Roadside Jack

JohnP3616 · Thursday at 1:03 PM

I was making a run into town this morning and there was a 20 ton hydraulic jack sitting on the shoulder of the road. It looks pretty new, no rust, paint is in good shape. It works without a load, but I haven’t tested it with a load so no clue if it actually works. I might have to go to YouTube University to learn how to repair this thing, but I’m kinda stoked.

tradosaurus · Thursday at 1:32 PM

Maybe put it back since someone could have been using it to repair a flat and forgot it.

JohnP3616 · Thursday at 1:46 PM

That’s a good thought, but it’s a very busy road. If I didn’t get it someone else would in a matter of minutes. I would gladly return it to its owner if there was a way.

paulsharvey · Thursday at 2:15 PM

JohnP3616 said:
That’s a good thought, but it’s a very busy road. If I didn’t get it someone else would in a matter of minutes. I would gladly return it to its owner if there was a way.

That's what I refer to as "redneck santa", and I have zero issue picking it up. It would be different if you saw it fall off a truck, or if it was a wallet with an ID, or similar.

paulsharvey · Thursday at 4:38 PM

I found a low profile aluminum jack, and I did look for repair kit. Not that seriously, cause the rams are so poorly chromed they corrode and eat o-rings.

rontaki · 2025-08-29T21:07:44-0400

Maybe it was left there by Ray Charles' chauffeur?

Torvy · 2025-08-29T21:13:34-0400

It's maybe just me, but I'm not taking someone else's stuff. I don't care if some other guy might take it.

rontaki · 2025-08-29T21:19:17-0400

I found a really nice wrench on the side of the road the other day. Good thing I can run faster than the guy that was fixing his car!

Just kidding. . .

bigtiller · 2025-08-29T21:50:58-0400

Two times I have found a locking wagon hitch pin within a few feet of my mailbox. Both times I leaned it up against the mailbox post in plain view for ~ 10 days.

They're mine now, but you can reclaim them if you can describe them.

Runner · 2025-08-30T07:18:47-0400

Torvy said:
It's maybe just me, but I'm not taking someone else's stuff. I don't care if some other guy might take it.

That raises a good ethical question. What about that stepladder laying in the middle of the freeway that's been run over 50 times and is a road hazard - do we need to leave that there because the owner might come back and get it?

Crowbar laying in the road - could tear up a tire or bodywork if hit, could bounce up, go though a windshield and take out a person.

That jack could have slid off the back of a flatbed and bounced off someone's hood. If it's not "in the road" but on the shoulder, might get hit by the mowers and tear up their equipment or get thrown out and hit someone. Maybe it was left by mistake, and the owner will be back for it in 5 minutes. Or, maybe the owner will have completely forgotten about it until the next time he needs it, two years later.

Is it someone else's property? Well technically yes it was, but at some point doesn't it become abandoned?