one of the best $100 I ever spent

[Kali]

The tank, not the truck. The truck was abandoned - got it basically for the $10 title fee plus various repairs.

Back in the late 80s I was an adviser to our local conservation district board. One of the board members was also on the the domestic water board of a nearby hamlet. When they replaced their town water tank in the early 90s he called me up and asked if I wanted the old one. HELL YES! Around here water storage is almost equal in value to water sources! And can run close to $1/gallon. He said they could give it to me for a token 100 bucks. But... we'd have to move it ourselves. Gulp. This involved travel on the interstate and I had no clue what the rules, regulations, fees were, abilities of trucks or anything really. I just knew I got a 20,000 gallon tank for 100 dollars!

I must have been living positively back then because a whole bunch of things came together at once. There was this shady guy and his sons buying landscape boulders from us. (which is a whole 'nuther woooo, plate-of-shrimp story in itself) They had big heavy-duty cranes and trucks for hauling big rocks. He was more than likely ripping us off on the weights, but he did some road work and brought a check regularly at a time when cattle prices were in the toilet. I had a cousin renting some pasture in exchange for helping out and he in turn had a friend that owed some favors. This friend was a welder.

The way we got this thing done was to cut the tank in half around the middle and the boulder guy hauled both pieces up the interstate early in the morning (I mentioned he was a little shady, right?) and then he used his crane to hold the top half up while the friend welded that 6 inch strap around the whole thing. It was just a few inches off from the old seams, and he had to put a couple little darts in it (sorry have no idea what the proper metal-working term is - that is a sewing term) but when it was all done there were maybe 4 pinhole leaks at the band - only one that needed a little epoxy putty to fix, the rest rusted back shut.

I have been on top and my kids have all swam (swum?) in it when it was full (I was too chicken of the inside ladder to try, a regret I must say), but most important it can potentially water the herd for almost a month if all other water was cut off/dry/gone for some reason. That gives us enough time to gather them and sell or move to someplace with water or to fix whatever might be broken. Or to wait anxiously for rain in the case of going dry in June or July.

So ever find a good deal on something big?

[freshwest]

1. Great story. Both of those good deals. Agree on the positive thing you had then. And now.

[Kali]

9. well the tank was

I think I have several posts going in the auto forum about that truck:eyes:

[Suich]

2. Um-m-m...city slicker here.

How do you fill it?

:P

[Kali]

5. if you look close, there is a stand pipe going up the right hand side

it can be filled by gravity or a light pump from about 3 miles uphill, or as we seem to be stuck doing in mostly with two heavy-duty pumps about 3 miles down hill. It is kind of the half-way point for our system. At the top we have several smaller storages (two old gasoline tanks and a stone/masonry tank the husband built. At the bottom is the main well and another old gas tank (these things run 6 to 8 thousand gallons each)

We also have 3 reliable stock ponds and 4 or 5 not so reliable ponds. The canyon has run more than half a year before but sure as hell not in the last 19 years, lucky to get a full month of above-ground running water anymore.:-(

[MiddleFingerMom]

3. COOL story - you should find a muralist who wants a "canvas". Only thing I've EVER bought on eBay...

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...was my RV, from a VERY nice, honest young cowboy (rodeo and had a little
construction business, too) and his very nice honest young wife. They would
buy used RV's in good shape to begin with, renovate them and turn them over.
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Blue book value in the 30K's, they sold it to me for $17,000.
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Paid for itself in the rent I saved (still had to rent a space for it, but
the difference between that and apartment/house rent was enormous).
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It surprises me that you would deal with a somewhat shady individual. I'm a
little shocked.
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And disappointed.
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:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
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[Kali]

7. last we ever heard of that guy was a tax collector looking for him

he left a big huge orange crane sitting here half way up the mountain finally just sort of gave it away to somebody that could get it running and get it off the place. It leaked oil from here all the way down the railroad tracks to Benson. You could see the trail for years.

[rug]

4. Hell, it looks like a tetanus container.

[Kali]

10. dang it, rug

that went over my head - I don't get it?

[rug]

11. Can't you get tetanus from rust?

[Kali]

13. I think you get it from bacteria.

:P

At any rate I get my shot every 10-11 years so I can go barefeets in the corral.}(

[XemaSab]

6. Seems like the value of the metal alone

would be worth a lot more than that.

Really seems like you were in the right place at the right time.

[Kali]

8. oh hell yeah,now - not so much then

just noticed a few days ago somebody came in and stole 20 foot long 4 foot diameter culvert that was sitting up on a hill about a mile from the house. (that the shady boulder guy had also left here):mad:

[Ptah]

12. Of course, Grovelbot retires in Southern Arizona.

New water rates soon!

[Kali]

14. BWAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!!

:rofl:

[Kali]

15. 2 more pix

taken by my son, view from the top





and view inside from top hatch

[Ptah]

16. Terrific photos.

Kudos to your son!

:thumbsup: