Swanson Salvages Scavenged Shovels

The Trails Committee has a some tools for volunteers; some purchased, some donated, and some collected from the Dump (aka The Transfer Station) on Rt. 110.  One of the great innovations at the Dump this year is the Swap Tent.  Residents deposit stuff in the tent that they think is junk, but junk that is too good to just throw away.  Other residents, after unloading their vehicles of their junk can then go in and see what good free stuff was left in the Swap Tent.  Sounds like a George Carlin routine.  Some people leave with more stuff than they came with.

You can also pick up free woodchips at the Dump for mulch.

On a recent Saturday excursion there were several old shovels leaning up in the Swap Tent.  Three looked OK but covered in concrete and two had cracks in the blades.  Luckily, my neighbor Rick does welding in between restoring antique cars, and has been very helpful to us in the past.  I left the two cracked shovels with him and he welded them up.  A little cleaning and elbow grease and all three shovels are back in business for use on trail work parties.

It may seems silly to scavenge old tools from the dump, but $50 or $60 bucks saved adds up over time. Think about it if you have excess tools that you might want to donate; they can get used on trails, or the community gardens.

Thanks to Rick Swanson for helping us out once again.  If anyone has a classic car that they need restored he's a automotive artisan, when he's not welding up the neighbor's shovels.

Brand New Used Pickaxes

Most trails volunteers use their own tools on work parties, but some people don't have any. One of our goals this year was to expand our collection of hand tools and we are gradually getting there. Here are 2 rusty old pickaxes that Pete Conway picked up from the dump. We cleaned them up, ground the points, bought a couple of handles & whoa-lah - 2 new used pickaxes. Sometimes we can buy new tools, but this is a more typical method of staffing our workforce (have you heard that Shelton has the lowest mil rate in the Valley?). Our thanks to the guys at the dump for their help.

Some of the other hand tools that we could use are:

• metal leaf rakes
• sledge hammers or mauls
• pinch point crow bars (we could use these for rock work)
  
• digging bar
• peaveys
• hand pruners
• pole saw
  
• stone working tools (hammers, wedges & feathers, drills, etc.)
• logging chains & hooks
• slings
• mulch forks
  

If anybody has any tools that they would like to donate, or if they're going to sell them at a tag sale, please feel free to contact us. We'll put them to good use - see the picture below of Richard and Peter getting ready to hit the trail with their pickaxes.