make my living with them and keep buying more as money and needs arise. NEVER HAVE ENOUGH TOOLS ..:thumbsup:::thumbsup:

 

[Bigfoot62]

Sure they have, probably several times. Just last month, I put a new radiator in the Toyota 4x4, and rebuilt the shift range cylinder on the transmission of the Kenworth. Just the savings, in labor, on those two jobs would run several hundred dollars.

But, I don't just look at tools that way. We live in a rural area. It's 20+ miles to the nearest tractor dealer, automobile dealer or auto parts store. Having, on hand, the proper tools to do the job saves a lot of time and wasted trips back to town. :thumbsup:

 

[Depmandog]

"Did your tool collection pay for itself"? Nope, I kept telling that (insert tool name here) to pull out its billfold and pay the cashier, but it never happened. ok - that was pretty lame, I admit HAHA

Without a doubt, my tool collection has paid for itself, many times. You know that is the fun of planning a project, choosing / selecting the tools to buy.

How many times a month do you find yourself in the tool aisle / tool store staring, salivating, holding, caressing - generally acting like women at Walmart, shopping for tools??

Sure thing, my tools have paid for themselves!! Many times. Many many times!!!

WOULD US MEN EVER ADMIT OTHERWISE????

 

[herd]

I never was a mechanic so I have very few mechanic tools. I do have all the nice wrenches and sockets/ratchet sets. I am very handy and do all my house repair stuff (except HVAC) as well as all carpentry/drywall/concrete/siding/etc. In that regard, my vast set of those kinds of tools have more than paid for themselves. At last count, I have like 18 DeWalt power tools, so I have some money tied up.

And yes, hammers, I have a thing about hammers, guess I collect them but you know, I have used every one of them at least once.

 

[grsthegreat]

Mine...never HEHE

cept for my electrical contracting tools. Their the only tools that have ever made me money.

My plasma cnc table is a big money eater...but its fun to use.

 

[powerpace]

Woodworking tools have paid for themselves many times over. Remodeled my previous house several years ago and then finished half of the interior of a pole barn 36x48 for living quarters till my new house was built. Built the water storage and pump house 10x10. Numerous animal shelters and feeders. About a mile of fence. Wired all buildings to Code with the help of the electrican Brother-in-Law. He is the only one I loan tools.
Installed all underground wiring and water including two wells. Nine-hundred feet underground electric. Eleven-hundred feet waterlines.
Mechanic tools get a workout too. Do my own maintenance on Tractor and some on vehicles.
The only tool I have that I didn't buy was a Hilti TE905. It was given to me by an Uncle after I did some work for him down in Vegas. I have given it a workout. Breaking up stuff and driving ground rods. About a 10 second job for a 8 foot rod. Try pounding one of those in the ground with a sledge while standing on a ladder. Best investment I never made.
They have all earned their keep.

 

[Soundguy]

Most of my tools were either acquired for a specific job or given to me...

The older I get... the more tools I seem to inherit from folks moving or downsizing...

My brother is a 25 year Real Estate Broker and he will call once in awhile needed to get a garage cleared to close escrow... picked up some good items... now, I mostly pass because how many hand tools or drills does a person really need?

.

as many as you want

I also hit estate sales and auctions, and flea markets and yard sales.

have drove off with truck loads of equipment for 75$

best deals in town.

At yard sales I buy every 1$ or 50 cent socket set missing a piece or 2 I can find. dump in in a coffee can and then sort good sets out of them to keep, stash in ziplocks on each tractor or vehicle, or give to friends... or if I need to weld a socket or cut one.. i got no qualms about digging in the bucket and finding a pakistan special and some pipe and making a deep well or something out of it.. etc..

needed a 1/2" square femal driver for a rim lock stud a while back.. just didn't have anything good to fit. found 2 cheap 1/2" drive pakistan sockets witht he chrome flaking off.. from one of those sets that gives you the odd 32'nds units and sockets.. and grabbed 2 I've never used ( have a 3rd and 4th as backup ) and welde dthem face to face, thus having a drive for a breaker bar and for the rim lock stud. worked like a charm...

soundguy

 

[tractchores]

Disagree, tools should usually be justified by the payback, but toys, oops, tractors are such a required item I don't think one should even worry about the payback factor. But for me, mine saves at least $1500 per year for not having to hire a lawn care or snow removal service, so it justifies the cost should I want to.

Very true, I can say that payback has never stopped me from buying the 'toys'. Though I suspect the tractor may come close to breaking even after many years and given the resale is pretty good on them. In the end the tractor is practical and fun, I've got some other toys that are just 'fun' and those are tougher to justify to the wife...

 

[Triguy1]

As I have never used any of my tools in a "For Profit" mode, I certainly cannot say that they have made me money. But as far as saving my me money, it is not even question. Even though I tend to look at a new project as an excuse to buy a new tool , the math sure works out as opposed to paying someone else to do a labor intensive job. Here are just a few examples that I use when justifying to my wife.

$500 commercial paint sprayer, or $10,000 to have pro paint my house

$450 Stihl chainsaw, or $300/cord of cut firewood X 4 so far this year = $1200

The list goes on, but as lease I don't get questioned about buying tools anymore

The Tractor math may be a bit fuzzy, but its hard to put a price on being able to build, fix or maintain just about anything right when you want/need something done, as opposed to searching for someone else to do it.

Jon

 

[Soundguy]

As I have never used any of my tools in a "For Profit" mode, I certainly cannot say that they have made me money. But as far as saving my me money, it is not even question. Even though I tend to look at a new project as an excuse to buy a new tool , the math sure works out as opposed to paying someone else to do a labor intensive job. Here are just a few examples that I use when justifying to my wife.

$500 commercial paint sprayer, or $10,000 to have pro paint my house

$450 Stihl chainsaw, or $300/cord of cut firewood X 4 so far this year = $1200

The list goes on, but as lease I don't get questioned about buying tools anymore

The Tractor math may be a bit fuzzy, but its hard to put a price on being able to build, fix or maintain just about anything right when you want/need something done, as opposed to searching for someone else to do it.

Jon

this post says it great

x2

soundguy

 

[JDgreen227]

As I have never used any of my tools in a "For Profit" mode, I certainly cannot say that they have made me money. But as far as saving my me money, it is not even question. Even though I tend to look at a new project as an excuse to buy a new tool , the math sure works out as opposed to paying someone else to do a labor intensive job. Here are just a few examples that I use when justifying to my wife.

$500 commercial paint sprayer, or $10,000 to have pro paint my house

$450 Stihl chainsaw, or $300/cord of cut firewood X 4 so far this year = $1200

The list goes on, but as lease I don't get questioned about buying tools anymore

The Tractor math may be a bit fuzzy, but its hard to put a price on being able to build, fix or maintain just about anything right when you want/need something done, as opposed to searching for someone else to do it.

Jon

I could make a case where one has to figure in the time spent doing the job with the $500 paint sprayer vs. the $10,000 you would spend having it done, BUT, repeat BUT:

NO doubt the do-it-yourselfers are going to do a MUCH better job of painting than the hired help is. If you know you are going to have to fix it when you (bleep) the project up, you will be much more careful with the planning and prep work. Not to knock the people who do painting, etc for a living, but if there is a way they can cut corners and save some time, they will do an 80% job, and that is just human nature. You, on the other hand, will do the best work you possibly can. It's as simple as that.

 

[ncnurseryman]

Yes, yes and yes. They have all paid for themselves but I can't claim to have as big of a collection as some here, yet.

 

[powerpace]

I posted about the hand tools previously but didn't mention the tractor. Invaluable when it comes to grading the road, digging trenches, feeding round bales mowing, etc.
I do have a anvil that weighs 150# that gets beat on often but at $4 a pound I will never be able to justify that to my wife. At $4 a pound that was a steal out here in Oregon.