Old Mechanics Tools - What do you suggest I do with them?

[CNM]

My dad - who is in his 80s- has kept his father's tools for many, many years.  These tools were for diesel mechanics/semi-truck mechanic stuff, as my granddad did a bunch of truck driving and fleet maintenance in the 1940s, 50s, and early 60s. No one in my family is in this industry any more.

There are no electric tools, all manual. I have never seen so many lug wrench sockets before.  And many are HUGE- presumably for removing lug nuts that are the size of a small fist!  Huge quantities of wrenches, some also GIANT- like the length of my arm. And they weigh a ton. Pincers (?) of various sizes.

My question is: what should we do with them? 

Are these things people still use so they're worth trying to sell or give away? Are they nothing more than novelty items?  Do we try to find somewhere to recycle them/trash them?  My parents are moving into a small senior living arrangement, so these huge tools gotta go.

My thought is to maybe contact our local VoTech to see if they'd like a donation, but otherwise I'm at a loss.

[KYFIRE]

I love me some old tools, especially from the 40s.

I'm sure I'm not alone in this but in reality, they will only be novelty/collection for someone.  Probably not used for practical purposes and as such probably not worth as much as you'd expect (from my experience seeing old tools in flea markets and such).

Maybe try putting online or on consignment at a flea market?

It's a shame to think how they used to be used and provided income for someone and might only be worth their weight in scrap at this point.

[Dee18]

I had a collection of old kitchen devices---unusual hand beaters, flippers, etc.  I used them as decor for many years (and used them in cooking) but decided to simplify at my last move.  I told several co-workers and one of them had a relative who was thrilled to get them.  I did check on eBay and could have sold them but they were not worth enough to make it worth my time. You could just post it on your neighborhood marketplace or buy nothing site.

[reeshau]

Do you want the best money for them?  Or the best use?

I would follow the customers.  Look for collectors of antique trucks.  Or, more business-focused, Look for dealers.  Maybe you have some specialty tools that aren't mass-produced anymore.  Or some things where "they don't make `em like they used to."

I have no familiarity with this market, but just 15 minutes of pondering and googling a bit.

[affordablehousing]

I would try to find out what you can about them, see what the manufacturer's marks are, there are so many tool collectors out there there should be some info on them. If there are some valuable ones, see if you can post them on ebay or craigslist, but I love the idea of donating them to a vocational school or a community college. Then you might get a tax deduction for their value. I don't work on cars and can't really comment on how useful they may be. I suspect though that hand tools will always have a place for a mechanic though.

[CNM]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I don't necessarily want to profit off of getting rid of them, but I wasn't sure if these were still useful. If these are still used, I don't mind spending some my time putting in the effort of finding them a home versus recycling/trashing.  It sounds like the answer is they're not really in use other than for the collector.
That being said, calling the VoTech to see if they'll accept a tool donation seems pretty easy so that will be my option #1.

[Fishindude]

People that work on heavy equipment, tractor trailers and farm machinery use those big tools all the time.   If it is good quality stuff, it still has some significant value.

[svosavvy]

People that work on heavy equipment, tractor trailers and farm machinery use those big tools all the time.   If it is good quality stuff, it still has some significant value.

+1 to this.  If they are the right pedigree you might have some real value on your hands.  Snap on, MAC, Matco, SK to name a few.  These are straight up man jewelry to the people who demand quality.  If they are as old as you say they definitely are not Chinese junk from harbor freight. 

[svosavvy]

You might also consider consulting a local auction house that auctions heavy equipment.  If you sold it as a "lot" at an auction that draws these people you could make out ok. 

[CNM]

People that work on heavy equipment, tractor trailers and farm machinery use those big tools all the time.   If it is good quality stuff, it still has some significant value.

+1 to this.  If they are the right pedigree you might have some real value on your hands.  Snap on, MAC, Matco, SK to name a few.  These are straight up man jewelry to the people who demand quality.  If they are as old as you say they definitely are not Chinese junk from harbor freight.

I'll have to check if there is any trademark visible.  They're definitely not from Asia and I would be shocked if they were from anywhere outside of the US.  I was looking at a kit of smaller tools this weekend and some even looked handmade.

[Fishindude]

Pics would be helpful

[HPstache]

I would start with Facebook market.  You might be sitting on a significant value especially if they are older (which it sounds like they are).  If they happen to be a popular brand, like Snap-on,  you could be sitting on 10's of thousands of dollars in value... hell it's not unheard of for mechanics to have 6 figures worth of hand tools when they are their livelihood.  Take a picture and some of the gearheads on this forum may be able to do a rough appraisal.

[ToTheMoon]

Contact a trade school, or even the shop teacher at a local highschool. I am sure some of the tools will be appreciated in these settings, or could help a student out with their first set of hand tools as the get started in the industry.

[Rob_bob]

The fasteners, nuts and bolts today are the same as they were in the 40's, unless all big rigs have gone to metric?  I have many tools of that vintage, they work as well as new stuff.

[CNM]

Wow! OK This is all very interesting.  I'll be back at my parents' house this week and snap some photos. 

[Papa bear]

Take a look at Reddit, they have some subs for hand tools and old tools.  They would probably point you in the right direction.  Old tools are awesome. They definitely have value, some for display/decoration and some for use.


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[iluvzbeach]

My husband is a mechanic (licensed aircraft mechanic, but also works on vintage motorbikes, etc.) and from what I've seen, these types of tools can bring in big money.  He's sold stuff before and can quickly get $300 or $600 or something I would have thrown out.  I'm going to chat with him and come back to this page to provide you with ideas he can share.  This could absolutely be worth a little time and effort to sell to someone who can appreciate and still use them.  Although you say you don't want to profit from it, the money might come in handy for your parents.

[iluvzbeach]

Okay, spoke with DH and he says, depending on what the items are, they could bring big bucks.  He says anything of quality will include the brand name and model number directly on the tool.  You can use this information to do an internet search or look on eBay directly.  That will allow you to get an idea of how much the stuff has sold for previously and you can then price accordingly.

As others have mentioned, where are you located and do you have any pictures?  If you want to send me a DM with additional details on any of the tools, my DH can probably assist in getting you an idea of how much some tools are worth.  This is one of those things where you could be sitting on a small goldmine and could easily be ripped off if you don't have an idea of the value of the tools.

[CNM]

Okay, spoke with DH and he says, depending on what the items are, they could bring big bucks.  He says anything of quality will include the brand name and model number directly on the tool.  You can use this information to do an internet search or look on eBay directly.  That will allow you to get an idea of how much the stuff has sold for previously and you can then price accordingly.

As others have mentioned, where are you located and do you have any pictures?  If you want to send me a DM with additional details on any of the tools, my DH can probably assist in getting you an idea of how much some tools are worth.  This is one of those things where you could be sitting on a small goldmine and could easily be ripped off if you don't have an idea of the value of the tools.

I am in New Mexico.  I am planning on heading over there for dinner tonight, and I will absolutely DM you with additional details!

[CNM]

The ones I could find were branded Challenger, MAC, and S-K. No Snap-On.

I say "the ones I could find" because there are others, but my parents' garage is very cluttered.  I had hoped they were all contained in the a huge rolling tool chest (not antique) but that doesn't seem to be the case. Grumble. 


ETA: Also saw some stamped PLOMB, which also looks like an early 20th century tool company.

[HPstache]

The ones I could find were branded Challenger, MAC, and S-K. No Snap-On.

I say "the ones I could find" because there are others, but my parents' garage is very cluttered.  I had hoped they were all contained in the a huge rolling tool chest (not antique) but that doesn't seem to be the case. Grumble.

Mac and S-K are really good too!  Not quite at Snap-On value level, but tier II I would say and still quite valuable

[sonofsven]

Just chiming in to say that, yes, they are likely quite valuable.
Check ebay completed listings or sold (in the advanced search) with tool name and type keywords, see what you can find.
Tool auctions in the right area might be a good sales strategy.
I've seen tools sell for substantial sums at auctions, sometimes even more than new.

[the_fixer]

Sounds like good quality stuff.

Older SK tools are great tools, I would put them at or above the same quality of the snap-on and MAC tools that I have and many of them have outlasted my MAC and Snap-on tools.

The name is less known so not worth as much but the quality is great on older SK.

If nothing else at least donate them, might give someone the tools they need to get into the mechanic field. Guessing the local vocational school or community college would know someone that is less fortunate attending school to become a mechanic that would be happy to make use of them if nothing else just to get them started.

Just do not sell them for scrap that would be sad :(


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[HPstache]

Unless you are getting a better appraisal from someone offline, start with posting everything for $2,000 on FB market and see what happens.  It would be really helpful if you'd post some pictures...

[JAYSLOL]

People that work on heavy equipment, tractor trailers and farm machinery use those big tools all the time.   If it is good quality stuff, it still has some significant value.

+1 to this.  If they are the right pedigree you might have some real value on your hands.  Snap on, MAC, Matco, SK to name a few.  These are straight up man jewelry to the people who demand quality.  If they are as old as you say they definitely are not Chinese junk from harbor freight.

Yep, those old tools are made to last a dozen lifetimes, the stuff sold today is made to last a dozen weeks.  People definitely want them.  I would look into a local auction place that has a good customer base that is into tools that would do an auction of all your tools, they can put them in various lots and people will end up paying whatever the fair market value is, and you will walk away with 60-70% of that without having to post a thousand Craigslist ads and haggle with a thousand idiots over the next 4 years to move them. 

[CNM]

Thank you, everyone, for the responses. As we start to move my parents out of their house and into their new place, I will be putting aside all of the old tools I find.  I mainly wanted to know if these were something that people still want/use and it sounds like the answer is YES! So that's great.  Then I will talk to them and see if they want to sell (probably via auction) or donate to a VoTech or similar. 
Thanks again!