My husband is the king of finding free stuff on the road. Most of our tools have come that way. Wrenches, wire cutters, ratchet sets, hammers, axes, shovels, etc. It's amazing what you can find lying on the side of the road. We actually have found so much stuff that on a walk along a dirt road the other day we came across a really nice mallet someone had left when they cut and split some wood on public land. Normally my husband grabs that stuff, but he said he already had two nice mallets (found of course) and didn't need another. So we chased down the only vehicle we saw in the area and asked if the mallet was theirs, they said no, but they were interested in going to get it. We also have lots of coolers that are road finds and of course the ever present plastic five gallon buckets which my husband using when making beer and washing wine and beer bottles.
We also have gotten free flyfishing rods, outdoor furniture, ladders, nice pots and pans, etc from neighbors who are getting rid of them and decide we might want them, or we find them on the side of the curb because someone is throwing them out. For years my desk was an old door that we placed across two file cabinets (all found). The hole for the door knob is great for running the computer cords up through. Now I have a really nice desk that is an antique my dad no longer wanted. It's a definite upgrade but still was free. In fact our TVs are all free hand outs because others upgraded to flat panels.
My husband also stops to pick up hats, tshirts, jackets, gloves along the road and many of those become his favorites and are good looking and functional.
We also have found several large plastic trash barrels and use them as rainwater collection tanks.
Funny, I started this post just to mention the tools we find on the side of the road, but got carried away when I realized how much other stuff in our house was free.
