Going to the junkyard has been my bad habit all my life. As a child, I went with my dad. One never knows what will turn up that can be used on down the line.
A great find – sort of
A few months back, while visiting a junkyard, I was digging in one of those piles and picked up an Arcade Oliver 70 cast iron toy tractor. I put it in the bucket of goodies I had dug out and paid for them by the pound. Now this is not as great as you might think. It was rusted until the riveting pin and front axle were half rusted away. It had no wheels. What paint was left must have been good lead. It was somewhat red, so I suppose it was sold in a dime store.
The really bad part was on one side: From the front platform to the seat hole, the iron had broken off, so half of the rear half of the axle, platform, fender and drawbar were gone. The break was rusty, so the broken-off part was not going to be found nearby. I cleaned it off, and it sat around as I kept looking at it to see what could be done.