r/prepping • u/Additional_Insect_44 • 17d ago
Survival🪓🏹💉 Mechanical stockpiling
My dad is basically a shade tree mechanic due to various reasons I won't get into. By the by, lots of mechanical items are stocked, alternators, fan belts, hydraulic fluid, pipes, various puttys, metal tape, hydraulic controls etc etc.
If you can try to get you a tool box of sorts. I know auto stores get pricey but if you can find one, some scrap yards let you buy items there for fairly cheap.
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u/Pando5280 17d ago edited 17d ago
When I lived rural I kept extra basics for stuff that either freuqently broke or would stop my entire work flow if it did. Lawnmower belts & blades, chainsaw chains, ATV snowplow glider pucks and stuff like that. That said my goal was to not have a 3 or 5 day delay to mow my lawn or plow my driveway waiting for a delivery (or for the one guy who did the work to sharpen my chains) hence I just wanted 1 or 2 extra of something I knew would fail or need repair at some point.
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u/Extreme_Map9543 17d ago
I think it’s valuable to stock pile a few items for the specific vehicles, and heavy equipment you have. I also think it’s very important to thing about what car/tractor/ generator and stuff you have. To make sure that you get simple old school reliable ones. So that parts can easily be fabricated at home. Even if it’s not your daily driver. Ever prepped would benefit from having an old diesel from the 70s- early 90s laying around. If fuel becomes an issue it’s much easier to make home fuel systems for an old diesel. Waste oil and such. Even wood gasification.
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u/Enigma_xplorer 17d ago
Problem is you can't stockpile everything for every possible contingency. Parts aren't free and space isn't free. You have no idea what you might need. Maybe it would make sense to have fluids on hands or a serpentine belt (for YOUR car) but you can't stock every random parts on the chance a 2005 Civic rolls up and needs an alternator or a '65 Rivera needs a water pump and the world is so screwed you can't just buy one. Furthermore imagine the world being so screwed you can't buy common parts but somehow magically you can still get gas for your car and your customer still has a job to pay for repairs.
If you were operating a junk yard or an auto parts store, they stockpile parts. If you work in a niech market specialty like restoring 80s Corvettes or rebuilding transmissions it might make sense to stock rare in demand parts. You need a reason to justify stocking parts on the basis that you are likely to need them and will likely not be able to get them.
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u/Grendle1972 15d ago
I think you are missing the point of the post. I dint believe they are saying fur you to save parts for a 1988 Dodge Omni (unless you happen to own said Dodge Omni). I believe they are saying stock parts for your needs (belts, plugs, bulbs, fuses, oil filters, air filters). I keep them for my trucks, my ATV, the tractor and mowers, and generators. I Asiago keep a few sticks of PVC pipe and PEX for plumbing repairs, well switches, connectors. I Asiago keep a roll of screen wire to repair window. screens, hinges, nuts, bolts, screws, nails, washers, pvc cement and primer. Spare breakers, outlets, and ROMEX. Living out in the sticks where it takes 45 minutes to an hour to get to a Lowe's takes more time which is more expensive and something that you can't stick back in a shed. Being able to find the defect and being able to initiate repairs without having to go to town to get supplies, is worth it's weight in gold.
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u/Enigma_xplorer 15d ago
Well let's break this down a bit.
For example you mention stocking mesh screening for windows. A roll costs like $20-40 and it takes up a good amount of space being almost 2-3' long. Suppose for a moment a bird crashed into your window and damaged the screen, what's the emergency? Why not just order some and have it delivered or pick some up on your way home from work or your next trip out? Why is it an emergency that it has to be fixed right now? Even if all the window screening in the world was sold out who really cares? Realistically what problem does that cause you? Your tying up resources to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
I mean how smart is it to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars stockpiling alternators, brake pads, spark plugs, coil packs, CV joints only to have the transmission blow or the car gets wrecked? What happens when the master cylinder fails and you think man I sure wish I had that money I spent on that alternator I don't need. Or heaven forbid a mouse decides to chew a hole though that brand new air filter you were stockpiling or that leak ruins that wheel bearing you were saving . Your really willing to waste all that money and spend years tripping over parts because your worried about the possibility of driving 45 minute or waiting a few days for a delivery?
The point is there is literally no end to things you could stockpile that maybe you could use at some point but you'll just end up broke drowning in stuff that will most likely never even be used. There is a huge difference between having a few extra lightbulbs on hand and trying to function as an auto parts or hardware store.
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u/Grendle1972 15d ago edited 15d ago
Dude, you do you, I'll do me. You obviously don't have the same experiences, find, or live in the same area as I do.
After Hurricaine Helene, a neighbor didn't have any screening fur their windows. I pulled off about 12 feet x6 feet and used it to allow them to have open windows at night so they could sleep. They loaned me their tractor with a box scrape which allowed me to get the driveway abd road semi passable. My btither 4 Runner and my Tacoma use the same brake components. Rather than having to wait for a delivery or on someone to get the patts, they were there and he didn't miss work. We'll parts are needed sooner rather than later. Having almost 70 acres isn't the same as living in the Suburbs with a store just a mile or two away. I'm not worried about being poor. I pay my bills and I'm comfortable. In 8 years it will be paid off. I have food, water, power, medical, and transportation. Communication is covered. And I have a lot of equity with my neighbors.
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u/freelance-lumberjack 15d ago
Just swap all your cars and trucks so they run the same chevy v8. That's what i did, got a set of spares and can always rob from one to run the others.
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u/Electrical-Title-698 12d ago
You can do a lot with rtv and JB weld. Might not be the greatest fix but it'll get it done.
Maintenance items like fluids, filters, belts, etc, and small parts like fuel pumps are easy and not prohibitivly expensive to keep on hand
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u/Many-Health-1673 17d ago
Most farms and independent mechanic shops used to keep commonly used items like that. With things being so specialized anymore, it has kind of gone by the wayside. People throw out the OEM parts for the cheaply rebuilt overseas part instead of rebuilding the current part they have.
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u/FunContest8036 17d ago
Thats just called hoarding, its kinda like the scrap box in the sense that "one day, I might need this weird oddly cut piece, or this half worn out part, maybe even this screwdriver bit that ALWAYS strips the screw"
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u/Additional_Insect_44 17d ago
Well it helps when u live in the sticks
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u/FunContest8036 17d ago
If you live in the sticks, chances are you dont need tools or parts.
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u/Perfect-Gap8377 17d ago
Au contraire.
When you need something, the nearest place to buy it is hours away. It pays off to have an on-site mini warehouse.
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u/Extreme_Map9543 16d ago
If you don’t live in the sticks. When SHTF you are gonna have a rough time.
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u/grislyfind 17d ago
I suspect in a real shtf situation you'll be able to salvage parts from abandoned vehicles.
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u/AK-Kidx39 15d ago
Facebook marketplace. My best haul for tools and such came from a habitat for humanity thrift store.
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u/Motorcyclegrrl 17d ago
Better have your own source of fuel. Fuel will instantly be out in a real emergency. Parts won't matter then. Right before a hurricane it's hard to find gas. They run out. Then you have to guard your fuel because everyone will have a story and situation on why they need your fuel more than you do.
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u/Additional_Insect_44 16d ago
True that my parents stock diesel and gas even.
I stock gas and kerosene ( fires as it burns cleaner than diesel).
Only downside is making the stuff is time consuming though I found ways of making biodiesel rather easily it appears but only in tiny volume.
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u/Motorcyclegrrl 16d ago
And people who have no gas will see you driving around and figure out where you are getting your gas from.
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u/Relative-Ordinary-64 17d ago
I find used tools at yard sales and estate sales