I had a thread a while back about selling an old (1972 doesn’t seem that old to me)JD 4320 tractor.
Well, it left yesterday. I sold it too cheap but I wanted it gone. The fella that bought it knew Dad back in the day. Hopefully he will finish this project.
Dad & I rebuilt this tractor. It was our last endeavor before he got too sick to do much around the place.
My medical outlook is not great. So I’ve gotten serious about clearing out some of these multi-generational projects.
Lots of stuff left not too long after Dad passed in ‘06.
Some more stuff left after Mom passed in ‘21.
Time for another purge, I suppose.
I’ve been lucky.
The important stuff has gone to people that would do something with it.
Dad’s B model Mack parts went to a fella that built a rat rod pickup with them and an old Dodge diesel truck frame.
The 4320 JD has gone to an old farmer that knew Dad.
A friend of mine that restores cars is coming after the 1960 Thunderbird that was gonna be a replica of the one Dad owned when he & Mom got married.

A good portion of Mom’s stuff from in the house (furniture, etc.) has gone to family friends. A bench that her grandfather built is at my Aunt’s house.

I will admit to being a sentimental fool. I tend to get emotionally attached to stuff.

I live in the house that I grew up in. Mom & Dad built this house and moved into it in February of 1971. I was born n May of the same year.

I can’t bear to get rid of the 730 JD two cylinder I grew up on.

If I didn’t have the acreage to spread this junk(merchandise, Dad would say) out I could be accused of being a hoarder.

I dunno. Just a Sunday morning ramble.

I hear ya. 1971- That's young from where I sit.

I'm also feeling kinda mortal and don't want to leave my treasures for others to dispose of. I need to purge what I have down to a manageable pile. Then have the information on hand for the rest of the stuff.

Once in the 1980's it was raining and Dad couldn't go fishing so he cleaned the attic. When I came home from work there was a big pile of stuff I hadn't seen in years in front of the house for the garbageman.

I started moving it back into the garage and my Dad stopped me at the door. Made me put most of it back.

My brother did the same thing when he got home from work.

I guess we all get there. I'll be 69 in April and this has been on my mind a lot. I need to get rid of my dad's fancy Quad stereo. Doesn't work right and I don't need to spend the money to get someone to refurb it. Sound was unbelievable when it was working right.
Same for his 1985 Olds 442. Has about 130 miles over 100,000 on it> pretty good shape. No rust, garage kept. But it could use a paint job and I don't need to spend the money on that.
Have some very nice but older hunting rifles I inherited from him. A couple F&N's and a Sako. Gonna get them to my cousin's sons.
I guess both of my Rolex's will go to them also. One is my dad's Pepsi GMT that he bought in 1962 in Hong Kong for $150.00 while we were there on vacation from Saigon. They will need to wait for me to kick to get those 2 items.
I just don't want to leave a bunch of stuff that means nothing to other people or that they don't have any idea of the value of to just get rid of.

quote:

Originally posted by BOATTRASH1:
I guess we all get there. I'll be 69 in April and this has been on my mind a lot.....

....I just don't want to leave a bunch of stuff that means nothing to other people or that they don't have any idea of the value of to just get rid of.

I'm right there with you and need to start reducing things myself.

In their 60's my parents made it clear they didn't want to leave us children with "a whole bunch of stuff" to have to deal with. When my father became ill in 1990 they had recently downsized houses and sold off a lot of their belongings. He took the time during his last 6 months to sell off his collections that none of us would have been equipped to do. Over the next 14 years my mother gradually sold or gave away most of their remaining possessions then she downsized to a 2 bedroom apartment at an independent living facility. She told me more then once "the best thing you can leave your children are a few of your most cherished things from your past, not a bunch of your stuff for them to have to get rid of". The way she put it was to tell me what she was doing, and when the time came what I must do for my children.

I'm 73 and the only step I've made in that direction is to cut back on collecting more crap.

Intellectually, I understand that I should be thinning the herd, but emotionally I'm not ready to do that.

Much of what I have - tools, guns, tractors and associated equipment - will be (I assume) gladly received by my grandsons.

My stash of steel cutoffs and small power equipment will probably go in a dumpster.

My models and such can go to great-grands or the trash, I'm not going to care.

If I assumed room temperature tomorrow there'd be some cleanup involved but nothing a couple of days and a roll-off won't cure.

Eventually I'll be in a place to deal with some of that myself I expect.

Bless you hudr, going through a bunch of that stuff now. Nothing as big as a tractor or car, but I get it. Dad passed in '21. Mom has dementia. I have the skills to do stuff, but I'm buried with work and taking care of a horse farm.

So the dreams just sit. I too, am a sentimental old fool.

American Pickers on line 2 . Good thread. Probably the baby of the group but. The stuff I have has gone from big to small since space is limited. If I had move if would take a good long while. Putting everything it's place is a start for me, constantly de-cluttering and cleaning it seems. When my dad's mom passed, she had a lot of nice furniture that went to an auction house cheap or Craigslists or just donated. I don't go to garage sales as a hobby (unlike the occasional thrift/record/book store). Mostly worrying about these damn guns if CO goes the way "they" want it to.

My dad bought a little British sports car back in the early 80s. It was his project car. But life got in the way and it never got done. Between then and now I grew older too. When he finally concluded he had to let it go, I got the call. Sadly I have passed the project car period of my life. So I trailered it and delivered it to someone who could finish it. I used to fantasize about what I’d do to that car to make it sweet. But those years have passed. Now I’m only interested in maintaining a fun car. I’d better get one soon or those days will slip by me too.

This thread has me thinking too. I've commented on similar threads. At 65 I don't feel particularly old, but one never knows. And it's just me, so if...when I kick, there will be no kids to go through all my shit. I have two older sisters and one nephew. Because of this situation, I'm very interested in thinning out my stuff and trying to live more simply. It's no easy task. My parents have been gone for 39 and 32 years and I still have stuff of theirs that is hard to part with.

after my mother died, we threw out 99.99% of their stuff. Notably, she had a couple of antique sewing machines.

But the rest, she had nice clothes never worn that were literally falling apart.

When we left CA, we gave away 90% of our stuff and they were nice stuff since we never had kids to ruin them.

We started fresh and while we still bought some nice stuff, I'm mindful that we're gone, I don't want a mountain of stuff. I realize I can't live with nothing on hand and I'm resigned to the fact, I'm going to leave still a good amount of stuff.

My grandfather was an accumulator of lots of odds and ends. Mostly tools, metal stock, and a wide range repair hardware and parts. He was a prolific tinkerer and made lots of shop tools and such. Most a bit expediently made. When he passed the family let most of it sit around and a lot of it came in handy over the decades. During the 2008 recession and rise of scrap metal prices I began an intermittent keep up effort and hauled in nearly 30,000 lbs of iron and broken or highly obsolete machines. I put the money into propping up some the outbuilds.
When my uncle passed the cleanup started anew. His stuff was mostly mundane household and personal items of little value. His house is now being slowly remodeled as time allows.
I feel bad disposing of a lot of this stuff. Sort of a betrayal. I have at least had time to sort the good from the bad. There is still a a lot of stuff that’s too good or unique to pass along but of only modest value if sold. I hope to hold on to everything into retirement and deal with it as a hobby.

The one the my wife and I (mostly me) are dealing with are Photo Albums. Mostly from my Mother and her Mother.

Having no children, only 5 nephews, that we have little to no contact with, no one has any interest in them.

I scanned a lot of the pictures onto my computer, but still no one is interested in having copies.

I've loaded some the pictures into my Ancestry tree, but hardly anyone will even look at that.